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Drinking the same style of wine for long stretches of time, or worse - your entire life - is akin to living life in black and white. Even if you tried a different wine every day until you died, you'd never scratch the surface. There are seemingly endless countries, regions, and sub regions producing wine all over the world. Many of these places have been producing wine for centuries, with cellars housing bottles older than your grandparents. Not to mention wine coming from new and undiscovered regions due in part to technological advances and climate change.
Purchasing the same wine every Friday is boring. This habit perpetuates a false sense of comfort and a belief that what is familiar, is best.
An entire industry has been built upon educating and expanding the horizons of the average consumer. Winemakers are tirelessly honing their craft to produce new and exciting incarnations. And while a vast majority of wine is produced to appease the average palate, it's often more a recipe developed in a lab than it is a creative expression. If you knew your wine was intentionally manipulated so that it tasted the same every single year with additions like sugar, acid and dye - would you still enjoy it as much? A simpler and easier analogy to swallow - is your favourite meal the Big Mac you guiltily enjoy hungover once a month from McDonalds? Or is it the meal that you enjoyed while on a trip somewhere, in a restaurant owned by a family who introduced you to the most decadent interpretation of an ingredient you had never tried before?
Wine is meant to make us think, and has the ability to transport us somewhere else without having to leave the comfort of our own home. It can also be a glimpse back in time, indicating what the weather was like in that particular year. Is that cabernet sauvignon particularly "big and juicy"? Maybe it was a super hot vintage, where sugar levels were particularly high in the grapes. Or, it could be a take on a grape from a winemaker treating her grapes completely differently, resulting in the most seductive and thus memorable wine you may have had as of late.
The point is - remaining within a "box" limits perspective. Look for varieties or styles that are similar to what you normally drink and find a new favourite. Force yourself to try that varietal you "hate" because of a bad experience 15 years ago. Actually try the food pairing suggestions that are available in abundance and be amazed at what you discover.
There are far worse risks to take than trying new wines.
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