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Wine FAQs
Hmmm...Which Wine to Buy?
The keys to making the best match of food & wine,is an open mind, a willingness to experiment, and an understanding of why certain foods taste best with certain wines. This understanding is partly intuitive but the confidence necessary to be brave in matching flavours comes from experience
Stick to these top wine varietals and you will enjoy the food, wine and your company.
- Chardonnay (white): for dishes with cream sauces, cheese, shellfish
- Sauvignon Blanc(white): for light foods,fish, chicken; good cocktail wine.
- Riesling or sweeter wine: cocktail, desert, light fare
- Pinot Noir – Red wine: goes well with red meat dishes, chicken, and salmon.
- Shiraz – Red wine: BBQ red meats
- Merlot – Red wine: beef, pork, lamb
- Cabernet – Red wine: the ultimate steak wine
- Zinfandel – Red wine: pizza, pastas, red meats
Remember, light foods go with light wines. Heavy foods go with heavy wines. Example: Sauvignon Blanc goes well with most light meals. Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Merlot, goes well with moderate to heavy foods.
What's the correct temperature to serve wine?
Serving wine at the right temperature is one of the most overlooked and important aspects of wine appreciation. A white wine served too cold can kill its aroma and flavor, while a red served too warm can strip it of its character, and make it taste a little flabby.
As per wine connoisseurs, Chanpagne or Sparkling wine is best enjoyed chilled between 7°C to 9°C A good white wine only needs to be lightly chilled and can be served between 10°C and 13°C . Dry sherry, rosé and standard white wines are best served between 7°C and 10°C.
Most red wines are best served just below room temperature, anywhere between 13°C and 19°C. Lighter reds, such as Beaujolais, taste better a little cooler between 10°C and 13°C.
Champaigne v/s Sparkling Wine
Champagne is a variety of sparkling (or carbonated or bubbly) wine produced in the Champagne region of France from a few specific varieties of grapes – Chardonnay,Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier. Though same grapes are grown in Australia but due to copyright issues all Australian bubbly’s are called “Sparkling wine”.
They are best enjoyed with light foods, cheese, salads,all kind of sea foods,pasta and dishes with cream sauces & cheese.
Word “Dry” when associated with wines means amount of sweetness of a sparkling wine.
- Demi-sec – Means half sweet or half dry. Wine is sweetish.
- Dry – Means less sweeter then demi sec.
- Extra dry – Means slightly sweet.
- Brut (broot)- Means very dry. Not sweet at all. And is the most popular.
Before you serve the wine.
Make sure you have a good corkscrew. Use a knife or foil cutter to cut the very top of the foil on the neck of the bottle just below the top rim.