Look around your local area for good wines. Wine is produced in ALL 50 states. You may find a great vineyard that you can take a day trip to. Supporting your local wine growers is great in itself; however, there are many gems being made right here at home that often go overlooked.
A good tip if you’re interested in learning more about wines is to simply do your homework on them. Do as much reading as you can about wines and the industry, and before you know it, you’ll be the most knowledgeable person about wines among all of your friends.
Take a good look at your wine before you taste it. You can tell a lot about a wine by its appearance. If you practice this, you will soon learn a lot from a wine by its color. Look at the wine from many angles so that you can see all of the colors it has to offer.
Break out of the pairings mythology. It’s not the case that reds only taste good with meats and whites only with fish. There are wines on both sides that pair up well with these dishes. Open up your mind to experimenting with these variations. Otherwise you may be limiting your creativity with wine!
Wine can be saved. Once you finish drinking from the bottle for the evening, close it back up and refrigerate it. The wine should be good for about a day. If you leave it out at room temperature, however, it will eventually go bad because bacteria can grow. There are no hard and fast rules about how long wine is good for, so use your palate to guide you and refrigerate as soon as you know you are finished drinking.
Do not store your wine in places where it can be exposed to a lot of light. When wine is exposed to light, it starts to gradually break down. Placing your wine in a cool, dark place is the best way to assure that it will be good for a longer time.
A good tip if you’re an avid wine lover is to consider bringing your own wine to restaurants when you plan on dining out. This can be a great idea if a particular restaurant doesn’t carry the type of wine you’re looking for. You usually only have to pay for corkage.
If you like to store up wine to sell at a profit later, it is important to be knowledgeable in your choices. Pick out a wine that goes under the radar now, making sure that it will last through the years. Try storing this wine at different temperatures and taste it to determine which temperature is best.
Don’t buy cheap bottle for cooking wine. A good rule of thumb is – if you won’t drink it on its own, never cook with it either. Wines specifically made for cooking are often poor alternatives that have preservatives and different colorings in them. And even cheap table wines can be just as bad. These are not the tastes that will make your food better.
Almost everyone agrees that a nice glass of wine can add to just about any event. In order to heighten the experience you should familiarize yourself with wines ahead of time. This information can help you confidently choose the right wine every time.
