The subject of wine is as vast as an ocean, and in many ways the more you learn about it, the more you realise that you have barely scratched the surface.
This endless subject is even subdivided into different disciplines, such as viticulture or vinegrowing – which is the growing and harvesting of grapes, viniculture or winemaking – which is the production of wine, oenology – which is the science of wine excluding the two previous subjects, and matters related to a sommelier – which is the knowledge of serving and food paring of wine.
So the very last thing I would ever pretend to be is some sort of expert, and I truly consider myself to be positioned just marginally above the level of ignoramus. What I always like to say is that I only know the basics, but I know them well.
So here is a very simply summary of some of the basics a discerning diner should know.
NOTE ON OPINIONS. Yes everyone has a right to their opinion. You are perfectly free to believe that your Lada is better than a Ferrari, or that your six year old son sings better in the shower than Joseph Calleja. But really and truly this only shows your ignorance on the subject of cars and song. There are such things as internationally recognised standards and scientific studies, backed by the world’s most prominent experts in the field of wine, and if you don’t mind I will be subscribing to these in this article, rather than the deranged subjective nonsense of some 7Up mixing dumbo.
SNOBBERY
If you still, even in the remotest of ways, think that wine automatically signifies any form of snobbery, then you are literally decades behind. Grow up or shut up, wine is today about as exclusive and pretentious as owning a mobile phone.
WHEN BEST TO DRINK WINE
Wine was originally conceived and subsequently developed to accompany food and that is when it remains the best. Its popularity today has made it one of the most common bar and party drinks, even independently of food. However it remains best with food, in the same way that spirits remain best without food. And most importantly of all, most food is best eaten along with wine. Food and wine compliment and enhance each other, making them both taste better and offer you much more enjoyment all round when consumed together.
FOOD PAIRING
In today’s ‘anything goes’ scenario, as expected – anything goes. It is neither illegal nor immoral to have a heavy full bodied red with oysters, or a sweet white wine with steak, it’s just rather disgusting. If you have some fatal allergy to a particular wine, then fine, however the long established combinations of wine and food still stand as strongly as ever before. The basics are obvious – white wine with fish and seafood, a light red with white meat, full bodied red with red meat and sweet wine with desserts. Naturally there are a few exceptions as there are for every rule. For example a chilled gamay grape red such as a beaujolais nouveau could eventually be eaten with certain fish, if white will kill you. But from that to imaging that you can drink anything with any food is about as false a misconception as there could possibly be. If you are still not convinced then tell yourself that wine is exactly like food, some food items go with others and some don’t. Try ice cream with ketchup, if still in doubt. On the other hand, if you do retain a bit of integrity and sensibility, you will see how the right food with the right wine will elevate both to much greater heights of goodness and enjoyment. If not, just stick to 7Up and don’t even bother mixing it into any so called wine.
QUALITY OF WINE
There is an enormous difference between the quality of wines. Like most other things in life it is a matter of experience and of acquired taste. If you live in the worst block of the worst suburb of the worst town and have never ventured out of there, then you obviously do not believe that there is any better. Or if you ventured once down the road and found it virtually the same, you are still not qualified to talk about the entire planet. To use another popular example wines are like cars. Yes they all simply have four wheels and one engine and get you from a to b, but there is quite a big difference between a Skoda, a Honda, a Rover, a Mercedes, a Jaguar and an Aston Martin, and if you still can’t see it, it is purely based upon your own self-imposed limitations. But keep at it, practice makes perfect. Some may still not differentiate between a cube roll and an Angus steak and a wagyu kobe – again, entirely their problem. Keep trying – it will come in time, just stop going for the cheapest plonk, otherwise you will never refine your palate!
CHOICE OF WINE
In today’s commercial and competitive scenario there is really no excuse to purchase the cheapest wine around. It is exactly the same and equally distasteful as always selecting the cheapest food you can possible get hold of. The huge choice of wine and relatively inexpensive pricing has created a situation where with literally very few extra Euros, you will go from cheap disgusting crap to good decent wine, quite simply put. When you automatically go for the cheapest, you are always drinking the very worse detritus on offer. Train yourself slowly to appreciate the subtle differences between one wine and another and elevate yourself to a bit of qualitative thinking. In the same way that you do not deserve the very worst food a restaurant can offer, you do not deserve their very worse wine, which is probably used as cooking wine when purchased directly from the supplier. We are not talking about breaking the bank here, just investing very few extra Euros which will greatly increase the quality of the wine. You don’t have to go for a €100 wine and neither a €50 one, just one slightly better than the very bottom of the range,
WHITE, ROSE, RED
The colour of wine is related to the colour of the grapes, but in the following manner. To make white wine you take any colour grapes and remove the skins during fermentation. To make rose you take red grapes and leave the red skins in very temporarily. To make red wine you leave the red skins in during much of the fermentation.
SPARKLING WINE VERSUS CHAMPAGNE
You hear many saying that they prefer prosecco or cava to champagne and that’s fair enough. Again everyone has a right to their opinion. It is obvious that there still unfortunately exist those who would prefer mixing Brunello with 7UP or even Coke, and they too have a right to their sordid opinion. But in reality, those who like any type of sparkling wine but not champagne, are those who have not yet fully developed their taste in such beverages. For champagne is simply the best and finest and highest quality type of sparking wine around. As we all (should) know, it is simply called champagne because it is produced in the Champagne region of North Eastern France. Now admittedly not all champagne is fantastic. And many sparkling wines from other countries such as certain Spanish cavas are truly excellent. But before you blurt out obscenities, such as oh champagne is so overrated and this cava is much better, look properly at the label. You will see that if your sparking wine is truly of good quality, it is in fact produced in exactly the same way as champagne and bears the insignia of ‘methode champenoise’ or ‘methode traditionelle’, simply meaning that everything was done to the smallest detail to imitate true champagne. For champagne is subject to the most stringent regulations and criteria and it can only be of a very high standard. It is therefore the ultimate and finest of sparkling wines. Other types of bubbly are usually a bit fizzier and slightly sweeter, which in terms of sparkling wines are not particularly desirable attributes, but which for the untrained tongue are more pleasing in a Blue Nun/7UP sort of way.
DOES PRICE GUARANTEE QUALITY
I will keep this one very short and simple. The reply is – no definitely not. But if you are still a novice and have very little idea on wine in general, then it is by far the very best indicator around!
WHY DO YOU TASTE WINE
You taste wine to see if it is of acceptable quality and satisfactory condition. In other words if it is corked, or off, or oxidised, or has production deficiencies, or is well past its peak, or is being served at the wrong temperature, or tastes unfresh and mouldy. So plastic and screw top bottles should still be tasted, as the only deficiency they cannot have is being corked, all of the others are still very possible. On the other hand you do NOT send a bottle back because it is not to your taste. That is totally ridiculous. You are meant to know what you are ordering and if you do not, then ask the staff. If they too have no idea, then fine that is another story and they get what they deserve…
HOW TO TASTE WINE
There are meant to be three distinct stages in tasting. Before you start, you swirl the wine not at all to showoff, but to aerate it, so as to bring out the flavours and aromas. Then you are meant to look at it properly which can often reveal a lot on its own. Most white wines for example, should be very light and pale in colour, and a darker, golden hue is not a good sign. With red wines you usually look at the rim or meniscus. If this is very watery, then the chances are that is it a low quality wine. If it is light, purplish-blue, then it is a younger wine, while if it is brownish, it is probably well past its peak. Also when you give it a good swirl, the liquid will cling to the sides of the glass and when it trickles back down a more viscous wine with heavy, noticeable trickles lingering on the side of the glass, indicates a high alcohol content.
You are then to smell the wine for a very valid reason. The sense of smell is enormously more sensitive and powerful than taste, so a lot, and sometimes more, may be sensed through smelling.
Lastly you taste to finish off your mini inspection of the wine, to tell if it is in good shape and of expected quality, for that particular type of wine. You also ensure that the temperature is right.
HOW TO DESCRIBE A WINE
You need not go into the more extreme and subtle notions of bouquet and palate. In the beginning just keep it simple. Sweet, semi sweet, fruity or dry. Light, medium or full bodied. Acidic, fresh, mellow or flat. Soft or tannic. And you’re already halfway there.
GRAPE VARIETIES
There are endless varieties which are very different from each other. Try to learn the most popular ones and their principle characteristics. For example Chardonnay makes a fruity full bodied white. Sauvignon blanc makes a floral aromatic white. Moscato makes a sweet white. Nebbiolo is full bodied red. Cabernet Sauvignon is red and spicy. Merlot red, round and balanced. There are hundreds of varieties, however no more than say two dozen or so which you initially need to remember.
DO COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN AND GRAPE VARIETALS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Yes, an enormous difference. In fact if I had to give any basic advice to anyone on the very first steps of choosing a wine, then these would be my very first two criteria. Know your countries and grapes, the rest will then slowly follow. To take some obvious examples, if you go for a Chilean sauvignon blanc, although there are many subtle differences between each wine, you will find that they are all terribly similar. The same goes for say a South African chenin blanc, an Italian nero d’Avola and a French merlot. It is always best to get to know varietals by their respective country, as often their nature and character could change considerably from one country to another. For example the syrah grape in France and northwestern USA tend to be tannic, peppery and dry, while in Australia where it is known as shiraz it if extremely fruity and even bordering on the sweet. Chardonnay in the new world is much fruitier and softer and mellow than it is in Chablis in Northern France, where it is bone dry and even flinty.
WINE NAMES
Besides the country/grape combinations which clearly denote specific types of wines, you should also try to familiarise yourself with the most popular place names and types of wines. I am referring to such common examples as say Gavi, Chianti, Valpolicella, Barolo, Rioja, Chablis, Sancerre, Beaujolais, St Emilion, Chateauneuf du Pape and the like. There aren’t really hundreds you need to know. In the beginning if you get accustomed to say even a couple of dozen, it will enable you to instantly know that say a Gavi is a pleasant dry Italian white and a Chateauneuf du Pape is a full bodied French red, although admittedly in this case white does also exist but is not usually expected.
REGIONS, SUB REGIONS & VILLAGES
Without starting to panic, countries are divided into regions, regions into sub-regions and sub-regions into villages and place names, each of course with their own characteristic qualities in wine. One typical example is Bordeaux, which is subdivided into regions such as St Emilion, Graves, Medoc and Sauternes, amongst many others. Part of Medoc is referred to as Haut Medoc, Haut Medoc consists of several villages such as Margaux, St Julien, Pauillac and St Estephe. But don’t panic, everything in its own time.
SPECIFIC WINE BRANDS & VINTAGES
Similarly placenames and villages will have various labels and brands and chateaux and properties and wines. And lastly vintages too can make quite a difference. As I said in the beginning, wine is very vast. But it is more important to understand the system and the complexity itself, than trying to memorise every single wine from day one. So in this case all you need to know is that there is so much you don’t know!
AOC/DOC AND OTHER APPELATIONS
In virtually all wine producing countries there are very precise regulations as the labelling and nomenclature of wines. One of the most common of these is the AOC/DOC classification. In Italy it refers to DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), while in France the equivalent is AOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlé). These classifications refer to stringent production methods which should in principle guarantee a certain quality and to a very rough extent they do. There are many more categories denoting quality as is for example ‘premier cru’ in France, which denotes much higher status than AOC, and IGT (Indicazione geografica tipica) in Italy, which is lower ranked than DOC. If you have the time and the inclination, familiarising yourself with these basic terms will also teach you a lot about wine and help you understand a wine label much better.
SUMMARY
Don’t let yourself be daunted. Take it one step at a time, be adventurous, experiment and enjoy. There are few things in life which imperatively make you drunk while you study, so believe me this is about as good as it gets!