How to Choose a Sweet Tasting Wine

Mark Twain said, "There are no standards of taste in wine... Each man's own taste is the standard..." Sweet wines are often a person's initiation into wine drinking, but this doesn't make them inferior choices. Winemakers from around the world produce superior sweet, semi-sweet and fruity wines that are as well respected as dry wines and champagnes. Whether your preference is for a sweet wine or you're looking for a dessert pairing, consider your own taste to be the standard.

Look for an off-dry white wine like a Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Moscato or Asti Spumante. There is a range of sweetness within each varietal, from some being not very sweet to those that are considered dessert wines. Very sweet Rieslings are designated Beerenauslese, Eiswein or Trockenbeerenuslese. Asti is a sparkling wine that's a good introduction to wine drinking.

Try the slightly sweet or fruity red wines. Beaujolais, Syrah and Shiraz are fruity red wines, as is Italian Lambrusco, which should be served chilled.

Try a blush wine, such as White Zinfandel. Blush wines are pink, but they're made from red grapes whose skins are separated during the winemaking process. They're slightly sweet and pair well with light dinners.

Opt for a very sweet dessert wine. Late-harvest wines are made from grapes that have been left on the vine longer, so they're naturally sweet. French Sauternes and Hungarian Tokai fall into this category.

Finish a meal with a fortified port wine. To make port, alcohol is added to red wine for a more potent result. True ports come from Portugal. Vintage ports are matured in the bottle, and other ports are ready to be served as soon as they come to market. The variation in sweetness among different ports is not as pronounced as in other varietals.

The 3 most important things to look for on a wine label, according to an expert

With the infinite choices of varieties, vintages, terroirs, and tannins, buying wine can be a real minefield.

As a result, many of us end up scouring labels, hoping for some shred of information that might reveal the secrets of the liquid within.

However, wine labels can often be a red herring misleading when they are meant to inform.

In order to decipher wine labels once and for all, Business Insider spoke to one of Berry Bros. & Rudd 's resident wine experts, Felipe Carvallo.

Berry Bros. & Rudd is Britain's oldest wine and spirit merchant having traded from the same shop since 1698 and it holds two Royal Warrants for The Queen and The Prince of Wales.

 Watch out for generic food pairing recommendations

Although it may be tempting to buy wines that have a food pairing recommendation on the label, this can be a big red flag, according to Carvallo.

He said: "If it 'goes with pasta dishes' and other very generic serving suggestions, [this can imply that] it's a very neutral wine that will go with most things.

"Often you're going to get something pretty middle-of-the-road, nothing that's going to stick out too much," he added.

 Check the alcohol level

It's not normally something that most of us think to do, but checking the alcohol percentage can be a good indicator of how sweet a wine is.

"Generally speaking, if you've got a very low alcohol level on a white wine it's probably an indication that there's a little bit of sugar left in the wine that hasn't been fermented," Carvallo says.

This can often put people off wines like Riesling, which can sometimes be unpleasantly sweet to some palates.

However, according to Carvallo, dry Rieslings can be some of the best, most rewarding wines in the world but you'll need to check the alcohol level to find them.
Don't worry if the grape variety isn't listed

"One of the things we get here [Berry Bros. & Rudd] a lot is 'I hate Chardonnay but I love Chablis,'" Carvallo says.

However, the grape variety in both Chardonnay and Chablis is Chardonnay. The key thing to remember is that Chablis is produced in Burgundy, France, but the Chardonnay grape can be grown all over the world from California to South Australia and will taste different wherever it's grown.

"Particularly in the Old World, a lot of French wine, for example, will label a wine based on the place that it's from, not the grape variety.

"Putting the grape variety on the label is very much a New World phenomenon."

Therefore, you shouldn't be put off if you can't see the grape variety listed; there are actually a number of other factors that can completely change the taste of what you're drinking, including where it was produced.

Wine Tasting Tips For Beginners

The art of wine tasting can seem very complex to outsiders. Its practice is as ancient as its production and its terminology is constantly evolving.

As overwhelming as it may seem at first, there are a number of tips and insider secrets to get you through your first tasting - without being noticed as the beginner!

In the glass
It’s necessary to tilt the glass slightly in order to see the color variations of the wine  from the center to the rim of the glass. Intensity of color gives clues to the variety and the age of the wine, but not quality. A young white might be straw-colored in the center and have a green-tinged edge, whereas a brownish tinge at the edge suggests an older red.

Smell
Sommeliers are trained to notice the smallest differences in aromas. As a beginner, try to pin-point if your wine is fruity, floral, spicy etc. Swirling the glass gently (being careful of your white shirt!) can help bring out the aromas. 

Taste
Take a decent mouthful rather than a tiny sip. Then swish the wine around your tongue & teeth and note the taste. What flavors stand out to you? Does the wine seem balanced? Acidic? Take your time, this is meant to be an enjoyable experience! Spitting the wine into an empty glass in generally the norm, but swallowing is also fine.

Take some time to reflect on the aftertaste. A lingering taste can often be found in good quality wines. Most importantly, do you want more?  

Score
Wines are generally scored on a scale of 100, similar to school grades. A wine scoring 85 + is considered good, whereas a wine scoring 50 is like an F grade. However, taste is very personal and not everyone is a fan of the numerical scale.

That’s it - you’ve survived your first wine tasting. Now on to the next bottle!   

Enjoy cheese and wine and painting therapy

Have you always wanted to have a go at painting your very own work of art? Do you like drinking wine and eating cheese? Would you like to spend an evening doing all of the above?

Then the Cheese and Wine Painting Club could be just what you need.

The monthly sessions, held at Pocklington Arts Centre, give everyone the chance to paint their very own masterpiece on canvas to take home, while enjoying two glasses of wine and a cheeseboard.

The sessions are run at venues up and down the country by Ed Sumner, founder of the Cheese and Wine Painting Club who grew up in Pocklington, and attended Pocklington School, who is keen to dispel a few of the myths around painting.

Ed said: “We are dispelling the myth that painting is a hard thing to do. We supply all the material, as we want to have art making accessible to everyone in a friendly, relaxed environment.

“It is an opportunity to switch off from the real world for a few hours.” The next Cheese and Wine Painting Club session at the centre, in which participants will learn to paint Abstract Flowers, is on Thursday November 8 at 7.30pm.


Read more at: https://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/lifestyle/enjoy-cheese-and-wine-and-painting-therapy-1-9412899

7 best chilled red wines

For those in the know, red wines don't always have to be served at room temperature, while whites must be cool. Our European counterparts often serve simple reds chilled, but it seems to have taken longer for the UK to catch on.

Lighter skinned grapes such as pinot noir, cabernet franc and Beaujolais are the best place to start. An hour or two in the fridge to take the temperature to 12C to 14C should suffice. You don’t want to over-chill the wine, otherwise you could lose some of the wonderful aroma.

Heavier, full-bodied reds with lots of tannin won’t perform as well chilled, so leave the barolo in the wine rack for now.

A chilled red works wonderfully with barbecued food or as an aperitif. Charcuterie is another dream combination - just close your eyes and imagine you’re in a rustic tapas bar.

Here are the best chilled reds to drink right now.

Doing exactly what it says on the tin (or the label in this case), this sexy Argentinian malbec is best enjoyed chilled to really bring out the lively fruit. Full to the brim with juicy cherries alongside more savoury notes of black pepper and dried herbs, this was named as one of Decanter Magazine’s 30 Great New World Buys and we can certainly see why. It’s just the ticket with a plate of charcuterie or a selection of cold cuts.

This is a young, fresh, fruity wine made from 100 per cent cabernet franc grapes grown in the Loire Valley. The winery and vineyard were fully converted to organic practices in 2015, which shows in this pure style with soft tannins. Borough Wines suggests serving with Lebanese food, which would work a treat. It’s certainly light enough to pair with white meats, too. Not only is this wine organic, it’s also suitable for vegans and, during the summer, we’d encourage you to try lightly chilling before serving.

Beaujolais is often held up as the perfect example of a chilled red, and the Definition from Majestic is the final word on the matter. It uses only the finest gamay grapes, which gives a depth and complexity you wouldn’t expect to find in such a light wine. Smooth and fruity, expect dark cherries and a delicate floral aroma.

Soft and easy to drink but certainly not lacking in character, this fruity little number from Italy really delivers with its rich plummy flavours. We think it represents good value at this price, and after an hour in the fridge lends itself to almost anything – so no need to keep for special occasions.

Turning the traditional on its head is M&S with this German pinot noir that happily holds its own against many of its Burgundian equivalents. Wonderfully aromatic, even after a light chill, with a well-balanced touch of oak, this medium bodied red has a slightly gamey finish that will be absolutely perfect paired with grouse when in season.

This picturesque vineyard is nestled between ski resorts in the Savoie region – an area becoming increasingly popular with sommeliers. Aside from getting a mouthful of juicy red berries, you’ll also find this a refreshingly light red with flinty minerality which really comes to the fore with a quick chill.

Well-structured acidity makes the mouth water and aromatic violet fills the nose in this red from France’s Morgon region. It’s an easy-drinking style without being a pushover, pairing well with everything from barbecued meats and charcuterie, to grilled asparagus and meaty fish.