Don’t make any poor decisions when it comes to choosing or storing your wine. One poor choice can entirely hinder the taste of your hard acquired bottle. The best way to learn how to serve, taste, choose and store wine is to learn some great insider tips. The following article is equipped with all you need to know about wine.
Learn about your wine shop. They are all different. Wine is a wide area, so each store will specialize in a certain kind of wines. When you are just beginning to experiment with wine, shopping at an expensive location is a bad choice. Try to choose a shop that fits your needs.
When looking for a great bottle of wine, do not instantly go for the most expensive wines in the store. While the cost of a bottle is one indicator of the flavor and quality, there are also many others. Take the time to try a few inexpensive brands, and they just might surprise you!
If you tend to get headaches right after drinking wine, you should try a different kind of wine. For instance, some people only get headaches from red wines. If the headaches persist, you should go to your doctor to make sure it is safe for you to keep drinking wine.
Learn the pronunciation of all of the wines that you serve so that you sound as professional as possible when you are around your guests. This can go a long way if you are having a party or get together with friends in your house. There are common names for wine, so get acquainted with the lingo.
The rule that white wine is better chilly doesn’t always apply. Not all white wines have similar textures, meaning some are served better at different temperatures. Some wines such as sauvignon blanc should be served cold but a chardonnay or a pinot will taste better at room temperature.
If you have a cellar or even just a rack where you can store wine, do not fill the space completely with the wines that you like right now. Your tastes are bound to change over time. You don’t want to be stuck with many cases of a brand you no longer drink.
You can easily make a mulled wine with only a few ingredients. You will need a bottle of red wine such as Merlot, Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon, a peeled and sliced orange, a quality brandy, honey or sugar and a few spices including whole cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Combine your ingredients into a slow cooker. Then, heat for 30 minutes and enjoy!
If you have a wine cellar and you need a bottle for a party of special occasion, do not bring it upstairs until the day of the event. Wine needs to be brought up the day of the event in order to reach room temperature. But, bringing it up to soon could ruin the wine.
Do not limit yourself to countries that are known for exporting wines such as Spain or France. In fact, some of the best wines on the market are from Argentina or from New Zealand. You should not form your opinion of a country after tasting only a couple different wines.
Sign up for an online wine forum. You can learn so much from experienced sommeliers, or even someone who has only a bit more experience than you do. In fact, you might find that you can contribute to the discussion as well. Fellow aficionados can suggest new wines to try that you may not be familiar with.
Take digital photos of wine labels and store them with your notes. Your wine hobby will take you to dozens of tasting and hundreds of wines. At some point, it’s going to get a bit overwhelming and confusing. These photos – when paired with notes- will help keep your knowledge on track.
Remember that rules were made to be broken, even when it comes to selecting wine. Just because the “norm” indicates you should pair red wine with red meat and white with fish, chicken or salad, doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. Enjoy your meal with your favorite wine, no matter who says they go together!
Here is a little bit of wine history for you: wine has been around for as long as 7,000 years! Egyptians are the first civilization we know of to have records of drinking wine, and those date back to 2,500 B.C. They created wines much like we do today, including bottling the beverage and storing it.
Many different factors go into the pricing behind a great bottle of wine. Your favorite locations, such as Spain may drive a hard bargain for a great selection, but there are alternatives. Nearby areas surrounding your preferred locale may also reveal a delectable flavor for a much lower price than the neighbor.
When you first get a glass of wine, look at its color. This will tell you all about what the wine will taste like. Aged white wine gets darker and stronger. Aged red wine actually fades in color. How the wine has been aged and which grapes were used will also affect the color.
Keep your nose two or three inches away from the glass when you sniff it. People stick their nose right into the glass and miss to many of the great aromas of the wine. When the wine smells bad, it has turned and should be dumped down the sink without drinking.
You may feel a bit overwhelmed by all of the things you didn’t know about wine. However, by choosing to take mental notes and applying all you’ve just read, you are setting yourself up for success. Remember, even the bartenders and wine tasting connoisseurs have needed help in the beginning!
