• home
• recipes
• how-to
• food science
• chef's tips
• foodopedia
• wines&drinks
• contact us

Wine is not very difficult to understand, although it takes some time to get acquainted with the different grapes, countries, and flavors. However, it can all be simplified so that any "layperson" can have an own guide to wine within the reach of the mind and the palate. This is also what this essay is about, sort of wine for dummy guide. We will cover the basics, which any wine dummy should learn, including wine making, grapes, wine atlas, wine tasting, and some other strange details. While this may seem very daunting at first, as a wine dummy, take small steps, learn by buying a few different wines and trying them, and learning from this guide.

The world of wine is big. There are so many different grapes, countries, regions, and consequently flavors of wines, it's no wonder ordinary people may feel dizzy and unsecure when selecting a wine for purchase. It usually ends with either sticking to an old favorite wine(s) or following some recommendation, but what you should be able to do after reading this essay is to take the first steps into a more independent wine tasting. From wine dummy to wine amateur, and then maybe even further! There is one thing that you should know about this world of wine if you feel like a dummy and think you will never be able to get familiar with all of these. The professional wine tasters are not acquainted with all the wines either! Not because they are lazy, but because there are way too many wines out there. Most professionals only know a small percentage of wines, and for this reason you should not feel dumb when starting your wine exploration journey.

One thing you need to have in mind, and which you will surely notice, is that you will develop your sense of taste for the good wines. It's like anything else in life basically. For example, what was your taste of music when you were a teenager and what is it now? you prefer more classical music today than before? And what about your sense of clothing? Your way of spending money? Well, you get the point right? It is the same with your taste buds, or your palate - it will develop a better sense of flavor, an ability to discern the good from the bad, the complex from the simple. Some wines that you like today you might not even like in a few years, after all the wine tasting years. You will start noticing all the delicate flavors that together make up the complexity of a good wine. A simple Chardonnay might become too simple for you in the long run. If you think today that all wines taste similarly, I guarantee that in a few years you will think you really were a wine dummy today. The way to get there though is to try new sorts of wines, and this guide is going to lead you through this exciting process.

Good wine always comes with high price?

A quick answer is no. There are good wines and bad wines having all kinds of price tags. What does a wine cost really, I mean minus all the taxes, bottles, shipping etc.? A bottle with a label costs about $0.50, shipping maybe $2, then the tax - depends on where you live but let's say $2 per bottle which is quite high, and of course the profit percentage that is set by the producer and the vendor - maybe $2 there in total. Now we're up in $6.50 and the bottle is still empty! The cost of the wine itself is the price tag minus the $6.50 cost of all else. So if you buy a cheap wine that costs $8 and another one that costs $10, the price of the wine per se goes from $1.50 to $3.50 - and that's a lot, more than 100%. So a small change on the total price tag would mean that the quality of the wine is vastly improved. That's good to keep in mind when you have a choice between two bottles of wines that only differ marginally in price. Of course, this is just an estimate, but it reflects the reality. We still don't know how much profit % the different vendors have put on their wines, and maybe some other production costs that are concealed. But as a general rule, the marginally more expensive wines turn out to be better. Much better. This also answers the wine quality and price correlation. Often good wines are expensive, although there are some exceptions. Also, the price tag goes up with the age of the wine (that may not cost that much when it's fresh) but the price in this case may be simply follwing the rule of demand on the market. Naturally, many wines get better with age and so their quality is reflected in the price as well.

One thing to be cautious about is the psychological effect of the price. Usually a higher price conveys high quality. Often it is true, but: in our world of big marketing campaigns, some wine producers are able to sell lower quality wines to a higher price during some months of the year and later, the very same wines can be seen in "special offers" for about 50% lower price in tax-free shops or in other places. People who are used to see this wine with a higher price are of course attracted to this "high quality" wine that is suddenly available cheaper. unfortunately, this wine is of lower quality and shouldn't have had a high price tag in the first place. In other words: watch out for those low price campaigns unless you are fully knowledgable about what you are purchasing.

The world wide production of wines

The traditional wine producers, if one may say so, are based in France, Italy, Spain, and some other regions of Europe. In USA there is the famous Napa Valley. Nowadays however we've seen a big influence of wines from the so-called new world, that is - New Zealand, Australia, South Africa. These wines are actually and generally good, and there are several reasons for that. For once, the new world producers have the know-how. They are reliable, come with reasonable prices (necessary if you're new on the market I guess), have a warmer climate and therefore a more ripen grapes, and they also exchange ideas and production secrets with each other to some degree. All that to get onto the old world market. At the same time, the old world Europe has been resting on its traditions and not as much invention has been seen here, although it is changing. Some producers have realized the threat on the market and upgraded their production techniques. To be plain though, don't be afraid of the Australian or New Zealand wines - they are really good in general and are easy to memorize as well, not to mention the consumer friendly labels!

Also let's briefly mention the different types of wines. Besides the traditional red and white wines we also are able to drink champagne, which is simply a wine that is fermented twice but the second fermentation is closed so that the gas does not escape and is dissolved in the wine (= bubbles). Champagne or other types of bubble wines don't have to be white, they may as well be red or rose wines (that is, white wine with some added red wine). Then there are wines with high and low alcohol content. High alcohol wines are made by simply pouring some extra alcohol into the wine during the fermentation. The earlier one does it the sweeter the wine will be (since there is more unfermented sugar from the grapes). Port wines for example are made in such way, as well as sherry. And lastly, the alcohol-free wines - hm...nothing worth spending your money on, try some grape juice instead.

The grapes

Red wine can be made of the following red grapes (and there are more out there but we just mention the most popular ones). If you don't know where the different wine regions are located, just forget about them for now and learn them when you happen to drink the wine in question.

Cabernet sauvignon - is the most cultivated grape in the world and is the base for the many famous red wines. The red bordeaux wines like $200 Mouton Rothschild, $500 Latour, or $600 Margaux are classically good and as you see - expensive. But there are other cabernet sauvignon wines with more friendly price tags that you can enjoy. The wine bears a characteristic black currant and cedar aroma with a touch of plums. Certain climates and soil add some other scents to the wine, e.g. mint or olive. Cabernet is often blended with merlot, and can be stored in barrels to get on some other flavors like coffee or leather. Cabernet sauvignon is the wine that suits nice with some strong food, like grilled or roasted and perhaps spicy beef served with brown sauce.

Pinot Noir - gives a red currant, red berries and grass flavored wine, and is very aromatic, but it has to be a good pinot noir. Some less quality noirs are quite disappointing, and unfortunately there are many of this sort. Check before you buy! Pinot noir gives the classic red bourgogne, a light red and mild wine. Stored in barrels, it also gains some scents of vanilla and leather. It is a good wine to drink with duck, venison, or other more aromatic meat, since the fruitiness in the wine complements the wilderness in the meat. Unfotunately, since this grape is quite difficult to produce right, many good pinot noirs are expensive. However, some producers in the new world have managed to bring us more price friendly wines of this sort. If you want to go for the famous noirs, look for Cote d'Or.

Merlot - reminds of cabernet sauvignon but is more mild. These two grapes are often mixed together to dilute the stronger cabernet, and this possibility is made because merlot is so much easier to cultivate. It is good in Bordeaux, Pomerol, Saint-Emilion and North Italy. It is very fruity, has a characteristic plum aroma and is very rounded, and the Italian wines are more light, freshly acidic, with scents of grass. Merlot is now also grown to be used as the sole grape in wines, that is, not only to be blended with other sorts. It is a good wine for the grilled meat with brown or lighter sauces.

Grenache or Garnacha - is light red and has a scent of berries and herbs, and is used in some of the popular wines in Southern France and Northern Spain, e.g. Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Cotes-du-Rhone. Grenache is often mixed with other grapes, e.g. Syrah. As a single grape wine, it is mostly sold as a rose wine or as a young wine due to its tendency to oxidize quickly. Try Priorat wine to get a better taste for this grape (or some of the before mentioned ones). The grape is very resistant to heat and it is very competitive against other grapes, if one may see it that way, in places with lots of sun.

Cabernet franc - is another bordeaux grape, often used mixed with cabernet sauvignon although it is fully capable to give fruity juicy wines on its own (e.g. $300 Chateau Cheval Blanc). It reminds of the cabernet sauvignon as well but has a typical tar flavor, with strokes of herbs and grass rather than black currant. It is very good in Loire, Chinon, Bourgeuil, Saint-Emilion, and suits well with lighter meat dishes. Cabernet franc is also good to store for some years.

Shiraz or Syrah - is a popular grape because it gives more fruitiness than e.g. cabernet sauvignon and is easier to cultivate than e.g. pinot noir. The brownish color is complemented with black peppered black currant flavor, with scents of plums or orange, herbs, spices, and well... all sorts of things. Syrah is a complex grape indeed. It is grown in northern parts of Rhone as THE grape, and is also popular in other places in the world where it is succesfully transformed into good wines. Syrah is good to drink with venison or some bigger cuts of meat with lots of flavor in them.

Other more or less famous red grapes include Sangiovese (the Italian Chianti wine grape, that goes well with food), Tempranillo (the Spanish Rioja wine grape, quite fruity and goes well with lighter and heavier meats), Carignan and Mourvedre (very tannic grapes), Nebbiolo (dark, acidic and tannic wine, good for venison), Primitivo (a popular Italian grape with lots of fruitiness), and Zinfandel (then US national treasure that actually is the same as Primitivo, gives nice wines with berry and spicy tones, goes well with meats). There are more grapes out there but before we dig too deep into this realm let's go over to the white wine grapes!

White wines then are made from these grapes:

Chardonnay - number one seller among the white wines, is a quite simple and fresh wines, not too much acid and green apple tones. Grown in warmer climates chardonnay also gets some extra notes of exotic fruits. They are also quite "fat" on the tongue. Depending on the producer you can get fantastic chardonnay, or a really bad and disgusting one. Many chardonnays are stored in oak barrels that add some scents of vanilla and nuts to the wine, however, if you want a clear chardonnay flavor without the oak influence then try a chablis wine. This clearer Chardonnay is good for shellfish food, while the oak barrel chardonnay is better for more spicy fish dishes or chicken.

Sauvignon blanc - "hate it or love it", "smells like cat urine, but is fantastic", and some other controversial comments are often ascribed to this grape. Sauvignon blanc is the grape that some people like and other stay away from. It has the taste of gooseberry, elder, herbs, lemon, is quite acidic and very fresh - if grown in colder climates. Consequently the best sauvignon blancs come from Loire and also New Zealand, and they are also sometimes mixed with semillon grape to give some of the finest wines you can buy. Sauvignon blanc is the perfect shellfish dish wine and good with goat's cheese.

Riesling - (pronounced reez- and not rhy-) is the grape that grows well in both warmer and colder climates, so you can find it in France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. However, the best Riesling is from the colder places, and is not stored in barrels. It has a very acidic and fresh taste, a flowery tone, with some citral and apple scents. You can get the Rieslings dry or semi dry, the former go well with fish and shellfish, while the latter are perfect for salmon.

Semillon - is an interesting wine. In its youth, it doesn't taste that much, but after a few years of storage it develops nice lemon and roasted flavors. It is often mixed with sauvignon blanc. In sautérnes where nice Semillons are made, the grapes are allowed to become infected by a mold (Botrytis cinerea) that makes the grape lose some of its water and therefore concentrates the sweetness and flavor in it. These wines have therefore also some tones of the mold, which smells similar to an organic solvent of some kind. It sound disgusting but it's not! Semillon is good with foie gras, roquefort cheese, and also with some sweet pastry.

Pinot gris or pinot grigio - gives smoky wines, soft and full, with tones of exotic fruits (especially the ones from Alsace in France), or more nutty and lighter wines (like the ones from Northeastern Italy). Very good with fish.

Some other green grapes include Gewürztraminer (a very fresh wine if made correctly, otherwise like some perfume), Muscat (a simple, typically spicy grape that is easy to identify), Viognier (aromatic, with flowery, peach and apricot scents, with low acidity, although it's hard to cultivate this grape), or Chenin Blanc (the prime grape for sweet wines, with notes of honey, almonds, and a fine acid, which makes it perfect for foie gras and desserts).

One note of caution: now that you have some introduction into the different grapes and what kind of wine they give, you can pick and choose a few that attract your attention and taste them. Be warned though that these descriptions are valid for the nicely produced wines (not necessarily expensive of course). It is best to check some recommendations or reviews of wines before you buy any. After all you can make a fine Chenin blanc or you can completely destroy it - and still sell it as a Chenin blanc!

So how is wine produced?

The first step obviously, is to plant the grapevine and later to harvest the grapes and transform them into wine. It is all these steps that determine how good a particular wine will be. The primest wines are only available from a few number of producers, and they often cost more money. Tne good producers have access to a good soil on which the grapevines grow. In addition they have a good watering system and a good climate. Then there is this trade off question of quality versus quantity. Generally, the more grapevines there are in one area the lower quality there will be since the big number of grapes produced have to redistribute the scarce nutrition between them. Also the dense number of leaves closes out the sunlight that also affects the taste of the grape. More grapes that have to share equally from a limited number of nutrition means less taste (pretty much like in communism eh?).

Let's get more into details. An important aspect of getting good grapes is the soil, or 'terroir'. Terroir also includes the climate, altitude, and other natural forces that affect the grapes. Some people say that this is the most important thing that determines the wine quality. Consequently the famous terroirs are cultivating more expensive wines. In Bourgogne, France, there are a few hundred wine producers, all with their own terroir - so if you want a taste of their uniqueness - go ahead and try them. They may cost you some money though. Is it justified? To a certain degree yes, but terroir is not all, whatever some people may say. But what effect has it really on the wine? The warmer climates often give more mature flavor to the wine. Grapes from higher altitudes give more refreshing wines. And then, there is the soil - some wines have a clear scent of the type of soil they have been grown on, although far from all. This is what is called minerality. The enigma here is that, as just said, far from all wines carry this soil characteristic. Maybe this is the producer's fault, or maybe there is something about terroir that we don't know yet. The lack of minerality can of course simply reflect a very poor nutrition in the soil. Furthermore, if the soil is fertilized and watered artificially then its unique effect on the taste of wine is highly reduced.

The production of wine starts by removing all the stalks (bitter stuff!) from the grapes and then crushing the grapes so they can be fermented. Fermentation is done in big barrels or tanks, together with yeast (either added yeast or the ones that are naturally present in the air and on the grapes). This process of fermentation transforms the sugar in the grapes into carbon dioxide and alcohol. When making white wine, the grape skins are however removed before the fermentation, so the wine doesn't become too bitter. Now, due to high temperature development, the barrels are cooled so a correct fermentation temperature is continuously kept - otherwise the yeast would die! After the fermentation the grapes are rested for a few weeks, just to extract even more flavor from them, and then the whole mixture is filtered or decanted, or even clarified just as we do with stocks or consommes. Now the wine can get even more flavor by special storage conditions, or simply by age. It can also be bottled right away and sold to us - some wines are made this way.

But the wines that are not bottled directly can be further improved by storing them in special barrels. A popular barrel is made of oak or other wood, and they all add some new scents to the wine. The typically described wood scents are vanilla, roasted food, coconut. Storage of wine in barrels also makes the liquid breathe some air, and thus get even more interesting (hopefully) as it gets more mature and less fruit-juice-like. A lot of wines get better by such type of storage, however not all of them. For example, Riesling is not suited for such treatment.

What do you need in order to enjoy wine?

A few basic things are necessary. Naturally you need glass and a cork opener, and a refrigerator or wine cooler (unless you are blessed with a well-tempered wine cellar). Let's go through these items one by one.

A proper wine glass is actually important for the flavor of wine (!). Wine does taste different in different glasses. There two general types of wine glasses, one for red and one for white wines. Then there are even other variants for even further subdivisions of wines but let's not concern ourselves with that for now. A proper wine glass then has a ligthly curved shape, so that the orifice is tapered - thus preserving more of the scent of the wine that you can smell when you put your nose in the glass. Remember that smell is important, and also what makes wine so special (in contrast with a can of soda). The foot of the glass is high so you can hold the glass entirely by its foot, not touching the upper part where the wine is. Snobbery? No - it prevents the wine from getting heated up by our warm fingers. Since we don't drink the wine that fast (usually) then it's of outmost importance to preserve it in its optimal condition. Wine glasses should not be decorated or have any fine engravings or patterns. They should be clear so you can see the wine in its whole glory (sorry for the expressions, but you get the point). Now, for the bubble wines you can choose glasses that are higher - so you can see the nice bubbles in the glass.

So what is the general conclusion of what a proper wine glass gives? It turns on all your senses - smell (the closed orifice), sight (clear glass), touch (correct temperature), and flavor (everything combined together). All this for the optimal enjoyment of wine. After all, if you pay good money for a good wine, doesn't it and you deserve a good wine glass?

Then you need a cork opener to open the wine glass. There are several variants on the market, all from simple hand-held openers to the more expensive half-automatic and fully automatic ones with or without a knife that slices through the foil that covers the cork. Choose whichever suits your economy or desire, just make sure they have a nice twist on the spiral that perforates the cork - some very cheap openers are more like drilling machines than cork openers.

To cool the wine to its best temperature you need a wine cooler, that is, it is the quickest method you can use. You simply keep it in the freezer and use it when needed - it takes just a few minutes to chill the wine. And it is better than putting the bottle in the freezer. You can also try refrigerator but it takes longer time obviously. And of course, a wine cellar is the king: proper temperature at all times.

What is the proper serving temperature of the wine?

At which temperature should wine be served? Usually, white wines are served at around 13 C/55 F and red wines at slightly below room temperature e.g. 18 C/62 F. However, depending on the age of wine, and some particular properties some wines may have, don't take this rule for granted. Younger white wines for example are good at even lower temperatures, and bubble white wines are refrigerated.

The idea here is to find a temperature that balances the different flavors and properties of the wine. Colder temperatures will bring forward the fruitiness and freshness that is desirable in white wines, especially the younger ones. However, the cold also brings forward the bitter tasting tannins - that are present in red wines. For this reason, red wines are served at a higher temperature. And the better slightly aged white wines also benefit from not so cold temperature, since their unique aromas would be drowning in the coldness. So don't just neglect the importance of temperature - it really has a significant effect on the aroma of the wine. It's the same with all foods, more or less, if you think about it. For example how does a cold burger taste compared with a freshly grilled one? Or how does warm ice cream taste compared with a cold one? You see the point.

As a guideline, a bottle of white wine becomes chilled enough in one hour in refrigerator, and a bottle of red wine needs just fifteen minutes. Of course, as we discussed above, you may need to adjust the timing depending on the particular wine you drink.

So you've opened the wine, now - what if it's corked?

What does it mean? Some wines, a few percent of all wine bottles with the traditional wooden cork, happen to chemically react with the cork and give the wine a bad flavor of something that can be described as a swimming pool with chlorine water, or a moist cellar. This is not avoidable unfortunately, so if you happened to buy such a wine, you should return it to the shop and get another bottle (if possible). There are some other types of corks though that prevent this corked effect. Synthetic cork is one, although it is more difficult to handle when opening and sealing the bottle. But the best type is the simple screw cork, which is widely used in the New world of wines (Australia, New Zealand). Some producers have now followed this production mode as well, but still many of the Old world tradition are clinging to their wood.

How to taste wines

First of all, make wine tasting a social gathering, since you will not be able to drink three or more bottles on your own. And even if you did it's not good for your liver, so take it easy. Besides it's more fun to taste wines with some friends, hopefully of the same mindset when it comes to enjoying wine. How do you choose wines for a wine tasting gathering? There are a few ways to go. Of course you can choose any wines you would like to taste. Perhaps you want to feel how the different grapes taste like so you buy a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and maybe a Riesling. Or some other wines that you want to taste. Another alternative is to taste the very same wine but of different age, although it can be hard to find three or more bottles of one sort. You can also try some different wines of the same age, but of different prices or different producers, or both. Possibilities are many and it's your desires that should guide you. (Image: Some good and inexpensive wines, all four for $60!)

So how does one taste the wine? In four steps: look, smell, taste, spit/swallow. Step one is to look at it (once it's in the glass) and evaluate its color. In general, the younger red wines are more red than the older that tend to become more brownish. The intensity of color tells you how concentrated the wine is. White wines also change color with age, from quite pale yellow to deep yellow. Notice though that some grapes and some climates will affect the color of wine as well, so these general rules not always apply! One other thing that people do is to watch at the so-called tears: the translucent drops or thin layer of liquid that you can see descending on the walls of the glass after you stir the wine. These tears are considered by some people to be a sign of quality, although this is just a myth - they are solely an indicator of how much alcohol there is in the wine. Nice to look at nevertheless!

Step two in wine tasting is very important and is the one that separates wine from soda and other common drinks. Smelling! As you may know we have a few thousand of smell receptors in our nasal cavity, in contrast to just five basic tastes that our tongues percept. Wine contains a lot of volatile flavor molecules that are so important to feel to really enjoy wine. So, stir the glass to release the flavors into the air and put your nose into the glass - and smell. Do it one more time. Good wines have a complex pattern of flavors, although some wines don't smell that much and still can be good. Try to describe all the smells you can identify. Many of them should be familiar to you, and with time you should be able to identify which grapes have been used in certain wines just be smell alone. The easiest ones to discern are e.g. Chardonnay from Sauvignon Blanc. Then also, the different wine producers, climates, years of harvest, terroir, etc. will also have their effect on the smell of wine.

Step three is to drink a bit of wine without swallowing it, and also to get a breathe of air into your mouth so it further releases the volatile flavors in the wine. This is how the wine should be appreciated, both on the tongue and in the nose. Now you may feel additional flavor molecules in your mouth, some that you haven't smelled before. Try to describe the taste.

Step four is either swallowing or spitting out the wine gracefully into a barrel and then - not finished yet - feel how long time a wine leaves its imporession on your tongue. The longer time the better quality. Usually above six seconds is a very good sign, while below three is quite bad. Why the choice between swallowing and spitting? It all depends on how much wine you want and can drink. Usually, a professional wine tasting involving many wines does not allow for much swallowing, since one may quickly get drunk!

So what if you don't get the flavor description out of your head? This usually comes with more experience. If you find it difficult in the beginning, then you can read some reviews of the wines you are tasting (should be easy to find on the internet) and see how other people describe it. Expect the descriptions to vary from each reviewer and from you! It doesn't matter really, although most people find some common ground for which they would agree on a wine taste description. And don't be surprised if you find taste descriptions like leather, cat piss, oil, or something worse - it's just taste description that someone associates with what he senses.

With time, you will build up an arsenal of wine tasting descriptions in your head, and you will recognize similarities and differences between the particular wines. You will find what you really enjoy to drink, and what you dislike.

Let us also briefly mention, if you want to try different grapes, that some wines like Chianti or Rioja usually contain more than one grape. And Chateauneuf-du-Pape has 13 grapes in it! Even if they are made of predominantly one sort of grape, the other grapes are "seasoning" or "balancing" the main flavor. Just like in cooking. Don't turn these wines away, try them! You can also try to blend your own wine, and see how the different proportions of each grape affect the final flavor.

How to store wines

As you probably know, wines can be younger and older, and the older wines are normally more expensive than the young ones. The older wines, if properly stored, are also more mature, have developed some new interesting aromas, while the young wines are typically more fruity and fresh. It can be a fun idea to store some wines in your home for later consumption. Some wines need to be stored just a few years to get really good, while other may need even more time. Some wines are not good for storing at all. Anyhow, an old good wine makes a very nice gift, or a nice memory, besides of course making a good drink.

What do you need to store wines? A wine cellar. Now, you don't actually have to build or have an entire room for that. Depending on how many bottles you store, you just need a space to fit them in. It can be a container under your bed if you wish, use your imagination. The important thing here is that the storage container or room has an even temperature at all times and seasons. So hot summers and cold winters should not be able to switch the temperature in your wine cellar. You also need to keep the space moist and dark. If you can manage to find a space that fulfills these criteria then why not start with your own wine library? (One tip: there are, although very expensive, special wine "cellars" that you can buy and set up in your home.)

Remember now that not all wines are good for storage. And many wines cannot be stored for too long either. I know people that collect wine bottles in their cellars for as long as possible, and they don't realize that many of these wines have lost their vigor long time ago and are now undrinkable. So, which kinds of wines are good to store, which ones will develop nice aromas with time? First of all, they need to taste good already from the beginning. Secondly they need to have a good amount of their natural preservatives: alcohol, sugar, tannins, and acid. All these four components can be found in wines, although not always in sufficiently high amounts. White wines, in general, lack the tannins since they come from the skins of the grapes and white wines are not fermented with unpeeled grape skins. However, some white wines can still be stored for a shorter time, e.g. a Riesling or a Semillon from the New world.

Nevertheless, oftentimes you see red wines as the ones that are dominating in the old league. If you want to get in there, try to find some nice Cotes-du-Rhone from Villages, or a good Shiraz from the New world. Or try to experiment. It is hard to give a general recommendation for how long a wine should be stored before it reaches its finest quality and before it gets bad. All wines are different. Try to find some information on the internet, or consult someone who knows the subject well. One thing you can do is to look at the fine restaurant's wine lists (usually published on the internet) and get some information from there.

One more note to consider. You may not like an old wine as much as you like a young one! Bear in mind that older wines lose their freshness and fruitiness, and instead acquire more mature and filling aromas. The choice is yours, maybe you like both sorts, as many other people do.

When you store a bottle of wine, then just lay it down on its side so the cork is wet. And get some of the middle-priced wines for storage, they are usually much better than the cheaper ones that don't turn out so well after some years of storage. And don't just become a wine collector - enjoy your wines once you've stored them long enough!

The fine years and the bad years

As we discussed previously, wines are made of grapes (!) and grape quality is very much dependent on the weather and climate conditions that may change for each and every year that the grapes are cultivated. Consequently, unfortunate weather may spoil the grape flavor and therefore the wines made during this unfortunate year may not taste as nice as the wines that are made during a good year. Or? It is true but not in absolute terms. The thing is, good producers are able to turn even some less-than-average grapes into a good wine, despite their inferior quality. Other producers are not able to do so. In other words, all these tables that show which years were good or bad in the respective geographical region are just a guide and not a fully reliable authority to which wine you should buy or abstain from. Just so you know!

Decantation or aeration - what for?

The point of decantation or aeration of wine is simply to make it more flavorful. Although some people think it's just snobbery and myth, the truth is as usual, somewhere in between. Some wines are better after aeration, especially the young wines that get better after a few hours of aeration. You may have experienced that some wines taste differently when tasted directly after the opening of the bottle, and maybe a day after. So, some wines need some oxygen to get their flavors blooming, and some wines are simply too harsh to be drunk right away. They need some time in the air. There is also another point of aeration, or rather decantation - some wines, especially aged red wines, have some amount of particles collected at the bottom of the bottle, and they are simply not looking good in a wine glass. A careful pouring out of the wine into a glass container, while watching the bottle so no particular matter pours over, is all that you need to do to decant the wine. The remaining part of the wine can be used in cooking.

Wine and food combinations

There are as many opinions on the subject of combining wine and food as there are people on this planet. Well, sort of. Anyway, my point is that some people like one type of wine with a particular dish, and some people like other type of wine. There are though some general rules that you can follow. If you have a spicy, flavor-rich dish then you can combine with a more subtle wine. And coversely, a mildly flavored dish is good with a more flavorful wine. And the traditional rule that red wines are for meat, and white wines are for fish and chicken may also guide you. Sometimes these rules can be broken, all depending on your personal flavor. One more word of advice - choose a wine with some more acid in them. The wines that taste wonderful on their own, without much acid, will not work so well with food.

Wine is often served with cheese. Even here, the opinions vary, and both red wines and white wines may suit the selection of cheeses that you eat. Harder cheese goes well with a mild red wine, and the nicer dessert cheeses may be served with white wines. For more information on wine and food combinations you should look further in books and other sources, since this subject is BIG.

Wine recommendations - the big classics and the less known goodies

I think everyone should taste at least one very good wine in life. The classics, that is - the ones that taste phenomenally well and are priced phenomenally high! If you don't live on a luxury yacht, why not save some money each month for a bottle of superb wine. Maybe you can get one of these once a year, or maybe even more often. The thing is that it is enjoyable, and it will make you feel better (really). You will also get a feeling for what a really good wine tastes like, so you can compare it with the other less expensive ones. Surprisingly some of the cheaper wines are doing quite a good job in comparison with their big brothers. But, you have to experience it!

So which wines are the diamonds in the world of luxury drinking? Some of them we already mentioned when we discussed the different grapes (see above). But let's prolong the discussion now when it's appropriate. Now, the unique really good wines are not common, usually expensive, but once you taste them... well, it's hard to describe the feeling - it's spiritual somehow. They are fruity but not too much, the aromas melt together and are not separated, and you may feel the terroir as well. So, very complex in flavor and smell, and simply tremendous.

The traditional superb classics are the Bourgogne wines, Hermitage wines, German Rieslings, and dry red wines from Bordeaux. Of course, these regions have more than just a few superb wines, there are some less good ones as well. Get a good wine guide and find the ones that you would like to try. Look at the price, it often indicates what's superb and what's not. If you want some more advice, try some of the new "classics" like red wines from Toscany, or Rieslings from Austria, and not least the great Shiraz wines from Australia. In USA there are also good Cabernet Sauvignons from napa Valley.

A word of caution about the expensive and not so good wines. Always take advice from a professional wine guide, don't just look at the price even though it is often indicative in the right direction. However, wines from Bourgogne can be expensive and still not that "orgasmic" as the really good ones. So is the case with wines from Bordeaux. There are so many producers there, they may try to get away with high price simply built upon the fine producers' status. Many Cabernet wines from Napa Valley are also relatively expensive but taste quite mundane. So, watch out! Check your wine guides before you buy anything. You may be disappointed otherwise.

Once you've tried the classics it can be interesting to compare them with other less expensive wines of the same sort, that is, the same grapes, but grown in different regions and countries. With time you should see the differences between all of them. Once again, get some good wine guide to accompany your travel.