From Novice to Connoisseur: A Wine fanatic's Guide

Now if you've been reading my blog, or if you know me, you would know that I am a wine fanatic! Unfortunately, I'm more of a novice than a connoisseur, but I have every intention of changing that. I took a wine quiz, to see just how much little I really know about wine.. unsurprisingly, my score was a mere 4 out of 10 :(.  I decided to do some research immediately. Ill post some of the information I garnered...I'll try to make it interesting, informative and concise as I can :)

Due to the fact that I am trying to make this post as concise as I can, I wont delve into the history of wine, however, you may click on the link provided and read all about it at your own convenience.

Where do I begin? First of all, To really appreciate wine, you'll need to have some amount of knowledge on it,  for example, the type of wine, the type of grapes that were used to make it, where it was made, when it was made etc.

All types of wines fall into one of these categories: White wine, Red Wine, Rose Wine, Sparkling Wine (including Champagne, Dessert Wine, and Fortified Wine).

White Wine

Red Wine

 From what I read, the difference between a novice and a connoisseur is that the latter learns the story in the wine, meaning the type of varietal, when and where it was made. It makes no sense spending a lot of money buying expensive wine and not being able to appreciate/ taste its true quality. The flavour of a wine is determined by the specific grape varietal grown and how these grapes are treated during the wine making process.

Bergundy, France

In the United States, wines are referred to based on the type of grapes or the varietal grown to produce them for example, "Pinot Noir" or "Chardonnay"; while in Europe, wines are named after the area in which the grapes are grown, for example, Bergundy Wine from the region of "Bergundy" (Bourgogne) in France, and "Chianti" from Tuscany, Italy.



It is better to serve your red wine too cold than too warm. If served too warm it loses its freshness and many of its characteristic aromas and flavors.It’s more convenient to allow a wine to warm up in its glass than to put it back in the refrigerator or ice bucket. One easy way to warm up a glass of wine is to cup your hands around the glass while you swirl.


For white wines, the opposite may be true. It’s better to serve a white wine too warm than too cold. White wines served too cold (under 45°F) lose many of their flavors and aromas. However, you still want to serve your white wines colder than your red wines. Serving white wines at a lower temperature brings out their natural fruity, fresh, and sweet characteristics. Removing your white wine from the refrigerator 30-60 minutes before serving should bring them to about the right temperature. And, you can always warm the wine up by cupping your hands around the glass as you swirl.


See this chart for a list of some of the popular types of wine (red and white) and their aromas and flavours.

Rose Wine

Yellowtail Chardonnay

 Truth be told, I have not tasted/ experimented with a wide variety of wine. I  like and pretty much stick to what I've tried so far, my favourite being Yellowtail Chardonnay, I am a white wine kinda girl. I was recently introduced to Carlo Rossi Rose Wine and intend to make it apart of my wine diet!

Champagne

Whether you are a novice, like myself, or a connoisseur, whether u have wine for the sake of just sipping it, or you're an expert wine drinker, having a glass of wine is a truly divine experience :)