What Wine Should I Buy
Studies have shown that more complex descriptions of red and white wine actually make those wines taste better. Intuitively, this makes sense. If you have more vocabulary to describe what you're imbibing, your brain is better able to discern subtler flavors.
what wine should i buy
So we've put together a beginner's guide to different wine types that will break down the basics of what makes different wines, well, different, and the key descriptors you need to know to get the most out of whatever wine you're drinking.
Rosé, or blush wine, is pink in color. It gets that way because it is allowed to stay in contact with the red grape skins for a relatively short time compared to red wine. On the spectrum between red and white, rosé is much closer to the light side, with relatively low tannin.
Dessert wine gets its name because it tends to be a sweet wine and comes after a meal. Alcohol (usually brandy) is added to a dessert wine so that it can retain more of its natural sugars, which are typically used up during the fermentation process.
So, to recap: red wine is red because it was fermented with the skins, making it more tannic. White wine has less tannin, and is more acidic. Dessert wines have higher alcohol content and are usually sweeter, and sparkling wine has bubbles.
Picking an actual wine and feeling confident you're getting a decent bottle is, of course, a major barrier for anyone. We've been wondering: What wines are similar to Bulleit Rye, as in: affordable, widely available, and generally regarded as good?
It's a difficult question to answer, since annual variations in climate, grape quality, and a dozen other factors make the year-to-year quality of a wine vary more than a grain-based alcohol. That said, our research indicates these picks are worth consideration as safe, reliable value for your dollar:
Take the next month to buy one new bottle of wine a week (or have a glass out with dinner or at a wine bar). Uncork and take a few moments to taste and describe it using the descriptors above. Make sure you try a different type of wine each week and repeat the same process. At the end of the month you'll start to feel more comfortable with the vocabulary of wine, which can have a profound effect on your enjoyment.
Sauvignon Blanc is a light-bodied wine that will usually have aromas of grapefruit, asparagus, and some herbaceous elements. It pairs well with a lot of light foods such as green vegetables and chicken, pork, or fish with herbs.
Pinot Gris, also known as Pinot Grigio, is a light to medium-bodied white wine. Pinot Gris typically has aromas of peach, citrus, honeysuckle, and apple. It tastes delicious with lighter foods such as fish, shellfish, and fresh vegetables.
Cabernet Sauvignon is a bold wine, usually being medium to full-bodied. It has notes of plum, blackberry, black pepper, and leather. Cabernet Sauvignon is best paired with steak, braised short ribs, or even hamburgers.
A perfect light red wine that won't overwhelm your party fare, this 100% Pinot Noir is a great bargain! It's lively and fresh with raspberry notes up front, finishing with bitter chocolate and herbs. It also has an easy-to-open screw top.
A big wine for a small price, this Portuguese red blend is rich, silky, and full of blackberry and spice. Most people who drink red wine think of themselves as having a preference for full-bodied styles, so if you only have one red to serve, this is a great choice.
Don't forget to have ice, ice buckets, and a corkscrew. And to take it to the next level, a bar menu can be a great addition. Adding a little description of each wine to the menu will help guests get a better idea of what they're getting if they haven't had any of the wines before.
Alsatian Gewurztraminer. Who knew that the French like a bit of sweetness in their wines? The grape Gewurztraminer is fun and spicy. However, it often tastes like ginger and lychee. The French region of Alsace tends to leave a little sweetness in these wines, which works well with their hearty cuisine.
Why? This price category is full of wines for beginners! Most people buying these wines are budding wine lovers, so the styles fit your palate. There is no shame in spending less, especially when you want a tasty wine.
Italian Prosecco These fresh and fun bubbles are a crowd-favorite. This is a style very different than French Champagne and a lot more affordable, too. The bubbles are bigger and softer, and the flavor is a mix of citrus and minerals. The wine is very food-friendly, especially for appetizers.
The truth is, that many things about wine are wrapped in preferences and experiences, but our preference for bitterness is genetic. Therefore, how your palate reacts to bitterness will determine how much you enjoy this sensation in your wines.
Beaujolais from France. This wine is made from the Gamay grape. (Wines in Europe are usually named after their place, not the grape in the bottle.) Gamay is a super-juicy fresh red wine that is delicious by any metric.
Shiraz from Barossa Valley (Australia). The grape Shiraz also goes by the name Syrah. This is a wine that is very different depending on where it comes from. In France, this wine tends to have the whiff of road-kill. The opposite is true for Shiraz grown in Barossa Valley in Australia. The Aussie style is filled with notes of blackberry jam and chocolate: a delightful choice for novices.
If you want to expand your selections beyond these recommendations, I have a few suggestions for you. Places like Germany, Austria, and Italy offer many delicious white wines that will surprise and delight the new wine drinker, especially if you keep your budget reasonable and your mind open.
This quiz tries to determine what style of wines would most likely be your preference based on the answers to some food and beverage preferences. At the end, you will be asked to characterize what you think are your wine preferences and then you can compare them to what the quiz has predicted.
You know your crowd best but, when in doubt, we recommend following the 60/40 rule. For Halloween wines, that means purchasing 60% red wine and 40% white. More people tend to drink red over white during this season and the bloody color just happens to be extra fright friendly.
While any tasty wine is sure to be enjoyed and appreciated by you and your guests, selecting some special scintillating contenders via decorative labels, names and themes are great ways to take the party wines on offer to the next level. Try choosing spine-chilling bottle imagery, going for a label with your overall party theme, and considering how foreign language wine names can menacingly translate into English.
The two primary factors to consider are your lifestyle and that niggling detail: cost. Take a moment to consider how, realistically, you would best enjoy your wines. There's no point in stocking up on $100-plus bottles if you don't foresee many opportunities to serve them, no matter their prestige. Valuable wines often waste away in cellars as collectors wait for exalted occasions that never seem to arrive. A firm understanding of your wine-consumption habits and preferences will save you money and time, and ultimately reward you with a collection that is perfectly tailored to you.
Of course, the cost of collecting can be an equally firm guideline. For most collectors, it's atypical, not to mention prohibitively expensive, to open a fine or rare bottle every time they reach for a corkscrew. A practical solution is to break down your shopping list into three categories: "good," "better" and "best." The price range for each will vary depending on wine types and regions, as well as your budget. In one example, "good" wines might cost around $25, "better" might be between $25 and $60, and "best," over $60.
In some cases, after the initial investment, there is potential for longer-term economic benefit, as fine wine tends to appreciate in value as it matures. A dramatic example is Château Lafite Rothschild 1982, which rose from $390 a case when it was first offered as a future in 1983 to a high winning bid of $35,000 in 2016; a more typical example is Château Léoville Poyferré 1990, which has risen from $31 a bottle upon release to $286 at auction today.
After the considerations of lifestyle and expense are out of the way, let your creativity and personal passions bloom. There's no one method of creating and organizing a collection, but without a plan, the process can be overwhelming. Each of the approaches described here can serve as a roadmap to your dream cellar: The Balanced Cellar involves a mixture of vintages, prices and drink windows; the Instant-Gratification Cellar focuses exclusively on fine wines that are ready to drink right away; the Tasting Cellar is constructed as a learning tool; and the Investment Cellar focuses on profit potential.
A balanced cellar will contain wines to suit any occasion. This should include whites and reds, young and mature wines, and everyday and prestige bottlings. These wines can mostly be sourced from good retailers or obtained directly from wineries.
Young everyday reds5 cases good and better wines $2,500 Buy wines that are generally made to be consumed young (Spanish Garnacha, Côtes du Rhône, Beaujolais), while including some that may improve with age (Chianti Classico, Portuguese reds, Oregon Pinot Noir).
Mature reds 3 cases better and best wines $2,000 Many reds are best consumed six to 10 years after the vintage date. Older vintages of Bordeaux, Barolo and Rioja are generally available at retail.
It's quite possible to have a cellar full of wine yet little to drink, either because the contents consist of newly acquired wines that require prolonged bottle aging or because the selection is skewed toward blue-chip labels that are not suitable for everyday dining. 041b061a72