How well do you know your choice of wine?

Kenya: The New Year is around the corner, as are toasts to 2014. How well do you know the wine you have chosen for the occasion? LYDIA LIMBE gives some tips on what to serve, and how.

Standing in the supermarket wine aisle, trying to choose a bottle to share with my sister and cousin, I feel overwhelmed by the wide array. Red or white wine? Wait a minute, this bottle says ‘rose’, another one is ‘sweet’, and there is one labelled ‘dry’. What does it all mean?

As more Kenyans embrace wine drinking, this is a common conundrum. And it becomes an even bigger problem when you are hosting guests over the festive season, and hoping to impress them. How could you ever live down the embarrassment of serving the wrong drink for the New Year toast?

Characteristics

But wine buying and serving need not be a minefield. Juan Cambil, a wine sommelier (a trained and knowledgeable wine professional) from Wines of the World, a beverage supplier, says that in selecting wine, you have to sample different types and pick one that is appealing to your palate.

“Different types of grapes give wine different characteristics in terms of colour, body and sweetness. Colour describes red, rose or white. The body of the wine is how it feels in your mouth, while sweetness is determined by how much sugar is left in the wine,” says Juan.

Red wine is made from black grapes, and gets its colour from the dark-toned skin of the fruit. So are rose wines. The only difference is that the latter have less contact with the skin of the grape.

White wines are made from both white and black grapes, but the skin is removed completely during production. Only the grape juice is used.

While tasting wine, it may feel light bodied — to mean that it is refreshing and easy to drink. It could also be medium bodied, meaning rich in flavour with a light oak taste, or full bodied — powerful and concentrated with a strong oak (or what others describe as ‘woody’) taste.

Sweetness, as earlier mentioned, refers to how much sugar is left in the wine. Some people like their wine dry, or sweet or in-between (referred to as medium-dry or medium-sweet). Technically, ‘dry’ wines are those containing less than 10 grammes of sugar per litre, while those with more than 30 grammes per litre are ‘sweet’ or ‘dessert’ wines. Anything in-between is considered ‘medium-dry’ or ‘off-dry’.

However, acidity and alcohol levels also contribute to how sweet a wine tastes. For instance, a sweet wine can taste dry due to high acidity levels, and a dry wine can taste sweet if the alcohol level is high.

Juan further explains that there are three types of wine: Light wine, liqueur wine and sparkling wine.

Light wine, also known as table wine, has no carbon dioxide, and has an alcohol content of eight to 15 per cent. It can be red or white, and can either be named after the grape or the region the grape is grown, for instance Pinot Noir, Zweigelt and Gamay.

Liqueur wines have a higher alcohol content than light wines, ranging between 15 and 22 per cent. Usually, grape brandy is added during production, but the carbon dioxide is removed.

How to serve

When carbon dioxide is not removed during wine production, the result is sparkling wine. It is this gas that makes sparkling wine ‘pop’ and fizzle when opened. This drink has an alcohol content of between eight and 15 per cent.

Champagne is a sparkling wine traditionally made from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France.

There are also non-alcoholic wines, which are typically made by extracting alcohol through a filtering or vacuum process. Without alcohol, wine tends to taste ‘thin’, but other than that, it has all the qualities of wine.

Serving wine properly starts with storage. Storing wine bottles in an upright position may not be a very good idea, as older wines have a wooden cork to allow the passage of oxygen.

“Always store corked wine horizontally. When the wine is in contact with the cork, it keeps it solidly in place, and reduces chances of it disintegrating when being opened,” advises Juan.

The cork can also tell you if something is not right with the wine. Smell it and taste it. If it tastes flat, you can reject it.

“A decent restaurant should be able to open another one without any quarrels. Most wine makers have serial numbers on each of the corks, so that when something goes wrong, it can be traced,” adds the sommelier.

Lately, younger wines are being screw capped, but this does not mean the quality of the wine is any lower. These can be stored upright. You can tell the age of the wine from the year of production marked on the bottle.

Without being too fussy about the exact temperatures at which wines need to be served, white wines need to be served cold. The low temperatures help to balance the white wine’s acidity, making it more drinkable. Keep the white wine in an iced wine bucket, careful to hold it with a terry cloth while serving to maintain its temperature.

Red wines are served warmer, at between 16 and 18 degrees centigrade. However, Paul Kanyeki, the sales and distribution manager at Wine Masters, says our Kenyan tropical room temperature is very warm, making the wine taste alcoholic and flabby (meaning ‘flat’).

“To enjoy the full characteristics of red wine, cool it. Put it in the fridge for about an hour, and then serve. This softens the wine and makes it more drinkable,” Paul says.

Use smaller wine glasses for white wine, and larger ones for red. The reason for this is that white wine should not warm up too much before it is consumed. As for red wine glasses, the more generous, the better. Do not fill the glass to the brim; the red wine should occupy about a third of the glass, while the rest of the space allows for aeration.

Choose fluted or tulip-shaped (champagne) glasses for sparkling wines and champagne. This shape helps keep the bubbles intact for longer and ensure the best flavour and aroma as you savour your drink.

With the wide assortment of glasses available in the market, look for those with a rounded, smooth edge. This finish looks and feels pleasant to the lips.

Pairing with food

As you enjoy your wine, please remember to keep your fingers on the stem of the glass, especially for white and sparkling wines. Otherwise, the temperature from your fingers is sure to warm the wine, interfering with its characteristics.

Champagne and other sparkling wines are associated with celebrations (starting with New Year parties), with everyone waiting with bated breath for that coveted ‘pop’. These wines are corked differently — a mushroom cork to hold down the pressure from the carbon dioxide.

One popular notion is that red wine goes with red meat and white wine with white meat. This is not always the case. Lisa Gordge, a wine sommelier from Sankara Nairobi, advises that while pairing food with wine, the goal is to balance the taste of both in the mouth.

“Compare the salt and sugar levels of the food and wine. Sweet tasting food can be paired with sour wine, while sour food can be paired with sweet tasting wine,” says Lisa.

To fully experience wine, swirl it in your glass. The oxidation will release the aroma. Do you see little stripes of clear liquid running down the glass? That is glycerine; the oily part of alcohol. If thin, it means that fermentation was well achieved and done naturally.

This swirling can also tell you the alcohol content. If there are many droplets on the glass, the alcohol content is high, and vice versa.

To see the colour of the wine, place it against a white background, such as a serviette. Aging red wine usually has a yellow ring on the outside. Very young wine is clear. White wines can be clear, shiny or golden shiny.

You can share a bottle of wine with friends with or without food. Some people like to have their wine while nibbling on chocolate or cheese. However you choose to enjoy it, ‘cheers’ to the New Year.