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Free Wine buying Guide

1. Where should I buy my wine – Supermarket Vs Merchants?
2. How much of what I pay for wine is for the wine itself?
3. What makes one wine more expensive than another?
4. How do I spot a quality wine?
5. What can the COLOUR tell you?
6. What can the SMELL tell you?
7. What can the TASTE tell you?
8. What serving temperature should I serve wine?
9. Cork vs. Screw Cap?

1. Where should I buy my wine – Supermarket Vs Merchants?

Buying Wine from Supermarkets:. Many people buy wines from Supermarkets because of the convenience factor. But the problem is, since the supermarkets’ main concern is to do business, without much enthusiasm about wines in particular, they do not offer information to the consumers and thus, they cannot get additional knowledge and education on the wines. Plus, you will of course not get rare wines at these stores. There is alslo a tendency at supermarkets to set the price of wine very high and then come in with a substantial discount to bring the price to a realistic level. Yes there are bargains to be had but the wines are generally chosen with the proviso that vast quantities are available to service at the stores. Carefully chosen, individual wines made by the smaller caring producers are perhaps not their bag.

Buying Wine from Merchants: There are quite a few wine enthusiasts who prefer the merchants for their wines. Their concern is wine and so, they give a great deal of more attention on stocking, and also look after their customers more closely. Often a customer who is looking to experiment can be adequately tipped on the latest and a very special new type. Many merchants also talk with the buyer and try to understand his preferences and desires. Thus a buyer can get the personal attention that he needs at these merchants. Wine is the be all and end all for wine merchants like myself and we take great care to find individual wines from around the world that will bring joy and happiness to anyone fortunate enough to find us! Lists are priced competitively from the start with the smaller merchants so they cannot discount hugely but also do not pull the wool over your eyes.

2. How much of what I pay for wine is for the wine itself?

Most of the costs on a bottle of wine are fixed, including packaging (corks, labels, capsule, carton, bottle - 32p), bottling (8p) and distribution (26p). The government takes 44% of the cost of the wine in tax and duty. The rest goes on the retailer's margin (approximately 30%). So the more you pay for a bottle of wine, the more is going on actual wine.

	Actual wine content	Duty and VAT
£3.99 bottle of wine	£0.63	£1.85
£5.99 bottle of wine	£1.84	£2.14
£7.99 bottle of wine	£3.05	£2.45

 

3. What makes one wine more expensive than another?

• How the wine is produced
  (hand-picking, use of oak etc. adds to the cost)
• The origin of the wine
  (some vineyards are very small and unique - this can push up the price because of supply and demand)
• Demand for specific grape varieties
  ( Syrah is twice the cost of Chardonnay as less of it is available but demand is high)

The most crucial factor in a wine's pricing is the level of demand - if a producer can sell his wine 10 times over (like many top Burgundy and California producers) then he is in a position to command a premium price for his product.

4. How do I spot a quality wine?

There are two main indicators of quality that you can use to identify a good quality wine  balance and length; i.e. the component parts of the wine all complement each other and the flavor of the wine remains once it has been swallowed. Price alone is not an indicator of quality.

Balance: When all of the wine's component parts (e.g. sweetness, acidity, tannins) blend together. This is a sign of quality. This can take time. A wine is mature when it has achieved optimal balance but all the component parts must be there from the start

Length: 'Length' is how long you can taste the wine once you have swallowed (or spat it out). It gives an indication of quality. The longer the length, the higher the quality.

5. What can the COLOUR tell you?

Pour the wine about a third full into a wine glass
Holding the glass by the stem, tip it against a white background.
Examine the wine:

• Is it clear or dull? This can tell you if the wine has a fault or not
• What colour is it?
  White wines: white-lemon-gold
  Red Wines: purple, ruby, tawny
  Rose Wines: pink-orange
• Compare the colour at the centre of the glass (core) with the colour at the rim
  
  White Wines: become deeper (more golden) with age.
  
  Red Wines: the more purple the wine, the younger it is. In young wines, the colour is usually uniform. The more brown, tawny or orange the wine, the older it is. With age, the colour is not uniform and is lighter at the rim of the glass compared with the centre.

Generally, the lighter the colour of the wine, the cooler the climate.
However, certain grape varieties are characteristically light or dark in colour.

6. What can the SMELL tell you?

Swirl the wine in the glass to increase the surface area exposure to the air. This helps it evolve.
Take a quick sniff (remember, first impressions count the most)

• Does it smell clean or unclean?
  This can tell you if the wine is corked or not. If corked, it will have a musty smell.
• Does it smell weak or pronounced?
  This can tell you about the wine's origin. The more intense the nose, the more likely that the grapes were grown in a hot climate and the level of sugar and therefore alcohol is higher.
• What does it smell of?
  Fruity, Savoury, Dairy, Nutty, Spicy, Mineral, Sugary, Woody, Floral, Herbal
  

Older wines tend to smell more savoury and spicy and less of fruit.
Younger wines tend to smell more of fruit.
Some grape varieties have very distinctive bouquets.

7. What can the TASTE tell you?

Take a mouthful of wine (not too much) and swirl it around your mouth (so every tastebud gets a chance to taste it).

Professional tasters draw in air at the same time to increase the contact with air and give the wine a chance to evolve in the mouth.

Spit it out (optional, unless you've got 20 wines to taste!).

• Can you taste the sweetness?
  Sweetness is tasted at the tip of the tongue. It tastes sugary. It comes from the sugar in ripe grapes that is left after fermentation has finished. Is the wine dry, medium or sweet?
• Can you taste the acidity?
  Acidity is tasted on the sides of the tongue and tastes like lemons. It occurs naturally in grapes and is important to balance sweetness. White wines have more acidity than red wines. Does the wine have low, medium or high levels of acidity?
• Can you taste the tannin?
  Tannin is tasted at the back of the tongue and tastes bitter like a strong cup of tea that makes your mouth fur up. It also has the sensation of an underripe or green banana. Tannin comes from the skins of the grapes and from oak ageing. It is mainly found in red wines.
  What flavours can you taste? Fruity, Savoury, Dairy, Nutty, Spicy, Mineral, Sugary, Woody, Floral, Herbal
• Are the flavours weak or pronounced?
• Can you feel the alcohol?
  Alcohol is sensed at the back of the throat and gives a warming sensation. The higher the level of sugar in the grapes before fermentation, the higher potential alcohol the wine will have, i.e. hotter countries tend to produce wines higher in alcohol.
  Are there low, medium or high levels of alcohol? You can also see this from the 'legs' left on the sides of the glass. This is also an indication of sweetness.
• How 'long' is the wine?
  This is a term that describes the length of time you can taste the wine once you have swallowed (or spat it out!). Is the length, short, medium or long? It gives an indication of quality. The longer the length, the higher the quality.

Quality: A good sign of quality is balance. A wine is balanced when all of the wine's components (e.g. sweetness, acidity, tannins) blend together. The balance or potential to be balanced after ageing is a sign of quality.

Maturity: Older red wines tend to taste more savoury and spicy. Older white wines tend to taste more honeyed and yeasty. Younger wines tend to taste more of fruit.

Origin: Hotter countries mean riper grapes and more overtly fruity wines (and a higher degree of alcohol).

Grape Variety: Certain grape varieties taste of certain flavours, e.g. Sauvignon Blanc typically tastes and smells of gooseberries, Cabernet Sauvignon of blackcurrants.

8. What serving temperature should I serve wine?

Serving wine at the right temperature makes all the difference. It does depend on personal preference but, as a general rule, always serve wines on the cool side as they will warm up in your hands, whatever the weather.

Serving White Wines: Chilled wines are refreshing. Chilling does mask flavour, so the finer the wine, the less it will need chilling.

	Refrigeration	Serving Temperature C
Sparkling	4 hours	5-10
Light Sweet Whites	4 hours	5-10
Dry Light Aromatic Whites	2 hours	10-12
Medium-bodied Dry Whites	1.5 hours	10-12
Full-bodied Sweet Whites	1.5 hours	10-12
Full-bodied Dry Whites	1 hours	12-16

 

Serving Red Wines: The tannin level in a wine dictates the temperature at which it should be served. The more tannic a wine, the warmer you should drink it. Reds that are low in tannin can be chilled like a full-bodied white. If a red is served too warm, it will become soupy and all you will be able to taste and smell will be the alcohol

	Refrigeration	Serving Temperature C
Light Reds	1 hour	12-16
Medium-bodied Reds	-	14-17
Full-bodied Reds	-	15-18

9. Cork vs. Screw Cap?

Wine Corks:

Pros: Cork has a long history; it has been used as the sealing method of choice for over 400 years. They’re a renewable resource (the trees are not killed when the bark is stripped to make cork). They’re readily biodegradable. And they support an entire industry of corkscrews and other cork-removal products.

Cons: Wine Corks often go bad. Estimates vary depending on which figures you believe, as little as 1% or as much as 20%( i am more of a 1 % man !) of all wine sold is “corked,” which is to say, damaged by a problematic cork.) Wine corks can be difficult to remove, and sometimes break off into the bottle.

Plastic: the New Wine Cork

Pros: Plastic is immune to cork taint, so wine is much less likely to spoil. Depending on the vintner’s tastes, they’re recyclable. And the same cork-removal equipment can be used.

Cons: If not recycled, plastic corks also pose a more direct threat to the environment. The plastic may not retain its elasticity well over time, making it unsuitable for wines meant to age for decades. They can also be very hard to take off the corkscrew once out of the bottle.

Screw Caps:

Pros: Screw caps, like plastic corks, avoid problems of cork taint. They are less expensive than natural or plastic corks. And they can be removed without any special equipment.

Cons: As with plastic corks, screw caps imply environmental issues associated with the loss of cork farming.