Glass shape and storage conditions both have a genuine, physical effect on wine that's easy to dismiss as unnecessary fussiness — worth understanding what's actually happening before assuming any glass or storage spot works equally well.
Glass shape genuinely affects perceived aroma and taste
Different wine glass shapes direct wine and its released aromas toward the nose differently — a wider bowl allows more aroma-releasing surface area and airflow, generally suiting fuller-bodied reds, while a narrower glass concentrates more delicate aromas toward the nose, often preferred for more subtle whites and sparkling wines. This isn't purely aesthetic tradition — the actual physical airflow and aroma concentration genuinely differs between glass shapes, and the same wine can taste and smell noticeably different poured into different glass shapes, since so much of wine's perceived flavor comes from aroma rather than taste alone. A beginner doesn't need an extensive glass collection to start — one reasonably good, appropriately sized all-purpose glass covers a wide range of wines — but understanding that glass shape has a real effect explains why serious tasting settings do vary glassware by wine type.
Temperature affects perceived flavor more than casual drinkers expect
Serving wine too warm can make it taste flat, overly alcoholic, or muddled, while serving too cold can suppress aroma and flavor complexity, particularly for red wines often served at room temperature by habit even when that room is warmer than ideal serving temperature. Most wine types have a genuinely narrower ideal serving temperature range than "room temperature versus refrigerator cold" suggests — even a modest temperature adjustment (briefly chilling a red, or letting a white warm slightly before serving) noticeably changes how a wine actually tastes.
Storage conditions genuinely affect wine quality over time
Wine stored somewhere with fluctuating temperature, direct light exposure, or excessive dryness (which can dry out and shrink a cork, risking oxidation) degrades faster and less predictably than wine stored in stable, dark, moderately humid conditions — this applies even to wine intended for relatively short-term storage before drinking, not just wine being aged for years. A cool, dark closet or a dedicated wine storage unit both address these conditions far better than a kitchen counter near a window or a spot exposed to a stove's regular heat cycling.
Developing a vocabulary for tasting is a learnable skill, not innate talent
Being able to identify and describe specific flavors and aromas in wine is a skill built through deliberate, repeated practice — tasting attentively, comparing wines side by side, and consciously associating specific smells and flavors with words — rather than a natural talent some people simply have and others don't. Tasting a variety of wines side by side, rather than one at a time in isolation, makes differences and specific characteristics considerably easier to actually notice and describe than tasting wines individually days or weeks apart.
The one thing people forget
Let a wine "breathe" (open and sit briefly, or be decanted) before serving, particularly for many fuller-bodied reds, since exposure to air allows certain aromas to develop and can soften some of a young wine's more sharp, tannic character — this is a real, noticeable effect for many wines, not an affectation, and it's worth trying a side-by-side comparison of the same wine immediately after opening versus after 20-30 minutes of air exposure to notice the genuine difference firsthand.