The vintage wines are wines specifically grown in a certain year. These wines are labeled by the year they were grown rather than by the different region or grape used to make the wine. These grapes are usually all grown in the same year also. Every year the same wine may have a different variation in color and slightly in taste.
Many other characteristic differences noted with vintages include the nose, palate, body, and the development. They are considered to improve in flavor with age when they are stored properly. It is very common for wine collectors to hold onto a vintage bottle of wine for a special occasion to consume.
Non-Vintage
Non-vintage wines are wines produced from grapes and wines not from the same vintage. They do maintain the consistency with the taste of the wine and the other characteristics. These wines often sell better because they maintain the same flavor. Even in a bad year these wines can be blended and produced because the grapes come from different vintages.
Next time you here someone use the term “vintage” you will know exactly what they mean. This will help you to appear ‘in the know’ and you will be able to impress others with your knowledge. Quality wine is something that socially elite people understand. You can join their ranks and have a great time in the process.
Wouldn’t it be cool to get to the point where you can tell what region the wine was created in? And if you have really great capabilities you might even be able to pinpoint the decade. That would involve tasting a lot of wines and you might not be ‘that into it’. It’s nice to speculate about the possibilities though, isn’t it?
Next time you are at a party, your new knowledge of vintage vs non-vintage may be a nice way to provide value to your social group. Enjoy your next wine tasting.
Scott Wells writes for where you can learn to just in time for the holiday season.
Wine does not only come with accessories. It comes, more importantly, with food. A drinking party will not be complete without food. Or, to correct the sentence, a drinking party will not be complete without pairing it with the right food. Without the food fit for your drink, the party will surely be ruined because the visitors will not be able to enjoy the drink. So, try to know the secrets in correct wine and food pairing.
• Foods that are rich in spices require full-flavored wines. • High-acid wines are better paired with acidic foods. • The key in wine and food matching is balance. Do not allow the taste of one overpowers the taste of another. Foods rich in texture match rich and full-bodied wines. • Red wines are a great match to pasta with red sauce, and red meats. • Because garlic and vinegar, and other overpowering spices do not go with any wine, make sure that the foods you will serve are not too intense with these components. • Those pasta and seafood with cream sauce should not be paired with red wines. • Adding salt to food is useful in softening the bitterness and sharp taste of some wines. • Foods that are sour and with a great amount of acidity, when paired with wine, will not taste as such; but, will rather have rich flavor. • Foods that are sweet, when matched with wine, will taste bitter. This goes also with flavorful foods. • Spicy food will produce exaggerated bitterness in wine. But, adding salty or sourness to the food will counter this result. • Foods that are bitter will decrease the wine’s sweetness; it will also enable the wine to become more alcoholic. • Savory food will improve the sweetness of the wine. • Asparagus is a vegetable that is known to have a very strong flavor; thus, ‘killing’ the taste of the wine. So, do not attempt to serve food with this vegetable or else, your wine will be nothing. But, if you still insist, steam then grill the asparagus; thereby, reducing the grassy taste. • Salad with vinaigrette dressing dulls the flavor of the wine. • The higher the alcohol content of the wine, the higher the possibility of decreasing the palatability of the food. • If you have old wines, do not match it with foods that have delicate flavors. • Desserts that are sweet must be less sweet than the wine. • To make sure of a happy drink, if you have more than kind of wine, you ought to have more than one meal.
Your food and wine should match. It is not enough that you have both. You have to be sure that when these foods and wines are served, they satisfy the taste buds of the people attending your party. This way, you will be able to bid good bye to visitors that have happy faces because they enjoy both your food and your wine.
Harrison Fray is a long time gift consultant. She has years of experience with helping other fulfill their gift giving wishes. Harrison can assist you in deciding which will best fit his personality. He can help you pick out perfect for your guy friends also. Stop by to see what Harrison recommends.
As you host, or join celebrations of this season, consider some of the following suggestions. The trick to choosing great wines for your holiday party is to find something you had and liked in the past. Have more than one bottle on the table to choose from — at least two reds and two whites — with a taste variety and grape variety. Find a few wines that are crowd pleasers and are easy sipping wines. Today everyone is aware of the health benefits of red wine, and people keep asking for the red wines, more than white. Don’t shy away from offering sweet reds, sparkling reds, light reds, and really great reds.
Main course reds and whites: Gewürztraminer and Riesling are fragrant and fruity white wines which will work well with a Thanksgiving meal. Pinot Noirs and Zinfandel are red wines with a lot of fruit and balanced tannins that will complement the varied flavors of turkey and its many side dishes.
In December, holiday tables often feature red meats, such as filet mignon or roast beef. If that’s true for you, reach for full flavored red wines. Cabernet Sauvignon is great with meat and cheese because of its complex flavor. Try a Cabernet from Chile or a Bordeaux style blend from California. Lamb lovers might try a glass of smooth, earthy Cabernet Shiraz blend.
And with your desserts and pies, Sparkling Moscato D’ Asti is a good choice. I would also recommend a nice port wine with dessert. Wine can make a dessert extra special. Lightly sweet, white dessert wines pair well with pumpkin pie. This is because pumpkin pie tends to have a savory edge, and is not overly sweet. Make sure the wine you serve is sweeter than the dessert you are pairing with.
Try to complement a slice of warm apple pie with an extra dry sparkling wine or demi sec. Extra dry actually means that the wine is a little sweet while the demi sec indicates that it is even sweeter.
Add wine to your celebrations this year. Remember that wine consumed with your food actually helps improve overall health. The key however, is to enjoy wine in moderation. One to two glasses of wine a day is a healthy habit with your meals.
There are side effects to wine too. It is not for everyone. You can get migraines, and, put on weight as wine is calorie packed. This holiday season enjoy it responsibly. Here are some tricks to cutting the calories. (1) Think before you drink. (2) Start with a nonalcoholic beverage to quench your thirst. (3) Reduce calorie and alcohol content by making a wine spritzer. (4) Plan ahead: Save some calories during the day.
“This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays!” – D.M. Dellinger
Have a fantastic Holiday season. May all your hopes and dreams come true this holiday season. Cheers!
Antoney Manipadam is a Certified Sommelier, pursuing the Master Sommelier Certification. He Owns and operates Lake Mary Cork&Olive;, the best wine store in Lake Mary, Florida. Website:
Australia has become a world leader in domestic and exported wine. What began as a few vineyard cuttings over 200 years ago has now flourished into an amazing industry – the fourth largest in the world! Australia exports over 450 million litters of wine each year across the globe. The burgeoning wine industry has been an economic boon for the country. Not only have the +2,000 vineyards provided jobs, wineries have increased employment in other areas and improved tourism as visitors come to Australia to tour local wineries.
Australia’s wine is considered to be some of the most exquisite and delicious wine produced in the world, but it took many decades to reach that point.
The First Cuttings
Grapes are not native to Australia. The first vineyard cuttings were brought into the country when Australia still served as a penal colony. In 1788 Governor Phillips attempted to harvest the grapes for personal use but his efforts failed.
Fortunately, others succeeded where the governor failed. In the following years Australia began to see an influx of settlers who began to attempt to cultivate grapes using new processes. This is seen as the true beginning of Australia’s wine industry.
By 1820 the first winemakers in Australia were offering their products for sale inside the country. It was very popular and quite chic to be one of the first to sample ‘home-grown’ or domestic Australian wine in the early part of the 19th century.
Across the Pond
In 1822 Gregory Blaxland burst onto the Australian wine scene and changed it forever. Mr. Blaxland was the first Australian vintner to attempt to export his product. He did so with great success and even garnered rewards, including the first award ever awarded to an Australian wine in an overseas exposition.
After Mr. Blaxland set Australia’s name on the winemaking map its popularity began to grow worldwide. In the mid 19th century a bottle of Australian wine was sent by ship to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria.
One of the best known and oft related stories in wine history concerns an Australian wine. In 1873 at the Vienna Exposition judges tasted wine from different countries without knowing which country the wine was from. This is called a blind tasting. A French judge pronounced his favour upon an Australian wine but immediately withdrew in protest once he was made aware of the provenance of the wine. His reason? Only a French wine could be of such a high quality!
More settlers flooded into the country and found opportunities in the winemaking industry. The first vineyards were mainly backyard operations but with the new manpower and fortunes of the recent arrivals entirely new winemaking regions were identified, improving the country’s winemaking operations.
An Unfortunate Event
The Australian wine industry was devastated in the 1890’s by an epidemic of phylloxera. This is a plight similar to aphids that completely destroys all vegetation. Vineyards around the country were destroyed.
The country worked for many decades to rebuild their wine industry. It struggled for years on sweet and fortified wines. But, in the late 1970’s production was once again up and running at world leader standards.
A True World Leader
The most popular wine in Australia would have to be the Penfolds Grange. This incredible wine has won many competitions through the years. The 1955 vintage was allowed to age until 1962 before being submitted to competitions. Since that time it has won over 50 gold medals.
A wonderful wine culture has emerged in Australia. Wine bars, and boutique wineries are found around the continent and very popular with all ages. Locals and tourists enjoy holidays at Australian wineries where they can tour the winery and see the wine being made. Australia also is home to several large wine events including Taste Australia and the Margaret River Wine Region Festival.
No matter where you are in Australia you will find grapes being grown for winemaking. The main wineries are found in the south, in Victoria, and in New South Wales because of the cooler climate. But, even visitors to the hot centre of Alice Springs will find a local winery to cool things off.
Discover new wines and learn about wine with our free wine lessons. Buy wine online at .
A “connoisseur” – according to Oxford – is an “expert judge in matter of taste”. For sure you know what you like and dislike, so already that makes you a judge. As for being an expert, you have “to have special knowledge of or skill in a subject”. OK, this might require a bit of work but I can assure you it is much easier than most connoisseurs would have you believe.
Realize first that the key to being an expert in wine is to know precisely what aspects to look for in any bottle you uncork. The average novice has a vague idea at best. Consequently, despite the fact that both persons have the same discerning abilities, no matter how much wine the novice drinks, it won’t improve his ability to judge properly.
So what we will do here is to spell out in plain English the basic but quintessential virtues that make for a good bottle of wine. I think this will help you evaluate every glass of wine and form an expert opinion with ease. I am going to take you through just three fundamental areas of appreciation, namely Typicity, Quality and Age-worthiness. Mastering them is all that stands between you – a wine novice – and you – a wine connoisseur.
Style and Typicity
The style of wine from Bordeaux will and should be different from Napa Valley or Chile, otherwise wine would be a terribly boring hobby. No one style rules supreme in the wine domain. Typicity which describes how accurate the rendition of the style that the wine is supposed to manifest, is very important quality.
An average wine connoisseur is familiar with about 30 styles of wine. It doesn’t take long for a novice to achieve that. All you need to do is to taste a lot. Your palates have excellent memory even if your mind struggles to find more Giga bytes to store a lot of facts and figures. Very soon, when you open a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, all your senses will automatically receive a download of tasting expectations. And even if the wine tastes very good it would be a disappointment if it doesn’t reflect the quality of its roots. So questions like “Are Australian wines better than French?” are really missing the point.
Quality
With the topic of style down pat, we can take a look at quality of taste. It is actually quite easy. I just need your mind to zoom in on five key areas. Your senses will then render an expert opinion on whether the stuff is good, bad or ugly. The five areas are:
Consistency
Intensity
Vigor
Balance
Finish
Consistency is about tactile qualities that leave a rewarding palate impression, not about flavors. Wine writers like to use the term Body to describe the weight of a wine. Full-, medium- and light-body describe how heavy and light a wine feels on the tongue. But size isn’t everything so in addition to body, we’re also looking for texture of smoothness and silkiness. The great Burgundy wine of Chambertin is well known for its remarkable combination of a full body and a velvety texture.
The flavors of a wine might come in low, medium or high intensity, much like the volume of music played on a stereo. Great wine comes with an appropriate level of intensity just high enough to capture your undivided attention yet not excessively so as to drown out everything else. It is such deft touch that separates the great Australian wine – Grange (Hermitage) – from many expensive baubles out of the same region.
Vigor comes from acidity without which the wine would taste dull and flat if not downright boring. Great chefs often squeeze a splash of lemon juice to finish off a dish. The presence of the same kind of fresh acidity adds crispiness to a wine making it taste racy with a bit of welcomed levity. The great Italian Barolo from Piedmont are endowed with this quality and so are some of the lovely Sauvignon Blanc white wines from New Zealand.
Balance is the quintessential quality of a great wine. A wine is out of balance if one component sticks out like a sore thumb. Most frequently encountered flaws that throw a wine out of balance are excessively high alcohol which makes the wine taste overly dry and astringent (“hot” in wine jargon) and in white wines especially Chardonnays, excessively woody (“oaky” in wine jargon) and buttery which effaces the fruit flavors in the wine. The great Château Lafite-Rothschild is benchmark for balance par excellence.
The word “finish” refers to the length and quality of the aftertaste. In a long finish, flavors linger on for nearly a minute. But length isn’t everything if the aftertaste fails to maintain its balance. Some long finishes fall apart giving way to a distinctly sour or bitter impression. Length doesn’t always bring satisfaction.
Age-worthiness
To achieve greatness a wine must first undergo the arduous challenge of time. Most wines are not made with greatness in mind. For them, time is an insidious revelation of their mediocrity. For the best of breeds, age imbues in them depth and complexity of flavors. That distinguishes the wine from the merely good. Knowing this, fastidious connoisseurs relentlessly scour the town for old vintages pricey as some old bottles could (and should) be. Novices on the other hand go for brand names and sometimes settle for wines that are far too young to drink, rarely getting their money’s worth. After all, it is the ability of wine to improve with age that positions it above all the other beverages.
By now, you have endued yourself with more than enough knowledge to be your own expert judge on every bottle you drink. If you feel lacking a bit in exposure and experience, then just drink and drink and drink some more. But drinking the same stuff over and over again won’t help. Best advice is for you to refrain from ordering the same wine night in and night out. Your time is best spent with a new fancy every evening. Promiscuity is inextricably married to connoisseurship. Even if you can’t divorce yourself from the “usual” at least be adventurous with different vintages of the same wine. Every year produces a different version of the same wine. This too is part of the myriad of fascinations that the world of wine has to offer.
Whether you are an assiduous restaurateur, a gregarious hobbyist or just a raver with a penchant for the finer things, wine is certainly an affair worth pursuing. This is one relationship which allows you to define all the rules. It can be a languid sidekick or you can take it seriously with a lot of respect and understanding. Ultimately it probably won’t love you back and it certainly won’t stop demanding more of your time, attention and alas, money. If this sounds like a raw deal, then perhaps this is one affair you should sidestep.
But imagine if that’s not a problem for you, what else in life can offer an reward so prodigious as something different and exciting to look forward to every single night?
Tim Drake is resident wine journalist in Asia, contributing to magazines and broadsheet in wine and the lifestyle that this beverage has created for the modern world.
When it comes to wine, there is never a dumb question. When you are learning about wine, it is best to ask as many questions as possible. Recently, while on a , I overheard the woman next to me ask if Burgundy was a grape or a region. Her wine tasting companion chimed in ‘well of course it is a grape’ just as the vintner was answering her question ‘it is a region-and all great Burgundian reds are pinot noir-all whites are chardonnay.’ Needless to say, the wine tasting ‘companion’ turned a true shade of red!
I have been on many a wine tour, and each time I venture into wine tasting, I learn something new. I make it a point to write questions in advance, which in turn prepares me for the wine tour.
My original image of the wine connoisseur is of the person having their nose buried in a glass, inhaling deeply. Part of the essence of wine tasting, is indeed ‘sniffing’ the wine you are tasting, to appreciate the full effect. The human tongue can only detect the five basic tastes. The human nose can pick up on over a million scents. By smelling, you can determine if the wine is ‘corked’, meaning it has a fault. There are numerous common faults in wine. Ask your vintner what would be a common fault. There are many, and he will make suggestions on what to look for.
Swirling is good and perhaps you have seen many servers swirling wine in a glass, round and round. By swirling wine, you release the fragrance in the wine. A good way to start, is by practicing with water in your glass. This will avoid any mishaps with red wine splashing over. While swirling your wine, this is a good time to take notice of the color and clarity.
Take a small sip; swish it around the mouth and focus on the flavor or combination of flavors. Are there any familiar tastes-such as vanilla, raspberry or blackberry?
Have you ever wondered what the purpose of decanted wine was? When I was a child, I always thought that my mother was serving wine in a decanter to be fancy. I did not realize that decanting wine does help improve the wine. You can serve the identical wine, side by side and have the outcome be noticeably different. Decanted wine helps, especially with the less expensive bottles of wine. It will make the wine smoother, better balanced and appear ‘older’.
is one of the best ways to learn all about wine. By visiting the many wineries, especially those in Temecula Valley, you will meet the vintners firsthand, and learn all about their particular wines. There are so many wineries that are knowledgeable. It is the best way to talk about wine with those who really love the subject. They will discuss how their wine is made, what types of grapes are used to produce their particular wine and the history of the grape. Finally, part of the fun of wine tasting is to share it with friends and family. Sharing wine is the most sociable thing. Whether you have an enjoyable time going on a wine tour together, or enjoy a bottle at dinner-a good wine is a great thing to share!
Michele McNeal has written many articles about wine. She lives in Southern California with her family.
There are many ways that you can enjoy drinking wines and many places where you can learn how to taste these wines. The vast majority of wine tasting can be found in wineries that cater for these events. You will be able to find many of these places in different countries but before you start traveling the world over for wine tasting you might want to explore Orange County. While you may not be expecting it you can find good wine tasting Orange County vineyards.
These vineyards produce some stunning wines like Cabernet Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Mediterranean style varietals like Pinot Gris, Syrah and Viognier to name but a few. While you may have to find information about these wine producing places in Orange County, you will definitely find this period of time that you have spent looking for wine tasting Orange County places well worth it.
The best way to enjoy wine tasting Orange County will have limo services where you can have someone else drive you to the wineries. Since there is a designated driver – your chauffer – to take your party and back home, you and your party can enjoy the day by learning all about the different wines in these wineries. You will find that some of the best wine tasting Orange County has is in found in Temecula Wine Country.
The Temecula wines are very delicious and you will enjoy the chance of seeing how the different wineries make their great wines. When you visit one of these Temecula wineries you will have the chance of wine tasting Orange County award winning Temecula wines. Some of the best wines that you can buy from the various wineries in Temecula are the classics like Chardonnay, Merlot, Viognier and others.
To make your Temecula wine tasting tour complete you can buy a few bottles of fine wine and enjoy a picnic with delicious food, great wines and a terrific panoramic view of the many Temecula wineries. Wine tasting Orange County does not stop in Temecula. You will find Santa Barbara also has some great wine tasting opportunities for you. As you drive through the various vineyards you want to stop for a while and just enjoy the scenery before you plunge back into the fascinating world of wine tasting.
Wine tasting Orange County has so much to offer to you. From the Temecula wineries in Temecula Wine Country with their marvelous varietals to Santa Barbara vineyards full of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir an even Cabernet Sauvignon, you will find fantastic chances to improve your knowledge and appreciation of fine wines.
Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has been researching and reporting on internet marketing for years. For more information on wine tasting Orange County, visit his site at