Are You Pairing The Wine With Food
Am I going to drink this wine on its own, or am I going to pair it with food?
If you want to drink the wine on its own, with some nibbles, go for the whites, fruity reds with less tannin or sparkling wine. If you are going to pair it with food, I would recommend the following basic principles.
- Match complexity of wine with the food: complex wine for complex food, simple wine for simple food
- Always have sweet wine with deserts
- Match the weight of the wine with the weight of the food. For a dish that is heavy, go for a higher alcohol, richer wine.
- Try to match the provenance of wine with the provenance of the dish
- If in doubt about the colour of the wine, go for the safer bet: white for white meat, red for red meat.
Quiz: What Style Of Beer Should You Drink According To Your Personality Type
Which beer matches my personality most? What beer style should I drink based on my personality? If youve ever asked yourself these questions while flipping through a beer menu, take this fun beer style quiz to find the perfect beer for you!
By Mairyn Chorney on Jul. 12, 2019
Have you ever wondered which beer style matches your personality best? No? Honestly, neither have we But we thought it would be fun to find out!
Heres how it works: Get a pen and paper, or open up a note app in your phone and keep track of your answers. At the end of the quiz, tally up how many as, bs, cs, etc. you answered to figure out what style of beer you should drink based off of your personality. Have fun!
Most Of The Wines Sold On The Market Are Meant To Be Enjoyed Immediately
It may sound shocking, but its true: about 90% of the wines sold each day are produced not to be cellared and aged but to be enjoyed within 18 months of production. And while young wines typically have more astringent tannins, simply aerating or decanting your wine can help to soften or mellow these and help enhance other aromas and flavors that may have been suppressed in the bottle.
No need to overthink whether or not you should save that bottle of Riesling until your 10th anniversary you should probably just go ahead and drink it. This includes most of your most commercially popular wines. Order, drink up, and restock!
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What’s The Difference Between Red And White Wine
Okay, you probably dont need any help recognizing a white wine versus a red wine. They look different and they certainly taste different as well. But its worth your while to understand why these types of wine look and taste so different. The culprit in both cases: the skins, and a little something they bring to the party called tannins. Remember the word tannin and what it means, because wine people talk about tannins a lot.
Sparkling Wines From Driest To Sweetest:
- Brut Nature
- Demi-Sec/Semi-seco
- Doux/Sweet/Dulce.
Sparkling wine is made from a wide range of red and white grapes. Champagne proper is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and/or Pinot Noir.
Increasingly, wine drinkers and producers are using the term sparkling wine and champagne interchangeably, in the same way we might call any facial tissue a Kleenex. Purists insist that only wine produced in the Champagne region of France should rightfully be called champagne or Champagne, but there are no laws in the U.S. governing that distinction. So, if you think youre getting a steal on a bottle of imported champagne for only $12, you should probably check the label a bit more closely.
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How To Find Wines You Actually Like
A beginners guide to finding and appreciating wine you love with easy to follow tips and guidelines on how to start buying and drinking wine!
For years after I turned 21, I only drank Pinot Grigio. It was a safe bet I knew I liked it. And that was enough.
Most new wine drinkers do the same thing: play it safe and only pick one or two wines they know they love.
But think about it like food. You dont only pick two foods you like, do you? There are thousands upon thousands of delicious dishes out there. Why cut yourself short! Be curious.
The same extends to wine. There are thousands upon thousands of styles and vineyards and varietals. You arent guaranteed to like them all. But youll probably like more than just one.
You just need to find which styles, vineyards, and varietals you like best. And thats what Im going to help you do.
Things like smell, flavor, texture, and body can all affect your appreciation of wine. The trick is really finding which specific characteristics of wine you love most.
Check out the BEST Summer Wines that are perfect for beginners!
Grapes Will Taste Different Coming From Different Regions
Originating in France, the cabernet sauvignon grape is now grown all over the world, and the terroir the geographic topography, soil, and climate of each region imparts its own unique twist on this adaptable grape.
Cabernet-based Bordeaux wines are full-bodied wines that smell like currants and the minerality of wet rocks. While a Cabernet from Sonoma Valley is rich and full-bodied, with notes of jammy dark fruit and spice, a Cabernet from Chile tends to be more medium-bodied, with herbal and chocolate notes.
If youve explored In Good Taste’s California Wine Mixer, we compare and explore two Cabernet Sauvignons, grown in two vastly different California regions: Game Theory Cabernet Sauvignon grown in Paso Robles, and Game Theory Cabernet Sauvignon grown in Alexander Valley. If you have not tasted our California Wine Mixer, now you have a reason to!
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Every Major Type Of Red Wine You Would Ever Need To Know
If you’re a beginner in the world of red wine, walking down a wine aisle at a local wine shop or even your grocery store can be intimidating. Sure, you know that Merlot and Malbec are both red, but your knowledge doesn’t go too far beyond that. If that’s the case for you, don’t worry. We’re here to shed some light on the red wine section. The truth is, the vast majority of red wines come down to a handful of grapes, so if you know about those grapes, then you’ll have a much clearer picture of the wine landscape. That can help you choose the perfect red for that steak dinner or select a bottle for your friend’s housewarming party.
We’re going to cover 10 common types of red wine you’ll find on shelves. Of course, there are countless other varieties out there, but these are the types you’re most likely to see regularly. Get acquainted with these varieties first, then make your way to your local wine shop and try them out for yourself. After all, the best way to determine what kind of wine you prefer is by sipping it yourself. Ready to get started? Here’s every major type of red wine you’d ever need to know.
Wine Is Best Paired With Friends And Loved Ones
Few things are more enjoyable than drinking a nice glass with friends and loved ones. Talking about what you’re tasting in the glass while unwinding at the end of a hectic day. Rosé is great, but enjoying rosé on the beach with friends is better.
At In Good Taste, we are proud to help connect friends, family, and colleagues scattered throughout the country while they indulge in their love of good wine.
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The Key Elements Of Wine
The experts can identify and describe a wine by smell alone, but the real fun starts with tasting. Hidden in every wine are a signature aroma and complex bouquet. These two terms are close but not synonymous. The aroma is guided by the grape variety. In the case of French Provence rosé, that typically means grenache, so expect a hint of summer fruits, melon and even celery. The bouquet, on the other hand, comes from the fermenting and aging process particular to each estate. Wine absorbs aroma and flavor from the barrel, and each wine estate will pride itself on the flavor profile that its process delivers. When you start picking up wood smoke, vanilla, spice and nutty flavors, you know youre through to the bouquet.
Test Yourself on Our Out East RoséYou should find these hidden in our signature Provence rosé:
Aroma: Hints of cavaillon melon, white peach, wild berriesBouquet: Baking spices, violets
How To Discover Which Wine You Like
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to wine. To find out which wine you like, you simply have to try out a couple of different varieties and remember what you like. As a good starting point, however, you can look at the drinks that you already drink and work from there.
Think about whether you like your coffee with milk in it or whether you like it black. If you like your coffee with milk in it, try for a light-bodied red wine, whereas if you like black coffee try a medium-bodied wine like a merlot. If you love espresso then you can probably start yourself off with a full-bodied red- but dont be afraid to dial it back down if you find the taste is too strong for you.
If you like your fruit juices to be really bitter, like grapefruit juice, then the chances are that you would enjoy a white wine thats tart and refreshing, like a pinot grigio or a sauvignon blanc. If youre more of a cloudy apple juice type of person then youre probably going to enjoy a chardonnay more.
Some Chardonnays are aged in oak barrels, which makes them the perfect starter wine for people who already love alcohol thats aged in oak barrels, drinks such as bourbon, whiskey, and certain types of rum.
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How To Choose Wine: Tips For Picking A Good Bottle Of Wine
When you are choosing a wine, it can seem like a daunting task. How do you choose a good-tasting wine when you dont know that much about wine? Whats the best red wine? How do you answer that if youre not even sure whats a good red wine? Unfortunately, there are no solid answers to this question as a lot of wine tasting comes down to personal taste. However, there are a couple of easy tricks for you to remember that will make the process easier.
To choose wine, you must first consider why you are drinking the wine. Are you pairing for a dinner party? Choosing a bottle at a restaurant? A celebratory gift for someone? Or just looking for something to share on a Saturday night? Whatever the occasion, a bottle of wine holds importance- whether its in an investment in an evening or an expression of a relationship.
Wine Is Only As Complicated As You Make It
Wine is fun and meant to be enjoyed, plain and simple. Sure, you can study the terminology and technicalities if youre interested. But at the end of the day, all you need to enjoy wine is simply a wine opener and a glass. You do not have to stress yourself about whether or not your wine will pair well with your dinner.
Here is a tip: choose a wine from the country that your dish is from as they say, what grows together goes together. Simple. It is wine, not rocket surgery your tongue will tell you if youve got it wrong.
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Reading Wine Bottles For Beginners
No matter how prepared your wine cards are, youre not going to walk into a wine shop, pick up a bottle of Vigonier and find the words full, creamy, floral, and fruity emblazoned on the label.
Well, you might. But probably not.
Wine bottles are often crafted under the conceit that whoever is picking it up already knows what it is. This is one of the reasons beginners find it so hard to branch out.
But most bottles will include some key points of information that will help you: producer/vineyard, region, varietal, vintage, and ABV. Wine Folly has a very easy guide to reading wine bottles for beginners.
Dont Bother About Vintage
Vintage wines have a great reputation with wine drinkers and beginners looking for how to choose wine, but in reality, only a tiny fraction of wines created are ever intended to be kept to vintage. Especially if youre a relative beginner in the art of choosing the wine you might as well not blow your budget on a wine that you dont truly understand the complexities of. Its a waste of money for you.
The year that you see on the bottle is the year that the grapes were picked. Often, wines like to be drunk young, and the younger a wine is the more powerful and punchy its flavors will be. For example, a light-bodied white should always be drunk young, as the longer that it is left the more that it will lose its signature palette of crisp, fruity flavors. The same goes for rosé wine- you should always choose a young rosé, as they are very rarely meant for aging.
If you are trying to choose a wine for you to age at home, for example for a wedding anniversary or the birth of a new child then its best to go to a specialized wine shop to ask what their recommendation is. Certain brands are typically good for aging, such as Moscato or cabernet sauvignon, but different years can taste very different from each other because of rainfall, sunshine, or a variety of factors.
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Wine Apps You Need To Check Out In 2022
Im always asked by people what wine apps are the best to use.
I have downloaded SO MANY wine apps in my time. Some I use daily/weekly/monthly and others I download, use one, and then they sit there until Im bored enough to go through and delete them.
Therefore to answer the question it depends! It really depends what kind of app you are after. Some of the different types of wine apps you can get are:
Can Red Wines Be Chilled
Absolutely. Most reds are served too warm. The old saw that they should be served at room temperature was probably written by somebody with a chilly manor house. All reds should be at least slightly cool, and reds that are simple thirst-quenchers high in acidity can be served colder than that. In general, reds that are more tannic or complex should be served cool but not cold. Still, whats the worst that can happen if they are too cold? Let them warm up, or wrap your hands around the bowl of the wineglass to impart some heat.
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A Simple Guide To Drinking & Enjoying Wine
Walk into your local wine store these days, with bottles lining the walls, shelves, and racks, and youre likely to faint from overstimulation. With such a wide variety and no shortage of people sharing their views on the best wine,” it can be hard to discern fact from fiction. Never fear: In Good Taste is here to help wine novices and virtuosos alike to navigate the wine world with ease. Here are ten things we think everyone should know about wine.
Know Which Type Of Wine You Want
If you know that you or the person you are buying for has a particular preference for rosé, then no online quiz or article should tell you to buy a red, a white, or a sparkling . While it is a good idea to try different kinds of wine to expand on what you know that you enjoy, try to explore within what you already know first. That means if you already know that you like light-bodied white wines like Pinot Grigio, try other light-bodied white wines like Sauvignon Blanc.
It can be useful to know that there are a lot of different aspects that can affect the flavors of the wine. This can mean that you have one Sauvignon Blanc, for example, grown and bottled in New Zealand and you love it, but you try another, say from Australia and its much less to your taste. This can be very frustrating, especially for someone who is trying to choose a good wine for beginners. Theres a simple reason for this though.
Everything can affect the flavor of a wine, from the type of soil that it was grown in, to the amount of rainfall vs. sunshine that year. Grapes grown in a cooler climate will take longer to ripen, and so produce a wine that has more acidic qualities. Grapes that are grown in a warmer climate ripen faster, so the naturally occurring sugars are more prominent in the wine production process.
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The Best Way To Learn Is To Sip
There are so many types of wine on the market, with different regions, varietals, winemaking styles, etc. The best way to learn about and get familiar with the wines you like is to taste them!
One of the great things about In Good Taste’s tasting kits is that they help you enjoy and learn about many different varietals you may not have tried before. Our tasting wine flights feature eight six-oz bottles so you can try new wines with minimal commitment. Maybe you will taste something that blows you away and want to taste and learn more about that particular wine. On the other hand, you may taste something you are not really a fan of, which is fine too! Its all about learning what pleases your palate!
Experienced sommeliers travel to taste different wines in different regions. W are constantly trying to explore and learn. But you do not have to be a wine pro to do this, just a lover of wine. Travel the wine world from your living room with Tasting Flights from In Good Taste.
