Drinking wine is something people enjoy doing for many different reasons and occasions. But, to truly get the most out of wine, you need to do your research. In the following piece, you will be given advice to help ensure you know everything about wine, thus, improving your experience with it.
Read up as much as you can on wine through books and magazines. In these works, you will find that some of the best wine connoisseurs in the world rate some of the most popular wines. This will help you to decide what wines you want to buy if you have yet to try them.
It pays to follow your gut instincts as you try new wines. For instance, just because a friend likes a wine that you have never liked in the past, you do not need to feel compelled to buy it. You don’t want to end up spending money on a wine you may not like.
Have a plan prior to picking your wine. Be sure you know which wine you’re looking before to avoid getting overwhelmed by brands, varieties, and prices. Certain wines fit dinners and others better fit large parties. Knowing which wine suits your needs can help you choose a better wine than browsing and choosing something on a whim.
Store your wine the right way if you want it to taste good over time. Extreme temperatures, whether cold or hot, can destroy your wine. The best temperature for storing your wine is around 55 degrees. You may use a cool basement or a wine refrigerator.
When storing wines, you should make sure they reach a temperature of 57 degrees. This is the best temperature to serve a wine, but you might want to chill your white wines or let your red wines warm a little by simply placing the bottle on the table half an hour before your meal.
A good tip when trying to research wines is to find a critic or expert that has a similar palate to you. Everyone’s tastes are different and that includes critics. Try to find a critic that likes similar wines and you’ll be amazed with all the new wines you’ll be introduced to.
If you want your wine to taste the best, make sure the temperature is right. Red wines, for example are the best when you serve them near 65 degrees. Start with your wine at 58 degrees to allow warming in the glass. White wines are best served at 47 degrees. A warmer white wine will have a dull taste.
Do not write a certain wine off just because a wine tester does not like it. Just like with many other beverages, certain wines require an acquired taste. Even if he or she does not like it, you may find it to be to your liking. See if you can get a sample of it before buying a bottle.
Go to wine tastings when you can. Wine tastings are the best place to test your pallet against the many different types and brands of wine. You can even find some that are free, but do remember to spit your wine. You can not accurately tell the taste of a wine once you begin to become intoxicated.
There is no way of telling when a wine will reach its peak. A lot of bottles are made to be enjoyed immediately and stored bottles will reach their peak at different times in function of storage conditions. You can sometimes get an estimate from an expert who has enjoyed bottles of the same wine.
Take notes on any wine that you try out. You aren’t going to really know what you are doing at first. However, over time, you will start noticing specific trends in your notes and reactions. You might even see that your reaction to particular wine’s changes as you drink more of them.
If you are at a restaurant where the prices of the wine are outrageous, do not be ashamed to order beer. Sometimes, restaurants will jack up their prices knowing that the customer is coming to drink wine and will purchase it anyway. This can help save you a lot of money in the long run.
Take the advice of wine critics with a grain of salt since you may have entirely different tastes than they do. Many people rely on critics to give them advice on what wines to select, but they end up disappointed. Only do this if you are sure that you and the critic have very similar palates.
Don’t turn your nose up at screw cap wines. Many quality wines now have screw tops. Screw caps have been proven to keep the wine pure. There is less air in the bottles, and of course, there will be less cork. Some places use screw caps overall.
Don’t bother to get expensive wine if you are cooking with it. Most of the wine’s alcohol content cooks off as you make your dish, and the other ingredients will add taste to whatever wine you choose. Save the expensive stuff to drink separately when you sit down to your meal.
Buying wine online can be rewarding. Traveling can become expensive, which means visiting local vineyards and wineries in other states is not possible. By researching online, you can find not only great wineries, but also great deals as well. Buying online also gives you the ability to buy in bulk at better savings.
As the beginning of this piece discussed, people like to drink wine for a number of reasons. To really enjoy wine though, you need to be sure you have conducted research about it. If you use the advice this piece discussed, the next glass of wine you drink will be the best you have ever had.
