How to choose wine to go with a meal
Choosing a good wine can be a real nightmare, especially if you’ve got someone to impress. You’re having a dinner party – you’ve planned the menu thoroughly, dusted off your best crockery and wine glasses, and got everything prepared – except for the wine selection. There’s just so much to think about, and it always seems like everyone else knows so much more than you do about it. You stand there for ages looking at the seemingly endless shelves of bottles, and the more you wonder about it the harder it gets. That’s why we’ve put together a few tips of what to look for and how to choose the perfect wine.
Firstly and most importantly, you should match the wine to the meal you will be eating. Everyone’s opinion is different when it comes to which wine will taste good with different foods, but there are a few basic rules that you can follow if you’re really not sure. The easiest way is to simply match the colour of the wine to the meat. So if you’re eating red meat select a dark red like Cabernet or Syrah. For lamb or pork dishes a medium bodied red like a Merlot will be less heavy but still has a rich flavour. Chicken and fish dishes can often be overpowered by reds so it’s best to go for a white instead, such as a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. If it’s a special occasion or celebration, you might be better off with a sparkling wine, served in fancy Champagne flutes.
Once you know what kind of wine you are looking for, check where it was made. Wines from different regions are very different in quality, so it pays to do a bit of research into the best regions. If you’re not sure, France is always a safe bet and has been producing fine wines for hundreds of years. Italy is another good choice, and Chilean wines are also very popular at the moment, particularly the reds.
Another thing worth checking is the vintage of the wines you are choosing from, or the year they were bottled. A real wine buff will already know which were the good years for each region, and will buy only vintages which they know came from a particularly good crop. For the rest of us less knowledgable people, it can seem like a lot of guesswork, but if you know the basics you’ll at least be on the right track. That all wines get better as they get older is a common misconception. It’s true that most red wines do improve with a little aging, but most wineries won’t distribute these wines for a couple of years after bottling, which gives them time to mature. This means by the time they appear in stores they are ready to drink and will taste good. Most white and sparkling wines don’t need aging, and taste good if drunk straight away.
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