How to find good and natural wine on the shelves of supermarkets? Probably, each of us repeatedly asked this question. And for most people, knowledge about wine ends at the stage of the most obvious characteristics: white, red, dry, semi-sweet and sweet.
It was with this gap that Vzboltai decided to deal with, and what came of it, read below …
Sommelier recommendations for natural wine selection
Good wine can’t be cheap
Adequate price from $ 5 per bottle.
Semi-sweet or dry?
As a rule, semi-sweet and sweet wines are simpler and lighter on the palate than dry ones. However, some of them are superior to dry wines due to the nature of their production.
It is undesirable to purchase inexpensive semi-sweet and sweet wines that do not indicate the varietal composition.
The label must indicate the year of harvest.
The absence of this information is a confirmation that you have one of the surrogate options in your hands.
Printing the manufacturer’s name on the front of the label
The mention of the manufacturer somewhere in the corner of the label in small print should alert.
Read the ingredients on the label
If instead of a list of grape varieties (for example, Cabernet Sauvignon 80%, Merlot 20%) you see “wine from selected grape varieties”, then it is better to put such wine back on the shelf – most likely, poor quality raw materials were used for its production.
Instead of grape varieties, “dry wine material” may be indicated. Such a wine may be of good quality, however, it is unlikely to please you in the evening.
Buy wine only in glass bottles – dark glass is ideal
Packaged wine is unlikely to be of acceptable quality, but it will do for mulled wine. A producer who produces high-quality wine will not save on packaging.
Wines are an exception., bought directly at the factory or in special bags of 5 liters from the farmer.
Pay attention to traffic
It should not leak or be dry if made from natural materials. Also today, screw caps are gaining more and more popularity – this type of capping should not scare away, since in this case the wine is completely protected from oxidation and “crust disease”. However, it should be kept in mind that a screw cap also stops the development of the wine, so for red wines a cork stopper is more often preferred.
Mandatory presence of an excise stamp
At present, you are unlikely to find a bottle of wine without an excise stamp on the shelves of stores. However, it should be remembered that its presence is mandatory.
There must be a protective film or sealing wax cap on the neck
A dyed fusible mixture of solid resins and fillers used for embossing postal items.
Use the Vivino App
It is enough to take a photo of the bottle, and immediately you will receive comments and an overall rating based on the rating from people who have already tried this wine. Pay more attention to the comments and descriptions of the wine, as you should not rely on the rating alone.
You can download from Google Play and iTunes.
Relevance: 21.06.2021
Tags: wine and vermouth