Buying a bottle of wine... part 1 : The choice is yours

An Alko Shop from Finland 

As I wrote in my last post it seems that I started to write something like a wine book which wasn't the way I wanted to talk about wine. So I will try now to imagine I would tell a friend about wine. So imagine yourself with me now in a wine shop (ALKO for Finland) and lets see what kind of choice we have.... A huge amount of different bottles, different prices, and also what is the text on the bottles actually tell me?? It is sometimes no wonder to me that people got scared of buying the first bottle of wine. Okay nowadays you have the clerks in the shops who are freely helping you in any question so far and also in the Alko Shops under every bottle there are some additional information (e.g. how strong concerning the tannins and also for which food it is suitable). So what should you choose, red or white, what is your taste and what's not? Honestly you will never know until you try and trying takes time and also that you spent some money.

So the white wine, red wine choice. There is still a big discussion between wine people which is better and which one you should try first if you want to get into the wine world. Some say first white wine because of the intensive red wine taste from the tannins might have a bitter after taste. On the other hand some say red wine because the white wine has to many strong acids which can be overwhelming in the beginning. Personally I would say it really doesn't matter. When it comes to taste, everyone has a different taste. Me for example, I started with red and never regret my decision. I tried also white wine but I don't know why I like it less than red. Most probably some will say now because I didn't started with white...

If you would go for a red wine for example you might should choose a wine which is in the middle. That means not too many tannins but also not too less. You can ask one of the clerks for one of those. I would say you could also go for a wine from the Bordeaux region, France (okay what else should I suggest than a wine from France...). If you feel like after having you first glass it is too strong, then you can go next time buying a red wine with less tannins and vice versa. Of course it will take some time to get used to the taste and you might think of not liking it or having difficulties. Then I could only suggest you to have some cheese, if you like it, to cover your taste buds and get slowly used to the strong taste of a red wine. If, however you are allergic to lactose or milk products you can also go with bread with butter or meat. But however do not tend to forget the most IMPORTANT thing while having a glass of wine.... THE COMPANY! You will understand after a while why company is important when having a glass of wine.

One more thing for today when you go and buy a bottle of wine never go for the most expensive ones first. When it comes to wine prices doesn't matter. You can get a good bottle of wine for a relatively cheep price as well for high price.

Next time I will explain a little bit more about the information on the bottles itself. So far et à bientôt mes amis!