The I-Don’t-Know-Wine Guide to Wine

Go for the Grape

Stick to the basics with wine.  It’s complex…and simple.  The first step choosing your perfect wine is, go for the grape.  Choose a wine from a single grape…not a blend like, “Classic Red.”  Instead, read, “Chardonnay,” or “Malbec,” single grape varieties.  Why?  It’s easier to understand, better for the palette and usually tastier.

Go for the Colour

A clear look to the white wine and a rich, red for the darker wines give you a quick guide to how the wine will taste.  If a wine has 2005 on the label and looks a bit dark then the wine is poor.  A recent date, 2007, with a clear look is perfect for a white wine.  A clear neck on the bottle indicates a good bottle.  If the neck looks dark inside the bottle avoid.

A good colour indicates a good wine

Change Your Wines like Your Clothes

Your taste will adjust to one grape variety or one wine then will you get bored.  Try different wines.  Your tongue will love you for it.

Ask a Friend, the Expert

Flatter you friend who you feel knows wine by saying, “Joe, how do you choose wine?”  This is your entre into the daunting world of the drop.  Wine buffs love nothing better than their own opinion oh, and of course, a good glass of wine.

Develop Your Wine Nose

Choosing a wine depends on one organ – the nose.  Mock and mimic a wine taster’s ways then soon you will adopt, “how it’s done.”  Wine loves a good sniff and you will later reflect that you thought the sniffing process was a joke.  It’s not…a great wine depends on valuable noses.  Develop your own nose.

Read the Label of Each Bottle

On each label is a punch of wine information – the grape, the date it was plucked, mashed and bought to your home.  Other hints might include a wee story of the vineyard, how proud the label is.  It is all there you just have to look.

Discover a great story on each bottle – read the label.

Relax with It

Remain calm; effin calm.  No lady admires a man who is ignorant around wine.  Develop you inner-expert and carry yourself with pride when tasting this marvelous beverage.  Even when expectorating your wine into a spittoon you can be appealing.

Match the Wine with the Season

Plan your dinner to be mated with the ideal grape.  I choose a crisp white in summer and a rich, warming deep red for the chilly months.  Wine is an appealing all year round drink that responds well to the season.

Region – blue circle, Grape  ( Variety ) - red circle, Year ( Vintage ) – yellow circle

Don’t Be Shame, Be Game

Wine has the appeal of a Prince, the power of a King and the manners of a Queen.  Wine takes you on a journey.  Are you willing to travel that adventure?

Enjoy Wine

All the time.  Look how young the Europeans are for the sake of wine.  It could be argued, “the truth is in the wine,” ( Italian Proverb ) And the youth.  Go for your journey with wine and you will never look back.

Crisp and clear neck in both red and white. Don’t buy the bottle if the neck appears cloudy.

Salut!

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