The appreciation of a good wine is a multi-sensory experience. Wine appreciation involves the eyes, nose, and taste buds to get the full experience. It is important to allow a red wine to breathe properly before you pour it out to taste it. Open the bottle ten or fifteen minutes before you pour the wine to give it a chance to react with the air. If a wine is poured too soon it will taste sharp and unpleasant. [Click title for more...]

Tags: aroma, bouquet, decanting, introduction to wine, palate, red wine, shiraz, syrah, the shiraz guide, wine appreciation, wine history, wine tasting

Shiraz (also known as Syrah) is a dark-skinned grape grown all over the world and used to produce powerful and full bodied red wines (appears as a very dark red or black). Regardless of whether it is sold as Syrah or Shiraz, these wines enjoy great popularity, and is now world’s seventh most grown grape with over 142,600 hectares, or 352,000 acres. [Click title for more...]

Tags: aroma, bouquet, introduction to wine, labels, red wine, shiraz, syrah, the shiraz guide, varietals, wine, wine grapes, wine regions