Are you interested in increasing your knowledge base about wine? Perhaps you wish to impress people with your collection, or you want to be who they go to for information about it. Are you cooking a dish that you love? No matter the case, you should keep reading to learn what you need to make it happen.
Get to know your local wine shop. As you can imagine, each location differs significantly. Every store has different prices, selections and focus. When first stepping into the wine-tasting world, finding a shop that sells only the most expensive brands isn’t a great idea. Try to choose a shop that fits your needs.
Windex is a great tool to rid the stains that you get from wine. Windex is more effective than water and soap when it comes to eradicating wine stains. Use it as soon as you can before the stain sets.
Inexpensive wine can be quite enjoyable. If you want a delicious wine at a reasonable price, consider Chile. Wines from this region are often value priced. You should try their Cabernet’s and perhaps a Sauvignon Blanc. Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa are also places that have great prices on their wines.
If you have an increase in headaches following meals, do not drink so much wine. Your headaches may be caused by the sulfites contained in wine. Reducing the amount of wine you drink is the best way to get rid of these headaches.
Pay attention to the advice of wine experts, but you can disregard some of what they say. Anyone that’s really good at what they do in regards to wine knows that they may fail sometimes. Plus, your tastes will differ in at least some ways from his. If you like something an expert doesn’t, trust your own taste.
You should know how to peel labels from wine. The best way to do this is to put the bottle in a hot oven and, using oven mitts, peel the label off after the bottle has warmed up for several minutes.
Experiment and have fun with the different varieties of wine. You will find yourself analyzing all the nuances of wine, from what wine to serve with dinner to your favorite wine’s flavor and consistency. Wine is meant to be enjoyed so make sure you test all your options so you can truly enjoy it.
Don’t fall into the trap of filling your cellar with all the wines that you enjoy right now. You might want to fill your cellar, but you may not like the same wines in the future. You might love a wine now, only to get bored of it later. You don’t want to end up with a wine cellar full of wines you have tired of, so vary your selections.
The vintage year of a wine is the year that the grapes were harvested. A wine with a date of 2010 means that those grapes were harvested during autumn of 2010. They’re aged and fermented in barrels until they’ve been bottled and sold. It’s quite possible that two or three years could pass by the time the bottle reaches the store.
Isolating the smells and flavors of your wine is great when wine tasting. You may recognize some floral and fruit aromas in specific wines. You may even recognize such aromas as smoke, honey and caramel. Pay close attention to each aroma and you will become familiar with them.
Toasts are a regular part of large social groupings. This will result in the delightful tradition of clinking glasses. If not done correctly, this can cause your glass to shatter, creating a large mess. To avoid this, angle your glass a bit so the rim points away from the glass it is clinked against.
White and red wines should be served at two totally different temperatures. Typically, reds should be a little warmer than whites, by about ten or fifteen degrees. One of the best methods is to chill your wine in the refrigerator first and then let it sit out at room temperature for a few minutes. Try to get reds at 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and whites around 45.
Get to know the people who serve you at the establishments where your frequently purchase wine. When you are friendly with the person serving you you might get a heads up about sales or new wines.
When dining out, order your wine by the bottle. Keep in mind that six glasses of wine equals one bottle, so share. You can save a ton of money and find some great wines.
When you know more, it becomes clear how much wine can do for you. It is a nice hobby, and some knowledge goes a long way. Impress everyone around you with this knowledge!