How to Find More Wines Similar to Ones You Already Like

Finding a wine you love does not mean you have to keep buying the exact same bottle. The easiest way to find similar wines is to figure out what you liked about the wine, identify its key characteristics, then look for other grapes, regions or styles that share those traits. A simple process looks like this:

1. Identify what you liked about the wine.

2. Describe its style using body, acidity, sweetness and flavors.

3. Look for adjacent grapes, regions or wine styles with similar characteristics.

4. Try the new bottle and record the result so you know whether you are getting closer to your personal taste.

For example, if you loved a smooth, medium-bodied red with ripe dark fruit and softer tannins, you do not necessarily need another bottle of the exact same Cabernet Sauvignon. You might also enjoy Malbec, Syrah, Zinfandel or certain red blends with a similar style. The goal is not to memorize wine. It is to learn which characteristics consistently make you want another glass.

Step 1: Start With What You Liked About the Wine

Before looking for something similar, think about the bottle you already enjoyed. You do not need professional tasting notes. Start with simple observations:

• Was it light, medium or full-bodied?

• Was it crisp or softer?

• Did it taste fruity, earthy, spicy or creamy?

• Did it feel smooth or noticeably tannic?

• Was it completely dry or did it seem slightly sweet?

• Would you buy it again?

Even something like: “Smooth, medium-bodied red with lots of dark fruit. Not too drying. Around $18.” is useful. That description gives you much more information than simply knowing you liked a particular bottle. If you want to understand these preferences more systematically, read The Beginner’s Guide to Building Your Wine Taste Profile.

Remember What You Like With Somm Scribe

Instead of trying to remember every bottle you enjoyed, save your tastings in Somm Scribe and build a history of the wines worth buying again.

Step 2: Identify the Wine’s Style

The grape is useful, but the overall style of the wine can be an even better clue. Pay attention to a few characteristics.

Body

Does the wine feel:

• Light-bodied: delicate, fresh and easy to drink

• Medium-bodied: somewhere between light and rich

• Full-bodied: richer, heavier and more powerful

Someone who loves a light Pinot Noir may be happier exploring other light-bodied reds than randomly choosing another red wine.

Acidity

Acidity is what can make wine feel bright, tart or refreshing. If you consistently enjoy crisp Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño or dry Riesling, you may be responding to their refreshing acidity as much as the grape itself.

Sweetness

Notice whether you tend to enjoy:

• Dry wines

• Slightly sweet or off-dry wines

• Noticeably sweet wines

This can narrow your options quickly, especially with white and sparkling wines.

Flavor

Think about the flavors you enjoyed. Maybe you prefer:

• Citrus and green apple

• Peach and tropical fruit

• Cherry and strawberry

• Blackberry and plum

• Vanilla and baking spice

• Herbs or earthy flavors

You do not need to correctly identify every aroma. Even broad descriptions help. If these terms still feel unfamiliar, Wine Styles Explained is a good introduction to the major characteristics that separate one style of wine from another.

Step 3: Look Beyond the Exact Same Grape

One of the easiest mistakes is assuming that liking one Cabernet Sauvignon means you should only buy Cabernet Sauvignon. Grape variety matters, but it is only one part of how a wine tastes. Climate, region, ripeness, oak aging and winemaking choices can all change the final style. Two Cabernet Sauvignons can taste surprisingly different, while two completely different grapes can sometimes feel quite similar. If you enjoy a rich, fruit-forward Cabernet Sauvignon with softer tannins, you might also try:

• Malbec

• Syrah or Shiraz

• Zinfandel

• Tempranillo

• Fuller-bodied red blends

If you love a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, you might explore:

• Albariño

• Verdejo

• Pinot Grigio

• Dry Riesling

• Grüner Veltliner

You are not looking for an identical wine. You are looking for overlapping characteristics.

Use the Region as Another Clue

Once you know the grape and style, look at where the wine came from. Region can influence ripeness, acidity, body and flavor. For example, Chardonnay can range from lean and citrusy to rich, creamy and heavily oaked. If you loved a specific style of Chardonnay, another bottle from the same general region may be a better bet than choosing a completely unrelated Chardonnay.

You do not need to memorize every wine region. Simply start noticing where your favorite bottles come from. Over time you may discover patterns such as:

• Several favorite Pinot Noirs come from cooler regions

• You consistently enjoy ripe California red wines

• You prefer crisp whites from coastal climates

Those are valuable clues.

Look for Adjacent Wines, Not Perfect Matches

A useful way to explore is to change one thing at a time. Suppose you liked a Sonoma Pinot Noir because it was light-bodied, smooth and full of cherry flavor. Your next experiment could be:

Same grape, different region: Try Pinot Noir from Oregon.

Or:

Different grape, similar style: Try Gamay.

That teaches you something. If you like the Gamay too, you may care more about light body and bright fruit than you do about Pinot Noir specifically. This is how exploring wine becomes much more useful than randomly buying different bottles.

Keep Price in the Equation

Price does not guarantee that you will like a wine, but your usual price range is still useful information. If you loved an $18 bottle, start by looking for similar wines around $15–$25 rather than assuming you need to spend $50 for something better. You may discover that a certain grape, producer or region consistently gives you what you like at a comfortable price.

Those repeat discoveries can eventually become part of a dependable group of bottles. Our guide to How to Build a Go-To Wine Rotation explains how to turn favorite discoveries into reliable options for weeknights, dinner and guests.

Ask for Characteristics, Not Just “Something Similar”

If you are shopping at a wine store with knowledgeable staff, bring the bottle name or a photo. But instead of only saying, “I liked this. What is similar?” tell them why you liked it.

For example: “I liked this Cabernet because it was smooth, fruit-forward and not overly tannic. I’m looking for something similar under $25.”

That gives them much more useful information. The same approach works when ordering wine at a restaurant.

Step 4: Record Whether the New Wine Worked

This part is easy to skip, but it is what makes the process improve over time. After trying the new wine, record a few things:

• Did you like it?

• What stood out?

• How did it compare with the original bottle?

• Would you buy it again?

Suppose you liked Cabernet Sauvignon and decided to try Malbec because both can be fuller-bodied and fruit-forward. If you loved the Malbec too, you have learned something important about your preferences. You may care more about body, ripe fruit and softer tannins than the Cabernet grape itself. Now you have two useful reference points instead of one. After several bottles, those individual observations start becoming a genuine taste profile.

Why This Works Better Than Following Wine Ratings

Wine scores can tell you whether a critic or group of drinkers thought a bottle was good. They cannot necessarily tell you whether you will like it. A 94-point wine may still be completely wrong for someone who dislikes its style. Your own history tells you much more:

• Which wines you enjoyed

• Which ones you disliked

• Which styles you repeatedly buy

• How much acidity or tannin you prefer

• Which flavors you gravitate toward

• Which bottles you would actually buy again

That is the idea behind Personalized Wine Recommendations Based on Your Taste: recommendations become more useful when they start with your preferences instead of popularity alone.

The Most Important Question: Would You Buy It Again?

You can record dozens of wine characteristics, but one question remains especially useful: Would you buy this wine again? If the answer repeatedly becomes yes for similar wines, you have probably discovered a real preference. Maybe most of your favorites are:

• Medium-bodied and fruit-forward

• Crisp and high in acidity

• Light-bodied with red fruit

• Rich but not heavily oaked

• Smooth with softer tannins

Once you recognize those patterns, finding another bottle you are likely to enjoy becomes much easier.

Turn the Wines You Like Into Better Recommendations

Somm Scribe helps you track what you drink, what you enjoy and what you would buy again so your tasting history can help guide what you try next.

Final Sip

If you want to find wines similar to one you already like, do not focus only on the bottle name or grape. Use this process:

1. Identify what you liked.

2. Describe the body, acidity, sweetness and flavors.

3. Look for grapes, regions and styles that share those characteristics.

4. Try one and record whether it worked.

Each bottle becomes another piece of information about your taste. Over time, instead of asking “Is this wine good?”, you can start asking a much more useful question: “Does this wine sound like something I would enjoy?”

That is the point of learning your wine preferences in the first place.