Wine historians believe that the Pinot Grigio grape mutated from the red Pinot Noir grape. It is this mutation that gives the Pinot Grigio grape its gray color and even its name. While there are many who believe that the wine came from Italy originally, it actually comes to the wine world from France. “Gris” means “gray” in French, and the wine is called Pinot Gris in France. The “Grigio” portion of its name belies its Italian influence.

Types of Pinot Grigio
The Pinot Grigio, the second most popular wine in the U.S. after Chardonnay, counts a bit of a chameleon in the wine world. It can be sweet or dry, fruity or have a mineral taste, depending on where it’s from. Its taste is a bouquet of flavors, which includes grape, lemon, white peach, and apple flavors. It’s for this reason that some have even likened this white wine to lemonade. It can be that fruity and refreshing on a hot day.

History of Pinot Grigio
In the 1300s, Pinot Grigio counted as a favorite of the Emperor of Switzerland, Charles IV. However, it didn’t originate in Switzerland but rather in Burgundy, France. Eventually, the wine ended up in Italy. In time, its popularity grew until it was the most popular wine in Italy. And the most popular white wine that was exported to America.

Popularity
Pinot Grigio has gotten some pushback from a few wine drinkers. Some Pinot has not been as flavorful as other wines, due to the effects of mass production. Although a great number of wine producers are working to change that reputation, the reputation sticks. However, because of this, Pinot Grigio can be a less expensive alternative to other white wines.

Wine Pairings
Pinot Grigio wine is a light, delicate wine. As such, it makes an excellent wine to pair with fish and seafood dishes. Its lemony flavor compliments recipes, like crab salad with cucumbers, linguine with clam sauce, and grilled halibut.

Additionally, because of the lightness of this wine, it counts as an excellent wine to include on your “porch” wines list. Chill a bottle and pour a glass of it when you’re ready to have some conversation on the porch in the cool of the evening with family and friends.

Wine is made in a complex and delicate process, one that focuses on precision to achieve the right consistency regarding flavor, color, and grade. Whereas there some differences when it comes to the actual procedure required to successfully making wine, there are 5 basic steps involved in the winemaking process.

Harvesting Of The Grapes
Grapes are harvested at various stages of the ripping process. The color of the grapes determines when they are to be harvested as it affects the taste of the wine. The harvesting process involves picking the grapes from the trees in the form of bunches and placing them on specially made trays for appropriate transportation. The harvesting process can either be done by hand or by machine. Harvesting by hand involves using a pair of shears to carefully snip the bunch at the point of its attachment to the vine tree. Machine harvesting involves the use of tractors designed to hold and shake vine trees violently such that the vines fall off the trees.

Processing Of The Grapes
After picking, they are transported to factories for processing whereby human labor picks out any unwanted parts such as leaves from the grapes on a conveyor belt. They are also sorted according to grade and quality and then gently washed and rinsed. The clean grapes are they crushed and the puree transferred to a presser where the pure juice is pressed out of the crushed grapes. The extract is sedimented to eliminate any grape skins and particulates.

Fermentation
Fermentation involves letting the juice settle under specified conditions of temperature and air to convert the sugars into alcohol. This may require different processing conditions depending on the type of wine to be made. To produce red and white wine, yeast is added to ferment the juice.

Aging Process
This process involves setting the wine into the desired condition. Flavors, colorings and other additives are used in this stage to set the wine to a specified state. The process involves putting the wine into barrels for a period ranging from days to several years.

Packaging
The packaging process involves bottling and labeling the wine into appropriate containers for shipment. The conventional containment of choice is glass bottles, but some wine can also be put into large cans and barrels where it is served to customers in glasses. The labels contain information such as brand name, batch numbers, and expiry date.

In recent years, wine experts have found themselves in a bit of hot water. If you begin to type the phrase “wine experts are” into Google, the first suggestion that pops up to complete your thought is “fake.” The second isn’t nearly as flattering, likening wine tasting experts to animal waste. 

It isn’t hard hard to find bad press about wine experts on the world wide web, and it doesn’t take much searching. People claim conclusively that wine tasting is less a collection of cultured, experienced tasting professionals and more a series of pretentious men who simply enjoy a free glass every now and again. Even Buzzfeed has jumped onto the bandwagon, publishing an article claiming to “prove” that wine experts are clueless. 

As you may have gleaned from the introduction to this post, I disagree with the likes of Buzzfeed, and the rationale is fairly straightforward. 

The idea that an expert should never be wrong is setting an unrealistically high standard for professionals in any field. Doctors misdiagnose, baseball players strike out and musical artists turn out the occasional flop. Not every wine expert is going to be 100% correct about the price point 100% of the time. 

The claim that experts give different scores at different times, or different scores from their counterparts comes down, in essence, to one simple thing: preference. A representative from a Chicago-based wine company In Grape  recently backed this fact on the social medium Reddit, saying in part 

“Taste is exceptionally subjective. Wine is a lot like music. I could tell you that I Am the Movie by Motion City Soundtrack is an amazing album, but if you don’t like high energy stuff with tons of synthesizers talking about mental struggles, then that recommendation doesn’t mean anything to you. When a wine expert says that an ultra tannic Cabernet from Napa is world-class or 100-points, they’re using their own palate as the benchmark for that rating. But that doesn’t mean you’re wrong for completely disagreeing with them.”

Claiming that the science and refined palate of a wine taster is bunk because they preferred a cheaper bottle to a more expensive one is silly. Is “The Lone Ranger” and its $250,000,000 budget, by default, a better movie than Rocky, which was made on a budget approximately 1/250th the size? Doubtful, but, like wine tasting, is up to opinion.

Wine connoisseurs have wine tasting down to talent, as it’s their profession. Close to a connoisseur, an oenophile (someone who loves wine) should know the best wine to pair with any dinner of choice. If you consider yourself a wine lover, read through Wine Pairing 101 where I’ll give you the best tips for wine and food. Here’s how you can have a great meal without compromising the flavor of your wine and food.

Salty Meals

Put your pinky out with a glass of champagne. Perfect for salty dishes, champagne is a high acid wine which the salt balances out for a great taste. Salty and sweet make for a top notch pairing. If you’re eating a salt meal or snack, pair it with a sweet wine. You’ll savor the flavor of your salty food, with enjoying the balanced sweetness of your wine.

The best types of wine for salty foods are:

Sauvignon blanc

Champagne

Zinfandel

Riesling

Sweet Dishes

Sweet food pairs nicely with sweet wine. Whether it’s a sugary meal or simply a tasty dessert, pair your dish with sweet wine. If you have a sweet tooth, then you’ll love this combination. Late harvest wine is great for sugary eats because it’s made from grapes that are left on the vine after harvest for ultimate sweetness. Another option would be ice wine, which is rich in flavor and is considered a dessert in itself. If you prefer more traditional wine, white wines that are on the sweet or semi-sweet side are also a good choice.

The best types of wine for sweet foods are:

Late harvest

Ice Wine

Chenin Blanc

Pinot Grigio

Spicy Food

A great rule of thumb for ethnic food is to pair the meal with wine from the same region. If you’re having a mexican meal, look for spanish wine. Blush wines are also great for spicy food because they often have a lighter, sweet flavor that’s refreshing from the hottness. If you’d prefer a dry wine, merlot goes well with spice because of it’s dry and dark flavor.

The best types of wine for spicy foods are:

Riesling

Zinfendale

Merlot

Cabernet Sauvignon

Multi-Flavored Meals

For a broader meal course, you may want versatile wines. Riesling is the best white wine for any meal because it pairs well with almost any dish. No matter the flavor, if you want white wine then riesling should be your top choice. Barbera is a red italian wine that also pairs well with any meal. For those that prefer red over white, barbera is a great choice.

If you love wine, you’ll learn to love it more when paired with the right meal.  

Originally posted by bubblegumcrash

You walk into the wine shop and ask for assistance. You’re looking for “something new”, that will delight your palate and take your senses to places they never knew existed. They disappear around a corner, and when they come back they thrust an ice wine into your hands. You balk. What’s an ice wine? Surely this can’t actually be a thing. Or… is it?

What is Ice Wine?

In a way, it’s all in the name: ice wines are produced with grapes that are completely frozen. When frozen grapes are pressed, it’s easy to separate the water from the grape juices because it appears in the form of ice. Once that ice is skimmed off, you’re left with a highly concentrated juice that will make for a very sweet wine!

Ice wines aren’t easy to produce, though. The grapes need to come from a region that will have a regular frost. If that cold doesn’t come, the grapes that remain on the wine are rendered useless. So, there’s only a few countries in the world with regions suited to ice wine production. The most famous are Canada, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Also, pressing them while they are still completely frozen is essential, so winemaking operations take place rather quickly.

What are the Typical Grapes?

You’ll probably find ice wines made with Riesling, Cabernet Franc, and Vidal. The colors of these wines are affected by the frosty nature of the production— reds, for instance, can take on some color characteristics of rosés.

What about Food Pairings?

Because it’s so sweet, you can serve it as a dessert wine. But if you’re serving it with a main course, you can pair it with spicy meats. After dinner, it will go with some cheeses, chocolates, and fruits.

Wine lovers don’t need to be sommeliers to be able to pick the perfect bottle of wine. By following the tips and tricks of wine-drinking pros, wine enthusiasts will be able to find the best options for them. Read on for the best ways to discover the right wine.

1. Check the Wine’s Label to Learn About the Importer

The vintage and region of a bottle can typically be found on the label. In addition to these pieces of information, it’s just as important to learn about the importer. By finding out more information about the importer of wine, wine lovers will be able to discover other wines they like.

Finding out more about certain smaller wineries, it helps to build a relationship with these companies. Moreover, it is very likely that these wineries will offer similar wines from other regions that they may not have initially discovered otherwise.

2. Learn to Understand Wine Label Markings

All wines have specific markings and indications on their labels. Common phrases on wine labels include AOC, PDO/DOP, AOP, and appellation contrôlée. While these labels have varied meanings, they all signify the region that the wine comes from. Bottles bearing these types of markings are held to a higher standard as these wines must preserve the integrity of the quality of wine coming from that specific region.

3. Don’t Discriminate Between Screw-Top Bottles or Cork-Topped Bottles

While some people may be under the impression that cork-topped bottles are better, there is no significant difference between cork-topped bottles and screw-topped bottles. Screw-topped bottles are not automatically of lesser quality simply because they aren’t sealed by a cork. Moreover, these screw-topped bottles will never have the cork-taint that other cork-topped bottles may have.

4. Don’t Be Afraid to Chill Red Wine

Certain wine drinkers choose to serve red wine at room temperature, also known as “cellar temperature.” These people believe that chilling red wine ruins the taste, but that isn’t true. Most red wines taste even better when chilled.

With all the different choices of wine to pick from, it helps to have a working strategy for finding a new favorite. Wine lovers that use these four tips when picking wine will more than likely be satisfied with their selection.

In 2015, the average US citizen consumed just over 2.8 gallons of wine, good for over 900 million gallons in total. In terms of bottles, that’s just over 14 bottles per person, per year.  That number may seem either too high or too low depending on your personal habits, but the fact remains that, given that number is based off of total population and not drinking-aged population, the United States likes to drink wine.

With a country that drinks its fair share of wine comes a country of people who need to know a thing or two about what they’re drinking in order to look and act the part. Here are a few quick tips about wine that you should know.

How to Pair Your Wine

Wine pairing is a delicate science. And while some of it can be left up to the drinker to decide for themselves–everyone has their own preferences–choosing the wrong wine to pair with your dinner or dessert can make you look inexperienced. Though your friends and family shouldn’t (and likely wouldn’t) care if you chose a poor wine to go with your fish dinner, coworkers or business associates might.

There are thousands of wine pairing guides available on the internet–look one over and get a good idea of what pairs with what.  

How to Taste Wine

Pour it in your mouth and let your tastebuds do the rest of the work–it’s as simple as that, right? Wrong. I don’t mean how the sense “taste” works, I mean how to properly go to a wine tasting event and look like you know what you’re doing. Check out my guide here on YuriVanetikWine.com for more info on this.

Know the Price Points

Generally speaking, more expensive wine is going to taste a little bit better–cleaner, fresher, more crisp, etc. This isn’t always true, of course, and there are certainly bargain wines available for purchase at virtually every price point, many of which taste great. Although some people might tell you to never dip below a certain dollar amount for a bottle of wine, ignore that. Buy what you enjoy drinking that fits within your price range.

Know When to Drink it

Drinking as a celebration is as old as time itself, and drinking in office or work settings used to be quite commonplace. Now, things are a bit different, but having a drink or two in a formal–or even a work setting (think company parties, business dinners) is both normal and expected.

Know the General Basics

The basics of various types of wine are easy to learn, easy to remember and worth a quick look. I broke down the main types of wine here, including the differences between red and whites, what goes into each and what differentiates them from other types.

There are so many interesting, unique, and amazing wine bars across the United States, but some are just one step ahead of the rest. Excellent wine bars must offer something that other wine bars don’t offer, and they must allow the customer to feel comfortable and enjoy themselves.

The Best Wine Bars in America

Root and Flower
Vail, CO
Located in Vail, Colorado, Root and Flower is a small, laid-back wine bar. There is a full bar every night of the week, and during the day they offer coffee as well as wine. The menu was created with sharing in mind, so the food is made with smaller bites.

Pairings Portland
Portland, OR
Known as Portland’s Weirdest Wine Shop & Bar, this is a wine bar that will be remembered. Like many wine bars, the wine is paired with certain foods. Unlike any other wine bar, however, Pairings Portland features wines that are paired with TV and movie characters, dogs, songs, and astrology signs.

Bottlehouse
Seattle, WA
The Bottlehouse Wine Bar is located inside a craftsman style home. The owners strive to make the experience comfortable and relaxing. There is an outdoor patio, and also an event space that can be rented.

Palate
Kilauea, HI
The palate is a casual wine bar and a restaurant where wine is paired with cheese and cured meat. Right next door to the Palate wine bar is a Palate store where customers can purchase any wine that they tried. Cases of wine are discounted, as well. Tastings are free on Sundays during certain hours, giving everyone the opportunity to try their varied selection of wine.

The Blind Monk
West Palm Beach, FL
The Blind Monk is a small wine bar that offers wine from all over the world. The food is fresh, and the employees are knowledgeable about what wine and food combinations to recommend. During their weekly Sunday brunch, customers can enjoy live music. They also offer movies on some nights, which are projected onto a wall.

Conclusion
The best wine bars are often hidden gems with personal touches. Each wine bar offers a different experience, along with different wine and food options. Visiting wine bars around the country is an exciting experience, and should be enjoyed.

Wine-lovers know how difficult it can be to store wine after it has been opened. While it is ideal to drink the entire bottle in one sitting to maximize its freshness and taste, sometimes it is not feasible to do that and it is necessary to keep the wine stored for a few days.

With a corked bottle, red wine should be stored in the refrigerator after opening. When it is time to put the bottle in the fridge, make sure to place the cork back in the bottle. According to experts, the cork should go in with the stain side down While this requires more effort, it ensures that your wine will stay as fresh as possible. The clean side of the cork has been exposed to the elements for a long period of time and may impact the taste of the wine. The side with the stain has remained wet and will continue to enhance the flavor of your red wine. Place the bottle in the refrigerator right-side up and will typically last between three and five days in the fridge before it starts to go bad.

The storage process for a corked bottle of white wine is similar. Once you have opened the bottle, be sure to replace the cork with the stained side down. The wine should last approximately five to seven days in the fridge.

Screwtop wine bottles should simply be stored by screwing the lid back on tight and placing the wine in the fridge. The wine should last approximately one week after opening.

With this in mind, the key to proper wine storage is to keep the wine as airtight as possible. The wine should not be exposed to oxygen anymore than is absolutely necessary. Any airtight jar such as a mason jar can be used to store wine and keep it fresh. There are also aftermarket gadgets available to store the opened wine bottle in a vacuum-sealed bag to minimize its exposure to air. This can be useful if you plan on storing the opened bottle of wine for more than a few days, but in most cases simply storing the wine in the refrigerator with the cork placed back into the bottle or the lid screwed back on will be adequate.

Previously, I wrote a quick guide to some of the rules and tips of wine by which you should live your wine drinking experience. There are, after all, certain do’s and don’ts of drinking anything that most people should adhere to, whether it’s regarding drinking in a business setting, how long to keep your wine or what wine goes with what dish.

On the other hand, there are certain rules that are made to be broken. Some are just too wide-reaching, too authoritarian or otherwise too silly to ensure you’re living your life by. Here are a few “rules” of wine that you can and should be breaking.

Never Spend Less than $___ on a Bottle

This rule that some people impose on themselves (or others) is complete bunk. Are some more expensive wines often from more expensive and highly-regarded vineyards, of course. But there is nothing wrong with enjoying a cheaper wine if it’s something that you prefer or more within your price range.

Anyone who says that cheaper wine is not worth your time or money can be ignored; buy what you enjoy drinking, it’s the only way to ensure you’re actually going to enjoy it.

Reserve Sweet Wines for Dessert

Sweet wines are traditionally served with sweet desserts to complement one another. This is a rule that has been largely abided by for quite some time. Generally speaking, the idea is that a sweet wine consumed with a main course or appetizer will overpower the taste of the food. Sometimes general rules are made to be broken, though. Some sweet wines complement Asian food particularly well, so if you’re in the mood for a sweeter wine do a little bit of Googling and see what foods pair best with your choice of sweet wine.  

You Need a Fancy Decanter

Decanting for the sake of decanting isn’t worth your time, nor is purchasing a fancy, high end decanter just to give off classy airs. While, yes, some decanters do look quite nice, they actually serve a legitimate purpose that some people tend to forget about–separating out the sediment that settles at the bottom of some (mostly red) wines.

Given that the only aspect of a decanter that is necessary for its function is transparency, any glass vessel will do adequately, there’s no need to shell out big bucks for what amounts to a pouring glass. Some people have even used bongs in the past!

Specific Temperature Suggestions

The general rule for wine temperatures is that you should serve whites and sparkling wines cold, while reds should be cool. Drinking a wine that’s too cold, however, can mask some of the flavors and aromas, making them more difficult to fully appreciate. Try one closer to the typical red wine serving temperature–trending closer to “cool” than “cold,” to fully appreciate everything the bottle has to offer.