Wine 101 Your Guide To Great Tasting Wine
Red Wine (Shiraz Cabernet South Australia 2002) Australia's biggest grape-growing state, with 25,000ha (62,000 acres) of vineyards. South Australia covers many climates and most wine styles from bulk wines to the very best wine. Old established areas are Barossa, Clare and Eden Valleys, Southern Vales, Langhorne Creek, Coonawarra and Riverland. Newer districts creating excitement are Adelaide Hills and Padthawayyrah/ Shiraz. Some of the worlds best red wines are made from Syrah, and its red wine popularity is rising fast. Characteristics Syrah/Shiraz: - blue-black, with fairly small thick-skinned berries; - relatively early ripening; - has quite big yields, bigger than those of Cabernet Sauvignon. Food Matches: It's not hard to understand the popularity of Syrah. With it's intense yet approachable fruit, a good Syrah tastes like we all imagined red wine should taste like when we were apprentice wine drinkers. It is a rich, deeply coloured wine with a distinctive bouquet, sometimes with a touch of cloves and black pepper. It's a terrific red wine with steaks, big hearty stews, pizzas and venison.
Red wine & white wine resources:
White Wine (Colombard Chardonnay South Australia 2002) Australia's biggest grape-growing state, with 25,000ha (62,000 acres) of vineyards. South Australia covers many climates and most wine styles from bulk wines to the very best wine. Old established areas are Barossa, Clare and Eden Valleys, Southern Vales, Langhorne Creek, Coonawarra and Riverland. Newer districts creating excitement are Adelaide Hills and Padthaway. Characteristics of Chardonnay: - gives small bunches of thin-skinned grapes; - is early budding and early ripening; - has average to high yields and can yield generously without loss of varietal character; - can give good botrytized wines. Food Matches: Chardonnay is one of the most popular of wines, and with good reason. At its best, Chardonnay delivers a silky, rich flavour, which some people think of as buttery, with a touch of spicy oak cloves and allspice.. At it\'s simplest, it is a refreshing quaff, with myriad fruit accents, from green apple through lemony citrus flavours to a salad of tropical fruit, depending on where the grapes are grown and how the white wine is made. It is a versatile food wine. The lighter style is a good match with seafood pasta, light soups, omelettes and grilled or broiled chicken or fish. The more complex Chardonnays are excellent with salmon, veal, creamy pastas and roast chicken.
Popular Wine Brands - Sutter Home - Kendall-Jackson - Kenwood Vinyards - Robert Mondavi - Korbel, Mariposa - St. Francis - Pine Ridge - Barefoot - Glenn Ellen - J Lohr - Beringer - Gallo - Smith & Hook - Chateau Ste Michelle - Columia Crest - Blackstone - Artesa - Byron - Buehler - Turning Leaf - Napa Valley wine A survey of restaurants conducted by Wine & Spirits magazine California wineries overall account for 38 of the most popular brands, led by Napa Valley\'s 21, and Sonoma County producers were listed 10 times. Washington, with two wineries on the list, was the only other U.S. wine region mentioned. Italian wineries led the imports with four mentioned, France and Australia each had two, and New Zealand and Spain had one each.