All About Wine And Its Goodness!

It is human nature really – to stick with the tried and true and shy away from new types of wines. Pinot noir, shiraz, merlot, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, riesling, Yarra Valley, Barossa Valley, Marlborough, Central Otago. From wine to spaghetti sauce, it is usually the easier and safer option to take home a wine bottle that has hit the spot some time in the past. We are all built to be at least a little conservative with buying habits and it is a strategy that limits failure.

If you think about a napoli pasta sauce I can understand how they’re generally sweet, with a strong tomato flavour and seasoned with a number of herbs. But wine is a far more complex beast. For in wine there are hundreds if not thousands of different flavours and sensations to be found. Primarily, that character is a result of grape which a wine is made from. Where the grape grown does play a significant factor. The key is really grape variety which determines the total experience derived when consuming a glass of wine.

That said, wine is a wonderful beverage in that it can also give the consumer a taste of a different country or culture all from the comfort of a lounge chair. It’s worth noting is that wines taste their best when from their country of origin including varieties such as sangiovese, nebbiolo and tempranillo from Italy and Spain. So with such variety to choose from all over the world why taste the same destination or grape every day when a world of flavour awaits from the local off-license or restaurant?

So where to begin? Pinot gris and pinot grigio, an interesting white with a lovely floral, sweet fruit flavour, is a good place to begin. Best known in the wines from Alsace in France, as well as the more delicately flavoured and zesty pinot grigio styles from Italy, it is a grape that is also coming good in the cool regions of Australia and New Zealand with fine wines that compare well with the rest of the world. Semillon is another white wine forever in the background but one that can make world class dry whites that are a little more restrained than varieties such as chardonnay and sauvignon blanc but lose nothing in complexity from vineyards in the Hunter and Barossa Valleys. Other white grapes worth taking a look at include viognier, chenin blanc, gewürztraminer, and roussanne.

For red wines, there are plenty to sort through including the massive, full-bodied wines from grapes such as zinfandel or durif, or others with a little less density like cabernet franc or gamay. So if it is personality you seek, I suggest a nice sangiovese, nebbiolo and tempranillo which won’t disappoint with it’s full fruity flavour, rustic tannins and clear acidity which are are perfect when accompanying food.

Len Evans was quoted as saying that with so many bottles of wine to enjoy in our lives, one should not waste an opportunity to try taste something new and adventurous great Len Evans once said we only have one life to experience so many types of wine and the chance to try something interesting should never be wasted. Sounds likes it’s time move away from your mainstay drop, get to your local and purchase some wine types that you’ve never tried before.

Tags: new wines, types of wine, wine, wine taste

This entry was posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 2:21 pm and is filed under food and wine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.