Here are my thoughts on appreciating wine:
- Prepare beforehand – no sweets/cake, toothpaste, mouthwash, and for others no strong aftershave/perfume, garlic breath. I have made the mistake on more than one occasion by eating a cake/dessert before tasting wine so avoid these beforehand.
- Patio wine – according to some members of my Wine Circle, white wine or maybe rose can be described as a patio wine. In other words it is a light, refreshing wine, served chilled, to enjoy on the patio before a meal perhaps or just on its own.
- Everyone has had difference experiences and knows of different countries so ask their background before accepting their recommendation. I started really learning about South African wines.
- French whites are made a little acidic. The French prefer it this way although it isn’t my choice.
- Italian wine is made to be drunk with food. If it doesn’t taste right first time, try it with food. The difference is noticeable.
- German whites are not all sweet. Germany has many great dry whites just like other countries in the region.
- Australian wines are consistent, year upon year.
- New Zealand whites tend to be better and Australian better for their reds
- New World V Old World. Old World wines relates to France and other European countries like Germany, Italy and Spain etc., whilst New World means Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, California and the like
- Argentina make excellent malbec
- It is rare to have a bad Chilean wine
- South African wines. If you look in the supermarkets in the UK you will believe that most South African wines are ‘cheap’. However, the truth is that South African wines are made by first class wine makers and most of these excellent wines are not readily available in this country. A select number though can be purchased from specialist importers.
- viticulture and viniculture – viticulture is the art of grape growing (the vine, the vineyard and vineyard management) and viniculture is the study of growing grapes and making wine from grapes, so they overlap slightly.
- vines that are used in winemaking can only live in a certain temperature range and can adapt only so much to extremes in climate. Wine production is therefore typically limited to the areas of the globe between the 30th and the 50th parallel of latitude in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
- Watch out for China. China falls within the above zones and is a country to watch out for. They are already growing grapes so it will be interesting to see how they perform in years to come.
- UK wine. Geographically, we are at the extreme edge of the northern hemisphere wine zone so we are not quite hot enough to produce good red wines. According to the English Wine Producers Website there are 7 red and 21 white grape varietals used in the UK so you can see that the preference is to favour white wines. As our soil in parts of the south is the same as the champagne district of France we can produce white grapes of similar quality here. The trick then is being able to make the same wine and some wine estates do this very well.
- Champagne – Article 275 of The Peace Treaty of Versailles, 1919, which brought an end to the First World War, is where the agreement was made to prevent countries other than France from calling their wine Champagne.
- There are over 10,000 grape varieties used for wine making in the world! Many are hybrids of a parent grape.
- Prosecco – is the current fad. It used to be Rose in the UK but Prosecco is likely to be the more popular over time.
- How to choose your wine. The wine I choose depends on the occasion. If I want a red wine to just drink and enjoy I’ll choose a lighter, easy drinking red wine. If I am with people who enjoy good wine I will share a well-made, medium or full-bodied red. For drinking with food I may choose a full-bodied wine depending on the food I am eating or something less overpowering. In restaurants, I sometimes even choose the wine first and then decide on the food to go with it. I drink more white wine than reds in summer and more reds than white in winter. The nice thing about the winter months coming is that I can better enjoy a good red wine with a tasty meat dish.
- Tannins come from the grape skins and the oak in the barrel. They smooth out over time. That is probably why some people don’t like cabernet sauvignon because they are drinking it too young, yet over time the tannins smooth out to make the wine beautifully drinkable.
- Sulphur dioxide. Sulphur dioxide is a chemical that is added to the wine for two reasons, to inhibit the natural yeasts and bacteria on the grapes and to protect the wine from oxidation. Wines produced in bulk often have too much sulphur dioxide, which can be the cause of your headache. Well made wines have the minimum amount of sulphur dioxide necessary so often affects you less. So it is better for you to drink quality wines! Another reason for a headache can simply be too much alcohol!
- Most supermarket wine (excluding their exclusive range) should be drunk within 1 year and is often labelled as such. This is true because they are made this way as most customers these days want to drink wine immediately.
- You can lay down wine for later drinking if you choose a well-made wine with good tannins and know how long to keep it. The tasting notes available from specialist suppliers will give you this information.
- Sediment isn’t bad. Sediment is residue left over from the maturation process and it doesn’t mean it’s a bad wine. A few wines are made like this. You just need to filter it through some fine cloth before drinking.
- Do you need to allow the wine to breath? Most red wines benefit from opening the bottle for a little before drinking. This will allow the wine to breathe for 10 minutes or so depending on the wine. You can aerate the wine by pouring it very slowly where the initial bubbles introduce air into the wine. It isn’t necessary to ring the restaurant days before your booking and ask them to open the wine as I heard from one story.