Wine 101: 3 Key Things Every Wine Lover Should Know
It’s always a good time to educate yourself on the things you love. Whether you want to learn more about your favorite language or your favorite drink, there’s always more to learn. If you love the taste of Rosé or the way that bottle of Pinot Noir pairs with your steak, then it may be a good idea to learn more about why your wine is the way it is. To help you on your way to deeper wine knowledge, take a look at three things every wine lover should know!
What Does It Take To Be A Wine Expert?
Knowing a great deal of information about wine isn’t as easy as you’d imagine. The romantic and inquisitive journey to studying wine can bring you historical and cultural importance, and, most importantly, a job title. Some people even take up wine courses to expand their knowledge on the field. Certain individuals around the world call themselves as wine experts, wine connoisseurs, or sommeliers.
A sommelier is known as a wine expert that typically works in a fine dining restaurant. They’re sought for their compelling knowledge, and experience with wine tasting and selection, service, storage, and food pairings. If you consider yourself a wine lover, you can take your interest further and obtain a sommelier certification.
The Court of Master Sommeliers introduced four levels to becoming a certified sommelier, from Level 1 to 4 Sommelier. Before qualifying for a sommelier certification for a higher level, you’ll need to first possess a certification for the preceding level. To practice a wine-related career in a renowned food establishment, it’s best to get a certified Level 3 Sommelier or Advanced Sommelier certification. The advanced level proves to be the most challenging next to the Master Sommelier certification, as only 14 students pass this evaluation annually.
By pursuing sommelier certification, you’ll be able to broaden your knowledge about theoretical wine knowledge, including the history, geography, and type of grapes used for every wine. Also, you’ll be immersed in the following wine-related activities:
Wine tasting and service
Wine decanting
Choosing the right wine bottle price range
Assisting guests in navigating wine menus
Learn proper wine serving temperatures
Achieving a standard five-ounce wine pour
How to Store an Open Bottle
If you don’t finish a bottle of wine the day you open it (which is probably a good thing) then you need to make sure that you’re storing it properly. Many people shove the same cork back into the opening while others opt for store-bought wine stoppers. These are good options, or you can even go with plastic wrap and a rubber band! Either way, you want to keep air from leaking into the bottle.
That said, you also need to pay attention to the temperature you’re storing the wine at. Though red wine shouldn’t be served chilled, it should be put in the fridge to slow down the oxidation process.
Red wine: Stored at 57–64 °F
White wine: Stored at 46–50 °F
Champagne or sparkling wine: Stored at 41–44 °F
Rosé or dessert wine: Stored at 52–55 °F
The Reason Behind that Dry Mouth
If you’re a fan of red wine, but don’t quite understand why your mouth dries out after a few sips, then you need to do some research on tannins. Long story short, they are compounds that exist in grape skin and stems that release into the wine. They bind with the proteins in your mouth and add to that drying out sensation. That’s why, when you pair a tannin-forward wine with a nice slab of red meat, you don’t notice that dry mouth sensation as much—it’s binding to the protein in the meat rather than the protein in your mouth. When you know about tannins, you’ll have a better idea of what to pair with your favorite bottle of red.
A Few Tricks on Chilling Wine
Though you shouldn’t chill red wines, your bottles of white wine, champagne, and most dessert wines taste better and showcase more flavor when they’re chilled. Though you may feel tempted to pop the bottles in your normal fridge, those temperatures might be too cold and end up seeping the flavor out. You can pop the bottles in a wine fridge or you can try out some of these awesome chilling techniques!
Chill the wine with frozen grapes—they won’t dilute the wine like ice cubes will.
Put salt in with your ice bucket—salt reduces the freezing point of ice and lowers the temperature of your wine bottle.
Chill Champagne with wet paper towels and then put it in the freezer for 5–10 minutes.
These are just a few of the important things every wine lover should know. There’s much more out there—you just have to take the time to look!
