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How To Go About Choosing A First-Rate Wine

Clearly the selection of a certain year, brand and type of wine is a question of personal taste. Despite this, within the confines of price, there are various broad principles about which most people are in agreement.

Luckily the growth of vineyards around the world and of Internet sites featuring wine means that accessing wine is now reasonably easy. A person in Louisiana or Madrid can buy a New Zealand Syrah not stocked by a local merchant as easily as someone in Hamilton.

Disregarding the subject of pairing wines with food, are you looking for a white or a red wine? Some find that Madeira is too heavy while others believe that a German Riesling is too dry. Most easily available wines are meant to be consumed a quite short time after they are purchased, but those people who wish to drink only the best wine must be patient. Cabernet Sauvignon will unquestionably be considerably better after it has aged.

A cool climate Chardonnay, such as those from Canada, will be of interest to those people who like a young acid wine and also to individuals who wish to experience it's honeyed and nutty character which comes from age.

It may also be helpful to describe wines by their class. Class 1 wines, usually labeled as 'Light Wine' or 'Red Table Wine' will have an alcohol content of between 7% and 14% by volume. Class 7 wines, on the other hand, will have an alcohol content of not less than 15% when calculated by volume. Class 7 wines have often had Brandy added to then and may be flavored using herbs with those wines having the greatest concentration being considered as 'fortified'.

Look on the label for a declaration of the amount of sulfites contained in a wine. Sulphur is often added during bottling to stop the growth of unwanted organisms, but some vineyards add more sulpur than many wine drinkers would wish. Sulphur dioxide is also often sprayed onto the grapes themselves to reduce pests and can make its way into the skin. Some drinkers have a sensitivity to sulphur and might experience an allergic reaction. Concentrations of lower than 10 parts per million are generally fine for most wine drinkers.

If you are trying a wine you should begin by cooling it to the correct temperature of approximately 18C (65F) for reds and 11C (52F) in the case of white wine and use a thin rimmed glass which is free from dust.

Pour out not more than around one third of a glass and pick up your glass by the stem to avoid getting fingerprints on the rim and heating the bowl.

What you want to see is a clarity of color when a wine is viewed against a white background with a wine such as a Pinot Noir displaying the lightness of a ruby and a Cabernet Sauvignon being a darker violet color. Those wines that are made from grapes grown in a hot summer and dry fall will show a darker color than wines made during a cool summer and rainy fall.

The final stage is to move the wine gently around so that it coats the sides of the glass and take in its aroma before tasting the wine.