Have you ever had a glass of wine? If you’re like most, the answer is probably yes. However, you probably don’t know much about the wine you are drinking, other than the color. Wine has a rich history and is a vast topic that involves geography, climate and grapes. Here are some solid tips for learning more about this drink.
If you are new to wine tasting, you should know that true connoisseurs actually spit the wine after tasting it. Spitting the wine is the best way to avoid overpowering your taste buds so you can keep tasting other wines. Take a small sip of wine, wait a few seconds to feel all its different flavors and spit it.
Wine has many beneficial properties for your health. Enjoy a small glass of wine each night to enjoy the benefits. Most doctors recommend opting for a red wine to get the most benefits. When pouring your wine after dinner, allow the wine time to breathe before enjoying your glass of wine.
Proper wine storage can preserve flavors well. Temperatures that are either too hot or too cold can alter the taste of your wine. Try to keep wine at around 50 degrees as a rule of thumb. You can buy a special wine fridge or put the bottles in a cool basement.
If you want to keep wine for long periods of time, you should consider investing in a wine refrigerator. Even if you have a dry and cool basement you can use, temperature will still vary slightly from one season to the next. The wine you store will keep its flavors if it remains at the exact same temperature.
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.
Read everything you can get your hands-on with respect to wine. Not only are there books available, but the Internet is a great resource as well. Check out blogs and reviews. New ones are coming out all the time, and they can be very valuable in helping you select wine that you might enjoy.
Even though white wines should be thoroughly chilled when you drink them, you should avoid storing them in a refrigerator for weeks at a time. The best thing to do is to keep them at room temperature and refrigerate them an hour or two before you plan on serving them.
Don’t worry about trying to identify all the flavors in a wine that you are tasting. Some people have a natural affinity for this while others do not. Try to focus instead on how much alcohol is in the product, as well as what type of fruit may be included. Over time, you will probably be able to get a good feel for these elements.
A good tip if you’re interested in drinking wine is to make sure you serve your wine out of a good glass. You don’t want to serve your guests wine out of something silly and embarrass yourself A good wine glass should be large, have thin glass, and a long stem.
When you are in a restaurant, do not feel too shy about ordering a wine that is not the most expensive. Sommeliers choose great wines for the restaurants they work for, which means that the more inexpensive choices should taste just as good as the ones that cost quite a bit.
Have a basic idea of what kind of wine you like. Even if you are not sure of what brand, winery or region you prefer, it is pretty easy to determine if you prefer a blush, red or white. By knowing just this basic fact, you can more easily determine which wines are worth trying for your next meal.
The year the grapes were harvested is the vintage year. So, a 2010 wine has been made with grapes harvested in the fall of 2010. They can then be stored until the wine is actually bottled. The wine most likely didn’t get sold until 2011 or 2012.
The Internet is a huge place with an abundant amount of information on virtually every topic imaginable, including wine. Print all of these pages out and bring them along for your next wine hunt. Get opinions from employees, compare your notes, and don’t let uneducated guesses send you back with a terrible wine.
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!
If you are visiting wineries, purchase wine directly from the winery if the winery is a smaller production business. These businesses typically do not sell to retailers and that makes it more difficult to find them on the supermarket shelves. Larger production businesses almost always sell to retailers, and oftentimes for a better price than you can buy directly from the winery at.
You should go to a class to learn more about wine and its history. Wine has a rich history. By learning all you can about wines, you will develop a deep appreciation for it. Learning about where wines come from, how they’re made and what varieties there are can help you understand them.
Wine is a drink that is also a complex subject. The tips in this article have hopefully helped you to learn more about it. Now you know more and can choose different wines and perhaps start cooking with it. The more you know, the more you can appreciate this fantastic beverage.
