How to choose the right wine in the store: advises the sommelier of the British Queen. Wine bottles: the history of the form Wine in an unusual bottle

Jancis Robinson

One of the world's leading wine critics, author of a dozen books on wines, co-author of a landmark work, MBE holder, Queen Elizabeth II wine cellar consultant. Considered one of the most authoritative specialized resources, it has published more than a hundred reviews and materials about wines from around the world.

Avoid heat and light

Do not take a bottle that has been exposed to direct light (including from a display case) or that has been stored near a battery. The harmful effects of direct light or heat deprive the wine of fruit and freshness.

Pay attention to where the wine is poured

Give preference to wines bottled as close to the vineyards as possible. Beware of New Zealand wine bottled in the UK. Most of the wine materials are transported by tanks on cargo ships. Manufacturers,
those who care about quality bottle the wine themselves or trust it to professionals. On French wine labels, pay attention to the inscription "Mis en bouteille au domaine / chateau" - "Bottled in the estate / chateau."

Prefer bottles stored horizontally

If the wine is stoppered with a natural cork, choose something that has been stored in a horizontal position: the cork remains moist and oxygen does not enter the bottle.

Look closely at the level of wine in the neck area

Check the level of wine in the neck area. If you put the bottle upright, there should be no more than two to three centimeters of air above the surface of the wine. Otherwise it's a sign too a large number oxygen in contact with wine.

Check if there is extra information on the label

Beware of labels too detailed description flavors and recommendations for pairing with food. This is a sign of aggressive marketing. Personally, I prefer details regarding the characteristics of wine production.

Install apps for wine lovers on your smartphone

Feel free to torment sellers

Focus on conscientious vintners and don't hesitate to ask for advice. If the advice of one does not suit you, turn to another until you find understanding.

Many people choose wine solely on the label. And designers compete for the right to come up with an original packaging for a bottle of wine. Our review has collected 15 stunning wine labels, the creators of which have focused on meaning, and not just visual appeal.

Braille label

Lazarus Wines- a unique wine project from La Rioja, Spain. Wines are made by blind winemakers - their heightened taste qualities allow you to create an excellent balanced drink.

Label with floral pattern

The bright label of the bottle makes this wine a great gift for any woman. The design will appeal to those who are not attracted to minimalistic drawings.

perforated label

This label will allow any person to make a kind of political statement. Thanks to the perforation, the paper strips from the bottle De Bandera are removed, turning the painted Spanish flag into a Catalan one.

Label illustrating the optimal drinking time for wine

Wine label color from Motif tell you what time of day to drink a certain wine. For example, the wine in the photo should be consumed in the morning, until about 3 pm.

Label for those keen on psychology

Label for wine, coined Inkwell Wines, inspired by the Rorschach test - everyone sitting at the table can tell what he sees in these ink spots.

Label to speak up

A beautiful label that allows a person to express what's on their mind.

Travel label

An interesting label drawn in the style of a plane ticket.

Eco style label

Australian company Equilibrium Estate advocates for environmentally friendly methods of wine production and uses them in their vineyards. Formulating a unique selling proposition, the owners decided to focus on caring for environment. As the company monitors the reduction of waste and water use, the negative impact on the climate, in particular, the rise in sea levels, is reduced. This idea is reflected on the label, decorated with wavy lines that disappear with the wine.

humorous label

A funny label will cheer you up even before drinking the wine. She took first place in the Modern House Wine competition in 2012.

Menu card label

Tapas Wine Collection produces Spanish wines that are ideal for use with bread, olives, ham, olives, cheese and other snacks. That is why the label is made in the form of a restaurant menu on a slate board.

Label dedicated to sans-serif fonts

Typography lovers should appreciate this wine. Only 100 bottles were produced and the labels were designed by the Spanish studio. Wild Wild Web Studio. It's funny if someone came up with the idea to release Comic Sans wine.

Label inspired by geography

This label was designed by Rob Schellenberg. Abstract drawings are prints from topographic maps, and the numbers indicate the lines of latitude on which the vineyards are located.

exclamation mark label

Designers implemented interesting idea- they drew an exclamation mark on the label, talking about the exclusivity of the wine. In addition, such packaging clearly stands out on the store shelf.

label for romantics

Space black labels were designed for wine from a vineyard White Fence Vineyard which, unfortunately, has closed. Constellations and planets on a black background look very stylish and impressive.

Window labels

The unusual wine bottle is not only divided into 4 "glasses", but also shows the color of the contents - through the slot in the label, the viewer can appreciate the shades different varieties guilt.

All wine lovers will also be interested in studying the review.

We are accustomed to the classic wine bottle...umm.. To be honest, we are somewhat at a loss to characterize it - it is so common. But there are producers who have gone a little further and tried to draw attention to their wine, at least to its appearance.

The bottle plays an important role in winemaking. It is not uncommon for winemakers to complain if they come across a bad batch, with marriage. Champagne owners are especially indignant: bottles, even with the slightest speck, explode when champagne begins to ferment.

The bottle may be calling card for the wines of the whole region, as well as due to certain characteristics. Take, for example, Bordeaux. Their classic bottle with steep shoulders, and a dimple at the bottom to allow sediment to accumulate in the canvas at the base. But Burgundy wines do not have such a “dimple”, since sediment is rare in them.

Well, especially sophisticated bottles are difficult to discuss, since the reason for their appearance was a marketing ploy and nothing else.

An unusual bottle of "blood grapes" according to the label

True, unusual decanters can be found more often. These are, for example:

You will not find such a bottle on sale, as it is rather a business idea. But, you see, it's not bad. We would not refuse such a bottle at home. However, if you really try and look, maybe there is one for sale?

This, again, is not a bottle for sale, but original way storing or serving wine. But even in an empty form, it can happen to be an interesting piece of furniture.

And for those who cannot decide which wine to drink - white or red, this bottle will be a great option!

Or here's an option. There is something in this, vaguely reminiscent of chemistry lessons at school.

In the WineStreet store, too, not all bottles are standard:

Wine Villa Grande (Moldova)

Wine "Ice Wine" (Fanagoria, Russia)

I studied at the University food production, and in my diploma it says: "An engineer with a degree in fermentation technology and winemaking," Yulia Arievich told Life. - Once our teacher prepared squash wine and treated us to it. It was white wine with a rather weakly pronounced taste. Nevertheless It made a huge impression.It turns out that wine can be made not only from grapes!

The words of Yulia Arievich are clearly confirmed by both culinary forums and news reports. What wine is not made from! Rose hips, sea buckthorn, oranges, old jam, raspberries... Everything gets into the cookbooks of homegrown winemakers!

Ogorodnoe

You will not find such drinks in any wine department, only in cellars and collections of true fans of gardening and winemaking. Russian craftsmen have mastered the preparation of wines from beets (a strong drink similar to port wine), carrots (similar to dry sherry), celery (white wine with a specific aroma), potatoes (white, rich and very strong), as well as turnips and swede (dry white wines). Winemakers do not hesitate to supplement their masterpieces with dried fruits (prunes, dates, dried apricots), spices (cloves, nutmeg) and honey. One of the culinary specialists discovered by Life made wine from bird cherry. While the aroma was quite pleasant, the result was so tart that even one sip caused a scratchy throat.

However, to leave a bucket of fruits or vegetables to ferment, and later call the resulting drink wine - the application is perhaps too ambitious. Only selected options get into industrial production. We will tell about them.

seaweed wine

lovers Japanese cuisine such a drink would be to your liking, because it is prepared on the basis of seaweed and goes perfectly with sushi! Laminaria is made from algae collected from the Baltic Sea. For the first time, such a recipe came up with the marine biologist Inz Linke. According to the sommeliers, this exhibit has flavors of marzipan.

pomegranate wine

Pomegranate wine is a drink for everyone. “Typical fruit and berry wine. I didn’t like it,” admitted Polina Trukhanova, one of the authors of Life, who met with pomegranate wine in Armenia, a country that is one of the trendsetters in the field of pomegranate wines. plum wines. Sour and sweet at the same time, with a very pronounced taste of fermentation. Maybe I was just unlucky with the manufacturer ... "

Meanwhile, those same producers write that the wine has a "pleasantly tart and fragrant aroma. fresh pomegranate", and the taste is "fruity, spicy, sweetish." Well, here, apparently, everything is subjective, but we note that pomegranate wine- a rare copy. They are reluctant to take on its production: the fermentation process of this fruit, pomegranate, is too difficult.

Dandelion wine

Romantic and airy natures will surely like light dandelion wine! Moreover, it is glorified in the story of the same name by Ray Bradbury. One of the characters explains in the book that it is it that stores the events that took place at the time when the drink was made: "Dandelion wine. These words themselves are like summer on the tongue. Dandelion wine is summer caught and corked in a bottle." According to practitioners, in the manufacture of this variety it is extremely important to prevent green petals from getting into the drink. According to them, even one petal can spoil the whole taste (ideally, it will be flower-honey). Finding such a wine for sale is extremely difficult, but still possible. Another literary classic, Leonid Filatov, wrote about where to get a drink in Russia:

"I will be considered a liar,

Yes, but I'm not lying.

Dandelion wine

Trading on the corner…"

For real dandelion wine, head to Amazon.

tomato wine

In Canada, there is the Omerto brand, which has thundered all over the world with its tomato wine. It was invented by a certain Pascal Miche. tomato wine, contrary to logic, not red, but very white (and the rest of the organoleptic properties bear little resemblance to a tomato). By the way, this drink impresses not only with its key ingredient, but also with a list healing properties among which are anti-cancer. The fact is that in such wine the concentration of lycopene is very high - a fierce fighter against a terrible disease. As for technology, Monsieur Michet used three varieties of tomatoes at once in his recipe: subarctic, yellow and black cherry tomatoes. The wine is produced within nine months. That is how much the fruits need to properly compress, ferment and withstand.

feline

Nyan Nyan Noveau (translated as "New Harvest Meow Meow") is the real wine for cats. It is sold in Japanese pet stores and is a drink made from Cabernet Franc grapes with the addition of catnip, so, despite the non-alcoholic nature, the cat will still get drunk and, most likely, will make the holiday universal.

blue musical

Unusually, this wine is primarily blue, symbolizing innovation and movement. In all other respects, this is a fairly standard drink, based on a mixture of red and white grapes. AT Blue colour the wine, called Gik Live, is colored with anthocyanins - natural components of grape skins and indigo dye. However, there is another unusual moment. Manufacturers have prepared several special music playlists for Gik Live. You should enjoy a drink exclusively under the proposed tracks.

"Vikofe"

"Espresso-Cabernet" and "Cappuccino-Chardonnay" - how do you like these combinations? The idea of ​​combining coffee with alcohol is not new, although much stronger drinks used to be part of such cocktails. The producers explain that they simply decided to mix "the most popular daytime drink and the most popular evening drink." Drink (drink?) to be from tin cans.

What will you drink?

About whether it is appropriate to call the above-mentioned drinks wines, we asked the editor-in-chief and publisher of the portal "Grozdi.ru. All about wine" Alexander Militsky.

“What is wine is a largely terminological question. In everyday life, it is customary to call wine any product of natural yeast fermentation of any juice (for example, fruit and berry wine, Home wine cherry, etc.). Nevertheless, of all fruits, it is grapes that are by nature the most suitable for making such drinks (it is no coincidence that in many languages ​​the words "wine" and "grapes" are the same root). It was from it that the first wines were made back in antiquity," the expert recalls.

According to Militsky, in many countries (including Russia) there are laws regulating which drinks can be called wine.

"In particular, in Russia, the manufacturer can write the word "wine" on the label only if the product is made only from grapes without the addition of any other ingredients (the only exception: it is allowed to fasten with rectified alcohol when preparing special liqueur wines) - explains the interlocutor of Life.- Such legislative measures serve to protect the consumer so that he does not run into a drink under the guise of natural wine, in which, in order to improve taste properties cheap, low-quality raw materials added sugar, citric acid, fragrances, and the like.

In Russia, such "improved" products are defined by such a law as " wine drinks", which is clearly indicated on the labels. This category is much cheaper compared to natural wines.

“Obviously, due to such regulatory norms, neither tomato wine nor dandelion wine in Russia has the right to be called wine,” Militsky argues logically. “However, this does not mean that drinks made not from grapes, but from other raw materials, are necessarily bad, they are just called differently.For example, a drink made from apples is called cider, from pears - poiret, etc. And wine, and cider, and poiret, and any other drink can be good and bad, quality and not really. And how it is called is the tenth thing. "