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Wine is one of life's greatest pleasures.
Forget the old saying that "a little learning is a dangerous thing." When it comes to wine, a little knowledge is all you need. Many wine experts would argue that the more wine knowledge you possess, the more you can appreciate the delicacies and fine nuances of wine, but we'll leave that up to you.
What are you missing?
If you tend to stick to the tried and tested or confine yourself to the "special offers" bin, or perhaps a certain type of wine, you are missing out on a wonderful experience of delicious and rewarding flavors.
Be guided by personal preferences. Worldwide winemaking standards are now so high that you'd be extremely unlucky to choose anything undrinkable!
Reading the Label
If you are new to the wine arena, you may be confused by the jargon on wine labels, not confident when ordering wine at a restaurant or making a selection for a special occasion, and unsure what the difference is between a rosé and a blush wine.
There is only one real question: "Is the wine any good?" The answer, unfortunately, is often submerged beneath enthusiastic marketing waffle. Don't be put off! You can always trust the wine label to provide you with facts about the wine. Don't forget to turn the bottle to review the second (back) label; you may be surprised at the richness of the information provided. See our Terminology guide as an aide to reading those labels.
Ordering Wine in a Restaurant
Restaurant wine lists can be very confusing, especially when they are presented to you in a large, leather-bound tome containing dozens of pages! Just remember that they are merely a list of all the drinks available in that particular restaurant. After all, a wine list should not be judged by its length. A short list that has been carefully compiled is much better.
The key to successfully negotiating a heavy wine list is to ask the wine waiter for guidance. A knowledgeable sommelier will be delighted to help you chose a wine that matches your tastes. He or she may even suggest wines that go particularly well with the food you have chosen.
A few general hints that will help you order the wine that is right for you:
- Don't rush. Savour the experience.
- Get the wine waiter on your side and openly ask for
advice.
- There's no need to worry about what wine goes with what
food. Most wine menus follow the traditional sequence
of listing aperitifs first, main course wines next and
digestifs (liqueurs) last.
- If you're concerned about matching the right wine with
your chosen meal, use the following, very general
guidelines. Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots are good,
red all-rounders and Chardonnays usually come up with
reliable whites.
- If you're still in any doubt about which wine to plump for,
bear in mind that the house wines are probably a very
good bet. They can also be relied upon to provide good
value for money. Restaurateurs normally choose their
house wines with great care and attention to detail.
They appreciate that these wines reflect significantly
on the general standards of their restaurants.
- Once you've chosen your wine, ignore over-enthusiastic
waiters who keep topping up your glasses in the hope
that you'll order more wine than you really want. Let
them know that you're quite happy to top up your own
glasses, as and when you see fit!
- The bottom line is: relax! Order only what you and your
guests enjoy and don't feel pressed to spend beyond
your budget.
Wine for Entertaining or Gifts
No matter what style of wine you're serving, serve it in style. An elegant decanter is recommended for proper pouring. To keep white wines chilled at the appropriate temperature, a good bottle chiller is a must. And, of course, you should use a high quality cork lifter to avoid shredding the stopper.
Glassware
Generally speaking a glass with a long stem lets you swirl the wine more easily (swirling helps bring out the smells of the wine, which is very important to the tasting process). The long stem also keeps the heat of your hand away from the wine. (Of course, with the way I've been served some wines, you have to grasp the bowl of the glass firmly and often just to warm it up!) In order to capture the scents, it’s nice to have a glass that is narrower at the top than the area below (in other words, a large bowl). In this way there is a larger surface area of wine in the bottom and the narrowing of the glass can trap the bouquet of the wine.
Riedel produces an expensive line of glasses. Supposedly each glass (and there are different shapes for different types of wines) is designed to maximize taste and aroma by delivering the wine to the right part of the mouth, as well as being shaped properly to catch and concentrate the scents of the wine.
In terms of acidity, tannins, fruit flavors, aromatic components, and the like, different types of wine have different palate profiles. These are sensed by different parts of the tongue, nose and throat. Supposedly, wine glasses can be designed to channel the wine as you sip it to the parts of the mouth where you will get the optimal tasting experience. It is said that there is a different place in the mouth for each wine; hence the different shapes for the glasses, based on centuries-old concepts. Some Tasters swear that these Riedel glasses make a large difference, especially after side-by-side tasting between Riedel and non-Riedel glasses.
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