Selecting The Perfect Wine!
Choosing a good wine can be a real nightmare, especially if you’re trying to impress someone. You’re having a dinner party – you’ve planned the menu thoroughly, dusted off your best tableware and crystal glass, and got everything prepared – except for the wine selection. There’s just so much to consider, and everyone else always seems to know so much more about it than you do. You stand there for what seems like forever looking at the seemingly endless shelves of different bottles, and the more you wonder about it the harder it gets. That’s why we’ve put together a few tips of what to watch out for and how to choose the perfect wine that will compliment your meal.
Firstl, you need to match the wine to the meal you will be eating. Everyone’s opinion is different when it comes to which wine will taste good with different foods, but there are a few basic rules that you can follow if you’re not sure. The easiest way is to match the colour of the wine to the food, you can’t go wrong. So if you’re eating red meat go for a dark red like Cabernet or Syrah. For lamb or pork a medium bodied red like a Merlot is less heavy whilst still giving a rich flavour. Chicken and fish dishes can often be overpowered by reds so it’s best to go for a white instead, perhaps a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. If it’s a special occasion or celebration, you might be better off with a sparkling wine, served in fancy Champagne flutes.
Once you know what kind of wine you are looking for, look at where it has come from. Wines from different regions will be very different in quality, so it’s best to do a bit of research into the best regions. If you’re not sure, France is always a safe bet and has been producing good quality wines for hundreds of years. Italy is another one, and Chilean wines are very popular at the moment too, particularly the reds.
Another thing it’s worth checking is the vintage of the wines you’re choosing from, or the year they were bottled. A real wine buff will know the best vintages for each region, and will only buy vintages they know came from a particularly good crop. For the rest of us less knowledgable people, it can seem like a lot of guesswork, but if you know a few of the basics you’ll be on the right track at least. That all wines taste better the older they are is a common misconception. It’s true that most red wines improve with a little aging, but most wineries won’t distribute these wines for a couple of years after bottling to give them time to mature. This means they are ready to drink and will taste good as soon as they become available to buy. Most white and sparkling wines don’t need aging, and taste good if drunk straight away.
