A Tips To Enjoy Red Wine
Guide To Enjoying Red Wine. The world of red wines is heady rich & wonderful world filled with everything form nuanced subtlety of a gentle South African Merlot to the peppery richness of Sangre de Toro “Blood of the Bull” from Spain. In general many of the “rules” of wine drinking have been cast aside in today’s world making it more accessible to every person & with the increased demand supply has soared allowing for inexpensive & very delicious wine available to all.
Still there are many who feel that the world of wine loving is not as yet open to them. With so many wines to choose among where do you begin? How do you properly enjoy a red or white & with what meals would they be best?
Let’s look at some very basic tips to maximizing your exploration of red wines.
Don’t spend a ton of money on a bottle of wine. Leave that for later once you’ve begun to explore beyond the brands & varietals that you like. There are so many wonderful & delicious wines that are available for somewhere between $5 & $8 a bottle that you really should not need to drop $20 or $30 for a bottle of wine…at least not yet.
Don’t buy local yet. Often your local wine store is stocked with bottles form local vineyard if there is one . These can be wonderful or they can be vinegar. It really can be something of a crap shoot. So unless you live in the Napa valley or some other area that is renown for its wine-making efforts stick with something that is nationally or internationally distributed.
Stick with a varietal for now. In other words pick a wine that is primarily made from one type of grape i.e. a Shiraz Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot etc. Try to avoid blended reds to begin with though they can be quite delicious. By learning the flavors of the varietal grapes you’ll better understand what it about the blend that you like. Avoid flavored wines or coolers that you can get at your local convenience store. These are little more than non-bubbly soda pop with alcohol in them & can lead to a nasty headache as they are hastily made form least pure ingredients.
Start with a nice Merlot from South Africa Australia New Zealand or Chile. These vineyards are usually able to balance cost with quality quite nicely. The reason I recommend Merlot is that of all the red varietals it the gentlest & complements a broad menu of meals.
Reds like to breathe. Open the bottle & let it sit for ten minutes or so. This allows oxygen to get at the wine & mature it quickly. For that matter pouring the wine into the glasses & allowing it to sit for ten to twenty minutes accelerates this process. You’ll find the flavor is much enhanced by this approach.
Reds at Room Temperature & Whites Chilled. A simple rule that does not always apply but is good guide nonetheless. Chilling a red removes many of the subtleties of flavor for which you buy the wine in the first place & slows the wine’s ability to mature with exposure to oxygen. Keep them room temperature.
I mentioned earlier that many of the “rules” of wine loving have been discarded or at least loosened such as ‘red wine with red meat or pasta & white wine with fish or poultry.’ While these are not bad guidelines they really are not carved in stone & nowadays waiters & even the seasoned gourmand will not turn up his/her nose at a guest who asks for a red with fish or enjoys a nice tart Chardonnay with a burger.
Merlot with what? While a Merlot can be a perfect complement for a spaghetti dinner particularly if you have a nice buttery garlic bread it can easily sit beside a pork chop or fried chicken dinner. A Merlot is lovely non-pretentious start to your journey & should open the door nicely to a journey of wine loving.
OK Now What? Try a few different brands of Merlot from competing vineyards. Note the differences in style & substance. I’d recommend sticking to those south of the equator to begin with. Once you feel like you’ve tasted a number of Merlots & are acquainted with the differences then move on to a Cabernet Sauvignon & begin your journey anew. I’d hold off on Shiraz Syrah Petite Syrah or Beaujolais until you have a basic appreciation of Merlots & Cabernets but once you do then dive in to the heavy heady peppery joy of the stronger reds. Once you feel like you really understand & can note the differences of the red varietals start exploring the blends or the truly excellent California varietals. Good luck & enjoy Find more information about Red Wine here.
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