I agree about avoiding the snob factor. I once had a snobbish French wine that was oh-so-highly praised by a "connoisseur", and it tasted like I was sucking on the tailpipe of a bus. The word I would use to describe that wine is "trashy". (This is not an indictment of French wines generally, just that particular one.)

My favorite wines are the ones with interesting combinations of taste, aftertaste, and feeling on the tongue (astringency, etc.), and no missing notes. I imagine there's technical words for what I just described, but I don't know what they are.

One thing I have learned about the kinds of wines I like though. I find that they taste much better at room temperature than chilled (with the exception of sparkling wines).

I used to wonder about the kinds of words people used to describe wines before I started enjoying them at room temperature. They used to sound pretentious to me. Now I find myself using descriptive phrases that surprise me. For instance, I recently tried a Malbec Rose (organic), from Argentina (about $8.00 for 750 ml). It's pretty bland and not very interesting cold, but at room temperature it has a lot of character and, I find, even a sense of humor. It's not particularly sweet, just the tiniest little bit of sweetness, but it feels very playful on the tongue. It's a bit astringent, with a little touch of tartness, just enough bite to make it interesting, and a little bit of burn in the aftertaste. The flavor's very difficult to describe. A little smokier than I would expect from a rose, it's fairly well layered with no missing notes, and it would go well with creamy cheeses and slightly sweet breads.

See what I mean? I can't believe I just said all of that, but it's true.