A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Boutique Wine

Boutique wineries are wineries that don’t mass produce their wines.  Because boutique wineries produce a relatively small number of bottles, their wine tends to be made with the greatest of care.  Their attention to detail often ensures that boutiques wines are unique and delicious.

In general, wine is a terrific gift for both family and friends.  However, if you are searching for an even better gift for virtually any occasion then you need to look no further than boutiques wines.

If you aren’t very knowledgeable about how to choose the best wines then you will want to read this article.  It is a short but powerful beginner’s guide that will show you how to find the best boutique wines.

But first, let’s start with some wine basics.  You can divide wines into three primary categories – red, white and sparkling.  Only sparkling wine that is produced in the Champagne region of France it can legally be called Champagne.

For the sake of this guide we will not discuss blush wines because they are essentially a blend of red wine and white wine.

All wines can be differentiated by their age, origin, the types of grapes that are used and the techniques used to produce them.  You can see where a bottle of wine originated right on the label.

In the United States you will find that most boutique wineries are in California and Oregon.  The kind of grape used to produce the wine gives the wine its name.

There are many varieties of grapes and wines.  Some of the most common are Chardonnay, Zinfandel (which is a specialty of California) and Syarh (which originated in France).

Today the different types of grapes are grown in various places around the world.  They are no longer relegated to “growing up” where they originated from.  Therefore, it would not be unusual to find a bottle of Syrah that comes from California or a bottle of Zinfandel that originated in Australia.

You will see that each bottle of boutique wine has a year marked on the label.  The year is known as the vintage.  The vintage is when the grapes used to make the wine were harvested.

The quality of any particular vintage will vary with the climate that the grapes were grown in.  And since the climate depends on Nature’s whims, the quality of any the wines from any particular vineyard will vary from one year to the next.

As a general rule of thumb you will find that the older wines are more expensive than wine from a more recent vintage.  Typically, as far as quality is concerned, it is advantageous to buy an older vintage of red wine because red wines benefit from what is called aging.  Aging refers to keeping wine in the bottle for long periods of time.

On the other hand, there is no benefit associated with letting a white wine age.

Wine critics rate the quality of the wine to a large degree based on its complexity, acidity and aroma.  Higher rated wines command higher prices.  They also consider the quality of the specific vintage that is being rated, the way the wine was made, and other characteristics of the wine.

The reputation of the winery will also affect the cost of the wine and it has a distinct impact on the quality of the wine.

When you are choosing wines, be it for yourself or as a gift, keep in mind that most people drink white wine with meals that feature fish or white meat.  Red wines are usually matched with red meat.

Before you buy any wine you should research the type of grape, the brand, the vintage, and the critics’ reviews in order to have a better feel for what you want to buy.  After buying and drinking several different wines you will have a better feel for which boutique wines to purchase in the future.

No matter what wine you buy you will want to have it ready to drink anytime.  In order to do that you can purchase one of the affordable Wine Coolers that you can find online.