The simplicity of enjoying wine starts with a foundation of knowledge. That foundation begins when you seek out an education. Your wine education can begin today by reading this article in full and gathering the advice within for your own use. This will lead to many years of great enjoyment.
Particularly if you are just discovering wine, don’t buy too much of any one thing. You may want to grab several bottles of whatever you enjoy, but as you continue learning more, you are going to start to like different things. You probably won’t be interested in the wine that you enjoyed several months ago.
Do you need a wine all your guests will enjoy? Instead of choosing a rare wine people might not appreciate, choose a Beaujolais, a Chilean, a Sauvignon or a Cava from Spain. These wines are easy to find and offer enough diversity to remain interesting for connoisseurs without making novices feel like they are sophisticated enough to enjoy the wine.
A decanter can be a useful product to have. If you have not been able to get one, or if you do not like them because of the time involved in using them, think about getting an aerator instead. They fulfill similar functions, and they are often easier to use.
Instead of throwing out your last bits of wine, consider saving it for a marinade for dinner the next night. Take your wine, add some seasoning and place it in a bowl. Add your favorite piece of meat to the bowl and let it sit for several hours or even overnight. This will add delicious flavor to your next night’s meal!
Many grapes for wines are grown on hills as they’re typically protected from frost there. At the same time, water won’t pool on a hill and drains away, keeping grapes safe from rot or over-watering. If you plan to make your own wine, plant your grapes on a hill which faces south.
It will be a lot easier to talk about wine with other connoisseurs if you master their vocabulary. There are specific words used to describe flavors and colors. You also need to familiarize yourself with different regions and wineries. Have an expert explain these terms to you and present you with a selection of wines to illustrate different examples.
Ask if you can taste a few wines before buying. Most wine stores will offer tastings to their customers on a regular basis or set schedule. By trying a few varieties in the store, you can increase your chances of walking out with a bottle you really love. This is a better way to shop than buying blindly.
Go global in your wine selecting process! Previously, fine wines were considered to be exclusive to certain countries. These days, however, nearly every continent is producing a delicious wine. Limiting yourself to only France or Italy will keep you from enjoying amazing new creations from places like Australia and Brazil!
There is lots of wine information online about things like the flavors, types, people that serve it, and the years. Never hesitate to print off a good website for easy reference when wine hunting. Use your notes and the clerk’s recommendation to make the best choice.
Explore all of the possibilities when pairing wine with food. You might be surprised to find that a certain dish tastes better with a particular sort of wine. Be a little adventurous, and try new things!
As you may already know, if you have an open bottle of wine, the oxygen can start to diminish the taste. However, if you place the bottle inside of the fridge, the cold can help relieve some of the reaction that air causes. This is a temporary fix and the wine will not last long.
Don’t sneer at wine bottles topped with screw caps. An increasing number of finer labels are moving toward screw caps. They keep wine fresher than a cork does. Not as much air is able to get in. These caps are frequently used worldwide.
If you buy a wine in a supermarket, keep in mind that the wine is probably meant for immediate drinking. That is largely what a supermarket stocks, rather than aged wines. Don’t try to pick an older wine thinking it will be better. Just buy the freshest and most recent.
If you’re about to drink a very young red wine, a recent vintage, hold the stem of the glass and swirl it around. This lets all the flavors, and aromas come out of the wine while oxygen is introduced to the wine itself. This softens the tannins and makes for a great drink.
With all of this advice under your belt, you’re sure to know more about wine now. This will allow you to be a better sommelier in your own home, at a friend’s house or elsewhere. This will lead to many more delicate glasses of wine gracing your lips and a great deal of enjoyment ensuing.