The world of wine is a large and can be complicated. There are three main factors when thinking about wine, vintners, grapes and regions. Having a good understanding can seem like a big task. That might be why many people don’t give much thought to drinking wine.
Like many out there i have been drinking wine for years. I am now at the stage where i want to understand what i am drinking. From my studies i have come across some key points and information that has helped me understand wine.
I hope these will help you as they did me:
1. Old world wines get their name from regions. New world wine from the grape
This really helped me understand better. Places like Australia and New Zealand put the grape name on their bottle labels, where as in Europe they put the regions on their labels. For example, France has white burgundy, California has chardonnay they are both the same grape. Knowing which grapes come from which regions of Europe helps to read information from the wines labels.
2. Wines matched by the weight of food.
Many wines are listed from light to heavy. For example for light wine and food: Riesling – White fish. For example of heavy wine and food: Cabernet Sauvignon – Beef. This will help you get the most out of not only your wine but your meal also. Give it a go next time you cook and see how it works.
3. Colour can help give away the age of wine.
The colour of wine gives us an idea about the age of the wine. Take white wine, a young white will be a very light almost clear colour, a middle age white then turns more of a yellowish colour. And then a older white is more golden. A young red starts off a purple-blue red and moves to a orange colour as it ages. Finally it goes brown red as it is well aged.
4. What can the bottle tell us?
As i started looking into wine i did not know that the shape of the wine bottle is related to the region where the wine comes from. Long-necked bottles tell use the wine comes from Germany. Firm-shouldered bottle tells us the wine comes from Bordeaux and finally a soft-shouldered bottle is for Burgundy and Rhone wines.
There are so many ins and outs of wine that you can spend a life time studying it. I hope you have gained a small insight into the world of wine. Next time you go shopping use the tips i have shown and see if the wine you buy suites your taste and your meal.
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