Golden Retriever Energy: Wine Book Throws Out the Snob Rules Pt. 3

Tonight's Episode

The best way to learn wine, Maryse Chevriere argues, isn't to read about it — it's to pour two glasses and taste the difference. In this episode she walks Forrest through the drinking games tucked into How to Sound Wine Smart, designed to make abstract concepts click through direct comparison. Think a wine you assumed was sweet suddenly revealing itself as dry when set beside an actually sweet one, a shy grape next to an aromatic Gewürztraminer, or one bottle tasted at first sip, again at thirty minutes, and again at two hours to feel what time and air really do. There are no winners, no losers, and no test — just an experience built to make the lesson stick and get people genuinely excited to drink wine.

Maryse also pulls back the curtain on making the book. Illustrating it took five or six months — most of them while she was pregnant — and proved trickier than expected. On Instagram, funny tasting notes hand her ready-made visual ideas; for the book she deliberately chose the generic, professional terms people actually use, which meant figuring out how to paint something as abstract as "rustic," "silky," or "leathery." Writing was its own slow burn, since she's a self-described fiddler who can't move on until a line sounds exactly right.

Asked for her home run, she points to the "character" chapter. Instead of the technical checklist of fruits, non-fruits, and "medium-plus" this-and-that she was trained in, she gives readers something more relatable: a wine that's friendly, that's giving golden retriever energy. It's a warmer, more human way in.

Forrest names the throughline — she's not dumbing wine down, she's making something genuinely complex feel approachable. This isn't soda off an assembly line; it's the product of an enormous amount of craft, and she wants more people to feel welcome to it. Maryse agrees, wondering aloud why wine intimidates people in a way that describing a restaurant dish or a piece of art simply doesn't. The stigma, she says, is what wine has had to work hardest to overcome — and helping people get past it is the whole point.

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Key Takeaways

Maryse Chevriere's book 'How to Sound Wine Smart' uses drinking games and direct taste comparisons to teach wine concepts rather than relying on reading alone.

The book's illustrations took five to six months to create, with Chevriere deliberately choosing generic, professional tasting terms like 'rustic,' 'silky,' and 'leathery' to make abstract concepts visually representable.

Chevriere reframes wine character in relatable terms like 'golden retriever energy' instead of technical checklists, making complex wine knowledge feel approachable without dumbing it down.

Wine carries more cultural stigma and intimidation than other complex subjects like restaurant food or art, which Chevriere identifies as the primary barrier the wine industry must overcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main teaching method in 'How to Sound Wine Smart'?

The book uses drinking games and direct taste comparisons, where readers pour two glasses side-by-side to experience differences like sweet versus dry, or aromatic versus shy grapes.

How long did it take to illustrate the book?

Five to six months, with most of that time occurring while Maryse Chevriere was pregnant.

What does Chevriere identify as her 'home run' chapter?

The 'character' chapter, which describes wine in relatable human terms like 'golden retriever energy' instead of technical checklists.

Why did Chevriere choose professional tasting terms for the book's illustrations?

Because those are the generic, professional terms people actually use, even though they are abstract concepts that proved challenging to paint visually.