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[ Argentinean
White Wines ] [ Argentinean
Red Wines ] [ Australian
White Wines ] [ Australian
Red Wines ] [ Australian
Rose Wines ] [ Australian
Sparkling Wines ] [
New
Zealand White Wines
] [ New
Zealand Red Wines ]
[ Chilean
White Wines ] [ Chilean
Red Wines ] [ South
African White Wines
] [ South
African Red Wines ]
[
South African Sparkling Wines
] [ French
Rose Wines ] [ French
White Wines ] [ French
Red Wines ] [ French
Sparkling Wines ] [
French
Dessert Wines ] [ Italian
White Wines ][ Italian
Red Wines ] [ German
White Wines ]
This wine guide is
aimed at all wine lovers with a warm welcome to those
wishing to learn more about wines. It is not a definitive
index of fine and vintage wines but a good ' no frills
' wine guide. The links above are connected to a sample
of wines from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Chile,
South Africa, France, Italy and Germany and divided
into White Wines, Red Wines, Rose Wines, Sparkling
Wines and Dessert Wines.
This wine guide is
not intended to be fully comprehensive but will certainly
help explain clearly a few questions about wine.
Tips
On Wine Tasting
There is no mystery
to tasting wine. Most people can become excellent
tasters with just a little practice and by following
a few basic ground rules.
Firstly
let me remove the shroud of mystery from tasting wine.
Most of us can become very good wine tasters just
by practicing those few simple rules.
Standard ISO wine tasting glasses are
all you need and easily available from any good wine
shop. These are designed to maximise the bouquet of
the wine. You will hear experts referring to the 'bouquet'
as the nose. In plain English it is the smell.
A
clear nose and sense of smell.
Don't get concerned if you don't pick up all the different
smells. if your sense of smell is not great at first
- it will improve with practice. Avoid wearing perfumes/after
shave etc. - they spoil it for you and for everyone
else. Smell and taste go hand in hand.
Good light
is essential
to appreciate the natural colour characteristics of
a wine. A bright room with a white tablecloth or any
white background is ideal - but avoid candle light.
Good
Company - Good Wine is for sharing and a small
group of friends is all you need - and an ideal way
to share the cost because each guest can bring a different
bottle - the more the merrier! Another person may
identify a smell or taste that someone else couldn't.
Pen
and paper is important for notes - perhaps a yellow
sticky pad so individuals can post their note on the
bottle itself.
Wine
Tasting Techniques
It
is very easy to learn the techniques of wine
connoisseurs, just follow
some general "guidelines" when judging a
wine. We'll focus on three elements - Look, Smell
and Taste.
Look
Study the appearance
of the of the wine, it should be poured
into a clear ISO wine tasting glass and held in front
of a white background (a tablecloth or piece of paper
will serve nicely) so that you can examine the colour.
Remember the colour of wine varies tremendously, even
throughout the same types of wine
For example, the first and obvious
observation is; white wines are not really white!;
they vary in colour from green to yellow to brown.
As a general rule. the more colour in a white wine
can indicate more flavour and age.
It is possible that a brown
wine may have gone bad.
So whilst time may not improve white wine is does
improve many red wines. Which brings is back to colours;
red wines are not a definite red and range from a
pale red to a deep brown red, and as they age they
become lighter in colour.
Rim colour: The more you
study and taste wine you will be able to guess the
age of a red wine by looking at its "rim.".
It isn't as difficult as it sounds, but it does take
practice. To begin, tilt the glass slightly and focus
on the edge of the wine. A purplish tint might indicate
a younger wine whilst orange to brown can indicate
maturity. Swirling
the wine has many purposes, and allows you to inspect
the body of the wine. You may have heard wine
connoisseurs mention
"Good legs" in the company of Jancis
Robinson, however it may
indicate a thicker body and a higher alcohol content
and/or level of sweetness. After swirling watch the
wine run down the side of the glass, it's viscosity
or thickness makes is run down the glass slower than
a thin wine - which could mean less sweet or lower
in alchol. Swirling also releases the molecules in
the wine allowing us to smell the bouquet or
nose.
There are two main techniques
that wine tasters use:
1.) Take a very quick sniff and
formulate the first impression, then take a second
deeper sniff or
2.) Only take one deep sniff.
Don't try to "taste"
the wine yet, concentrate only on the smell.
In your early days of wine tasting
you may have difficulty in describing your observation,
but after trying many wines
you will notice the differences and similarities.
Image layers of smell and a certain smell may be very
strong with underlying hints of other smells. So take
your time and by keeping note, the next time you see
a particular wine you won't have to purchase it to
know if you like it . . . or not!
Taste
Beacause the most important quality
of any wine is the balance between acidity and sweetness,
you'll get the full taste of a wine by following these
three steps:
1.
First impression: Your
taste buds wil respond to sensations and your senses
will awaken.
2. Taste:
Slosh the wine around and draw in some air ... okay
you may look a little funny in front of your friends
- but it's meant to be fun!. Examine the body and
texture of the wine. Is it smooth or harsh? is it
light or rich? is it sweet or sour?
3. Aftertaste:
contemplate the taste that remains in your mouth just
after you have swallowed the wine. Take your time,
how long did the taste last? Was it a pleasant taste?
Keep tasting different wines,
the more different wines you try, and the more detail
you get from each wine, the better you will become
at describing each wine's characteristics.
Confused about wine types? -
wine types made easy
Grapes Explained
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