Red Wines 101
If you don’t know much about red wines, learning these wines and knowing what foods to pair it up with is a good step in the right direction. You’ll be an expert in no time.
As for red wines, Cabernet Sauvignon is always a favorite. The grape ripens late and is best for clay types of soil and moderate, mild temperatures because it requires longer for the grapes to ripen. Cabernets are best served with salmon, trout and other sauce free meat. Merlot is another excellent and popular red wine. It’s dark features and high alcohol content makes this full bodied wine supple and velvety. It has three flavors, cherries, plums, and chocolate. This light flavored wine goes well with pates, game and casseroles.
Pinot Noir is the most challenging wine for winemakers. That’s because the pinot grape is very delicate and needs perfect temperature, and nurturing. Pinot Noirs are light in color. It’s high in alcohol content and medium to high in acidity. It’s aroma is one of roses with a hint of cola. It goes well with steak, chicken, ham, and rabbit. Pinot Noir’s can be costly, but don’t let that intimidate you. Zinfandel (also known as Zin) is a red skinned grape that is popular in California. The red grape was popular in the U.S.A. during prohibition because of the thick skin of the grapes. It made transportation easy. Zin tastes like red berries. This wine goes well with pizza and burgers. It works well with red sauce meals. Serve it at 65 degrees. Chianti is the most famous wine throughout Italy. Chianti does not drink well by itself, but if it’s drank with food, it’s a bold wine and pairs up with just about any food. Chianti pairs up really well with acidic food such as tomatoes, rich dishes, and mature cheese. When tasting it, you will notice that it is a very bold wine. Rioja red wines have four different classifications. The first Rioja is the youngest and spends less than a year in oak barrels. A Crianza is wine that is aged for at least two years, and Rioja Reserva is aged for at least three years, of which one year is in oak. Rioja Gran Reserva wines have been aged at least two years in oak and three years in the bottle. Because of the aging times, the Reserva and Gran Reserva aren’t produced each year. This wine has a fruity and delicate flavor and goes well with steak and other heavy foods.