Whatever floats your boat, dude.
I don’t know. I am making a special and serious study of the subject, but that wasn’t always the case. Even back then I was able to tell what I liked and what I didn’t, what tasted better or had more structure or depth, and what tasted like absolute ass (to me anyway.)
With some pretty basic knowledge it’s not too hard to better your chances of finding better wines, even in the “fighting varietals” category that most marginal wine drinkers tend to shop in.
I’m not sure what kind of snobbery would prevent this, as Gallo makes quite a few award winning wines that sell in or over the $50 price range, and plenty (such as Turning Leaf and Rancho Zabaco) right within your price range that are pretty good values.
This is absolutely not true. Knowing what varietals and regions you like is pretty much what wine is about. I know I like certain beers, I don’t much care for pilsners. Constantly going out and buying pilsners while proclaiming that all beer is the same and I don’t like it and why bother learning about ales or stouts, etc. would pretty much be like banging my head against a wall.
Beyond knowing what varietals you like, it does help to learn the regions that specialize in them. Sure there are plenty of Pinot Noirs to choose from, but is a Pinot from the Central Valley of CA going to be as good as a Burgundy or a Russian River Valley? Probably not. And not everyone wants to learn stuff like that, which is fine. There are always those that do have the passion for it to get advice from.
I understand this sentiment but do not agree with it. My recomendation is try a bunch of wines until you find one that is outstanding. Then stick with it. I find that most wines are barely more palatable than box wine. But I know the ones I like, and these are out of this world. I know the ones I like because I try different ones from time to time. This is what I like about this SDMB wine club (when I can actually get the recommended wine). That Rancho Zabaco wine was just out of this world, and I can get it at my grocery store (It’s in the slightly over $10 range though.) I now know that I like my wines fruity, but relatively dry.
My pointy is. If you pay attention, they don’t all taste the same. For $10 you can find a wine you like. Then you won’t think all wines are just meh.