Wine is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world. However, many people are nervous about choosing a bottle of wine. They feel as if they do not understand how to pick a great wine. It is not really that hard. The advice in this article will show you how to do it.
A lot of wines have foreign names. It is best to familiarize yourself with the pronunciation of these names before you talk with experts about your wine tasting experiences. A wine expert will quickly label you as a novice if you are not familiar with the correct pronunciation of certain names.
Buy only one bottle of each wine. If you find that you like a particular wine a great deal it can be very tempting to want to buy a lot of it at once to save money, but this is often a bad idea. Instead, buy only one to ensure that you do not fill your cellar with one type.
When buying wine as a gift, consider pairing it with food of some sort. A nice basket containing some chocolate and wine or fine cheese and wine makes a wonderful gift. It gives the recipient some meal ideas, and can provide for a wonderful atmosphere at a festive event.
You can easily make a mulled wine with only a few ingredients. You will need a bottle of red wine such as Merlot, Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon, a peeled and sliced orange, a quality brandy, honey or sugar and a few spices including whole cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Combine your ingredients into a slow cooker. Then, heat for 30 minutes and enjoy!
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.
Wine is a popular accompaniment for your holiday gatherings, and it is important that you choose the right variety to complement your entree. Generally, white wine goes well with chicken, turkey or seafood, and red wine is the best choice when the menu features beef or pork as the main entree.
If you need to find a wine for an important occasion such as a wedding, it is best to have a small wine tasting party beforehand. Invite some of the guests and have them try different wines. Give them a large selection to choose from and do not hesitate to offer different options at the actual event.
When cooking with wine, let your recipe help guide your choice. If you are simply using wine to de-glaze a pan, a splash of just about anything will do. However, if wine is a main ingredient, such as in Coq au Vin, you may want to splurge a little to do the dish justice.
Select the right stemware for the wine you are serving. Use clean glasses to make sure the guests can truly appreciate the color and taste of the wine you are serving. Chipped stemware can be dangerous and outdated stemware that is dingy will not enhance your enjoyment of wine.
Take a good look at your wine before you taste it. You can tell a lot about a wine by its appearance. If you practice this, you will soon learn a lot from a wine by its color. Look at the wine from many angles so that you can see all of the colors it has to offer.
Before visiting your favorite restaurant and mulling over which wine to chose, check out their website. Most fine dining establishments will post their wine list on the site, leaving you plenty of time to investigate the possibilities. Consider your entree in advance and research the wine that will best complement it.
Try not to stock up on wines. You might be tempted to fill your home with the kind of wine you love, but what happens if your tastes change? Buy a few bottles, but don’t go all out unless you are committed to limiting yourself to a certain brand or type.
Search for online information about different wines. Look for a wine discussion forum and read the comments until you feel confident enough to add your own ideas. If you are unfamiliar with international wines, this is a great place to find information. You can gain enough information to try a few wines you would not otherwise have considered.
When buying wine, the year it was produced is not necessarily the most important factor. While the climate of a region can change the taste of a wine, most of the largest wine-producing regions have fairly consistent temperatures. This means that a bottle produced in California in 2005 and a bottle from 2007, for example, should taste pretty similar.
Sake is a type of wine that is often overlooked. Sake is made from rice and usually served with Japanese food. It goes great with both desserts and main courses. Select a full-bodied sake and present it with some delicious stir-fry to create a true Japanese meal.
When selecting a red wine, you need to give the wine a chance to breathe after opening. This gives the wine more time to interact with the oxygen in the air. If you are pressed for time, pour the wine through an aerator and into a decanter so that it breathes properly first.
When you are pouring your wine, try not to fill your glass up to the top. You only want to fill your glass about a third of the way to the top. This will allow the wine to mix properly and swirl so that the flavors can develop into their full richness.
As you can see, choosing the right wine does not have to be an ordeal. Once you know a little more about wine, it is easy to find a great wine for your next meal. Just remember what you have learned from this article. Before long, you will be enjoying a wonderful vintage.
