We're sorry, but we could not fulfill your request for /12-wines-for-beginners/ on this server. An invalid request was received from your browser. This may be caused by a malfunctioning proxy server or browser privacy software. Your technical support key is: 36b3-c7d4-1756-6707 You can use this key to fix this problem yourself. If you are unable to fix the problem yourself, please contact info at wine.net and be sure to provide the technical support key shown above.Beginner’s Guide to Wine Whether you’re just get started with wine or work in the industry, this page contains many useful resources that will round out your wine knowledge. If you like what you see here, subscribe to receive more great stuff. The Basic Types of Wine Wine is made with grapes, but not typical table grapes you’ll find at the grocery. Wine grapes (the latin name is Vitis vinifera) are small, sweet, have thick skins, and contain seeds. There are over 1,300 different wine grape varieties, but just a few of them are planted all over the world:

8 Common Types of Wine The Many Different Types of Wine (Infographic) See More Wine Variety Articles Serving Wine and Choosing Glassware Wine is a peculiar beverage because even the shape of the glass will change the way it tastes. So, here are 7 things to know when it comes to serving wine. 7 Basics to Serving Wine and Choosing Glassware Buy the Basic Wine Guide Poster Develop Your Sense of Taste Learning to taste wine will help you pick out flavors and also notice wine faults. The 4-step tasting method practiced by professionals all over the world. How to Taste Wine (The 4-step Method) Wine Faults and How to Sniff Them Out The Difference Between Taste vs. Flavor Are You A Supertaster & Don’t Know It? Identifying Fruit Flavors in Wine Wine Aroma vs Bouquet How to Write Useful Tasting Notes Watch a video on Sabering Champagne in slow motion Enjoy the guide above? Below are some additional articles that offer more information on handling wine like a pro.

How to Open a Bottle of Wine How to Pour Wine Without Dripping How to Open Champagne Safely Everytime Why Wine Serving Temperature Matters How Long Wine Lasts Open Choosing The Right Wine Glasses How Many Glasses in a Bottle of Wine How To Swirl Wine Trick to Make Cheap Wine Taste Better How to Saber Champagne in Slow Motion The Trick to Clinking Wine Glasses How to Clean Wine Glasses Like a Pro How to Remove Wine Sediment Buy the Adv. Food and Wine Pairing Poster Pairing Wine and Food Basic Wine and Food Pairing Chart Advanced Wine & Food Pairing Chart Wine With Chicken & Other Poultry Wine With Lamb & Different Cuts of Beef Foods That Don’t Pair With Wine 6 Examples of ‘Perfect Pairings’ All Wine and Food Articles Where to Buy Wine Online (a Comparison of top retailers) Tricks Buying Good Cheap Red Wine Up and Coming Value Regions and Lessor Known Varieties

Italian Red Wines for Under $20 120 Wine Descriptions & What They Really Mean Buying Wines for a Wedding or Other Large Events How to Order Wine at a Restaurant Why Vintage Matters (an explanation of vintage variation)best white wine cocktails New World vs Old World Winewhat is the best texas wine How to Become a Wine Expertbest italian wine clubs Want work in the wine business? 10 best wine destinations 2015Here are a few articles that will help you succeed.best wine novels How to Become a Sommelierhow much does a glass of wine cost at olive garden

The One-Stop Guide To Wine Education Courses Tips on Passing the Certified Sommelier Exam Best Wine Books Picked by Pros At its heart wine is a beverage best enjoyed in the company of others. A little bit of wine knowledge goes a long way by opening doors to new flavors and styles. Exploring wine is an inexhaustible adventure for which you’ll need to enlist your friends and family. No one likes to go to the wine aisle and feel overwhelmed. Have you bought wine based on arbitrary ratings, ambiguous tasting notes, or the label? How would you like to walk in, confidently find your favorite wines, and leave 100% satisfied? Improve Ability to Taste/Smell Tasting/smelling wine doesn’t have to be an exercise in snobbery. It only takes a brief pause to develop an awareness of what you’re drinking. Knowing what you like will make it much easier to consistently find similar wines. This isn’t limited to wine, learning a few basics can improve the taste/smell of just about anything.

The wine world is immense. We like to see this as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Do you have a favorite sports team, fashion designer, tv chef, or movie director? What if I told you that there are celebrity winemakers and that if you found your favorite winery/winemaker you’d never have to drink bad wine again?Stay In The Know Join thousands of wine enthusiasts who subscribe to Wine Folly’s weekly wine newsletter. Never miss a tip that will get you drinking better wine.There are 6 red wines and most fly under the radar, but as it happens they are some of the best red wines for beginners. Learn what Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Shiraz, Carménère, Monastrell and Garnacha have in common as examples of excellent wines to start your adventure into wine. It’s true, wine is an acquired taste and everyone’s taste is different. On top of this fact, wine gives off hundreds of aroma compounds that deliver hundreds of unique smells: from cherry sauce to old saddle leather.

So what are the best red wines to start your adventure into wine? The following wines are great to use as benchmarks for basic understanding. With over 1300 types of wine grapes, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Garnacha, Zinfandel, Shiraz, Monastrell, Petite Sirah and Carménère are the best red wines for beginners for 3 reasons. These wines were selected for 3 reasons: they are bolder on the flavor intensity spectrum, they have easy-to-identify fruit flavors, and they can be found for less than $18. In the US, wineries can blend up to 25% of another grape variety into the wine. So if it says ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’, chances are it has up to 25% Merlot or others in it. This doesn’t just happen with Cab, it happens with other wines too, like Pinot Noir (Syrah to make the color and flavor richer). Wine blends taste awesome but they are not that useful if you’re trying to learn. The 6 wines mentioned above tend to be produced as 100% variety wines, which is perfect for expanding your palate.

Look for notes of Raspberry, Candied Cherry and Orange This wine is all about understanding how to taste acidity. Garnacha from Spain tends to have bright berry flavors and moderate acidity. It’s relatively easy to pick out the mouth-watering acidity because it’s often laced with citrus flavors (e.g. grapefruit or orange). A recent study at the Oenology Department at University of Bordeaux has shown that wines with higher acidity taste less tannic than wines with lower acidity. By the way, Garnacha is an incredibly important wine grape outside of the US. It’s grown primarily in Spain and Southern France where it is the major blending grape in Côtes du Rhône wines. Look for notes of Raspberry, Chocolate and Cinnamon Zinfandel will help you understand how alcohol affects flavor. Be sure to select a Zinfandel with about 15% ABV for this to work — and invite a buddy with you to help drink it. After you taste the wine, let out a deep sigh and you’ll feel the tingle of alcohol in the back of your throat.

High alcohol wines (14%+) often have a ‘spice’ element to the taste and in the case of Zinfandel, it comes across as cinnamon and pepper. Alcohol not only adds a tingling sensation, it also adds the perception of body. Testing at Bordeaux University have shown that higher alcohol wines tend to reduce the perception of tannin in the taste (but not the aftertaste). You might notice this effect the next time you try Zinfandel. Alcohol Level Tip: Swirl your wine to see that higher alcohol wines have thicker tears. Thicker wine tears (or legs) can indicate higher alcohol and/or sweetness. Practiced tasters can pick the alcohol level of a wine within a percent! Look for notes of Blackberry, Blueberry, Pepper and Coffee Shiraz will help you understand what a full-bodied wine is all about. A few producers of Shiraz in Australia have moved towards a lighter style, but if you get a truly inky Shiraz, say from McLaren Vale or Barossa Valley, you’ll notice how boldly flavored a wine can get.

Of course, there is a lot going on with the grapes and winemaking to create a wine this bold including heightened glycerol and sometimes just a touch of residual sugar. Australia is one of the few regions that consistently produces super-charged single-variety wines. When you taste one, focus on the profile and texture in your mouth. Look for notes of Blackberry, Roasted Meats and Black Pepper Monastrell will help you understand Old World wines, especially if you compare it to Shiraz. Monastrell is an abundant variety in Spain, but it is fairly unknown in the states. It makes a deep dark full-bodied wine with very rustic notes including tar, roasted meats and tobacco smoke. Earthy flavors are the hallmark of Old World wine and Spanish Monastrell offers great values for their lush bold red wines. Great examples can be found around Yecla in Spain Look for notes of Jam, Black Pepper and Cedar with high Tannin Petite Sirah will help you understand what tannin is all about.

Petite Sirah grapes are very small and because of this there’s more skins and seeds which are the source of tannin and color. Because of this, Petite Sirah tends to have high tannin. When you taste it, you’ll notice how the texture of tannin dries your mouth out and sits on your tongue (and sometimes teeth!). If this is something you like, you’ll find yourself attracted to other high tannin wines such as Nebbiolo and Tempranillo. Look for notes of Black Cherry, Clove, and Bell Pepper Carménère will help you understand herbaceous or ‘green’ wines. No matter how cherry and plum flavored a Carménère wine tastes, there is always a subtle note of bell pepper in the mix. This aroma compound is called Pyrazine and it’s the source of the herby-grassy quality of many red and white wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Carménère. Despite its pleasing preference in the aforementioned wines, ‘green’ flavors are also associated with underripe grapes (from a poor vintage).