Friday, February 8 2008
Time and Taste
99 bottles of wine on the wall . . .
Choosing a wine that's ready for you
If we plot the relationship between TDS and quality/drinkability on a graph, it would look like this:
A straight concentrate kit will not develop the flavours and aromas that the higher TDS kits will. By contrast Selection and Estate Series kits don't drink as well while young, but continue to develop over time, to the point where drinking them when they are less than one year old may cut short their potential.
Which kit is right for you? People making wine for an impending wedding or other wine-related emergency might enjoy a Vintner's Reserve or a World Vineyards kit more than an International or Estate, while folks wanting to build up a cellar of fine vintages might not get the most bang with the same kit, and would be better off with Estate and Crushendo kits. Of course, the Crushendo does throw things out of wack with the refined tannins/processed skins thing, but I'm sure most people can live with that.
The bottom line is to know your wine needs (my usual answer is 'plenty'). Most folks who take part in the wine lifestyle will need a blend of early-drinking, long-ageing and some middle-road kits to make sure they have good tasting wine at all times. This keeps you from hitting the bottle shop too often, while allowing you to build a generous cellar with good wines coming ready to drink as you need them. Bigger isn't necessarily better, small can be beautiful, but I firmly believe that there's a right kit for every winemaker out there.
| Posted by Tim AT 6:35PM | 0 Comments |  |
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