The Art of Finding Fine Wine

We’ve all been there before - aimlessly roaming the aisles of our local liquor store searching high and low for the perfect bottle of wine without a clue as to what to choose. Whether you’ve ventured on these trips in preparation for a dinner party or simply because you wanted to take your first steps into becoming a wine connoisseur, we’re sure you’ve found yourself staring at shelves stocked with a range of wine too wide for you to pick from.

As intimidating as it may be, the oh-so-daunting task of choosing a good bottle of wine can be very simple as long as you know what to look out for. While you may not always be offered the same luxury of having a sommelier assist you as one would in a restaurant, just knowing a few wine-related terms will help you reach a firm decision. We’ve even included some examples so you’ll always have something to refer to the next time you’re out shopping for vino!

Get To Know Their Quirky Characteristics

Before picking up the first bottle that catches your eye, remember that choosing a “good” wine is completely subjective. Unsurprisingly, this is because the definition of good wine is unique to each individual and their taste buds. Regardless of whether you prefer delicate, bold, sweet, or even spicy flavours, there’s a good wine out there waiting for you to fall in love with. Get to know the different characteristics that define each variety of wine and you’ll be navigating the world of wine in no time.

Sweetness 

More often than not, you’ll find that wine labels feature the terms, “sweet’, “semi-sweet” or “dry”. While the first two are literal enough to understand immediately, the use of dry can be confusing to some. As a good rule of thumb, just remember that a dry wine will never taste sweet at all! If you’re looking to satisfy your sweet tooth, avoid dry wines and try something like a bottle of Mcguigan Black Label Moscato. Light, fresh, and naturally sweet with a wonderful mix of citrus, pineapple and floral flavours, this delightfully sweet wine might be the right one for you!

Acidity

When tasting wine, the term acidity refers to the tart, sour, and fresh attributes of the wine. Wines with high acidity will be more tart, while their low-acidity counterparts will deliver a richer and rounder taste. If a high acidity wine sounds like what you’d be into, pick up a bottle of Concha Y Toro Marques Pinot Noir. A delicate, deep red wine with concentrated aromas of strawberries and raspberries, it offers a refined texture and complex flavours of cherries, raspberries, and licorice.

Tannin

Before you scratch your head and ask what tannin is, let us define it for you. Tannins are phenolic compounds that can be found in the skins of grapes. Tannins can be naturally present in the winemaking process or added through ageing, leaving the produced wine with a more bitter taste. It is easy to mix up a wine’s tannin level with its dryness. This is because tannins tend to dry out your mouth as you continue to drink wines with high levels of tannin. However, as mentioned before, you must remember that dryness refers to the sweetness of a wine, not its tannin content. If you need an example to wrap your head around, think of how red wines incorporate more tannins, thus resulting in their distinctively dry and bitter finish. A good example of a high tannin wine would be Nederburg Manor House Cabernet Sauvignon, a full-bodied red wine with aromas of blackcurrant, tobacco, oak-spice, and garden herbs.

Body

Another facet of a wine bottle’s label you’re bound to notice would be the description of the wine’s body. No, we don’t mean the shape of the bottle, but how heavy or light it feels in your mouth. All wines are characterised as being light or full-bodied, or somewhere in between the two, with red wines as well as wines made from grapes grown in warmer environments having a fuller body than white wines. To get started, perhaps you could try a light-bodied and refreshing wine like Zonin Friuli Pinot Grigio!

Alcohol Content

What is wine without alcohol? When buying a bottle of wine, keep in mind that the higher the percentage of alcohol in the wine, the more it will warm your throat and back of your mouth. While most wines have an alcohol by volume (ABV) content of 11-13%, they can also range from 5.5-20%! If you’re looking for a drink to soothe and warm your throat, pick up something stronger like a bottle of Nederburg Winemaster Shiraz, a rich, dark, full-bodied wine with notes of pepper and dark fruit flavours.

Ready, Set, Go… Get Your Wines Now!

Now that you’ve been brought up to speed, we hope we’ve made life - or at least wine selecting - easier for you. We understand that not everyone will see eye to eye when it comes to choosing wine, but we promise that just by understanding these terms, you’ll find a bottle that fulfills your taste preferences!

With Cellarbration’s efficient alcohol delivery services you can now get your wines and more delivered right to your doorstep. Check us out online now, and get your favourite drinks quickly and easily.