Posts Tagged ‘white wine’

Switzerland seems as though it should be a heavy producer of wine. After all, look at all the countries around it – Italy, France, Germany, Austria. It should be a given that with such wine culture around it, Switzerland should be competing equally with them.

However, people often forget the topography of Switzerland. The country is very hilly, very mountainous. Indeed, there are very few areas that lie below 1,000 feet. Many peaks easily reach above 13,000 feet. This means that Switzerland tends to be much cooler overall, though it can have high temperatures from time to time and often gets a great deal of sunshine.

Switzerland is typically broken up into three main areas: the southern Alps, the western Jura Mountains, and the Central Plateau. The amount of wine produced in Switzerland is relatively small. You’ll find more beer here than wine! But that doesn’t mean the country is absolutely without vineyards. In fact, you’ll find more red than white wine produced here, and wine has been produced in Switzerland for over 2,000 years. Chasselas is the primary white grape found in Switzerland whereas Pinot Noir is the primary red.

If you’ve ever been to a wine tasting, you may recall that the food you ate was small (if there was food involved at all). A few crackers with cheese. Maybe a bit of chocolate or fruit here and there. There is no wine tasting that features goose or turkey, gravy or cranberries. Yet every holiday season people start to fret – just what wine should you serve with your main course?

Truth is, there are no hard and fast rules about pairing wine with such a giant meal. This is mostly because there are so many different flavors that while a red wine might go with a few items perfectly a white wine will match up with other items. You’re best off finding out what people like to drink and buying a few bottles to satisfy those palates and offer a little diversity.

If you do notice that you have predominately red wine foods, like a heavy stew or rich meats, by all means aim for red. With desserts, you may decide to switch things up and really go for a winning pair. Try to keep dessert wines nice and sweet so the dessert itself doesn’t overpower the wine. Fruity desserts are complimented well by acidic wines. If you have a nice dark chocolate dessert, look for a beautiful dark wine.

Belgium sits right next to Germany and France, to large producers of wine. Belgium has plenty of wine to offer as well, even if it is smaller than its neighbors. There are several sub regions within Belgium: Flanders, Hageland, Haspengauw, Haspengouw, and Wallonie.

Within each of those are a few additional sub regions. Each area will make various amounts of wine and spirits. Because Belgium is beside the ocean and in a more northern position than the countries beside it, grapes grown here need to be able to handle chilly weather and a variety of soils.

Grapes used in Belgium vary depending upon the vineyard’s location and the wine the vineyard hopes to make. Primarily, however, Belgium tends to offer mostly white wines, with just over 50% of their production lending to whites. Red is a much smaller percentage, not quite 6%, though Belgium does craft a few sparkling wines as well.

If you travel to Belgium, you may see grapes such as Müller-Thurgau, Monica, Kerner, and Chardonnay, with a few additional grapes used in order to blend certain wines.

See what Belgium has to offer – you’re not likely to be disappointed. And if you tire of wine, don’t worry – Belgium makes a great deal of various spirits that may catch your interest.

If you’ve never had wine or just haven’t partaken of wine very frequently, understanding a bit about typical taste progression may help you to choose your next (or first) bottle of wine. Remember, though, this is just a basic map of where you may be comfortable heading when it comes to moving along tastes in bottles of wine. There is no hard and fast rule to follow when it comes to trying new wines or experimenting with tastes you’ve never had before.

Usually, people’s tastes to begin with are towards wines that are sweet and chilled. Light and cold, some of them may even have a bit of carbonation.

Next comes semi-dry served chilled. They don’t have the same cloying sweetness and have no carbonation, traded in for a slightly higher acidity to balance their current sweetness.

Dry (often white) wine served chilled tends to follow once you tire of sweet wines. You’ll enjoy the flavor with foods like chicken and seafood. From there, you may start to move to wines that are still dry but are more flavorful and served slightly chilled instead. This can include whites as well as some light reds.

Eventually you may move on to wines that are dry and richly flavored. You’ll also prefer them served at cellar temperature and even allowed to warm slightly in the glass.

Finally, when you are a lover of all things wine, you can enjoy all the complexities of dry wines with myriad of flavors served at cellar temperature. These typically include wines that have been aged to the peak of their particular variety for some truly exquisite flavors.

Thanksgiving is an excellent time to be with family and friends – and, of course, good food! Good food is made even better with good wine. During Thanksgiving, there is no one wine that you need to have at the table. Instead, get a feel for what all your visitors enjoy. Don’t forget to include yourself as well! It may be necessary to obtain a few bottles, depending upon how much people want to drink, or what sort of variety you might need.

It is true that usually white wines are associated with fowl, but that’s not a strict rule. Reds can go very nicely with a juicy turkey due to their rich flavors. If you know what you like, it’s bound to be an enjoyable feast. Turkey dinners are often accompanied by a mix of foods as well: cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, noodles, rutabaga, olives, yams, and more. Foods that would normally favor one wine over another end up being thrown together, which throws all the typical wine guidelines out the window. But one tip to keep in mind – aim for wines that are lighter instead of heavier. Let all the foods do the heavy work!

But don’t stop there! After all, there’s dessert to be had. From spicy pumpkin pie to other family favorites, each one might deserve a good dessert wine or two for some complementary flavors.

It’s that time again! Time for good friends, family, delicious food, and, of course, amazing wine. Whether you have turkey before Thanksgiving or anytime, it’s always a nice treat to have a good bottle of wine to accompany it. But some people wonder – should you treat turkey like chicken and follow the wine guidelines there? Or is there some other concept to follow when it comes to pairing the two?

First, it is always important to remember that in the end you should choose a wine that you want to drink, and/or a wine that your company wishes to drink. Do you prefer red over white, or does it matter? Do you like them dry or nice and sweet? Consider your tastes first, and then take a peek at the guidelines.

If you enjoy white wines, Chardonnay is typically the choice wine when it comes to turkey. You’re bound to already have a favorite, so you can go with that or choose something new for a little holiday variety.

If you like red wine, Pinot Noir is a good wine to match. It won’t overwhelm the food even though its flavor is a little fuller. Turkey tends to be a little more flavorful than chicken, which is why these two work well together.

Don’t be afraid to ask friends for their suggestions as well!

There are a lot of myths out there concerning wine. Red wine, white wine, cooking with them, drinking them, their alcohol contents, and many, many more things that can branch off these concepts. One little idea that has squeaked out into mainstream mythdom is that white wine can help clean up a red wine stain.

It’s an interesting idea, and most likely gained power due to the idea of the alcohol in the wine. People tend to associate alcohols with cleaning abilities. Red wine has that rich color thanks to the grapes, their skins, and so forth. Because white wine is without dark colors, people tend to think of it as colorless. Somehow the belief is that the white wine will have the power to negate the color of the red wine. An odd thing to believe, when you think about the components of both wines and how they vary only a little. Especially when white wine is in fact not colorless, but often gold or a very pale yellow.

Whatever you might believe, the truth is this: If you were to put white wine on a red wine stain, you won’t get any results. At least, no results you’d be happy with. Instead of a red wine stain on your shirt or rug, you would end up with a red wine and a white wine stain. If you ever spill wine of any kind, be sure to treat it with the proper cleaning products as soon as possible for a stain-free surface.

There may be a day when you want to cook up a delicious meal that calls for white wine. Alas, you don’t have any white wine. You do, however, have some apple juice. Rumors are out there – apple juice can be substituted for white wine.

Almost, but not quite. No matter what you’re making, people will be able to tell the difference in a recipe that calls for wine and apple juice makes an appearance. The simple fact is that the components for these two drinks are very, very different, and all those subtle flavors will mix into the food to create very different results. However, if you’re in a bit of a bind, you may be able to toss in some apple juice instead for an equally flavorful meal, though it won’t be what you were expecting.

Here are a few tips if you ever run into such a problem. You’ll be able to get slightly closer results if the wine you’re replacing has apple flavors or a fruity style. Use unsweetened apple juice for better flavor and less sugar.

If pinot gris and pinot grigio are both pinots, then they can’t be that different, right?

Not so fast.

Despite the fact that both wines are white and come from the pinot grape variety, pinot gris hails from the Alsace region of France, whereas pinot grigio exists mainly in Italy. As anyone even remotely familiar with wine knows, a wine’s taste can differ greatly depending upon where it is grown. Just like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location.

Both grapes come from the pinot noir, but over time their separation and growing habits have transformed them into their own sort of grape, giving each one different flavors and end results. Pinot gris flavors can be medium to full-bodied and can range in color. Pinot grigio is much lighter, with a dry, crisp flavor. It is also much lighter in color. Though they taste different, their similarities lend them both to summertime drinking and enjoyment with chicken, fish, and “light” foods. Both are also very good for cooking when it comes to enhancing flavors.

Ultimately, whether you choose pinot gris or pinot grigio will depend upon what you like most.

The simple answer to this question is: Everywhere.

Indeed, the tricky part will be picking out recipes you want to try, and there are many delicious recipes out there that involve a number of wines. Consider experimenting with foods that you like the most and dishes you would enjoy trying. You’ll find a number of recipes that include white wine, red wine, some that cater to vegetarians, and some that offer up a bit of wine in desserts. The choices are seemingly endless!

You can start by looking in books and magazines, but if you aren’t interested in making a purchase to get recipes, you can easily look online. Check out well-known or more practical websites first such as the home pages of wine or cooking magazines, or food television networks. You can also try recipe websites that feature massive lists of recipes uploaded by people from all over the world. Recipe websites can be handy for those times when you have a few ingredients you think might be good together and can search various recipes with your combination.

So get out your recipe book and start experimenting, but remember—never cook with a wine you wouldn’t also enjoy drinking!