Just the mention of the word “Perfect” is enough to send shivers down the spine of many the wine shopper. However, it need not be the frightening decision making process that we tend to take it as. Although, you will have inherent minefields to navigate as you select the perfect reds your money can and will buy. Three things are advisable to be observed as you decide: price consciousness, purchasing the right wine for the meal in question, and having the courage to ask questions of your wine purveyor.
Bargains rarely are available in the market of quality wine. The market and demand simply correct these badly thought prices or make the market for these wines disappear. There are fantastic, affordable wines out there and true value can be found. Yet, in the top bracket of red wines, they do not stay available for long. It is important that you work out how much money you would like to spend and regard that money gone. Money invested well mind you, but upon reaching a mental financial outlay do not alter your target and begin looking for a lesser priced wine. Be brave and stick to your price and select the ideal bottle for that given figure.
If you are looking to spend below £10 for your selection you quite simply should not be looking in either Burgundy or Bordeaux. Yes, you will see wine at that price but you will not find a great purchase at THAT price there. Luckily though, for £10 upwards there is an abundance of stunning wine available to you. Just a tenner opens a veritable feast in, for example, South American Malbec. Malbec, a blending grape of Bordeaux, is rarely bottled by itself in France yet shines out in the Uco Valley or Lujon de Cuyo areas of Mendoza provence. A figurative trip in South Africa or Australia will also have you impressed at how far your expectations went in your quest for a fine bottle of red. Similarly, if you are interested in splashing out 50 and upwards for a bottle of wine you had better leave the Uco Valley straight away. While a few bodegas in this region offer wines at this cost, the quality, while high, does not yet warrant these prices.
When are you going to drink this wine? If you are looking to impress a friend or simply enjoy a great bottle of wine immediately, know its limitations. The year is 2011, if you are looking at drinking a bottle of Old World cabernet sauvignon, with very few exceptions, do not go buying anything produced after 2008, and that depending on the producer, the maturing process, and the wines contact with oak is pushing it. Learn your ageing charts; find out when these wines are at their peek. That same vintage may turn out to be incredible, just not tomorrow at your friends house.
Always enquire. There are so many resources available and authorities in this game that it is a mad game to blindly throw your money into the acquiring of a fine red wine. Choose your retailer wisely, there are many experts in the field who will love to have your queries whatever they may be.