Matching wine with food

[wineguruchgo]

Carsonjane,

I'm not really sure what you are looking to be educated on but I'm going to give you a brief rundown of many of the wines out there and their flavors. Hopefully this is what you are looking for. Our advice (many agree on the board) is that when you find a catagory you like start there and explore different parts of the world. Then move to another varietal (grape) and do the same thing. This is such a fun medium and one that I hope you will come to appreciate.


Chardonnay: White wine that in California and Australia will be fat, oaky and buttery while in other parts of the world will be lean and clean. In France it is called Chardonnay, Chablis and is one of two or three grapes in Champagne.

Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris: They are basically the same grape just grown in different parts of the world. This wine will be very light with a little fruit and is probably the easiest wine to drink. You will find some differences among producers but compared to other wines, they will taste similar.

Sauvignon Blanc: White wine that is grown in France, California and New Zealand. You will find it in other countries, but those are the big three. This will will have very little oak and will taste like fresh mangos and tropical fruit. It is one of the few white grapes allowed to be grown in Bordeaux France and it is also the main grape in Sancerre.

Semillion: This is a flowery white wine that is usually blended with other whites (chardonnay). It is the other predominate grape in Bordeaux and is planted in Australia.

Pinot Noir: Historically from France but is grown all over the world. This is a fickle little grape and that accounts for the pricetag attached to it. You will get really bright fresh cherry taste from it and it generally has what we refer to as relaxed tannins (the stuff that makes your mouth dry).

Merlot: This wine is probably the favorite red wine among Americans because 1) they can pronounce it and 2) it has a slightly bigger body then the Pinot Noir, has more of a chocolate taste and it too has mild tannins.

Syrah/Shiraz: The grapes are basically one in the same it just depends on which part of the world they are grown in as to what it is called. Our colonial criminals from down under decided to call it Shiraz instead of the historically correct name of Syrah. This will also have deep, dark berry fruit flavors, yet will have a little bit of spicyness to it.

Zinfandel: This wine is often called the American grape and we are proud to claim it. The red version anyway. The red will have a very jammy flavor with a little more spicyness than the Syrah and will be a little more tannic.

Cabernet: This wine is traditionally from France and is now planted all over the world. You will get deep, rich fruit flavors with some leather, smoke or tobacco attached to it. The tannins are going to be more pronounced than in the others so if you are a new to wines, I wouldn't suggest you start your search of red wines here.

Bordeaux Blend/Meritage: There are 5 predominate grapes in Bordeaux that can be planted. Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petite Verdot. When combined they are spectacular and the price of these bad boys usually reflects it. You will get a really big wine that is very complex. It will have the fruit, the leather, the smoke, the mint, the tobacco, the tannin. There is a lot going on in one glass of wine.

As my new friends on this board can attest to this lesson can go on for days, but unfortunately, I don't have that much time or energy. I just wanted to give you a jumping off point on the basics of wine 101.

Others will probably have much to add to this post and I hope they won't bash me too much!

I hope this helps you.