When tasting wine, you can usually tell a lot about its quality from the way it looks, smells and tastes. You could also look at the label or ask about where it was produced, but what do you do with the answers to those questions? How does a wine enthusiast know when a wine is more than just ordinary?
Ask where and how
It’s not always possible to taste the wine before buying it, so one way to find out about is quality is to ask about the way it was cultivated. When the grapes have managed to stay free of disease, it means that the quality of the grape yield was good. The grapes must then be processed into wine as quickly as possible because the longer they are in contact with oxygen (after picking), the quicker the quality will deteriorate. New ways of controlling the temperature during fermentation have also improved the quality of wine over the years.
Read the label
In Europe, French wines are categorised according their quality: table wine (vin de table) is the lowest and Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (Appellation of Controlled Origin, or AOC) wines are of the highest quality. For a wine to be rated AOC, it must fulfill certain criteria regarding its origin, viticultural practices and alcohol content. The AOC rating protects it against other lower level wines carrying the same label.
Reputation
It’s a bit trickier for wines produced outside France, and that’s where reputation comes in. If a vineyard and its winemaker are known to produce outstanding wine, anything new from them will be expected to be good too. Consumers also listen to what wine critics have to say about a particular wine and make their choices based on those conclusions.
Tasting
Not all wines with the AOC label or 5-star reviews appeal to everyone’s taste. There are some wonderful reasonably priced wines out there. It’s up to the consumer to research various vineyards and taste the wines they produce. A good wine is balanced and well-structured, and it doesn’t always have to cost an arm and a leg.
Start your search for excellent-quality wines at BoutiqueWineries.com.au. Here you’ll find the high-end varieties shoulder-to-shoulder with delicious, more reasonably priced wines.
Visit these boutique wineries to grow your knowledge of boutique wine and boutique wineries:
