Wine comes with its own language, and you need to learn how to speak this tongue if you want to develop a greater understanding of this fascinatingly complex tipple. With this in mind, the Ideal Wine Company asks; how does wine taste like other fruits?

1. Ideal Wine Company Articles 28th
September 2015
Writer Launches Wine School for Cooks
Answering the prayers of dinner party-throwers everywhere, the Ideal Wine Company has learned
that a wine writer has decided to open a new school to teach amateur cooks about wine.
Tough choice
We’ve all beenthere;you’ve decidedtothrow a dinnerpartyand you wantto pick the perfectwine
to go with your dish. But wine is such a complex drinkand there are so many varieties – white,red,
rose, sparkling, sweet, etc. – that you have no idea which vintage to choose.
Your choice could determine the success of your night. You can pair wines with practically any dish
fromchickentofishtolamb,but there isn’tonewine thatgoeswith every type of cuisine. If youmake
the right choice you can highlightthe subtle flavoursof yourcuisine,butmake the wrong choice and
you’ll strike a particularly stark contrast that’ll leave your food tasting horribly unpleasant.
Wine for foodies
Don’t worry dinnerparty people help’sonitsway, as celebratedfoodandwine writerFionaBeckett
has decided to open a wine school for cooks. The Drinks Business recently reported that she and
Itamar Srulovich willhold aseriesof popup “wine forfoodies”classesat hisrestaurant, Honey&Co.,
near Regent’s Park, London.
The classesare aimedat amateurcooks,whoin Beckett’sownwordsare “passionate aboutfoodbut
nervousaboutwine.”She wentontosay, “I’ve lostcountof the numberof goodcookswho have told
me they know nothing about wine. Of course they do, it’s just they don’t feel relaxed about it.”
Course syllabus
Starting 11th
October, each class will talk students through six particular wines. Ultimately, they’re
designedtoleaveattendeesfeelingmore confidentabouthow toorderawine inarestaurant, aswell
to how to choose a tipple to accompany a homemade meal.
The firstclasswill focusonwhite andorange wine,whichBeckettbelievespairsfantasticallywell with
Middle Easternfood;we’dlovetobe astudentinthatclass!Meanwhile the 1st
Novembersessionwill
be centredonrose and redwines,aswell as the agingof wine. Furthermore the classBeckett andthe
restaurant’sownerplantoholdon6th Decemberwill teachstudents aboutsweetandsparklingwines.
Put it into practice
If thissoundslike somethingyou’dbe interestedinandyoulive inthe area,whynotgocheck outthe
Beckett’s “wine for foodies” classes? Then, you can take everything you learn about red wine to
determine what dishes to pair with stellar vintages such as the Chateau La Conseillante 2007, which
you can buy from the Ideal Wine Company today.
How Much Wine to Take in a Single Sip?
The results of a new study have shown the Ideal Wine Company teamthat the amount of wine you
take within a single sip, can determine the quality of the final drink.
Tasting wine

2. No two wines are the same. Each wine you encounter on the Ideal Wine Company product list, for
example,has its own unique balance of flavours, and a number of factors can determine how those
flavours translate on the tongue. This is a problem that wine enthusiasts around the world have
devoted themselves to solving for years, and in that time they’ve made some headway.
They’ve found thatthe wayyoustore a wine candetermine itsquality.If you don’tfollow ourtipsfor
storing wine, and leave it somewhere humid, for example, this could promote mould, ruining the
vintage.Researchershave alsorecently discovered thatthe shape of a wine glassreallydoesmatter,
as it determines how air transforms the key components of the vintage.
Importance of sipping
Now a research team at the Institute of Masters and Wine have foundout that the amount of wine
youimbibe ina single sip alsogovernshow ittastes onyour tongue. The DailyMail reported thatthe
team discoveredthatvariationsin the taste of wine are caused by the differingamountof chemicals
released, according to the volume of the mouthful.
What kind of real world applications does this finding have for you? The researchers noted that this
means that if you take a small sip of wine, you may encounter flavours such as wood and almond,
whilstif youtake a large sip,you mightencountermore citrusynotes e.g.lime. If youwanttoenjoya
Chardonnay,forexample, youshould take small sips,whilstif you’re lookingtodrinka Riesling,take
large gulps to bring the best qualities out of the drink.
Try it out
Marcia Waters,amemberof the Institute ofMastersandWinecommentedontheresultsof thestudy.
She said: “Thiswork may well have implicationsonhow wine tastingcan be conducted.I thinkmany
tasters have just found a style of tasting that suits them without really considering the particular
compounds they are trying to detect.”
Here at the Ideal Wine Companywe thinkMarciahasa point;youneedtotrydifferentwaysof tasting
yourfavourite vintage todetermine the bestwaytodrinkit.Thisiswhywe believethatif you buythe
ChateauAusone 1988 from the Ideal Wine Company,forexample,youshould doalittle work to find
out the best way to imbibe this fabulous vintage!
How Does Wine Taste Like Other Fruits
Wine comes with its own language, and you need to learn how to speak this tongue if you want to
develop agreaterunderstandingof thisfascinatinglycomplextipple.Withthisinmind,the Ideal Wine
Company asks; how does wine taste like other fruits?
Fruity wines
If you everread a setof wine tastingnotes,you’ll notice that theysay the vintage inquestiontastes
like certain fruitse.g.pineapple,lemon,blackberriesetc.Doesthismeanthatwineismade fromamix
of fruits? In most instances, certainlyin the cases of the wines on our product list, the answer is no;
traditionally wines are only made with grapes.
So how can a wine that’s made with grapes taste like melons or strawberries or even kiwis? Wine X
Magazine has written a great article which provides a perfect answer to this question. They explain
that "a wine's flavour, character and aroma are locked up in the grape, and it's the yeast (through
fermentation) that activates -- unlocks -- these characteristics."

3. In otherwords grapescontainthe same natural chemical compoundsfoundin fruitsandother foods
e.g.butter.Fermentation,orotherpartsof the wine making process,provokesachainreactionwhich
unlocksthese compounds,allowingustosmell andtaste the sameflavoursandaromas foundinfruits
and other foods in the finished product.
Flavour controls
This allows wine makers to control the flavour of the finished product throughout various stages of
the productionprocess.Here are fourvital areasof wine making,andhow producerscanuse themto
determine the flavour of the vintage:
 Fermentation:Yeastiskeyfor fermentationanddifferentyeaststrainscanprovoke different
flavours in the finished wine. For example one yeast may create tropical fruit flavours in
Chardonnay, but another may create more citrusy ones.
 Secondary fermentation: Also called lactic fermentation, this process creates
butter/butterscotchflavours.Basicallyifawine makerplacestheirproductthroughsecondary
fermentationtheyconverttartacid to a softeracid that createsa by-productcalled diacetyl,
lending the wine a few buttery notes.
 Lees contact: After yeast has been usedin fermentation its cellsdie,since their foodsource
hasbeenusedtofermentthe grape juice.Thisleavesaby-productcalledlees,andif youleave
leesinawhite wine foralongtime, itcanproduce pastry-esqueflavours.Thisisaparticularly
common occurrence in sparkling wines that have been left to age for at least three years.
 Oak aging: A lotof wines,aswell ascognacs,are agedinoakbarrelsbefore they’resoldtothe
public.The age,type and toast level of an oak barrel can impart a range of flavoursincluding
clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, coffee, caramel, chocolate, vanilla and obviously, oak.
See for yourself
Therefore the wine making process unlocks characteristics in grapes which allows wine to taste like
manyfruits,aswell asa hostof otherfoods.If youwantto see foryourself how thisworks,whydon’t
you buy ChateauGrand Puy Lacoste 2007 from the Ideal Wine Company?As we wrote in our review
of the product, this vintage boasts tantalising flavours of black cherries and cedar.