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What is a good wine?

A good wine is any wine you like, but first you need to find out what you like.

There are thousands of wines available and not everyone may be to your liking. There are a lot of variables that go into producing commercial wines, weather, soil, grape variety, the winemaker’s style, aging in oak or stainless steel, and bottling. Wine making is a science. Although you may have had a few good homemade wines, chances are that they were made by someone who had developed a technique for them and weren’t just lucky. The best way to find what you like is to experiment and taste, taste, taste! Remember what you taste and what tasted good to you. When and where you taste may be just as important as how well the wine was made. It is recommended that you start with a clean mouth---really!

We’re not talking teeth freshly brushed and rinsed with Listerine, but maybe rinsed with water, having eaten a slice of French bread and a bit of mild cheese such as cheddar. Your mouth and taste buds need to warm up to the tasting process. Think of tasting and remembering the taste. It’s a good idea to taste a few wines together so that you may compare them. Usually white wines are tasted alongside white wines, i.e. Chardonnay with Chardonnay and Fumé Blanc with Fumé Blanc. The same applies with red wines.
There is an art to tasting wine and a difference between tasting and drinking wine. When tasting wine, first look at the wine in the glass, notice the color and sheen. Swirl the wine, not to be an exhibitionist, but to induce oxygen and let the wine develop its bouquet; the perfume or “nose” can be most enjoyable. This foretaste from the bouquet is a preview of the actual taste. Now sip the wine and let the wine roll in your mouth and over your tongue so the taste buds awaken before slowly swallowing it. After the swallowing, concentrate on the taste that is left behind, analyze the flavors and warmth, enjoy the pleasure. You’ll know immediately if the wine is “corked” or “burnt”; both are signs of something wrong. “Corked” wine tastes musty and cork flavored, “burnt” wine tastes like sherry or vermouth.

Before a second taste, or moving on to taste the next wine, make some mental comparisons to help you remember the wine, discuss it with others who may be tasting with you, and envision what you would eat that would complement it and taste good.
Wine and food go hand in hand, so try to have some simply prepared items to eat with the wine. Bear in mind that when you first start out and when you become an expert you should not eat overly spiced and prepared foods with wine in general. The flavors will kill the lusciousness of the wine. You want to taste the wine and be able to taste the food at the same time, they should complement each other. This will help you find a wine you like. On a hot summer night, a cold glass of Wente Chardonnay tastes so good---light, lemony, smooth and richly pleasant. You can taste the Chardonnay grape with every sip and appreciate the warmth as it fills your mouth. Wow, what a lingering aftertaste of citrus flavors and fruit. This same wine, when served with Cajun blackened steak, tastes almost like ice water. What happened? I used to like this wine! Well, it’s all in the combination and learning what to eat and drink with what. Simply put, you learn about “wine pairing” through experimentation and mistakes. It helps to read food and wine magazines and websites and participate in wine tasting and cultural events where wine and food are present and part of the event. Talk to others and take notes. The ultimate might involve a trip to a winery or attending wine seminars. It helps to follow the guideline of white wine with white meats, chicken and lighter foods, and red wine with beef, rich foods and tomato sauces.

The basic school of thought is that white wines are for light colored foods and fish and that red wines are for dark foods and red meats. Yes, in many cases this is true but if you like a particular Chardonnay and your having a steak, then go for it and enjoy!

The pleasure of what you are eating and enjoying is more satisifying than saying it's just OK!

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