Picking out a bottle of wine or ordering wine at a restaurant seems like it should be a simple process, but most of us do not find it to be such an easy task, do we? Beyond the basic question of red or white, you need to choose the type of grape, the level of quality and the region for the wine that can give you the taste in the mouth to last and long for.
However, if you must choose know, here are few basic points that you need to keep in mind while choosing wine; red and white both!
Mixing with what you are eating
It’s important to know what kind of wine can go well with what kind of food. It is of utmost importance to pair light wines with lighter foods to have best of the taste. While white wines go well with fish and chicken and some pork, opt for red when you are eating beef.
The most basic thing to do here is to match and complement the characteristics of food to the wine.
It is a well known fact that spicy foods with sweeter wine are a much better option to go for. Be aware that some wines can be spoiled by the introduction of certain food flavors, just as they can be enhanced. So, if one fine day your most loved wine fails to taste the same, do keep a track down on what was the food you paired with it… and you would know where you went wrong.
Pay attention to the taste
With so many options available in the market, it is imperative to pay close attention to whatever is in your glass, what it tastes like and where it is from. What grape or grapes went into the final product, how does this particular pinot noir, say, differ from the last one you had!
It might just sound like a tough trivia to crack at the first go, but once you taste more of them you will get to know the best of the aromas, flavors and textures that will ultimately lead you to make far better wine decisions than you ever did before. Don’t be afraid to refer to it either. At restaurants with caring, engaged sommeliers, your dedication will be seen as impressive, and you may even receive some freebies.
Year of make
Even the best areas can have a year with cold weather too early, hot weather too late, too much rain or not enough sun to get the best chance making that great wine. A really good year in a region can mean that even the lower quality vineyards produce a spectacular crop of grapes, which results in great quality wine. On the other side, a really bad year may make a good wine from your favourite region hard to find.
So, if you have tasted a wine from a year, let’s say 2008, from a specific label- the chances are that the other bottles with the same year make will be as good as the one you tasted.
Don’t fall under the spell of wine fashion fads, instead, find a wine region or two that you can depend on and a few labels you trust to provide a good wine.
Don’t be a blind loyal
There is no doubt that even the most passionate and accomplished wine professional have their favourite brands penned down in their heart. But letting yourself being slave to a specific brand or type will never allow you to open up your horizons for the other brands that might actually be at the same level if not better than what you already like.
You can only be a smart consumer if ask the salesperson to recommend other bottlings that share similar characteristics, which in return will not only give you a new taste to give a go, but also open your brain for more knowledge about wines. You’ll be amazed at how much you discover and how much conversation results from your guests debating the relative merits of each one- and would you not want to be the best talker in that group, who probably knows most if not all of it?
If you know a thing or two about choosing the right wine, then do share your inputs here. As we say – knowledge shared is knowledge gained
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