Thirst Quencher III

A clear, brilliant wine gives immediate optical pleasure. Whites should range from pale, straw colours to a golden hue and reds from a ruby shade to almost purple. If there is a noticeable brownish ring around the wine, this could indicate  that the wine is past its best.

Tiny particles of cork floating in the wine are not significant (except a signal to be more careful with the corkscrew) and does not denote corkiness, which can be the result of a diseased cork, and which will impart a distinctive mouldy taste and smell.

A couple of sniffs will convey firstly the bouquet, which is the whiff of the grape and then the aroma, the fragrance from the actual fermentation and other processes. Experienced winetasters derive much information from the bouquet

e.g. Chenin Blanc reminds them of guavas. These help them to identify the various cultivars.

The palate, tongue and taste buds come into play here. It is now that you can experience the whole wine, flavour, balance, degree of sweetness etc. Take your time before you swallow. The tongue has several jobs to do, swirling the liquid from the tip of the tongue to the taste buds at the back of the mouth, where the so-called .aftertaste. is experienced after swallowing. This is a pleasant sensation, a lingering farewell.

Note: A wine should free of off-odours. The most common faults are caused by:

Cork Taint:  The wine has been affected by the TCA (2-4-6- Trichloroanisole) and smells musty or like damp cardboard.

Oxidation: The wine has been exposed to oxygen or cellared too long and smells like sherry.

Volatile Acidity: The wine has an acetic character, which may tickle the top of the nasal plate like nail polish remover does.

The best glasses for serving wine should be tulip shaped; on a stem, so that the heat of the hand dopes not warm the contents.

Plain, clear glass is preferable - it should be absolutely clean and shining - there should be no trace of dishwashing liquid or any kitchen tastes. For this reason a special glass cloth should be used to dry and polish the glasses.

For sparkling wine the long flute glass is best so that the bubbles don.t disappear too quickly. Always make sure that the wine is well chilled.

When storing sparkling wine, it should be placed at the lowest level where it is coolest, the whites and lastly the reds.

Please make sure you keep it out of the hot part of the kitchen, not near stoves, dish washing machines etc, as wines, unlike Elvis Presley, do not like to get "all shook up..."!  Keep wines stored away from a wall that is exposed to the hot sun.

Keep temperatures constant, store horizontally so that the wine is in touch with the cork, this keeps it moist and stops the cork from drying out and shrinking and letting the air into the bottle which causes oxidisation.

Wines taste best when served at the temperatures indicated below:

Sparkling Wine 7

White Wine 12

Rose Wine 12

Red Wine - Pinot Noir only 16

Red Wine - All others 19

Muscadel 7

Sherry 12

Port 18

Degrees centigrade

Avocado Rhine Riseling

Beef Roast Cape Bordeaux Blend, Cabernet, Merlot

Bobotie Chenin Blanc, Pinotage, Rhine Riesling

Calamari Dry White Blend

Cheese Cheddar Ruby Port

Cheese Goat's Cheese Semillon

Chicken Champagne, just about any wine will go

Chinese Rhine Riesling

Crudites SImple dry white (Vin de Florence)

Curries Gewurztraminner,Pinotage

Duck Fruity young red, Shiraz, off-dry Riesling

Eggs Not good with any wine, simple omelette goes with a

simple red (Van Loveren River Red)

Fish Grilled Sauvignon Blanc

Fish Other Chardonnay

Game Birds Rose, PInot Noir, Cape Bordeaux blends

Ham Young Pinot Noir, juicy reds, Delheim Pinotage Rose

Hamburgers Simple Dry Red

Lamb Cabernet, Merlot

Lamb Chops Shiraz (avoid mint sauce)

Mushrooms Pinot Noir

Oysters Sauvignon Blanc

Oxtail Shiraz

Pasta Sauvignon Blanc or sturdy red

Pate Champagne, Gewurztramminer, Rhine Riesling

Pizza Sturdy Red

Pork Off-dry whites, fruity red, rose

Pork Spare ribs Pinotage

Quiche Fruity white wine, Riesling

Shellfish Chardonnay, Semillon, Chenin Blanc

Snacks Sherry, Blanc de Noir

Steak Red Wines

Stews Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc

Turkey Dry Rise, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc

Vegetables Sauvignon Blanc