Tag: wine drinking

One Bottle of Red Wine a Day – Are You Drinking Too Much Wine Every Night?

After a long day at work or watching over a toddler, a bottle of wine will do the trick. You know the feeling—all you want to do is clear your head from the day’s worries while drinking from a bottle of red wine. However, have you ever wondered if you are drinking too much wine every day? And if so what are the effects of doing so? If you are that kind of person who averages one bottle of red wine a day, then keep reading.

Back in the old days, before the onset of sanitary water, beverages with alcohol content were the only way to go. They had numerous benefits such as preventing different types of infections and diseases. If you lived in the Roman Empire, it was pretty easy to drink a bottle’s worth of wine per day. But was it all healthy?

Researchers have found many health benefits to drinking red wine in moderation. The anti-oxidants are said to help prevent cancer, for example. But usually 2 glasses per day is the amount these studies are based on. By drinking in larger volumes are you compromising your health?

Everyone has different alcohol limits

Everyone knows that drinking in excess is bad for your health, but the exact amount that becomes too much can depend on many factors such as your weight, age, and genetic disposition for breaking down alcohol. Over one third of East Asians experience alcohol flush syndrome, which is an indication that their bodies can’t handle almost any amount of alcohol. If you experience similar effects, then one bottle of wine in a day is definitely too much, and even one glass may be pushing your luck.

For others, the World Health Organization has an online test you can take to see if you drink too much. The factors this test mostly considers is not the absolute amount that you drink, but rather the effect it has on your life and actions.

one bottle of red wine every night

Is one bottle of wine too much?

For most people, consuming a full bottle of red wine on their own each night is going to be too much. Splitting a bottle with family and friends, or finishing off a bottle on your own on occasion isn’t necessarily so bad. But a whole bottle for yourself each and every day could be going overboard. Look carefully at how the rest of your life is being affected.

That being said, a moderate amount of red wine a day is not bad for you. Apart from preventing infections, red wine is famous for its antioxidants which are good for the heart. It prevents the formation of blood clots which are the number one cause of heart attacks and also helps in cholesterol reduction. Besides, it keeps you at lower risk of getting chronic diseases such as diabetes and even tuberculosis.

Just make sure you don’t go overboard since too much of something can be poison, and in this case, too much wine is not good for your liver and your health in general. Moreover, a dependence on alcohol can negatively affect your work and relationships.

If you live alone and still want to enjoy bottles of your favorite red or white wine, I recommend you get a good, small wine refrigerator with space for an opened bottle to be placed vertically. Then you can drink a couple glasses and re-cork the bottle to enjoy more the next evening. Most wines will do fine if refrigerated for 2-3 days after opening.

The key to enjoying wine—as in many things—is to practice moderation.

Guide to Wine Serving Temperature

Why is wine serving temperature important to get right? Over the ages, wine connoisseurs have discovered that different kinds of wine are better enjoyed at different temperatures. Just like with any other food fare, this makes complete sense. For example, you wouldn’t want to eat a cold hamburger or drink a hot beer, and the same principal holds true here as well. In fact, the temperature of the wine can have just as much effect on the taste as almost anything else, sometimes in a remarkable way.

Even though you’ll sometimes hear differing opinions on the subject, there are still some great rules of thumb when it comes to serving temperature for your favorite wine. In almost every case, you also don’t need to use your regular refrigerator to chill your wine unless you need some extra-special chilling. Instead, a wine cellar-cooler can do the trick nicely. And along with this guide, you’ll know exactly what temperature to serve your wine at. This will lead to a better and more enjoyable experience for all.




Full Bodied Red Wines – 62-64°F (17-18°C)

Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Shiraz

Cabernet Sauvignon
As a full-bodied red, Cabernet Sauvignon should be served at about 62 degrees Fahrenheit. This helps enhance and complement its full body, but there’s a bit more to it than just that. While you may hear that serving it at room temperature is the way to go, a slight chill is perfect for this one’s acidity.

Medium Bodied Red Wines – 57-61°F (14-16°C)

Burgundy, Sangiovese, Chianti, Zinfandel, Merlot, Pinot Noir

Merlot
The ever well-known Merlot is best served at around 57 degrees Fahrenheit and you can even dabble in a little higher, say around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature not only compliments that body of this one, but is best for bringing out the deep cherry flavors that make it popular.

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Light Bodied Red Wines – 50-54°F (10-12°C)

Beaujolais, Bardolino

Bardolino
This light, fruity Italian red wine benefits from a slightly cooler temperature than most reds. The acidity becomes more prominent, while the alcohol taste is slightly diminished.

Full Bodied White Wines – 50-54°F (10-12°C)

Oaked Chardonnay, White Burgundy

White Burgundy
With its rich, complex flavor White Burgundy is best served at a warmer temperature than standard white wines. You can go as high as 54 degrees F, putting it at the same temperature range as light bodied reds.

Medium Bodied White Wines – 48-52°F (9-11°C)

Chardonnay, Chablis, Semillon

Chardonnay
For this tasty white wine, a cooler setting is needed. Go for temperatures around 48 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit to capture everything about this bottle. Whether it has an oak-forward taste or more citrus notes, the dryness is well appreciated in this cooler temperature zone.

Full Bodied Dessert Wines – 46-54°F (8-12°C)

Oloroso Sherry, Madeira

Madeira
This is one of those sweet red wines that pairs best with desserts. For a young Madeira, a good serving temperature to aim for is 54 degrees F. In the case of a more mature bottle, the complex flavors could benefit from letting it warm up slightly higher even.

Light Bodied White Wines – 43-46°F (6-8°C)

Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio

Riesling
Like many other dessert-style wines, Riesling should be chilled to about 46 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature is right for enhancing the flowery notes, but also the higher acidity of the wine. This is also the right temperature area to add that degree of balance between the acidity and the sugar that make this wine famous.

Pinot Grigio
This popular white is also best served around the mid-40 degree Fahrenheit range. Aim for a steady 45 degrees Fahrenheit to really draw out its crispness, but also its clean apple notes that give it its distinct flavor. You’ll also find that a better focus on the crispness of Pinot Grigio is present in this temperature range.

Sauvignon Blanc
As a light white wine that also has many citrus notes, Sauvignon Blanc should also be chilled to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Like with our Pinot Grigio, this temperature is better at drawing out the more citrus aspects of this wine without sacrificing any of the dryness that defines it.

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White Sparkling Wines – 43-46°F (6-8°C)

Champagne
This choice is probably the one that gets the most questions. How cold is too cold when it comes to champagne? A nice, chill 43 degrees Fahrenheit is best for really showing off the qualities of the drink in its fullness. Even though there are many varieties of champagne, this lower temperature really highlights the effervescence of any bottle.

Light Bodied Dessert Wines – 43-50°F (6-10°C)

Trockenbeerenauslese, Sauternes

Sauternes
This sweet white wine from the Bordeaux region can best be enjoyed at a serving temperature of 45 degrees F. It should be chilled, but don’t serve it directly from the refrigerator. Instead, allow about 15 minutes for it to breathe after uncorking the bottle. This gives the complex flavors time to develop.

The easiest way to serve wine at the proper temperature is to keep it stored in a dedicated wine refrigerator. While you could try popping a bottle in your regular food fridge for 20-60 minutes to try to cool it down, this isn’t really the best method. It’s always going to be a guessing game as to whether you’ve cooled your wine down to the right temp. The best wine fridge models, on the other hand, all have digital temperature settings to get the temperature precise.

If you mainly stick to one favorite type of wine, then a single zone wine cooler will be sufficient. But if you’d like to store both red and white wine at their respective serving temperatures, then you should consider a dual zone cooler with individual digitally controlled cooling areas.

As a final note, don’t be afraid to step a degree or two outside some of these temperature ranges. While the general rules hold fairly constant, every year and vintage can differ slightly. At the end of the day, trusting your palette is what makes wine drinking one of the best experiences in the world.




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Wine Tasting for Dummies – How to Understand Wine Reviews

When you’re new to wine tasting, it can sometimes feel like you’re entering a whole other world. Varietals, vintage years, viticulture. There are so many terms to learn, and that’s just a few starting with “V”! The list goes on and on and can often seem never-ending. Wine reviews also appear like they’re packed full of jargon and complex analysis. Even when you have the wine they’re reviewing already poured in front of you, it’s easy to get lost in it all. How do you manage to keep up?

Never fear, because we’re going to walk through wine tasting step-by-step. We’ll learn about understanding wine terms like those above.

Armed with this guide, you’ll be able to talk at length about what you love best (and least) of all the wines you taste.

Not only that, you’ll be able to read those wine reviews with ease.

Next time you have your favorite varietal (a wine created from one type of grape), you’ll know if it’s a vintage year (grapes mostly grown and harvested in a specific year) and the viticulture (the science of growing grapes for wine) that made it happen.




Putting Your Next Wine Tasting into Perspective

While you’ll see many reviews that have new terms and ways of looking at wine, you’ll want to keep things in perspective. Wine tasting is absolutely about a personal journey.

What this means is that every person has different perspectives and experiences. Although there’s plenty of overlap, it’s not about knowing it all. Instead, it’s about sharing the knowledge and growing in your understanding of wine.

At the same time, never be afraid to go out on a limb and try something new or look at things from a different angle. If you’re tasting something particular in a wine, speak up and let others know. You’ll find that being open minded like this leads to everyone having a better experience.

Determining a Wine’s Appearance

dark-grapes-wine-glass-bottleLet’s starting at one of the easiest places when it comes to wine: how it looks. You probably know that there’s red and white wines, but appearance goes a bit further. Even though this aspect of tasting is often overlook, it remains an important one.

After you’ve ensured that you have a crystal clear glass and proper light, pour your favorite wine and note a few things about it. For example, you’ll see wine reviews talk about the depth of the color. What is the opacity or clarity of the color?

While some tasters often won’t include color strictly in appearance, it’s perfectly fine to ask what the exact color of the wine is. You’ll also want to watch the wine’s legs, or in other terms, the way it clings to the glass when swirling it. It’s also possible to determine the wine’s age, as reds will steer more brown with years and whites will become darker in appearance.

Taking on a Wine’s Aroma

The first big term to learn when enjoying the aroma of your wine is “on the nose.” Put simply, it’s how the wine affects your sense of smell alone, separate from the tongue. Another important term is bouquet. Both of these are meant to capture the entire experience of the aroma.

Before you sip, enjoy how the wine’s aroma interacts with your senses. If necessary, let the wine breathe, which is the process of leaving the wine exposed to the open air. Many additional terms are meant to describe the complexity of the aroma. For example, a dense aroma is one that possess concentrated smells, while a subtle aroma might be more muted.

Going Beyond Mere Taste

As we move on to actually tasting your wine, there are a few more essential terms to know. While you’ll hear intuitive flavor words like cherry, currant, or tobacco, there’s more than just flavor to note when the wine is in your mouth.

Probably the three biggest are the body, the mouthfeel, and whether or not a wine is long in the finish.

We’ll start with the body. For every wine, there is an impression of how full the wine is. You can think of this one exactly like you do weight, ranging from heavy, full-bodied wines to less full, lighter bodied wines.

On mouthfeel, you’ll find that it’s all about how the texture of the wine manifests on your palette. Is it soft or fat? Or perhaps it’s chewy or meaty?

Often, these sensation are influenced by either the acidity of the wine or the wine’s tannins, which are a puckering agent that comes mostly from the skin and seeds.

Finally, the length of a wine’s finish is an important way of measuring its quality. Terms like short, medium, or long are often used, but the main point is that the final finishing tastes linger in a healthy, delicious way.

For your wine tasting experience, this guide is just the start. But now, you’ll be able to understand those wine reviews that you love to read. Best of all, you’ll also have a more enhanced experience when you enjoy that next bottle of red or white.

Wine & Food Pairing Guide

From salmon steaks to ceviche, your next meal deserves to be paired with the best choice when it comes to wine. Yet, selecting which one goes with a certain meal can sometimes feel like a guessing game.

Does that Bordeaux go with the shrimp? Can you even pair Merlot with a burger?

You might be surprised to find out how many people wonder these exact same things. And really, these are some great questions, and today, we’re going to dispel some of the myths behind wine pairing. This way, whether you’re out with friends or eating in, you’ll know exactly which bottle goes best with any meal.

Chardonnay

A popular white wine choice with a full body, Chardonnay is somewhat dry. It’s flavor can range from full on oak-flavor to even lighter crisper citrus notes. When pairing this one, great choices include chicken dishes and meals with a cream base to them. To mix things up, you can try sushi as well.




Cabernet Sauvignon

Another popular selection, but this time in red, this wine is also a full bodied choice. With a great mouthfeel and strong tannins, it’s often best paired with beef and lamb. For something more casual, try it with some BBQ short ribs.

Sauvignon Blanc

This white wine is much lighter than our previous two choices and often has citrus notes. While it’s also a dry choice, it remains a very flexible wine. From pork and fish to fresh salads and pastas, you almost can’t go wrong with this one.

Pinot Grigio

Light, crisp, and fruity, the Pinot Grigio goes best with lighter fares. While there are some tart notes to this one, the apple and pear flavors it often exudes are just right for mild fish and cheese, but also a smaller, less-rich salad.

Pinot Noir

This lighter red is a good contrast to our other reds here. It’s cherry and cranberry are evenly matched when paired with more exotic meats like veal or duck. At the same time, it also goes well with pork or chicken and is excellent with firmer, but not hard, cheeses.

Zinfandel

The Zinfandel is a sweet classic. Encompassing nearly every tasty fruit you can imagine, it’s medium to heavy body is rightly paired with more spicy foods, especially BBQ. But two uncommon pairings to try are with a great curry dish or some Thai food.

Merlot

Another ever-popular wine that brings with it plum and deep cherry flavors. Almost any tomato-based meal will work perfectly with Merlot. Red meats are also another choice as are chocolatey desserts.

Chianti

Hands down, you’re going to love pairing this Italian classic with pizza. It’s also true that Chianti goes well with hearty spaghetti dishes and lasagna as well. And if you’re looking for a meat to add, you can’t go wrong with lamb here.

Sangiovese

Our next wine choice is also an Italian classic, but isn’t as well known. But it can be a great casual wine with a delicious burger. The acidity, with it’s light grape, really cuts through a grease burger in just the right way.

Malbec

Our finally selection is also known for its versatility. This red wine from Argentina is soft and sleek in its presentation. For this one, go with lean meats or lighter pasta fares. For example, a beef tenderloin steak will be absolutely excellent.

Just remember, wine is an experience that begs for experimentation and discovery. Always be willing to go out on a limb and try new things. And with our guide here, you have the perfect launching point for that journey.