The Wine Bottle

It is human nature really – to stick with the tried and true and shy away from new types of wines. Pinot noir, shiraz, merlot, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, riesling, Yarra Valley, Barossa Valley, Marlborough, Central Otago. From wine to spaghetti sauce, it is usually the easier and safer option to take home a wine bottle that has hit the spot some time in the past. We are all built to be at least a little conservative with buying habits and it is a strategy that limits failure.

Take spaghetti sauce, where you’d expect them all to be a little sweet to taste, mixed with savoury tomato paste and herbs. Wine is a obviously in a very different league. With wine, you will find that there are so many different flavours, tastes and textures available. And naturally, the wine’s character comes down to the grape. Sure where the fruit is grown plays a part but grape variety is by far the most important factor in the overall experience from a glass of wine.

That said, wine is a wonderful beverage in that it can also give the consumer a taste of a different country or culture all from the comfort of a lounge chair. A point worth noting is that most (but not all grape varieties with sauvignon blanc one notable exception) taste best in wines from their homeland with varieties such as sangiovese, nebbiolo and tempranillo sometimes miraculous from Italy and Spain respectively. So with such variety to choose from all over the world why taste the same destination or grape every day when a world of flavour awaits from the local off-license or restaurant?

But where to begin? Pinot gris and pinot grigio, an interesting white with a lovely floral, sweet fruit flavour, is a good place to begin. Best known in the wines from Alsace in France, as well as the more delicately flavoured and zesty pinot grigio styles from Italy, it is a grape that is also coming good in the cool regions of Australia and New Zealand with fine wines that compare well with the rest of the world. Semillon is another white wine forever in the background but one that can make world class dry whites that are a little more restrained than varieties such as chardonnay and sauvignon blanc but lose nothing in complexity from vineyards in the Hunter and Barossa Valleys. In the world of whites, it is worth discovering grapes such as viognier, chenin blanc, gewürztraminer, and roussanne.

For red wines, there are plenty to sort through including the massive, full-bodied wines from grapes such as zinfandel or durif, or others with a little less density like cabernet franc or gamay. If personality is what you are looking for, sangiovese, nebbiolo and tempranillo seldom disappoint with savoury fruit flavour, rustic tannins and freshness of acidity that make them superb food wines.

Len Evans was quoted as saying that with so many bottles of wine to enjoy in our lives, one should not waste an opportunity to try taste something new and adventurous great Len Evans once said we only have one life to experience so many types of wine and the chance to try something interesting should never be wasted. It is clear that now is time for you to get to your local bottle shop and buy some wines types that you have never tried.

Tags: new wines, Types of Wine, wine, wine taste