Overview To Sampling Wine
The fundamentals of tasting red wine are reasonably straightforward to find out. As soon as the basics are understood, the nuances and details can be enhanced over a lifetime. Like any kind of various other skill, More »
Red Wine Types
Red wine has a lot of different types, among which, the most popular include Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Moreover, More »
Wine History – A Quick Lesson
As crazy as this sounds and you might not believe it, but before there was wine, there were vessels to drink it from. Yes, believe it or not, there were containers that actually held liquid before liquid gold was created. These containers were just waiting for something to fill it that would satisfy its purpose far beyond what it could ever dream. Enter wine. The first wine glasses were made from many different materials from baked clay potter to gourds made of leather to goblets of silver and gold. Animal horns were even used, especially by the Vikings. These vessel examples were what was used when one was trying to maintain a certain level of decorum, otherwise drinking straight from larger storage container was entirely acceptable.
As far back as 50 A.D.a scientist named Pliny the Elder worked to encourage glass as a preferred container for holding wine, but this was not widely possible due to the fact that glass was as treasured a material as gold and jewels because at that time the process and ancient technology used to make glass was expensive and very difficult. Because of this, the first version of the wine glass that consisted of a base, stem and foot dates from the 15th century. Due to the Industrial Revolution, glass today is very easy to produce which in turn makes it affordable compared to all previous centuries. In fact, even as late as the beginning of the 20th century glass was difficult to mass produce. These facts make it easy to see how glass was just as precious as gold or silver a few hundred years ago.
Again, because of the Industrial Revolution, the mass production of glass suddenly made sets of wine glasses affordable to everyday blue collar working folks. Wine glasses along with champagne flutes, tumblers and goblets were sold in sets, usually containing a dozen in each set. Suddenly glass was the preferred material for wine vessels and this made it easy for people to covet the color and body of the wine, which is just as important as taste and indeed needed to get the full experience out of drinking wine. With these discoveries, glass began to be shaped specifically to enhance the bouquet and body of red, white and blush wine alike. These inventions gave a while new perspective and twist into wine drinking and enjoyment.
Shape and size of the bowl of the glass is very important to the full experience of wine enjoyment. You should buy glasses specifically for the red and white wine and even champagne. A lot of science has gone into the shape of each type of glass and you would greatly benefit by using the proper shape for the wine you are drinking.
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How to Look Like a Wine Expert
Ever wonder why you see wine connoisseurs stick their noses into their wine glass when the wine steward brings a new bottle of wine to the table? They are “tasting” the wine with their noses.
Believe it or not, your tongue can only taste four things: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. All the other nuances of taste actually come through a complicated relationship between taste and smell. It is the nose and the nasal passage at the back of the throat that make what we taste in our mouths flavorful.
Inspecting and smelling the cork and sniffing the wine lets the person who ordered the wine evaluate it before putting into his or her mouth. If the wine has been spoiled, these two steps will usually reveal the problem.
Improper wine storage or contamination with certain bacteria can make a wine taste perfectly terrible. You wouldn’t want to put it in your mouth.
After showing you the bottle and removing the cork, the sommelier, or wine steward, will hand you the cork to inspect and sniff. If the cork appears to have deteriorated or smells bad, you should immediately refuse the wine.
If all appears to be well with the cork, the sommelier will pour a small amount of the wine into your glass.
Keep the base of your glass flat on the table and swirl the wine gently around. This mixes air with the wine and vaporizes the complex aromas. Quickly lift the glass and stick your nose into the glass as far as you can and smell the wine.
Some people say that keeping your mouth open while you sniff the wine will help you perceive the full aroma.
When a wine is badly “flawed,” it will often be immediately apparent in it’s “nose,” which is the term wine lovers use for it’s smell. If the nose of the wine is not inviting, and you aren’t immediately tempted to taste it, don’t hesitate to return the bottle to your wine steward. You should immediately be offered a replacement bottle.
Keep in mind that if there are strong scents around you, they can compete with the wine you are evaluating. If you or the person next to you are wearing strong perfume, this can throw off your nose. If there is pungent food being served nearby, this can also affect what you smell in the wine glass.
Once your nose has had first crack at the wine, and the wine has passed the nose test, then take a sip and swirl the wine around in your mouth. Give the sommelier a nod if you approve, and only then will he proceed to serve your chosen wine to your guests at the table.
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Homemade Wine Making Equipment
If you’re thinking about making your own homemade wine, here are some things you should know about the equipment required to get you started.
First and foremost, we need to talk about cost. You could visit online merchants here, there and everywhere to shop around for the best prices on individual items you’ll need to start making your own wine, but most sites that sell equipment offer some sort of beginning equipment kit that will have all the items you need to get your wine making career started. This is absolutely the best way to go in my opinion. Kits will run anywhere from $ 80-$ 150. That’s a lot of money, but this equipment can be used over and ever and thus will eventually pay for itself.
So what’s included in a kit, anyway? For starters you’ll get a plastic primary fermentation bucket, usually around 8 gallons. After primary fermentation you’ll need something to transfer your wine into for secondary fermentation. This is usually a 5 or 6 gallon glass bottle, called a carboy, although in some kits the secondary is plastic.
Also included will be some rubber stoppers that fit the fermenting vessels, and an airlock, which is a device used to let carbon dioxide out when your wine is fermenting while not allowing air and bacteria in. You should also get a couple of brushes, one for cleaning the bottles and another so you can clean the carboy.
Some sort of cleaning agent and also a sanitizer will be included. Cleaning and sanitizing is a crucial step when making wine. A length of plastic tubing will be supplied, and a sometimes a device called a racking tube which aids in transferring your wine from one vessel to the other. Some kits also include a little device to slip onto the plastic tube that allows you to shut off the flow of wine when you’re bottling.
Most kits include a hydrometer. This is a device that measures the specific gravity of the wine during various stages of development. You can also use it to measure the potential alcohol of your wine. Corks are also in most equipment kits, as is some sort of corker to insert the corks.
This is the minimum list of items, and you’ll find some kits that include much more. What is generally NOT included is an ingredient kit, although some sellers will allow you to add one to your package for a reduced price and if you can afford it, this is a good way to go. Bottles are usually not included either, but are easy to collect from friends and family.
Consider getting started making your own homemade wine today. It’s a fun and fascinating hobby that you can explore endlessly.
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Story of the Perfect Wine Glass
Drinking wine is always a pleasure but drinking with the perfect wine glasses is always going to make your wine a delight. So here is a guide to choose the perfect wine glass for you.
In the market there are many types of wine glasses of different quality and design. So while you are choosing a bottle of wine make sure that you first seek in the market and decide upon the best plan. However there are a number of manufacturers in the market which offer you excellent wine glasses but they are expensive though and thus are in accordance with the wines.
Besides being the massive amount of glasses available in the market, there are three wine glasses which make the exception. The first in the list is the white wine glass of standard shaped. Try it out with a bottle of champagne and a bowl of red. However there are other recommendations also and make sure that you make the best choice.
The very first thing you should see is the material of which they are made. Make sure that the glass is clean and plain. In order to have the pleasure of the wine watch out for the color of the wine like the age of the wine and the quality of wine. Wine glasses are also made up of frosted or colored glass and the materials made up of silver and pewter are definitely not desirable.
Next, make sure that glasses are of adequate size and that’s why a glass should be of measurable in a way that enough quantity wine could be poured and wine could be swirled in the glass and therefore free the aromas of the wine which is crucially important.
Make sure that it should have a stem so that the wine glass can be held easily without having any oily fingerprints. Also, it helps the wine to be at right temperature. You must be wondering how to do this thing, as you hold the wine glass to be warmed up and keep it cool from the area from which you are holding.
In the last, one of the most crucial aspect is that the shape of the bowl is of sheer importance. A superior wine glass is narrow from the top and it is broader from the bottom. Besides looking good, it has a multifunctional purpose.
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Which Wine Goes With What?
Most everyone reading is now rolling their eyes. “Not THIS again!” So much fuss is made over pairings between food and wine, that you have to wonder what all the fuss is about, and whether it is possible for anyone to learn it in one lifetime. Do you just have to go to wine college and get a degree? Well, no, but it wouldn’t hurt…
Let’s try to skim this down to the basic elements: At the end, it’s all about you, your taste buds, and how much you care. If you think tilapia fried in olive oil is the best match for Cabernet, that’s all you. Nobody is more right about what you like than you are. And if you really want to appreciate the elegant art of matching food with wine, you should experiment anyway. How are you going to know why a buttery Chardonnay isn’t a good companion for prime rib beef, until you try it yourself? Go ahead and try new things; we promise that the Wine Police won’t come and haul you away!
There are the “by-the-book” wine snobs who have vast lists of food and wine pairings. At the other end of the spectrum are those who dismiss the whole school of thought as a lot of hot air. The truth, as you might expect, lies somewhere in the middle. And with many wine experts contradicting each other on specific cases, you would expect that there’s less science and more art to it.
Some basic rules of thumb: Either white wines go with fish and poultry and red with everything else, or else red wines go best with red meats (beef, pork, lamb) and white wines go with everything else. If only it were as simple as color-coding!
Here’s a better rule of thumb: Pair a strong-taste with a delicate taste. Another way to say this is “complex wines with simple foods, simple wines with complex foods”. You want the two to compliment each other. Think of how you wouldn’t wear a polka-dot shirt with a striped tie, but rather match a solid color to a pattern.
As with clothes, you also don’t want the tastes of food and wine to clash. Use the same common sense that tells you which foods match together. A sweet dinner of crab’s legs and lobster tail will be great with a Chardonnay, which is sweet and delicate. A grilled T-bone steak wants a hefty, fruity wine with a kick to compliment it; time for a Bordeaux! But in some cases, contrast is more important. Liver is a strong, lingering taste, so it needs a modest, mild, contrasting compliment, rather than a match which would be overpowering; how about a Pinot Noir or any burgundy that isn’t too demanding?
The “red with red” rule is so consistent that it even applies to things other than meat: For pasta, match a red wine to a tomato-based red pasta sauce, and a white to a white Alfredo-type sauce. The same goes for sauces on vegetables. As for vegetables themselves, once again we should go for matching simple for simple with complex for complex.
Cheeses are another broad area. Anything goes. Most wine experts in fact like to have a wide array of cheeses and wines so they can mix and match. As with playing chords on a musical instrument, there isn’t always an absolutely right or wrong answer. This goes for cheese sauces and fondues, too.
The purpose of this little spiel is to demystify the world of wine for the common person. Hopefully, you’ve gleaned enough hints from here to have a basic concept of what’s going on. If you want to pursue the subject deeper, there’s whole encyclopedias devoted to this subject. And if you find yourself dining with companions who barely tolerate your wine drinking, let alone putting up with a rule-book wine bore, you’ll still be loose enough to relax and not be so stuffy about it.