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How to taste wine like a pro?
Wine tasting can be complicated and complex at times, but don't worry, in this article we will give you some tips to taste wine like a pro.
First of all, it is important to specify that anyone can learn to taste a wine correctly, without being a professional taster. All you need to have is a consistent tasting technique that you can improve. Each time you drink wine, take a moment to appreciate its unique characteristics. By practicing, you will soon become a professional wine taster! Just follow the four steps of the conventional tasting method: Look, Smell, Taste and Think.
LOOK
Hold the wine glass over a white background in neutral light and make 3 observations: hue, color intensity, and viscosity.
SMELL
Smell the wine and try to create a flavor profile before tasting it. Look for fruity, herbaceous, or other flavors, and if present, oak or earthy flavors.
taste
Take a mouth large enough and pass the wine through the entire palate before swallowing it. Try to identify the structure of the wine (tannin, acidity, etc.), the aromas and the overall balance of the wine.
Think
Finally, it's time to put all your observations together. and evaluate the experience as a whole. We recommend that you write down the taste notes, evaluate the wine and compare it with other wines.
At first, the process may be a little difficult, but you will get used to following these steps. In time, so will you. you will be closer to becoming a professional wine taster! The most important thing is to have fun while learning!
Check out our excellent wine shop to practice!
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Best Wines for Barbacue and Picinic
Although the approaching May Day weekend is what inspired us to write this blog, you can save it and read it again whenever you need ideas in finding the perfect wine for a fun and delicious barbecue gathering. While thinking about grilled meat, fish or vegetables, what about the wine? How can we pair it with the bbq so everyone loves it? How To Choose Wine for a Barbecue? The answer depends largely on what we put on the grill. Here are some practical tips because every outing with friends or family is different. If we refer to May Day, as mentioned above, then it is very common to go out in nature and enjoy a picnic or a barbecue in the open air. Because when we opt for nature outings we try to stick to strictly necessary items, sometimes bringing wine can be a bit of a hassle. But don´t worry, we made it easy for you: Instead of bringing the picnic wine with a cork, you can always opt for the screw option. Wines are equally nice and it is much easier to open them. Also, if you are a white wine lover, donñt forget about chilling the wine beforehand, as white wines are more enjoyable when served cold. Do not use plastic cups, as all the aromas and flavours of your great wine will be very hard to distinguish. The next factor to think about when choosing wines is whether you want to choose a versatile wine that everyone can enjoy and can accompany different dishes, or whether you want to choose wines that enhance the flavours of the dishes. You Can´t Go Wrong With These Wines If you opt for easy-going, immediately lovable wines, we recommend fresh white wines or wines with a short time in barrel or rosé wines. White wines are fresh and refreshing. White wines that have been in the barrel briefly can pair well with grilled white meat dishes. While rosé wines can be paired with everything from vegetables to grilled meats. But if you want to choose red wine, go for a young one or one with a short time in the barrel. Young wines don't have intense flavours, so they're more likely to please everyone. Here are a few recommendations for white and red wine. Mar de Frades is a delicate and subtle Spanish Albariño wine with very special marine and mineral notes. It is a white wine characterised by the freshness it conveys as well as the fruity notes it offers. As it could not be otherwise, Mar de Frades is perfect for pairing with fish, seafood and grilled meats. Pradorey is a Spanish white wine with seductive greenish tones, it displays a variety of flavours from the Verdejo variety, against a complex backdrop of exotic fruits and a hint of aniseed. It offers a fleshy, fat mouthfeel with an excellent aftertaste. It spends a short time in barrel which gives it a mix of freshness and structure. Ideal for everything from appetizers, picnic snacks to grilled meats. Condominio Joven as its name suggests is a young Spanish wine. It has a clear, intense red-violet colour with a fine layer of bluish tints. The bouquet is intense with notes of fresh red fruit, strawberry and raspberry. The palate is light and pleasant. It has even, persistent tannins in good balance with acidity. Ideal with white or red meat dishes. Special Wines to Surprise Your Guests If, on the other hand, you're a wine lover and you'd like to choose a few special bottles of wine for your May Day barbecue, we have some special tips and recommendations. We know that by the time the barbecue is ready there are a number of snacks on the table. These can be accompanied by chilled white wine or why not, a cava. Brought to an optimal temperature these two options will surprise your guests. Then, depending on the grilled dishes, we can choose other wines. If you are grilling fish, seafood and/or vegetables it is advisable to choose fresh, fruity white wines, perhaps with a short time in the barrel. These will enrich the flavour palette of the main dishes. Opt for white wines with maturation also when white meat is dominant on the grill. Some options that we love, in this case, would be Eguren Ugarte a Spanish white wine, La Ganivelle French wine or a Cava from Catalonia, Spain, Alegoria Reserva Brut. If, on the other hand, you opt for red meat dishes, you should also consider spices or sauces. If the dishes are simple, and the predominant taste is that of meat, you can choose red wines from young to medium-aged. In this case, you can opt for Garnacha wines because they have fruity notes but at the same time have enough strength to balance the flavours of the meat. Two options in this case could be La Garnacha, a Spanish wine by Mustiguillo, or Senda Garnacha, an organic Spanish wine made in the D.O. Madrid. But if the dishes are complex, the meat is aromatic or accompanied by various sauces, opt for medium and full-bodied wines. The red wine in this case must have a good structure to support the full range of flavours. You can choose a Spanish red wine such as Dehesa del Carrizal Petit Verdot, a Portuguese one such as HDL Vinho Tinto or French red wine, Chateau la Landotte. All three are ideal for grilled meat dishes. Now at the end you may wonder why we haven't talked about the stars of every May Day barbecue, the mussels or the sausages. Well, as you know, garlic makes a good pair with wine only when used in moderation. Otherwise, there is a risk that garlic fundamentally alters the way flavours feel on the palate. If the mussels or sausages have a low garlic content, we can opt for astringent, complex and well-structured red wines to balance the flavours and enjoy both the flavours of the food and the wine. Some of the best choices for these pairings include the Spanish wine Marques de Griñon Graciano, the Bordeaux wine Chateau Ampelia or Quinta da Valbom, an excellent Portuguese wine. Whether you decide on a selection of light, versatile wines or make choices for each type of dish, always remember the importance of temperature and glassware even when opting for an outing in nature. We hope you'll find inspiration here to make the right choices for May Day and all the other barbecues throughout the year. And if you want to explore all the options, do not forget to visit our shop. Enjoy your food and drink! See you next time, Dis&Dis Team
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Do´s and Dont´s When Pairing Champagne and Cava
Although sparkling wines are very versatile and can be paired with a very wide range of dishes, there are certain dishes that manage to neutralize all their flavors. The list of these foods is not very long, but it is important to remember what not to pair champagne or cava with.Although in countries such as France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, or Great Britain sparkling wine is consumed even at a regular weekday dinner, for us Romanians the consumption habits are quite different when it comes to sparkling wine. We tend to associate this type of wine with important events or parties in our lives.All the more so, so we have to make sure that we don't mask the flavors of a Moet for example, with uninspired associations. Not to mention our eating habits have changed in recent years and we have become familiar with sushi, Thai food, curries, etc. And these changes in food pairing can be confusing when choosing wine. Let´s start with the different types of champagneNon-vintageis a term used to describe sparkling wines that are made from a blend of varieties harvested in different years. This sparkling wine spends at least 15 months in bottle before being released to the market. They are wines that cannot be matured for long, and are characterised by light body, citrus and mineral flavours and low alcohol levels. Vintageis a term used for sparkling wine made with grapes from the same vintage. A very small percentage of all sparkling wines are made this way. It is a distinctive wine with a well-structured, aromatic palette described by notes of vanilla, nuts, caramel, baked apple and brioche. Then we have champagnes made only from white grapes, only from red grapes or by leaving the skins to macerate for a very short time to obtain sparkling rosé wines.You may wonder what all this has to do with avoiding uninspired food pairings. Well, from the above information that we can identify on the wine label we can deduce the sugar level in the wine therefore we can know if it is brut, dry, semi-dry or sweet. And depending on this categorisation we can choose some dishes or others.An important rule is to choose a wine that is at least as sweet as the food. For example, if we choose a brut sparkling wine for dessert it will seem very acidic.For light or fat-free dishes, it's best to choose a sparkling wine with low alcohol content.While for fatty dishes it is better to opt for acidic sparkling wines, rich in bubbles that will help the palate cleanse itself of fat after each sip.Let's take a look at the main foods that we need to avoid at all costs when pairing with champagne and cava. Garlic DishesYes, garlic is part of our traditional and modern cuisine alike. It's an ingredient that enhances the flavours of red meat or fish dishes but almost entirely cancels out the flavour palette of a sparkling wine. One sip of a garlic dish can linger so long that we can't even enjoy the next glass of champagne.In fact, garlic is one of the ingredients that should be used very sparingly when we want to enjoy wine with our dishes. Spicy PreparationsAlthough the spicy notes of some dishes can pair very well with the freshness of champagne, the same caution is needed with garlic. Moderation is the key here. If the dishes are so spicy that our taste buds are paralysed, any flavours of either the dishes or the wine will be completely neutralised. Avoid very spicy dishes when you want to enjoy sparkling wine. Cabbage and TomatoesCabbage in all its forms does not generally pair well with sparkling wine. It is a food whose chemical composition highlights the organosulphur compounds in sparkling wine. It's a pairing you should avoid.As for tomato in its various forms, it is best to avoid it when paired with champagne/cava. This time the acidity is to blame for the unsuccessful combination. Processed FoodHere we are referring to fast-food products such as doner kebabs which not only have a complicated flavour palette for pairing with champagne but are often so high in fat that sparkling wine can neither cleanse the palate nor reveal its flavours. We must mention here another food element, chocolate. Even if it doesn't make it to the list of forbidden pairings, many specialists claim that when the type of chocolate is not chosen in accordance with the sweetness of the champagne, there is a neutralising effect on the flavours and a not at all pleasant aftertaste. In general, dark chocolate is harder to pair due to its bitterness. Whereas milk chocolate or truffles, because they have more fat, can be more easily paired with sparkling wine. Try opting for these pairings for semi-sweet or sweet Cava/Champagne.For all other dishes, try to choose the wine according to the flavours on the plate. 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Portuguese Wines
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