Quick tips for understanding wine

New world wines are named for the grape. Old world wines are named for the region: This tip is a real eye-opener. The U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Argentina, and Chile put the name of the grape on the label. Europe names it's wines after the region. What California calls Chardonnay, France calls white Burgundy. What's called Syrah in the U.S. is called Rhone in France. And for some reason Australia calls it Shiraz, but it's all the same grape. Knowing the grapes of the primary regions of Europe makes it much easier to discern information from wine labels.

Wines should be matched by weight with foods: For a quick way to pair food and wine, keep light wines with light food, and heavy wines with heavy food. Common wines listed by body from light to heavy are: Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon. Common foods from light to heavy are: White Fish, Steak Fish, Chicken, Pork, Beef.

The color of wine tells you something about the age of the wine: Like the rings of a tree, the color of wine gives away it's age. A very young red will be a purple-blue red. As it ages it becomes more of an orange red. A well aged wine will start to turn a brown red. Young whites are very light, some even clear. A middle aged white becomes yellowish. An older white turns golden.

The shape of the bottle tells you what region the wine is from: A long-necked bottle is used for the German and Alsatian wines, (Riesling, Gewurztraminer.) A soft-shouldered bottle is use for Burgundy and Rhone wines (Pinot Noir, Syrah, Grenache, Chardonnay, Viognier.) A firm shouldered bottle is used for Bordeaux wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc.)