White, red, sparkling, dry. Take your pick and pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine.
This is a motion that many 22– to 37-year-olds commonly make each night. This age group, also known as millennials, are trading in other beverages for wine more than any other generation before them. In 2015, millennials even consumed 42 percent of all the wine sold in the United States, according to a study done by Wine Business.
But how can these young wine drinkers expand their pallets past Barefoot Moscato?
Well the answer is simple: Just keep trying different wines.
Although this sounds easy to some, it can be intimidating. According to WINESTYL’s wine guide, there are over 10,000 styles of wine around the world and thousands of different variations of each kind.
To make the process of expanding your pallet a little easier, here are a few steps from Vino209 Wine Café’s Owner, Kelly Sharp, and her Sommelier and Wine Representative, Elise Vaux, to help guide you to the best wine for each situation.
Environment
The environment in which you choose to consume wine can drastically change the taste of not only the wine but also the food you choose to pair with it.
For example, if it is a hot summer day and you are sitting out on a patio, a wine such as merlot will taste heavy on your tongue and not give you the refreshing notes that you are looking for. A lighter more citrusy wine, such as a sauvignon blanc, will taste more refreshing.
That said, according to Sharp, there is no formal rule of where and for what occasion each type of wine should be consumed. As your pallet develops more, you will be able to distinguish which wines you personally enjoy in each situation.
Food Pairing
Vaux explained that wine is created to be paired with food. This can be seen throughout Europe’s wine culture, as wine is consumed with every meal. It is meant to be an overall experience. However in the U.S., wine culture is more similar to the way we drink beer; fast and without food. This is mainly because people do not take the time to learn which wine is the best to pair with each dish they are eating.
According to Vaux, there is a simple rule of thumb in order to find a good pairing for your meal: “What grows together, goes together.”
What Vaux means by this is that if you are eating food from a certain region or country, it is best to pair that food with a wine from the same area. The color of the wine does not always matter in this case, but the natural flavors in that wine will help bring out similar notes in the food.
Sharp agreed with Vaux and also added that it is best to pair sweet with sweet. Meaning that sweeter wines are going to pair very well with desserts and fruits.
Region
The area in which wine is grown also drastically changes its overall taste. The kind of climate and soil that each region has dictates the kind of grapes that can be grown there for wine, limiting some vineyards.
For example, in Iowa, the soil is really rich, which is not always the best for wine-producing grapes. This narrows down the kinds of grapes that can grow here and therefore, limits the depth of flavor in the wines. According to Vaux, in order to get a wider range of flavors, vineyards will choose to add sugars, honey and other fruits, making most Iowa wines sweeter. I’m not saying these wines are not delicious, just more limited on their overall taste.
Both Sharp and Vaux agree that developing your pallet for wine might take years. However, by following these few steps you can begin to broaden your tastes and begin to enjoy wine to its full potential.
If you are still nervous or want to learn more about wine, Vino209 has wine tastings every Wednesday evening and wine education classes each month. Each class costs $30 to attend and includes a few glasses of wine. To find out more about Vino209, visit their website, vino209.com, or stop by their shop in Valley Junction.
