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From the Hearth Guide to Wine
Selecting a suitable wine can be a tricky business, whether it's to complement a meal or purchase for a gift. This month, kaylee offers a guide to wine written by her owner, who spent several years as a wine steward in a fine restaurant. In addition, she is including some wonderful links for the budding wine connoisseur at the end of the article.
Picking a wine isn't just a matter of choosing whites for fish, and reds for steak; on the other hand, it's no deep mystery, either. All of the mystique of the sommelier can be be dismissed with two simple rules. Pick a wine you like. Regardless of what you're having for dinner, large portions of the wine are often drunk before the food is served and after it's cleared away- you should be able to enjoy the wine by itself in the living room, not just when it's next to your dinner plate. If you pick a wine only because it goes with the dinner, then you may not enjoy it except when the dinner's in front of you, and perhaps not even then. If there's a particular style of wine that you enjoy or that you happen to be in the mood for, go ahead and have it even if it isn't the "right" wine for the meal. Try not to pair delicate wines with rich foods. Assuming that you'd like to be able to actually taste the wine during the dinner, as well as before and after, you should tend towards wines with stronger flavors when you're having strongly-flavored food. A well-seasoned steak will overpower your taste buds to the point that they don't even notice some of the lighter white wines. The reverse is true as well, but less so... it takes a very strong wine to drown out even the most delicate of dishes. The old rules about whites and reds held true when most whites were delicate and most reds are powerful, but you have a lot more options now within both types; some of the lighter pinot noirs or beaujolais match wonderfully with fish and chicken, while a strong oaky chardonnay can go with the heartiest rack of lamb. Here's a list of most of the more common wines you'll see, sorted by strength of flavor; while there can be variations within a type, as a general rule you'll be able to find a wine of the desired delicacy or intensity by choosing one from the appropriate group.
When browsing through most non-French wines, the type of grape will generally be listed right on the label. American, South American, Australian, and Italian wines all generally have easy-to-read labels, listing the wines as "Cabernet", "Merlot", "Chardonnay", or what have you; some wines will have only a winery or bottling name clearly displayed, but will often list the grape or grapes in smaller text or on the back label. Aside from the type of grape, and the winemaker's name if you're familiar with it, about the only other tools you have to help in your decision are the price of the wine, and various rating guides such as the Wine Spectator. French wines, on the other hand, are categorized by region instead of by grape... but since winemakers in each region are allowed to use the controlled region name ("Appellation Controlee") only if they make exactly the kind of wine that region is known for, you still know pretty much what you're getting into if you know the regions. Red Bordeaux are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot; red Burgundies are made from Pinot Noir except within the subregion Beaujolais which uses the Gamay grape, and so forth. Many of the better wines will list an even more specific subregion if they meet even stricter standards: While one red wine might simply say "Appelation Bordeaux Controlee", another (more expensive) one will use "Appelation St-Emilion Controlee", or Graves, or any of the other small areas which make up Bordeaux. The only way to know which wine is which is to become at least somewhat familiar with the different regions- or to frequent a wine shop with a knowledgeable staff. Sherries and Ports don't fit into any of the categories for standard wines; they are "fortified wines", which means that in addition to normal fermentation, other steps are taken to increase the alcohol content of the wine (partial distillation, addition of brandy or other spirits, and so forth), which change their character enormously. Lighter sherries and the rarely-seen white ports are generally served chilled, before dinner or separately from any meal; the sweeter sherries and ports are typically used as dessert wines. Starting into an exploration of wine can be both daunting and expensive: If you don't know what you like, you probably don't want to buy a case of wine to find out. Getting wines by the glass in restaurants is a good way to sample a wide variety of types and regions; even better, most medium-to-large cities will have some sort of a wine bar where you can try "flights" of wines, usually three to five tasting-glasses of different but similar wines for a single price. Wine festivals, and wineries themselves, if there are any in your area, also make excellent opportunites to get a taste of a large number of different wines. Another option is to put together a casual wine tasting with some friends- here's an excellent link that covers how to throw a wine tasting party. I wish you well.
Related Links Wine Spectator
If anyone would care to submit some of their favorite recipes, this one can be reached at kaylee{G} |
