A Beginner's Guide To Understanding Wine {And Where To Drink It}

Drink of the Gods or not, wine certainly helps in upping the social game. White, red, rosè and now blue too {thanks to a Spanish start-up called GIK}, our love for wines go beyond just the occasional tasting {part time pseudo-sommeliers, full time addicts}. We know how often you run into a wine-snoot bragging about oenology {study and science of wines}, so we want you to be ready with wine-basics so you can hold on to the conversation and your wine.

Red: Red wine gets its colour from the skin of black grapes. It has a deep taste, is generally heavy on tannins {bitter-tasting seed like substances that makes the top of your tongue dry} with a definite hit to the taste buds {at the back of your mouth}. It goes well with foods like red meats; sausage, veal, duck, lamb and beef.

The most famous red wines {depends on the kind of grape used in making it} are Shiraz {or syrah}, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Sangiovese.

White: White wines are produced by fermenting non-coloured pulp of the grapes. Crisp, clean and best enjoyed chilled, white wine goes well with seafood, salads, white meats, chicken and pork. The most famous white wine varieties are Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Moscato, Pinot Grigio and Riesling.

Rosè: Also called blush wines, rose is a fruity refresher. The most famous rose variety is Zinfandel.

Fortified Wines: produced by adding a distilled spirit {like brandy} and are very sweet. The most famous kind of fortified wines are port wine, madeira and sherry.

Wines are often classified into four categories based on the taste. They are dry, off dry, medium and sweet wine. Dry wines are not sweet, a medium wine consists of sweet taste and aroma and sweet wines as the name suggests are sweet.

Fruity: if the taste is fruit heavy.

Earthy: all the wines that taste like spice, rocks, clove; anything that is not a fruit.

Body: heavier the wines taste in your mouth, fuller it is in body.

Finish: a residual taste lingering in your mouth that’s smoky, bitter, tart or sweet refers to the wine’s finish.

Typicality: as the word suggests, typicality refers to how typical the taste of the wine is to the region in which it was grown.

Complexity: a wine that has a lot of flavours is complex.

For the longest time it has been debated whether a glass of wine every night is healthy? So, let us give you the good news. Wine is good but only when consumed in moderation.  It reduces the risk of depression, lowers the risk of heart diseases, has anti-aging properties, prevents dementia, improves blood flow and reduces clotting.

Talk about wines in India and Sula pops up in mind. Started by Rajeev Samant in the year 1993 with the help of California based wine-maker Kerry Damskey. Given that the weather of Nasik is perfect for producing high quality grapes and in turn wines, Sula vineyard is producing high quality yields of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel and Riesling variety of grapes in an area spread over 3000 acres.

If you are stepping out, the best place to enjoy wine is The Table in Colaba. They hosts wine tasting events and have a huge collection of international labels. You can also check out The Pali Village Cafe in Pali Hill, Indigo Deli at the Palladium, Prego at the Westin hotel {try wines of world program} and the Enoteca at the Oberoi.

Well, if you are feeling like a know-it-all, you are welcome. Follow Sula on Twitter here, Instagram here and YouTube here.

This story is in partnership with Sula Vineyards.