iWine.co.nz

You've probably heard the saying that if you don't like Chardonnay, it's because you haven't found the right one. Tongue and cheek sentiment aside, it bears witness to the great variety of different wines that all masquerade under the single title of Chardonnay, some so disparate as to hardly be recognizable as coming from the same grape.

It is a well established standard practice to apply all sorts of descriptors wine that go well beyond simply describing the taste, aroma, and texture. Indeed it has become somewhat of a tradition to characterize wines with such adjectives as bold, timid, dramatic, subdued, flagrant, and so on. So much so, in fact, that to the novice many adjectives may seem to say a little too much about a wine and even come off as downright humorous.

Maybe you’ve noticed screwcaps on more of the higher priced wines lately. The trend is continuing to grow and so is the debate of whether a screwcap or cork is better for wine. The industry has basically "agreed to disagree" as to whether wine bottled with a screwcap or a cork tastes better, ages better and has less of a tendency to spoil.

There are three methods that may be used to make sparkling wine. These methods are: the Transfer Method, Charmat Bulk process and Methode Champenoise. Methode Champenoise is the most labor-intensive and costly of these. Before we get into how sparkling wines are made, we should first make a distinction between sparkling wine and champagne.

Serving Temperatures

The flavors of both red and white wines fall apart if they are too warm. It is advisable to chill your reds in the fridge for about twenty minutes before serving them, and whites can generally be left in the fridge altogether. When in doubt, it's better to serve the wine colder and let it warm in the glass than to serve it too warm.

What is wine?

Wine has been made for centuries from just a two simple ingredients: yeast and grape juice. Actually, just about any fruit juice can be used, but by far the majority of all wine is made from the juice of the grape.