Wine Guide sponsored by Flagship Wines Ltd UK

A Better No Frills Wine Guide

sponsored by Flagship Wines Ltd UK

[ Argentinean White Wines ] [ Argentinean Red Wines ] [ Australian White Wines ] [ Australian Red Wines ] [ Australian Rose Wines ] [ Australian Sparkling Wines ] [ New Zealand White Wines ] [ New Zealand Red Wines ] [ Chilean White Wines ] [ Chilean Red Wines ] [ South African White Wines ] [ South African Red Wines ] [ South African Sparkling Wines ] [ French Rose Wines ] [ French White Wines ] [ French Red Wines ] [ French Sparkling Wines ] [ French Dessert Wines ] [ Italian White Wines ][ Italian Red Wines ] [ German White Wines ]

This wine guide is aimed at all wine lovers with a warm welcome to those wishing to learn more about wines. It is not a definitive index of fine and vintage wines but a good ' no frills ' wine guide. The links above are connected to a sample of wines from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, France, Italy and Germany and divided into White Wines, Red Wines, Rose Wines, Sparkling Wines and Dessert Wines.

Because this wine guide is not intended to be fully comprehensive, here is a tip in finding more about a particular wine.
Google is the best search engine, so by using www.google.com type in a particular wine - such as ' Rolleston Vale Red ' click here for the results. If you have what might me a challenging label, Google excels. I tried ' Hollick The Nectar Botrytised Riesling ' click here for the results. In both cases (pardon the intended pun) Google provide Directwineline.Com at number one and I would suggest you bookmark this site because it is a good source of wines with excellent deals. Click on Flagship Wines link now and look around the site, you will find good descriptions of wines and some excellent recipes from a former Masterchef champion.

Tips On Wine Tasting

There is no mystery to tasting wine. Most people can become excellent tasters with just a little practice and by following a few basic ground rules.

Firstly let me remove the shroud of mystery from tasting wine. Most of us can become very good wine tasters just by practicing those few simple rules.

Standard ISO wine tasting glasses are all you need and easily available from any good wine shop. These are designed to maximise the bouquet of the wine. You will hear experts referring to the 'bouquet' as the nose. In plain English it is the smell.

A clear nose and sense of smell. Don't get concerned if you don't pick up all the different smells. if your sense of smell is not great at first - it will improve with practice. Avoid wearing perfumes/after shave etc. - they spoil it for you and for everyone else. Smell and taste go hand in hand.

Good light is essential to appreciate the natural colour characteristics of a wine. A bright room with a white tablecloth or any white background is ideal - but avoid candle light.

Good Company - Good Wine is for sharing and a small group of friends is all you need - and an ideal way to share the cost because each guest can bring a different bottle - the more the merrier! Another person may identify a smell or taste that someone else couldn't.

Pen and paper is important for notes - perhaps a yellow sticky pad so individuals can post their note on the bottle itself.

Wine Tasting Techniques

It is very easy to learn the techniques of wine connoisseurs, just follow some general "guidelines" when judging a wine. We'll focus on three elements - Look, Smell and Taste.

Look
Study the appearance of the of the wine, it should be poured into a clear ISO wine tasting glass and held in front of a white background (a tablecloth or piece of paper will serve nicely) so that you can examine the colour. Remember the colour of wine varies tremendously, even throughout the same types of wine

For example, the first and obvious observation is; white wines are not really white!; they vary in colour from green to yellow to brown. As a general rule. the more colour in a white wine can indicate more flavour and age. It is possible that a brown wine may have gone bad. So whilst time may not improve white wine is does improve many red wines. Which brings is back to colours; red wines are not a definite red and range from a pale red to a deep brown red, and as they age they become lighter in colour.

Rim colour: The more you study and taste wine you will be able to guess the age of a red wine by looking at its "rim.". It isn't as difficult as it sounds, but it does take practice. To begin, tilt the glass slightly and focus on the edge of the wine. A purplish tint might indicate a younger wine whilst orange to brown can indicate maturity. Swirling the wine has many purposes, and allows you to inspect the body of the wine. You may have heard wine connoisseurs mention "Good legs" in the company of Jancis Robinson, however it may indicate a thicker body and a higher alcohol content and/or level of sweetness. After swirling watch the wine run down the side of the glass, it's viscosity or thickness makes is run down the glass slower than a thin wine - which could mean less sweet or lower in alchol. Swirling also releases the molecules in the wine allowing us to smell the bouquet or nose.

There are two main techniques that wine tasters use:

1.) Take a very quick sniff and formulate the first impression, then take a second deeper sniff or

2.) Only take one deep sniff.

Don't try to "taste" the wine yet, concentrate only on the smell.

In your early days of wine tasting you may have difficulty in describing your observation, but after trying many wines you will notice the differences and similarities. Image layers of smell and a certain smell may be very strong with underlying hints of other smells. So take your time and by keeping note, the next time you see a particular wine you won't have to purchase it to know if you like it . . . or not!

Taste
Beacause the most important quality of any wine is the balance between acidity and sweetness, you'll get the full taste of a wine by following these three steps:

1. First impression: Your taste buds wil respond to sensations and your senses will awaken.
2. Taste: Slosh the wine around and draw in some air ... okay you may look a little funny in front of your friends - but it's meant to be fun!. Examine the body and texture of the wine. Is it smooth or harsh? is it light or rich? is it sweet or sour?
3. Aftertaste: contemplate the taste that remains in your mouth just after you have swallowed the wine. Take your time, how long did the taste last? Was it a pleasant taste?

Keep tasting different wines, the more different wines you try, and the more detail you get from each wine, the better you will become at describing each wine's characteristics.

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