The problem? Your friends are total oenophiles, cork dorks, wine geeks – and everything you know about wine could fit inside a thimble.
In summer, you could probably get away with knowing that a Sauvignon Blanc should do the trick with a nice seafood dish, but this is different – you are planning the dinner and need to know a little more than the fact that white wine pairs well with fish. Here are a few tips that will cover the basics:
The year
It is important to remember that wine varies so much from year to year, because wine grapes are very sensitive to climate — temperature, soil, rainfall, surrounding vegetation. A wine made from grapes that were grown in a dry season will taste differently than one produced during a wet one.
What really gets wine enthusiasts all breathless is that, when you drink a good wine, you are experiencing a unique product of the natural environment at a given moment in time, brought out by the winemaker’s art – earth in a glass, as the saying goes.
Red and white
There are two basic types of wine grape: red and white. Each typically has the same colour pulp; it’s the skins that factor most heavily in determining a wine’s colour. Obviously, white wines are produced from white grapes, and red wines from red grapes, but you can make a pink, blush, or Rosé wine by removing the skins from the juice before they have a chance to stain the wine fully red.
Similarly, you can produce a perfectly “white” sparkling wine or champagne from red grapes, such as Pinot Noir, by pulling the skins out immediately.
Types of wine
In South Africa, wines are traditionally marketed by varietal, which is simply a wine made from a given variety of grape. It’s an easy, though not always accurate, way to classify a wine and predict its taste.
In France and Italy, it’s different. The French believe that where a wine’s grapes are grown is just as important, if not more important, than the kind of grapes used. That’s why French wines are labelled according to region, such as Burgundy or Bordeaux for example.
Don’t assume you’re going to learn about every possible varietal on the market — rather start with the most popular, which comprise red wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinotage and Shiraz; and white wines: Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc.
Food and wine pairings
Having wine fanatic friends over for dinner doesn’t mean you need to blow R400 on a bottle of wine. Here’s a smart tactic that will allow you to play sommelier come suppertime:
Start with the sparkle: To begin, offer each of your guests a flute of chilled sparkling Rosé wine. When you open sparkling wine, don’t fire the cork at the ceiling and let the bubbly gush out like you just struck oil.
For one thing, this lets a lot of the fizz escape. For another, it’s something people really only do in movies.
Wrap the top of the bottle in a napkin and gently pull the cork out while turning the bottle. All you should hear is a little spoof when the cork comes free.
Move on to white: As your first course, serve a light dish, such as salad or seafood starter, along with your first still wine, which should probably be a white.
Shift to red: As you move to the meat dishes, it’ll be time to break out the red wines. Start with a more delicate red, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon, and move on to a heavier one, such as a Shiraz, as the night progresses.
Show your wine experience
Test the wines before your big dinner party. Pour out a little wine into each glass — they shouldn’t be more than one-third full, otherwise you could spill the wine when you swirl. Note your impressions of each of the following:
Look: Hold your glass up to the light. What colour is the wine? Is it light red, deep purple, or somewhere in the middle? Is there some brown mixed in? Now swirl the wine a bit in the glass. Does it leave thick or thin streaks on the inside of the glass? Those streaks are the described “legs” – thicker legs mean the wine has more alcohol.
Smell: Tilt the glass, stick your nose in it as far as you can without getting it wet, and take a deep breath. What does the wine smell like? Aromas that typically occur in wines include: fruit, herbs, vegetables, grass, fresh dirt, flowers, smoke and chocolate.
Taste: Take a sip of the wine and swirl it around in your mouth a bit (don’t gargle). What does it taste like? You’ll notice that many of the aromas that you found while sniffing the wine are repeated as flavours when you taste it. But you’ll also discover these basic qualities:
– Fruitiness – Your wine may have hints of various fruits, such as citrus fruits, melons, pears, apples, cherries, berries, and/or jelly or jam.
– Acidity – Does the wine make your mouth pucker? If so, its acidity is probably high, which helps the wine pair better with foods.
– Tannin – Gives a “raspy” feel in your mouth, like you get after drinking cranberry juice. Tannic wines often pair well with heavy foods such as beef.
– Body – Does the wine feel heavy, medium heavy, or light in your mouth?
– Finish – A wine will taste differently after swallowing than it did when it first hit your tongue. How long these flavours linger will help you tell whether the wine’s finish, or aftertaste, is short, medium, or long.
Some other tips to remember
You will require the correct stemware. There are four main different types of glasses – white wine glasses, red wine glasses, champagne flutes and dessert wine glasses. Be sure to use the right glasses for the right wines.
Red wines should be served at slightly cooler than room temperature. White wines should be chilled to between 12°C and 15°C. When you open a bottle, use the knife on your corkscrew to cut the entire foil cap away. Allow your red wines to breathe for 20 minutes before serving.
When you pour the wine, don’t let the top of the bottle touch the rim of the glass. When you are done pouring, lift the neck of the bottle and give it a little twist to keep it from dripping.
And lastly, always hold your wine glass with pinched fingers comfortably holding the stem – don't hold it by the glass' bowl. – Antonella Desi
Pictures courtesy of Arniston Bay: www.arniston-bay.com.
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