Wine year-this is actually the first thing we should look for. You don't need to keep a chronology in your pocket, and you don't need to find out whether the grapes grown in Sierra Foothills in 200/kloc-0 or 2002 are better. Most wines in wine shops can be drunk immediately, so you should make sure that the wine has not been stored for a long time, especially if you plan to drink wine full of vitality and fresh fruit flavor. For example, we often see five-year-old grey Pi Nuo and two-year-old Beaujolais new wine in wine shops. Every time I see the year of this wine marked on it, I know I can go (maybe we won't set foot in this store again).
Alcohol content-too many wines now have too high alcohol content, which makes them out of balance. Of course, there are some classic wines with high alcohol content, but today, many conventional table wines, such as Merlot, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Zinfandel, have alcohol content above 15%. Some may be great, but if there are no other standards to refer to, we will still look for wines with alcohol content below 14%.
Animal patterns on labels-In the past few years, cheap wines marked with cute animals have been flooded. After tasting these wines, we found that their tastes were generally not as attractive as the labels. Of course, some good wines have animal patterns printed on their labels. For example, Stag's Leap or Iron Horse)-produced in California-but when it comes to less expensive wines, we'd better not buy those wines that seem to have animal designs as the main selling point. The hype about animals often reminds us not to buy such wine.
Origin-The more specific the description, the better. Generally speaking, labeling wines in Napa Valley may be more reliable than labeling wines in California. This is no exception in the world. Unfortunately, this convenience will also be reflected in the price, so it may not help you much in terms of cost performance. At present, there are some legendary famous vineyards and plots all over the world that can grow high-quality grapes. If you can remember something carefully, it may help you make a more confident guess about the quality of wine.
Bottle in the vineyard-this means that winemakers grow grapes in their own fields. Usually we think this is a good thing.
Old vines-theoretically, old trees produce less, but grapes are more delicious. But the problem is that no one has a clear definition of "old tree", and anyone can mark it on the label. So, don't worry.
Details, details, or details-did we like the late Hans when we were young? Sehr Trocken of Kornel is a sparkling wine, which is brewed in his winery in California. On the back of the label is the handwritten date, indicating when the wine was "yeast dissolved", when the sediment at the bottleneck of champagne was removed, and when the real cork replaced the temporary bottle cap. The label on the front of each bottle also added the sentence: "wine naturally ferments in this bottle." Don't underestimate this, because this is the real way of champagne brewing, that is, wine is fermented in bottles instead of huge barrels. We like this information, and some wineries still mark these details, including the dates of grape harvest and wine bottling. Such details show that the winemaker cares about this information, and he (she) understands that these details are also meaningful to the buyer. They increase the authenticity of wine.