Wine is among the oldest drinks around and tastes excellent. If you aren’t a wine lover already, it may be that you just lacked the proper exposure to it. This article has a ton of tips and tricks to help you better enjoy wine.Know your way around your wine store. Visit the different shops in your area and choose the one you prefer. You will find that no two stores offer the same labels, price points and themes. If you are still a novice, do not go to a store where you will only have expensive bottles to choose from. Make sure you select a wine shop that is suitable to your needs.Trust your own instincts when you experiment with wine. For instance, if you have a friend that tells you they love a wine and you don’t enjoy it, don’t spend any money on it. You might end up giving it away your money.When you are tasting wine, go with your tastes. If you already know that you can’t stand Merlot, don’t buy a bottle just because someone gave it a good review. This only ends up in wasted money on bottles you won’t enjoy.Windex can be a great tool to rid the stains that you get from wine. It works much better than water and soap on a wine stain. Use Windex right away or you will have a hard time removing the stain sets.Proper wine storage can preserve flavors well. Extreme temperatures could hurt the taste of your wine. Keep the wines between 50 and 55 degrees to get optimal results. Specialized wine fridges can be used, or wines can be kept in cool basement spaces.You can make a delicious sauce for beef quickly and easily by using wine. Let it simmer until it thickens up a bit and some of that alcohol is burned away. Then drizzle it over your beef!Not all white wines should be chilled when served. Different types of white wines have unique textures and weights, making each one different with regards to ideal serving temperature. Sauvignon blanc is at its best when chilled, but chardonnay and pinot gris are better at a warmer temperature.Cheap wine isn’t always a bad choice. Try looking at Chile for a good wine that doesn’t cost a ton. Many of their wines from the region are excellent values. Other international favorites include labels from New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.Try to have a large assortment of wine in your arsenal. This is ideal, because you do not want just one kind of wine on hand. Include sweet, white, red and sparkling if your desire is to be an ideal host.Some experts suggest a certain wine because of the area it came from, but that shouldn’t factor into your purchasing decision. If the wine you love is cheap and tastes great to you, that is what you should drink.Visit a winery if you are a wine lover. You’ll garner a new appreciation of wine on such a trip. Visiting a vineyard can also help you learn more about wine. You’ll have fun and enjoy wine while away.Serve your wine at the proper temperature in order to coax the best flavor from each glass. Red wines are the most flavorful when served at about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. You should serve your red wine at 58 degrees and wait until it warms up. White wines should be kept at a colder temperature of about 47 degrees or so. Serving white wine too warm can result in a dull taste.A dessert wine makes a perfect after dinner drink. A California Port, an Italian Moscato or a French Champagne makes an excellent dessert wine selection. Your guests will love relaxing with one of these wines as they sit by the fire.
Use the right glass for red and white wine. Whites should be in narrower glasses so that warm air from the surface. Red wines are designed with a wider glasses. This keeps the wine warm, which makes the flavors climb to the surface.It does not matter what color your wine is if you want a light one. The level of alcohol in the wine is not specific to its color (white or red). But, white wine is known to be somewhat easier for many to drink. Two lighter, smooth wines are Pinot Grigo and Sauvignon Blanc. Both are excellent choices!Wine lovers should visit if you appreciate wine. These places are beautiful to see; you can develop a great appreciation for them and gain some context on their origins.Avoid the mistake of filling a cellar with your favorite wines. You might want to stock up, but tastes change for everyone. You might love a wine now, only to get bored of it later. This can waste valuable storage space and leave you with many bottles of wine you will never drink.Sparkling wine and champagne should be poured very cold. Drinking such wine warm will hinder all of their flavor.Put your champagne inside a refrigerator one or two hours before drinking it.When tasting a wine, you should try isolating different flavors and smells. Some wines have a distinctively fruity aroma or even a floral aroma. You may even recognize such aromas as smoke, honey and caramel. Be on the lookout for these aromas, and soon, you’ll be able to recognize them faster.Sign up as a member of an online wine forum. You might find a wine this way.When at a restaurant, don’t order one single glass of wine. Keep in mind that six glasses of wine equals one bottle, so share. You’ll save a lot of money and might even come across your new favorite wine.Only drink a bottle of wine that you like. Some establishments attempt to promote certain brands of wine. These are generally 20 times wholesale.A costly glass does not guarantee the wine will be of high quality. Know what kinds of wine you prefer and stick with those.Open your bottle of red wine and let it sit before serving it to your guests. By leaving the bottle open, the oxygen with interact with the wine. The end result is a much fuller taste as the ingredients get stirred up.The year that the grapes were harvested is what the vintage year. They would then be stored until the wine was bottled and sold. The bottle of wine most likely didn’t get sold until 2011 or 2012.If you live near a favorite winery or visit one often, consider signing up for their newsletter. Many wineries offer steeply discounted prices during special promotions and tasting events. Learn in advance when these special events take place by joining the mailing list.As mentioned in the introduction, people have enjoyed wine for centuries. Finding a good wine can be hard, but you can do it. Remember all of the information here when you go out to buy a bottle.Your sense of smell greatly affects taste, so breathe deeply as you take your first sip. That’s right, slurp it! Swish it around gently in your mouth to savor all of the wine’s undertones. As you breathe in, you’ll enjoy all the more complex flavors through your sense of smell.