Don’t Stress
Even though there’s a lot of varieties to select from, choosing your wine bottle for the night shouldn’t be a stressful event. Know your budget, then have a walk around the bottle shop with an open mind. If you’re new to the scene, we suggest grabbing a couple of different wine types so you can start discovering what your palate prefers. Who knows, you could enjoy the taste of cheap wine over the more expensive stuff—that would be handy!
Learn your favourites
Once you have a taste for a certain type, it’s time to start experimenting with different producers (winery name), vintages (year produced), variety (different variations of a certain type) and region (where it comes from)—all this information can be found on the label. While this might be a lot of choice, try not to get overwhelmed. Keep changing things up until you have a few favourites. Just remember, a change in producer, vintage or region can be just as significant as a change in variety, so don’t rule out a certain wine type just because you’ve had one bad experience.
Food and wine
Need help picking the right wine to complement your food? We’ve helped you out with a little beginners guide below.
Sparkling wine (i.e. prosecco and brut) – best for saltier foods
Dry white wine (i.e. sauvignon blanc and pinot gris) – best for vegetable dishes
Sweet white wine (i.e. reisling and moscato) – best for spicy Thai, Indian or Chinese cuisine
Rich white (i.e. chardonnay and semilion) – best for creamier dishes
Light red wine (i.e. pinot noir and carignan) – best for any dish infused with mushroom flavours
Full-bodied red wine (i.e. cabernet sauvignon and merlot) – best for rich meats
Dessert wine (i.e. port and sherry) – best for any sweets or cheeses
Remember this is only a guide and everybody is different. We still recommend experimenting with different food and wine combinations.
WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
Do you have any tips when it comes to picking the right wine? Share your secrets in the comments below!
