Wines to Impress

The table is set , the food is almost ready but you are unsure what to serve with it and how you can be certain that you will impress your friends with the food, wine and atmosphere of your party.

There are loads of reasons why wine will impress your guests but the best way to make sure that you are serving the best wine to your friends is to do a bit of research to find out: what will go well with the types of food that you are serving; whether the wine should be served cold, chilled or at room temperature and to make sure that any wine that you buy is of a good quality.

A good quality wine will impress your friends or that someone special. But how do you know that it is a good quality wine? And how do you know that it is something that will suit you or your companions palate?

A great way to find out more about wines is to go to a wine tasting event. Many companies hold wine tasting events across the country and they are a great way to get to know wine in more detail. One tip to be aware of is that some companies only carry a small selection of wines - so make sure you go to an event held by an independent retailer, that way you can be sure that there will be a wide range of wines on offer and not just wine from a particular region or country. At a wine tasting there are three things to look out for: appearance, aroma and taste. It is best to taste wine during the daylight hours as this ensures that you can get a good look at the colour of the wine that you are drinking. Look out for clear, bright colours. Secondly, make sure you are not near anyone with gallons of perfume on - you want to be able to smell the wine, not Chanel No 5. Thirdly, don't eat whilst tasting wine - the flavour of the food will taint the flavour of the wine that you are tasting, if you are really desperate for food, have some dry biscuits.

Another way to ensure that the wine that you serve is of a high quality is to buy a fine wine. This is a term used fo wines that have achieved status within the industry. They can be from on of the world's finest producers or from a region which is well known for producing high quality grapes. The best way to get into buying this kind of wine is to seek the service of an expert. Many independent online wine retailers employ people who can give you this kind of help to ensure that the wine you buy really is of a high quality.

And one last thing that will definitely ensure that the wine you serve will delight your guests is to make sure you serve your wine at the right temperature. Nothing is worse than a warm white wine! In general a white wine needs an hour in the fridge before drinking and a red needs to be served at room temperature. If you have forgotten to chill your wine and need to do it in a hurry a bucket of ice and water will bring the temperature down.