While many people enjoy drinking wine, they may not know the fundamental wine knowledge . If you are never sure which wine to serve with which meal, or how different kinds of wine differ, this article is for you. The following tips will help you learn more about this popular beverage.
Fundamental Wine Knowledge
The best way to enjoy wine is responsibly. Know your limits and ensure that you don’t overdo it, especially when with guests. While some wine with lunch or dinner is always in good taste, becoming sloppy afterwards due to drunkenness is not. Enjoyed in moderation, wine will be your friend for life.
Wine should be stored in a dark, cool location. One of the best places to help your wine remain fresh if you do not have a wine cellar is in a closet in your basement. Store your bottles on their side away from any light sources to help it remain fresh.
A great tip if you’re interested in buying wine is not to get too carried away with buying a lot of wine that you currently like. Tastes change all the time, and you might regret packing your wine cellar with a bunch of wine that you happen to like right now.
If you tend to drink wine with your meals and find you are starting to get headaches afterward, try reducing your wine intake. The sulfites in wine can cause headaches in some individuals. Moderation is the key in enjoying any alcoholic beverage.
Serve your wine at the right temperature to get the most flavor from each glassful. It is best to serve a red wine at 60 degrees. Begin serving your wine when the temperature registers at 58 degrees since it will warm a bit in the glass. With white wine, go further down to about 47 degrees. When white wines are served at a temperature that is too warm, its taste can be quite dull.
If you are in the market for champagne for a wedding or other festive event, consider a sparkling wine instead. Sparkling wines are typically from California, and they taste similar to a Champagne. They are almost always less expensive, making it easier to afford a large quantity for big events.
If you are venturing into trying new wines, it is better to get an experimental bottle over a whole case. Given the wide variety of wines and styles out there, single educational bottles are a great idea whenever drinking something new for the first time. If you like the taste, move up to a half-case.
Expensive wines should not be your exclusive choice. If you are really looking to find new wines that meet your tastes you should experiment with wines from all price points and ratings. Sticking with expensive wines is a waste of money and could prevent you from finding the perfect wine for you.
If you have a wine cellar and you need a bottle for a party of special occasion, do not bring it upstairs until the day of the event. Wine needs to be brought up the day of the event in order to reach room temperature. But, bringing it up to soon could ruin the wine.
If you are saving your wine after a night of drinking, make sure to cork it well. You want to avoid letting extra air into the bottle because it will completely change the taste of the wine and can cause it to go rancid. Make sure the cork fits securely, or use a wine stopper that blocks air out.
If you are a budding wine enthusiast, plan an outing to wine country. When you wander through the vineyards, you begin to view the wine in a completely different light. Touring a vineyard can teach you a great deal about wine. Your trip can teach you and relax you simultaneously.
When you taste a wine, tilt your glass ever so slightly and examine the hue. Swirl the glass lightly and put your nose near the aperture to breathe in the wonderful scent. Take only a modest sip of the drink, allow the taste to fill your mouth, then discretely spit the liquid back into the glass.
If you have decided to serve white wine at your next gathering, make sure you only store it in the fridge a few hours before serving time. Storing the white wine in the fridge too long (a few days) can affect the way your wine tastes as well as the aroma.
If you are out, engage in dialogue with the steward about the types of wine that you like, what you are willing to spend and how adventurous you are on that night. You will be surprised how close they get to the exact wine that you want at that given time.
Some wine tasting events are family friendly, and it may be beneficial to you to phone ahead and find out if that is the case for your next tasting. While some are geared more towards adults, others provide beverages and activities for members of the family of all different ages.
Wine tasting events are a great opportunity to discover new wines that you like. Try to attend as many different tastings as you possibly can. You can learn so much about wine at tastings. Keep your mind clear by spitting the wine out after tasting it.
Keep your nose two or three inches away from the glass when you sniff it. People stick their nose right into the glass and miss to many of the great aromas of the wine. When the wine smells bad, it has turned and should be dumped down the sink without drinking.
After reading this article, you should be better informed about wine. The more you know about wine, the more you can enjoy drinking a glass. There is always more to learn about wine, so use this article as a starting point. Wine is a topic of endless fascination, so try to learn as much as you can!