If you’re not exactly a wine connoisseur then buying wine for your family table – let alone for people with a good knowledge of wine – can be intimidating. Picking a wine can seem rather elitist and can render the most confident people into apologetic wrecks. So here’s a rundown of basic must-knows when choosing a wine.
More often than not you’ll find yourself choosing between a red or white wine. Both types possess different flavourings and distinctions to meet specific occasions. There are two processes that affect a wines distinct taste. The complexity of red wine is largely due to retaining the stems, seeds and skins in the juice. Whilst fermenting for white wine sees grapes skins seeds removed from the resulting squeezed juice. The end result is that red wine is richer and more robust than white, which tends to be lighter and less complex.
This produces tannins and pigments. Tannins are compounds that produce that sharp taste experienced in tea, coffee and wine. These compounds are extracted from plants and, in the wine making process, grapes. Not only do Tannins provide a complexity in the wine, it prevents oxidation in the ageing process. Red wine tends to be aged for far longer than white, which is why more Tannins are found in the darker wines. As the wine matures, the bite in the tannins diminishes and becomes mellow.
Depending on the label, red and white can both be excellent additions to your meal. People will tend to pick red wines to go with stronger flavoured meals, whereas white is commonly paired with less flavoured meals. However there are no set rules, it depends on a person’s own taste and requirements. Conventionally, red wine goes well with meat dishes whereas fish and chicken dishes can be complimented with a glass of white.
A child’s birth can be celebrated with a wine: a Sauterness would be a good choice. This is a sweet desert wine that matures over a number of years from buttercup yellow to deep amber. If you buy a case, the parents can enjoy a bottle from the fifth birthday onwards. Sauterness can be kept for a decade turning into a rich golden colour.
Selected from the appropriate vintage, a bottle of wine can celebrate a birthday anniversary. But don’t forget, not every year produced a good vintage. If said birthday or anniversary was over 20 years ago, it’s a good idea to avoid vintage champagne – by that age it’ll be coming towards the end of its peak. Your best bet is to stick with reds. Old claret is great value for money and has a range of vintages from the past 50 years. If you’re unsure which wine is best – and you have some cash to spend – then invite some friends around, get the wine glasses out and get ready to sample!
Aidan Donovan is a copywriter for suppliers of high quality glassware including champagne flutes.
Image by: herbrm
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