Wine Buying Tips, Atlanta Buying Wine for Home

You are having some Atlanta area friends over for dinner and you know they like wine. You want to make a good impression on your Atlanta friends but you have no clue how to buy wine or where in Atlanta you should shop for the right wine. Which bottle do you pick? What will they like? Does it matter what I serve? What do names like Chardonnay, Chianti, and Zinfandel mean? This is called a wine emergency. Fear not!

The Atlanta area is not well known for having lots of wine experts like maybe Chicago, New York, or even Miami. Most Atlanta wine stores fail miserably in supporting their clients with a well-trained knowledgeable staff. Even if they do, the staff will only want to discuss high-end wines. Sherlock’s believes that every wine purchaser should have access to the staff and the knowledge they need in selecting the proper wine. We have written this guide to simplify the world of wine and help Atlanta wine buyers get a head-start and find just the right bottle!

Wines from the Old World (Europe) and the New World (everywhere else) have a system for naming and classifying wines. Old World wines are usually named for their place of origin (like Chianti and Chablis). These areas have been producing wine for hundreds of years, and they know exactly which grapes and styles work best in those regions. In the New World, wines are named for the predominant grape used in the winemaking process (like Merlot and Chardonnay). Certainly there are exceptions to these rules, but understanding the basic nature of wine names will help make all the selections easier to grasp.

American and especially Atlanta wine drinkers do love Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Merlot, but those are not the only options if you want to please your guests. You can look like an Atlanta wine expert with your selections (without actually being a wine expert). Here are some “under-the-radar” wines that are sure to delight:

1. Cotes du Rhone Red. Hailing from southeast France, this red wine is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre grapes. It’s soft and dry with aromas of cherry and spice. Generally available for $ 10-$ 20 in most wine stores, Cotes du Rhone is easy to like and great with foods like lamb, roast chicken, or pork. 2. Pinot Gris from Oregon. Pinot Gris is the same grape as Pinot Grigio, but grown in Oregon, the grape offers more exciting tastes. Though it’s a dry white, you will find fruit-basket smells like honeydew melon and citrus with a hint of flowers. If you are serving a full-flavored fish like salmon, this style of wine will sing. Usually sold for $ 12-$ 20. 3. Valpolicella Ripasso. A sumptuous red wine produced near Verona in Italy, it is created using a somewhat complicated process. Don’t worry about the “how”; all you need to know is the resulting wine is delicious, and even your most “wine geek” friends/family will ooh and ah upon tasting. Silky textured and chock full of tangy cherry, berry, and plum flavors, try this wine if you’re serving Italian sausage pasta or veal parmesan. Sells from $ 15-$ 30.

How to find the right wine for a meal is probably the most challenging aspect of selecting wine for most Atlanta area people. You may have heard the adage “red wine with meat, white wine with fish,” and there is definitely some validity to this statement. But finding the right complement for a meal requires more insight. There is an art to pairing wines with foods (hence why sommeliers in restaurants undergo years of training), but it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Here are some handy tips:

1. Power to Power. If your meal is a hearty meat like grilled ribeye or pot roast, select a powerful red to accompany. Good examples would be Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, or Shiraz/Syrah (they’re the same grape, just called differently depending where it’s from). If you are serving, for example, veal cutlets or another more delicate meat dish, try a less-powerful but no-less-flavorful red like Pinot Noir, Grenache, or Barbera. 2. Spice needs Spice. For heavily-herbed foods like rosemary baked chicken or eggplant parmesan, choose a wine with its own spice, like Zinfandel, Chianti, or Gewurtztraminer (white wine that is hard to say but easy to love). If your dish leans toward the “heat” side of spice, like curry chicken or jambalaya, a good idea is a fruitier, softer, possibly sweeter wine like Riesling, Beaujolais, and Chenin Blanc. 3. Match the Texture. Texture is an important component in wine pairing. You will want a wine that has a similar feel to the dish. For example, cream-sauce pasta like Alfredo screams for a buttery Chardonnay. By the same token, grilled shrimp over mixed greens requires a lighter touch like Sauvignon Blanc, Albarino from Spain, or Pinot Grigio.

The world of wine is extremely varied and admittedly complex, but it does offer a lifetime’s worth of discovery and pleasure if you try it. Don’t fret over an “Atlanta wine emergency” because there is no hard and fast rule about what your Atlanta friends and family will love and what wine will pair perfectly with a meal. Use the tips above to make a more educated decision, but the real fun is in experimenting. Also, don’t hesitate to ask your local wine merchant. Chances are your Atlanta area guests will love what you pick.

Visit http://www.Sherlocks.com for more valuable information on wine selections and purchasing tips for Atlanta.

Summer is the best time to go to Santa Barbara to enjoy its downtown beaches and coastal climate. Going on a wine tour in Santa Barbara is interesting and popular over the years. You can taste some of Santa Barbara’s specialty wines like Chardonnays and Pinot Noir as well as the complicated yet beautiful process of grape growing.

In the months of June to September, Santa Barbara is packed with exciting events and festivities. Some wineries host fun-filled activities like photo contests, symposiums, movie nights, and chocolate tasting throughout summer. But the main attraction is the Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade. It is the most popular and largest event every year. It is a grand event filled with outrageous floats, street fairs, concerts, and theater performances that you can check out while in Santa Barbara.

The weather in Santa Barbara is very ideal for tourists and wine enthusiasts alike. It is hot in most areas of the wine country but regions closer to the Pacific are cooler which makes wine tours a more pleasurable experience. During daytime, the climate is warm and sunny while at nighttime, the wind is cool and crisp. At noon, you can set up a picnic in one of the picture perfect spots in the wineries and at night you can enjoy a stroll at the beach.

During summer, the vegetation in wine regions is lush providing a greener and more relaxing atmosphere. You will also get to witness the grapes in their most crucial stage in their growth cycle. Growing grapes is very delicate and too much heat or too much cold can upset the entire process. But if all goes well, vineyard owners will celebrate a great harvest in the months of September and October. This is one of the busiest times of the year and crowds can be expected. But you can always set up an appointment with the wineries ahead of time to avoid the busiest days.

Going on a wine tour in Santa Barbara during summer can be a fun and educational way to spend your vacation. Whether you go there for a day or for a whole weekend, you will have exciting and worthwhile memories that you will truly cherish.