Tonight’s the night. You’ve got that special dinner party with
friends and you want it to be perfect. You’ve got the menu
completed but the question is which wine will compliment the
meal best? Here are some tips for choosing fine wine.
Lighter foods need lighter wines while heartier foods need
full bodied wines. For example, fish is light and thus a wine
like Pinot Noir goes very nicely because it is also light.
The way the food is prepared will also influence the type of
wine you choose. Whether your meal is grilled or roasted as well
as the spices you use will affect your wine choice.
Bitter foods need a fruity wine that will compliment it, such as
a Chardonnay or Merlot. Shiraz or some of the other heavy tannic
red wines go great with a grilled steak because the fat in the
meat tones down the bitterness in the wine.
Foods that
are salty or oily go much better with a wine that’s higher in
acid like Pinot Noir or Sauvignon Blanc. Sweet foods do much
better with a slightly sweet dry wine such as Riesling or Chenin
Blanc.
Dry wines, both red and white, work well with a
wider selection of foods so if in doubt go this route. A general
rule of thumb is that you want your wine to offer a nice
contrast from your food but you don’t want it to clash.
The most important tip to remember is that wine is about taste
and it’s a personal choice so trust your taste buds. It’s always
a good idea to test a wine before purchasing it, and don’t base
your wine buying decisions on what your friends or family say.
Use your own palate to make your choices.
You should also
be patient with yourself because learning to buy good wine has
quite a learning curve. The best way to learn is try many
different wines and expand your wine cellar. People tend to find
a wine they like and then stick with it spending little time
experimenting with other wines. Why not explore other wines and
find some other great choices?
The price of wine doesn’t
dictate the quality. Of course many would like you to believe it
does but the British Columbia wine industry is proving that’s
just not so, producing some top quality wines at a fraction of
the cost of imported wines. Of course, as with many things, best
costs more but there are plenty of excellent choices and it
really does pay to shop around.
Always put together your
wine cabinet with thought. Think about your budget, the types of
food you most often serve, and how much entertaining you do. Set
aside the most expensive wines for those special occasions and
serve the less expensive, but still delicious, wines for your
daily use.
These tips for choosing fine wine will have your wine cabinet
looking very healthy in no time and your wines will compliment
your meals nicely!
About the Author:
Gray Rollins is a featured writer for GreatWineTips.com. For
more
wine tips and to
learn how to make wine, visit
us
The World Atlas of
Wine
by Hugh Johnson,
Jancis Robinson
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