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 Making and Tasting
In your search for wine making recipes online, you will encounter a variety of interesting recipes from which to choose; there are standard ones for beginners, variations from the classics, innovative ones that are exciting to make, and there are the organic recipes to keep you fit and healthy.
With a jug of water, some yeast and pectic enzyme, some sugar, and other flavorings, there are many homemade wine making recipes you can experiment with. You can make wine from your favorite fruits like your all-time favorite grapes and strawberries as well as apples, apricots, peaches, bananas, pineapples, and all sorts of berries. You can also make them from nuts like almonds and hazelnuts. You can try roses, lilac, and dandelions, too. There is a world of wine making recipes out there, and they’re just a click away.
To say a wine is sound and round or well-rounded, means it is well-balanced. Smooth means that the wine is just right, while sharp and rough mean that the wine is imbalanced a bit strong and falling between sour and tart in terms of acidity. Silky means that the wine is fine and balanced. In essence, wine has three basic components: Fruit, acidity, and tannin. To make a good wine, these three components must be in balance, not overwhelming.
There are variations in taste, such as soft in contrast to hard and light in contrast to heavy referring to tannins. Based on its flavor, a wine might be described as nutty or earthy. It would be unfavorable and faulty if it were said to be mousy, musty, moldy, or faded. As the names imply, Yuck!
A wine’s dosage means the amount of sugar added to wine, especially to sparkling wine. Thus, derive the terms sweet and dry and the semi’s in between. Cloying, on the other hand, suggests that the wine is too sweet for comfort.
As a whole, a wine should have a finish that is pleasant just as you swallow, and an aftertaste that is likewise pleasant after you swallow the wine and it lingers inside your mouth.
Aroma is how a young wine smells. Green is what it tastes like. Clean is when you have no complaints, and herbaceous is as grassy and organic as they get. Thin is when the wine is bland, and hot is when wine really burns. It’s for fire-breathing dragons and not for you.
But the most important ingredients of all, you find inside yourself. Wine making involves a passionate desire to learn. It entails patience and discipline. It takes time. You ferment, blend, and age along with it, with grace. It takes a real love for wine, be it white or red, sweet or dry, crackling or sparkling, local or foreign.
They say the best way to know wine is to drink some and enjoy some. Get to know the experience of it. Appreciate the nuances of each unique kind and brand. Wine can be very much a part of every dining experience and many celebrations in our lifetime.
There are many good wine recipes and every recipe can be extraordinary.
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Wine Making Yeast Bits
What separates wine from simple juice is the fermentation process in wine making. Fermentation involves wine making yeast, not any other type of yeast like your bread yeast.
Importance
Wine yeast is the most important ingredient in wine making. Not only as an ingredient but the process of mixing it with the must will make or break the whole batch of wine. It is said that the real winemaker is not the person making the wine but the yeast itself. The yeast works to absorb the sugar from the fruit and creating alcohol and carbon dioxide in equal portions.
Timing
The timing of mixing in the yeast is crucial as well. One can neither put the yeast too early nor too late, in the whole wine process. At best, wine making yeast is mixed in at least twenty four hours after the fruit is crushed. And it is left to stand interacting with the must for at least five to seven days, with only a few stirring twice to thrice a day.
Activation
For better results, wine making yeast must be activated first before mixing it into the fruit must. How? Mix the yeast into a cup of juice squeezed from the must and set aside for at least twelve hours before mixing it into the must. Or a cup of warm water will suffice. Do not use hot water as the temperature will kill the yeast rather than activating it. You know the yeast is active when the mixture looks like it is boiling.
Buying
Buying yeast is extremely easy. Just make sure that the label reads wine making yeast or something to that fashion. Any generic brand will make do for the amateurs. But if you are the brave type or already an aficionado, those specialty types are great choices. The amount you buy is also noteworthy, a ten milligram packet of yeast is sufficient to work on ten gallons of grape must.
So you see, even the hardest part of the wine process, which is the part involving wine yeast, is relatively easy once you know why it is crucial, what to buy and how and when to use it.
A Basic Guide on Wine
Are you confused about choosing the right wine to serve with certain foods? You’ll be glad to learn that most of the strict “wine rules” are out the window these days. Here are more relaxed guidelines to help you enjoy wine to its fullest.
Wines can be divided into four general classes: appetizer, dinner, dessert, and sparkling wines. The name of the class generally indicates the use of each wine.
Appetizer wines, also called aperitifs, are those served before a meal or as a cocktail.
Dinner wines, also called table wines, include red, white, and rose wines. They usually are served with the main course. Red dinner wines are predominantly dry and rich, and sometimes have a tart or astringent character, so they are best with hearty or highly seasoned foods. White dinner wines are lighter in flavor can can be very dry and tart or slightly sweet and fragrant. Serve white wines with delicately flavored foods so that the flavor of the wine does not overpower the entree.
Rose wine is an all-purpose dinner wine, compatible with any food. Rose wines, which are simply pale red wines, may be sweet or dry, or even lightly carbonated.
In cooking, the flavor of wine should subtly enhance the natural food flavors. Dry red wines are generally used in main dishes such as stews and sauces for red meats. Dry white wines work well with white sauces or poultry dishes.
Dessert wines are heavier heavier-bodied and sweet, and are served as the dessert or as a dessert accompaniment. You also can add them to your favorite dessert sauce.
Sparkling wines, served either by themselves or as an accompaniment, make any occasion special. They taste equally good before, during, or at the end of the meal. The driest ones are labeled “brut”.
Store unopened wines at a cool, constant temperature (about 60oF). Store corked bottle on their sides so the wine will stay in contact with the cork and keep it moist.
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Choosing the Ideal Summer Wine
If you plan to go on a picnic during the summer, packing a dependable wine bottle is a must in order to enjoy what the season has to offer. This is especially true if you plan to around some exotic locales and try to enjoy the best of what Mother Nature has to offer.
Your choice of wine, however, will dictate how well it will taste in the summer heat. Make the right choice, and you will be able to savour the flavour as best you can. Make the wrong one, though, and you may end up feeling terribly heavy and lousy for the rest of the trip. It is for this purpose that you need to select either a lighter wine or a heavier wine, and your choice will dictate how much you will enjoy them:
The lighter, fresher wines
White wines or red wines with a more fruity and tangy bite to them are the most common wines that can be found during summer. Their refreshing taste helps to uplift the spirits, while the low acid and alcohol content make them ideal for light snacking and picnicking.
These lighter, fresher wines are thus recommended for outdoor excursions that will either require a lot of activity before or afterwards, or for those who want to enjoy their summers sitting lazily on the beach or on the park. These come highly recommended for anyone and everyone who plans to enjoy the great outdoors during summer, and should definitely be selected over their heavier, headier cousins if any activities are scheduled for the day. The wine, of course, must match the food you plan to bring during your summer activities. White wine and the lighter red wines really do not go well with intense foods, so pack food that is easy on the tongue and light on the stomach.
The heavier, headier wines
Deep, dark red wine with high alcohol content is generally not recommended for summer activities. The heat will get to you even faster when you have a lot of alcohol in your system, and you may just end up feeling sluggish even when you still have a lot of things left to do in the day.
The exception to this, though, is the classic barbecue with huge chunks of beef steak on the grill. A few glasses of well chilled red wine will go well with the barbecue, provided you have little else to do during the day except wind down and relax. If you wish to do so, just make sure that you stay nice and cool if you do not want to feel like a huge sack of potatoes in the middle of the summer heat.
All in all, the lighter wines like white wine or fruity red wine are best enjoyed during the summer. Their light flavour helps to add some zing without putting you down, but may prove to be bland when mixed with heavier, more intense foods. If you plan a major barbecue with some dripping T-bone steaks at the side, then you may want to set aside a bottle or two of deeper, darker wine for that meal alone.
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5 Common Wine Myths Debunked
Don’t let some snooty ‘wine snob’ scare you away from all the fun you can have by exploring wine. There are countless varieties of wines that you can learn about and try. It can be very relaxing to have some friends over, open up a bottle of your latest ‘find’ and sit back and enjoy the company and the wine.
Today more than ever a lot of the old ‘rules’ about wine just don’t matter. The single most important rule you need to remember is that you are supposed to enjoy your wine. It doesn’t matter how expensive it was or what you’re having for dinner. You need to enjoy the flavor of the wine you are drinking.
Here is a list of the 5 most common wine myths — debunked…
1) Good wine has to be expensive. Nope. Good wine is whatever you like the taste of even if it comes in a box!
2) You have to take out the cork to let it breathe. While it is true that many wines will benefit from adding oxygen to them, just taking out the cork won’t allow enough oxygen in the bottle to do any good. If you want your wine to breathe pour it into a wide mouth wine decanter or glass prior to serving.
3) You can’t store an open bottle in the refrigerator. As long as you put the cork back in a bottle of wine should be just fine in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
4) You can tell if the wine is good by smelling the cork. Generally the only thing you will learn by smelling the cork is whether or not the cork is moldy. If you want to know if the wine itself is any good smell it. And then taste it.
5) You have to have white wine with fish and red with meat. This is probably one of the best known ‘wine-isms’. And it’s true, to a point. It’s all about combining the flavors of the wine with that of the food for the maximum enjoyment of both. You don’t want one flavor overpowering another, you want them to compliment each other.
It’s important to keep in mind though that just adhering to this guideline might get boring and you should never follow it if you don’t like a certain type of wine.
Let’s say you’re having a nice steak for dinner. According to the guideline you should have a white wine with dinner. But what if you don’t like white wine? Wine is all about enjoyment and relaxation. So have the type of wine you prefer no matter what you’re having for dinner.
There you have it, 5 of the most common wine myths debunked. Just enjoy your wine and your friends and family. That’s what it’s all about. Don’t get caught up in all the wine etiquette. Enjoy your wine and enjoy yourself!
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