Note:Despite my greatest efforts if some technical jargon has seeped into this review, kindly M2M me for clarifications or better still use the comments section. Also I have deliberately left out brand names, as there a more than 10, 000 registered brands of wine and of them several hundred are known to me to be good.
* Wine is bottled poetry. - Robert Louis Stevenson
Wine Basics *
Any fermented fruit juice is termed a wine. By that count you can have a carrot wine, pineapple wine, beetroot wine, grape wine etc. But over the centuries, by use and disuse the term wine now represents an alcoholic beverage fermented from grape juice.
Table wine/ Still wine: * the basic fermented grape juice.
Sparkling wine: * wine which has got carbon dioxide incorporated into it to give it a fizz(effervescence).
Fortified wine:* wine whose alcohol content has been increased by the addition of spirit(usually grape brandy).
Aromatized wine: wine which has been treated with aromatic substances, usually after fortification.
Another classification of wine is on the basis of its color. Red wine is manufactured using black grapes by allowing the skin to remain in the juice at the time of fermentation, it is also matured for longer periods, a white wine can be made from black or green grapes, the skin are not left in the juice. A rose wine usually uses a combination of the above two methods. A new category that has emerged is a “green wine” which however has nothing to do with the color of the wine but denotes that it has no artificial preservatives added.
Alcoholic content and serving temperature
Still wines and Sparkling wines are usually between 7 to 14% alcohol by volume.
Fortified and Aromatized wines are usually between 15 to 24% alcohol by volume.
It is said that red wines should be served at room temperature. Now this is often misunderstood. Remember most original literature about wines come from western countries where the room temperature in fairly low. The ideal temperature to serve a red wine is 17-21C. White wines are best served at 7-14C., sweeter wines are served at lower temperatures and so are sparkling wines to preserve their fizz. An extremely chilled wine will numb the tongue and hence several restaurants chill their wines a little too much to mask the flaws. Old red wines need to be opened a little bit ahead of the time of consumption, for it to “Breathe”(allow the wine to come in contact with air so that the aroma is released better). Many classical restaurants use the process of decantation(transferring the contents from the bottle to a glass jar) along side the guest table, for old red wines, it adds to the romanticism of drinking a wine and helps the wine breathe better.
Some helpful wine terms:
Light and Heavy: * two terms that describes the fullness of the wine or feel of the wine in your mouth. To put it in layman’s terms milk has a heavier body than water.
Sweet and Dry: * While a sweet wine has a considerable amount of sugar in it and therefore sweetness, a dry wine is one which is almost entirely devoid of it.
Bouquet: * is a term used to describe a wine that has a complex aroma.
Tannic: a term usually used to describe an old red wine. The contact with grape skins usually means that red wines have more tannin than white wines.
Corky: a wine whose cork has fallen into it. It is a common fault with wines. If your wine is corky you may return it without any hesitation.
Some pointers
The type of wine you buy should always be based on the type of food you eat. So either decide on the wine and build a menu around it or decide the menu and buy complimenting wines. All wines don’t go well with all food. So when at a restaurant see if there is an option available to order wines by glasses instead of bottles if, only two or three of you are likely to drink it.
When choosing more than one wine with food the following guidelines can be helpful.
An older wine(more complex) is always had after a younger wine(simple).
A heavier wine is always better off after a lighter wine.
A sweeter wine is always better off after a drier wine.
Good champagne goes well with almost all continental and western food.
Dry fortified wines are good aperitifs(a drink that induces hunger)
Dry and acidic white wines go well with seafood preparations.
Light red wines can be consumed with poultry and red meat preparations that have a bland finish.
Heavy red wines are best consumed with spicy meat preparations.
Light reds or rose wines are good accompaniments for vegetarian foods.
Sweet whites and fortified wines are good dessert wines. Aromatized wines are usually excellent digestives.
Other considerations:
If a wine is used to finish of a particular preparation or as an ingredient in it, then the same wine maybe used as an accompaniment to that dish.
Wines from a particular country can be the first choice for foods from that particular country. For example good pasta from Italy is best accompanied by Italian wines.
Avoid wines with foods like chocolate; poached egg, cream cheese etc as they tend to coat your tongue and there by don’t let you appreciate the wine. If you still want a wine with any of them choose a strong wine.
The most exquisite wines come from France, Germany and Italy. They are however very expensive also. The very best of them are usually called “celebratory wines” as they are usually consumed occasionally. If you are in these countries however you can consume their everyday drinking wines which are rarely exported. Wines from South Africa, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, California etc are the second rung and often excellent value for money buys.
Things to remember:
A good wine is a work of art and it deserves to be appreciated like that. Do not drink it with the wrong food. Also remember to savor it; not just gulp it down like a shot of tequila.
A wine is not a beverage to be consumed, if you are just looking at intoxication. Its alcoholic percentage is pretty low, so you will have to drink quite a bit of it to get DRUNK. If you ever get drunk on wine, you can be sure that you will experience one of the worst ever hangovers you have had.
When ordering by the bottles in a restaurant it is not a bad idea to inspect the corks of the bottle, a decayed, foul smelling or damaged cork indicates a spoiled wine.
Most red wines that are aged will have sediments at the bottom of the bottle. This is not a flaw.
Some of the common preservatives used in wine making, have sulphur as an ingredient. So if you have sulpha allergy then please make sure the wine is suitable to you. Green wines are the best buy in this case.
Most wines from France, Germany and Italy have labels in native language, so be sure of what you are buying. Have a trusted wine follower suggest you brands after listening to your preferences. You have to keep in mind that a good wine comes at a price and make sure you buy, what is suits you.
If you don’t know what wine to chose and if money is not a limiting factor settle for a Champagne(the best known sparkling wine), which is goes well for any occasion. It is also one of the most expensive classes of wine. A good drink if not for anything else, its snob value.
NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE