Tip #1: Practice Matching Food and Wine
Experiment with two or more wines
Cook up a great entrée and open a couple of bottles or more of wine that follow the rules above. Taste each wine without the food. Taste the food without the wine. Taste one wine and then the food. Taste the other wine, then the food. Does one wine match better with the food? This is really fun to do with friends and discuss what each likes.
Plan a meal around a special bottle of wine
You have a special bottle of wine you want to open. Plan your meal around the wine. If is a Cabernet, barbeque a steak with buttery sauce. If it is a Syrah, cook up a pepper steak. If it is a Chardonnay, think about shellfish or a heavy cream sauce on a chicken. This is a reverse strategy that might help you think about matching your wine with the appropriate foods.
Go to Restaurant that has a food and wine pairing menu
Many restaurants now offer food and wine pairing meals. They are a delight and a good way to start to learn about pairing food with wine. You pay a set price and receive three or four different servings, each paired with a different wine. We have done this several times and we find it is fun and very educational.
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/glasses.html
Cook up a great entrée and open a couple of bottles or more of wine that follow the rules above. Taste each wine without the food. Taste the food without the wine. Taste one wine and then the food. Taste the other wine, then the food. Does one wine match better with the food? This is really fun to do with friends and discuss what each likes.
Plan a meal around a special bottle of wine
You have a special bottle of wine you want to open. Plan your meal around the wine. If is a Cabernet, barbeque a steak with buttery sauce. If it is a Syrah, cook up a pepper steak. If it is a Chardonnay, think about shellfish or a heavy cream sauce on a chicken. This is a reverse strategy that might help you think about matching your wine with the appropriate foods.
Go to Restaurant that has a food and wine pairing menu
Many restaurants now offer food and wine pairing meals. They are a delight and a good way to start to learn about pairing food with wine. You pay a set price and receive three or four different servings, each paired with a different wine. We have done this several times and we find it is fun and very educational.
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/glasses.html
Tip #2: Choosing the Right Wine Glass
A quality wine glass is a must in order to get the full enjoyment from a bottle of good wine. Whether it is an expensive Riedel wine glass or Walmart special, the proper wine glass makes a difference. Here are some general rules about choosing, buying, selecting, and using wine glasses.
Wine Glasses on a Budget
If you are on a budget, purchase multi-purpose wine glasses. Choose ones that are 8 to 10 inches in height. Choose a wine glass that has bowl that is deep but moderate in diameter. Choose wine glasses that are made of good thin clear glass, not decorative or colored. Anything but a clear glass takes away from appreciating the wine in the glass.
Wine Glasses for Specific Wines
The Riedel wine glass company started this trend. Riedel designed wine glasses that are shaped to bring out the characteristics of specific types of wines. One can have a set of Chardonnay wine glasses or Bordeaux wine glasses as well as other varietals. Now many other wine glass manufacturers are doing the same. Crate & Barrel has a good selection of varietal wine glasses and they are much less expensive than Riedel glasses.
Champagne Wine Glasses
These glasses have a very narrow opening. The narrow glass offers less surface space for the bubbles (carbon dioxide) to escape. This type of glass is called a flute.
Wine Glass Tips
Hand wash your glasses with warm water. Use a mild detergent. Hand dry with a soft cloth.
Pour wine to about the lower one-third of the glass. This level is desirable for two reasons: It leaves room in the glass for the aroma to work its way up the sides of the glass. Secondly, you won’t spill the wine over the top edge when swirling the wine in the glass. For the swirling technique, see “How to Taste Wine”
Keep a good supply of wine glasses on hand. Wine lover guests will appreciate having wine in good wine glasses. It shows you care and love wine.
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/glasses.html
Wine Glasses on a Budget
If you are on a budget, purchase multi-purpose wine glasses. Choose ones that are 8 to 10 inches in height. Choose a wine glass that has bowl that is deep but moderate in diameter. Choose wine glasses that are made of good thin clear glass, not decorative or colored. Anything but a clear glass takes away from appreciating the wine in the glass.
Wine Glasses for Specific Wines
The Riedel wine glass company started this trend. Riedel designed wine glasses that are shaped to bring out the characteristics of specific types of wines. One can have a set of Chardonnay wine glasses or Bordeaux wine glasses as well as other varietals. Now many other wine glass manufacturers are doing the same. Crate & Barrel has a good selection of varietal wine glasses and they are much less expensive than Riedel glasses.
Champagne Wine Glasses
These glasses have a very narrow opening. The narrow glass offers less surface space for the bubbles (carbon dioxide) to escape. This type of glass is called a flute.
Wine Glass Tips
Hand wash your glasses with warm water. Use a mild detergent. Hand dry with a soft cloth.
Pour wine to about the lower one-third of the glass. This level is desirable for two reasons: It leaves room in the glass for the aroma to work its way up the sides of the glass. Secondly, you won’t spill the wine over the top edge when swirling the wine in the glass. For the swirling technique, see “How to Taste Wine”
Keep a good supply of wine glasses on hand. Wine lover guests will appreciate having wine in good wine glasses. It shows you care and love wine.
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/glasses.html
Tip #3: How to taste wine.
The more wines you try, the more you'll develop your palate - it's as simple as that. And how you try them makes all the difference. I know that all that curious slurping you see wine tasters doing at a tasting looks highly mysterious, but it's not. Swirl, sniff, and spit, that's all it is. But why do you swirl? What are you supposed to be looking for exactly? What is tannin? What is acidity?
The first step is to fill your glass until it's about a third full. Tilt it slightly against a white background, or hold it up to the daylight so you can see the range of colors from the center of the rim. Older red wines start to fade at the rim, with a browny, tawny color. Red wines from hotter climates and gutsier red grape varieties have the deepest colors. Now give the wine a swirl, getting a good motion going. This releases all the wine's aromas. Jam your nose right into the glass and inhale slowly. Your first impressions are the most vivid. After two or three sniffs, your senses are neutralized. An experienced taster will be able to tell a lot from just inhaling: what grape variety it is, even where the wine comes from. A novice will soon start to spot the key fruit flavors that indicate a particular grape variety.
When you inhale think of those aromas you get in terms of flavors that are familiar to you. It'll take a few goes to get the hang of it - but once you do, you'll soon be smellling warm cocoa, freshly mown grass, even peach melba. It doesn't matter if you're the only one who gets those particular aromas; everybody has their own flavor references and, anyway, that's part of the fun.
Now for the tasting. Take a good sip and roll it around. The reason those experts make such a noise once the wine is in their mouths is that they are tyring to reach every part of their tongue: seetness at the tip; saltiness a little farther back and sourness, or acidity, at the sides, with bitterness sensed at the very back. Make a note of any acidity, sweetness, or toughness. It helps if you suck in some air throught your lips, because it kick-starts the aromas and flavors. Now give it a good chew.
Scribble down your first impressions. Some flavors are more obvious than others at first, but don't worry too much about finding a garden of fruit flavors - it'll come. Think about the weight in the mouth. Is it light, medium, or full-bodied? Is it balanced? What are the levels of acidity, alcohol, dryness/sweetness, fuit flavor, and tannin? Then swallow - or spit, if you have many more to taste. Make a note of any lingering flavors (known as the length).
Things to look out for when you're tasting wine.
Acidity
Makes the wine taste crisp and fresh. Too much and it will taste unpleasantly sharp and bitter. Not enough and it will taste flabby.
Alcohol
Obviously this is found in all wine, but the higher the level of alcohol gets, the rounder the wine feels in the mouth. If it's out of balance with the fruit and tannin and so on, then it will feel hot, too - like a dash of Tabasco.
Dryness/Sweetness
This is affected by the amount of natural sugar in a wine. Sweetness needs to be balanced by acidity or the wine is too cloying. But don't confuse dryness with acidity - a very dry wine such as a fino sherry can be quite low in acidity.
Fruit
Let your imagination run wild and prepare yourself - wine doesn't smell and taste of grapes. Instead, flavors can resemble a whole garden of fruit, or chocolate, cigars, nuts, coffee, or even rising bread dough.
Tannin
Tannin creates that furry, drying feeling that you get in the mouth after a swig of a very young red. It comes from the stalks, pips, and skins of grapes. Tannin helps with the weight of wine and softens with age.
Source: Wine Made Simple by Fiona Sims
The first step is to fill your glass until it's about a third full. Tilt it slightly against a white background, or hold it up to the daylight so you can see the range of colors from the center of the rim. Older red wines start to fade at the rim, with a browny, tawny color. Red wines from hotter climates and gutsier red grape varieties have the deepest colors. Now give the wine a swirl, getting a good motion going. This releases all the wine's aromas. Jam your nose right into the glass and inhale slowly. Your first impressions are the most vivid. After two or three sniffs, your senses are neutralized. An experienced taster will be able to tell a lot from just inhaling: what grape variety it is, even where the wine comes from. A novice will soon start to spot the key fruit flavors that indicate a particular grape variety.
When you inhale think of those aromas you get in terms of flavors that are familiar to you. It'll take a few goes to get the hang of it - but once you do, you'll soon be smellling warm cocoa, freshly mown grass, even peach melba. It doesn't matter if you're the only one who gets those particular aromas; everybody has their own flavor references and, anyway, that's part of the fun.
Now for the tasting. Take a good sip and roll it around. The reason those experts make such a noise once the wine is in their mouths is that they are tyring to reach every part of their tongue: seetness at the tip; saltiness a little farther back and sourness, or acidity, at the sides, with bitterness sensed at the very back. Make a note of any acidity, sweetness, or toughness. It helps if you suck in some air throught your lips, because it kick-starts the aromas and flavors. Now give it a good chew.
Scribble down your first impressions. Some flavors are more obvious than others at first, but don't worry too much about finding a garden of fruit flavors - it'll come. Think about the weight in the mouth. Is it light, medium, or full-bodied? Is it balanced? What are the levels of acidity, alcohol, dryness/sweetness, fuit flavor, and tannin? Then swallow - or spit, if you have many more to taste. Make a note of any lingering flavors (known as the length).
Things to look out for when you're tasting wine.
Acidity
Makes the wine taste crisp and fresh. Too much and it will taste unpleasantly sharp and bitter. Not enough and it will taste flabby.
Alcohol
Obviously this is found in all wine, but the higher the level of alcohol gets, the rounder the wine feels in the mouth. If it's out of balance with the fruit and tannin and so on, then it will feel hot, too - like a dash of Tabasco.
Dryness/Sweetness
This is affected by the amount of natural sugar in a wine. Sweetness needs to be balanced by acidity or the wine is too cloying. But don't confuse dryness with acidity - a very dry wine such as a fino sherry can be quite low in acidity.
Fruit
Let your imagination run wild and prepare yourself - wine doesn't smell and taste of grapes. Instead, flavors can resemble a whole garden of fruit, or chocolate, cigars, nuts, coffee, or even rising bread dough.
Tannin
Tannin creates that furry, drying feeling that you get in the mouth after a swig of a very young red. It comes from the stalks, pips, and skins of grapes. Tannin helps with the weight of wine and softens with age.
Source: Wine Made Simple by Fiona Sims