But rather than make the job of finding and selecting a good, interesting bottle easier, this new diversity seems to have made it more difficult. So many choices can be confusing. Rather than take a chance on the unknown, many people choose instead to settle for familiar grapes, enticing brand names and well-known places.

I have great sympathy with this point of view. We have only so much time and energy to absorb new ideas, especially in a world in which the unexpected arrives at frightening speed. Good food and good wine are not everybody’s priority.

Even if you would like it to be a more important part of your life, wine still comes in too many varieties and from too many places to comfortably and quickly absorb. So I would like to offer some practical recommendations to make it easier to drink better every day.

Think of wine as food. If you care where your food comes from, how it’s raised, grown or made and about its ethical and health consequences, apply that same logic to wine. You will end up with wine that is grown and made more conscientiously, with greater thought and care. Your wines will be less likely to be widgets and more likely to be expressions of culture.

Topple wine off its pedestal. It’s just a beverage, a pleasurable drink. It should be thought of as a staple of the table, like bread or olive oil. It’s not just for special occasions, it’s not only ceremonial, it does not require special tools to enjoy or unusual powers of taste or smell to know what’s good and what’s not. We know oysters are wonderful, for example, but some people cannot abide them, and the same is true with certain wines. It’s just personal taste, not a judgment of one’s personality or character.

Think of the occasion, rather than what’s at the top of a universal scale of greatness. Many might agree that grand cru Burgundy or first-growth Bordeaux or older Barolos are among the very best wines in the world. But those might not be the best wines for a weeknight, when you are tired and want a quick bite and an easygoing bottle. On those occasions, the very best wine might be a good Finger Lakes riesling, or a basic Etna Rosso, not a profound Chambertin.

Find a good wine shop. This greatly increases the odds of finding good bottles, because conscientious merchants have weeded out much of the dreck. Avoid supermarkets and other indifferent outlets. Though you may find the occasional decent bottle, they are full of processed wines and vacuous brands that are the equivalent of empty calories.