A Guide to Selecting the Best Bottle of Wine

People love wine for different reasons. Some love their chardonnay and others insist on a dessert wine. They want to enjoy its versatility and adaptability and taste the range of aroma. Other reasons why people drink wine is to appreciate its agelessness, extend their palette, and some, for health benefits.

Choosing a bottle of wine may seem like a daunting task, especially for first beginners. It is easy to get overwhelmed with the taste difference, and countless options available. However, with the in-depth guide discussed below, it shouldn’t be hard to get someone a suitable and incredible wine for Valentine’s Day or any other special occasion.

Identify Your Suitable Flavors

Wine comprises three main taste points – sweet (from the sweetness of the natural grapes), bitter (tannin), and sour (tart, fresh or crisp). Tannins naturally occur as bitter flavors in fruit skins, seeds, tree barks, and tea bags among other relevant sources. To confirm the taste of tannins, leave a teabag in the cup for a while. Whatever taste you end is the tannin.

As you locate the suitable flavor of the wine you would like to buy, remember that every bottle strives to include these three flavors. It is the percentage of the bases that vary and eventually give you an idea of the direction to follow. For instance, the lightest wine bottle indicates fewer tannins, and the more airing it gets, the higher the savory taste it has.

If you are a beginner or a light drinker, you should steer clear of tannin-rich wines. Despite everyone’s unique taste and preference, tannins tend to be an acquired taste that most beginners lack.

Identify the Type You Would Like to Buy

Having a particular preference in mind is a perfect guide to the right direction – whether red, white, or sparkling. While it is advisable to expand your boundaries and explore new wine types, your preference ensures that you don’t lose your focus and whatever you get is related to what you initially wanted. The trick is working around what you know to get the best available option.

Consider Who You Are Buying the Wine For

Besides yourself, you may also be getting the wine bottle for someone else – a colleague, a loved one, or a friend. If the bottle is a gift for a wine-lover, the selection process will be tougher than expected. You must tread carefully and pay attention to details, especially the taste. In such cases, the best thing to do is to inquire from the recipient about their wine style – light or full-bodied, sparkling, white, or red. The info gives you a hint on where to begin and what to play around with to make a perfect choice.

If you are picking the wine for a dinner party, whether as a host or guest, consider a brand that is more crowd-pleasing – unless the host or guests specify what they prefer. If you are aware of what will be served, it is easier to find a wine bottle that matches the meal.

If you intend to gift the wine to somewhere you don’t know well, for instance, your children’s teacher, the crowd-pleaser would be an excellent choice. You can only customize the bottle if you understand their style of wine and their preference. A red and slightly full-bodied is a perfect gift for seasoned coffee drinkers while the sweet wine is perfect for a sweet tooth.

Do You Intend to Pair It With Dinner?

The food to be served determines the kind of wine you choose. However, pairing the two aspects is a challenging task for everyone – beginners, experienced drinkers, and professionals. But with a few rules to guide you, you will be good to go. Think about the dish that will be available on the table. What is its flavor? As you think about the food, you shouldn’t exclusively focus on the protein but the sauce as well. Always remember that white wine is a perfect match for fish and other white meats while red wine is a perfect accompaniment for red meat.

What of the weight of the food? After a heavy stew, you should down your meal with a full-bodied wine while light-bodied wine is great after a light salad. If you are serving regional dishes, such as Italian cuisine, Italian wine should be a great choice while Spanish coastal wine should come after paella serving.

Based on the above guide, choosing a wine bottle should be a little easier. Find a few tips that work for you and adhere to them for an excellent and effortless choice of wine.