Selecting Wine

Selecting wine can be an exhausting and often disappointing exercise. Anybody can be consistently successful spending over $40 but if you don't want to spend that much, what do you do? If you don't know what you're looking for, often you fall back on the same old tried and true names that are getting a little dull. How to find the gems among the rocks?

There's nothing wrong with selecting a wine based on its marketing properties; sometimes that's all we have to go on. You may actually like the wine with the screaming chicken on the label, and you may like the penguin wine too, and your friends might laugh at the rude name and nod. When they drink the wine, it is actually a better than they anticipated, but these are not usually good reasons to buy wines.

Knowing something about wine is a good start, but when you realize how much there is to know, you're really almost in the same spot as not knowing anything. But there are some things you can learn pretty easily that will help you to find that underappreciated and undervalued star that lives up to its billing.

  • Decide what grape, or blend and style of wine you like best and work from there:
    • Light, crisp unoaked whites - old world sauvignon blanc, Trebbiano
    • Earthy, minerally whites - unoaked chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Grechetto
    • Aromatic whites - Tocai Friulano
    • Oak-aged whites - New world chardonnay
    • Light, elegant reds - basic Sangiovese, Valpolicella, Syrah, Poggio Belvedere
    • Soft and fruity reds - California Cabernet, Australian Cabernet, Merlot
    • Bold and spicy reds - Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Valpolicella Ripasso, Barbera, Brunello, Chianti Classico
    • Big full-bodied reds - Barolo, Barbaresco, Amarone, Napa Cabernet, Super Tuscans
  • Find out what the best regions are and buy from there.
  • Look for labels that show specific appellations: Generally, the more specific the appellation, the better the fruit and hence, the better the wine. They usually cost a little more, but are well worth the extra.
  • You can buy according to scores but remember that your tastes and the tastes of the critics may not be similar. If you keep the above in mind and find a wine with a good score, try it.
  • Find a critic who you tend to agree with. Generally, you will enjoy the same wines.
  • Try something different. The worst thing that can happen is you won't like it.
  • Write down the names of both the wines you like and those you don't. This eliminates the chance of buying a wine you hate.
  • Go to tastings and learn to take notes.

What to avoid

Focusing on what you like and the styles should help you on a pretty regular basis, but unfortunately it won't solve all your selection problems. Off bottles can happen just about anywhere, anytime, for a variety of reasons, and it's often enough to ensure that you, as a customer, never pick up that bottle again. That said, there are far fewer things you can look for on a label that will tell you whether the wine will be any good but there are a few giveaways that, if not spotted, will provide you with a real bottle of plonk.

Wine in clear bottles dated older than one or two years

Most wine is kept in dark-coloured bottles to keep it away from the light as it ages. Clear bottles usually contain wine meant to be drunk immediately after purchase. The same thing goes for sparkling wines in clear bottles and sparkling wines that are not Champagne older than two or three years. Most non-Champagne sparkling wine is not meant to be aged.

Bottles with the cork pushing up on the capsule

You'll notice the top of the bottle bulging slightly, which usually means that the bottle has been exposed to heat.

Cooking with wine

Drink the wine you cook with and avoid at all costs using bad wine or faulty wine - corked wine, oxidized wine, etc. - as the fault will come out in the food and be concentrated, ruining the dish entirely.