The Basics Of Wine

29 Jan

“I was a creature of habit, especially when it came to food and wine. It’s only when you try different things, that you learn a bit more, and develop your taste buds.”

The more I buy wine and the more I drink wine, I realise that it really is a complex thing. Well it is and it isn’t… if you drink a glass of wine and enjoy it, there’s nothing complex about that at all, quite the opposite most would say! But to have a better understanding and develop your palette, it most certainly is. As with anything, you have to start from somewhere. I must point out at this stage that I class myself as a wine novice, but I am really enjoying reading up on it at the moment, as well as tasting (probably a 10/90 split).

Wine is grown all over the world, with different flavours, tastes and aromas, meaning there is so much choice for us lucky drinkers. For some this makes them feel like a kid in a sweet shop, but for most of us it can be a bit daunting. In fact for quite a while I used to choose the same red wine in the local supermarket, 1) because it tasted ok, and 2) because it was a fiver. You could also add a third in there which is – I was a creature of habit, especially when it came to food and wine. It’s only when you try different things, that you learn a bit more, and develop your taste buds.

So many wines, just not enough time to try them all.

You can split wine into four categories: Red, White, Rose and Sparkling. You could throw dessert wines in there such as Port and Sherry, but these are served in very small glasses (sad face), and surprisingly enough…usually alongside desserts.

I’ll touch on each category in separate blogs, as each category of wine has so many varieties, and to be honest as I’m writing this I have a glass of Malbec poured, and I would rather spend more time drinking it than writing about it!

We normally choose a wine on how it tastes. If we enjoy drinking it, we buy it. Simple. But if you haven’t tasted it before, or your local shop has run out of your favourite bottle of plonk, how do you know whether you will like it? I don’t think Tesco do returns on half-drunk bottles of wine. I used to pick certain bottles because of the label! If it looked like somebody had created it on word art I would stay well clear, however if it looked minimalist and classy I would stick it in the trolley. Silly I know, but that’s the power of marketing I suppose. As I started drinking more wine though, and knew what sort of things I liked, I had a bit of a better idea what to look out for. It normally comes down to the five characteristics of wine, which are: 1) Acidity 2) Tannins 3) Alcohol (4) Body (5) Sweetness.

I will go into these characteristics a bit more on the next blog. But the characteristics of the wine can be found on the back of a bottle.

Wine labels are pretty concise but give you enough information to make a decision on whether to buy or not to buy. I actually really enjoy reading the back of wine bottles. I can spend 10 minutes (when not in a rush) casually reading the labels, like somebody browsing books in a library. Depending on your palette, will ultimately depend on what you go with. Me personally, I like sweet smooth reds, but dry crisp whites. But as I said, a good starting point is to know what characteristics you're looking for, otherwise like I used to do……..you’ll just be hoping a pretty label catches your eye!