The good thing about Kenyan’s is that we love moving with what looks like its trending, even material things. For instance wine, our thirst for wine is really increasing. The problem is we fix ourselves on hearsay rather than trying to know the ‘what is what’. We have not mastered the art of buying a good bottle.
However choosing the right wine in a shop with hundreds of bottles can be intimidating. How do you pick a bottle that leaves an impression? Here are tips from Lindsay Mukasa of WoW Beverages in Nairobi which sells wines from Italy, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, France and Germany.
This is what you need to know when buying a bottle of wine.
- You need to know which food you are serving.
It’s obvious that red meat goes with red wine and white meat goes with white wine, however there some individuals who cannot stomach red wine. So it is advisable to have red, white and rosé. Most Kenyans like sweet wine so you should never miss sweet wine when you are hosting.
It’s important to note that if you are serving it with just normal food that is not so spicy, a bold character wine might overwhelm the taste of the food. If you are planning to do Indian cuisine, for instance, buy wine that has character. Go for something like a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Pinotage because the bold character of these wines will complement the spiciness of the food.
If you are having non-spicy food, get a Merlot, a Pinot noir or a Chardonnay. These wines also go well with vegetarian meals or something with fruits or vegetables. A Chardonnay or a Chenin Blanc pairs well with most foods. If you are serving fruit salad or vegetable salad, and you decide to have Pinotage or a Shiraz, it will be a disaster.
- How do you store wine?
Rule number one, your kitchen is a no…no… Hot temperatures are an enemy to wine. Store it in a cellar, in a bar or a living room cabinet or in your library. If you want to keep it for long, store it in a lying position. But again not all wines are made to stand the test of time. If you see a wine is Sh700, that wine cannot stay for 10 years, because it has not been made for that.
Point to note: – that there are wine staples, they include, a red, a white, a rosé and sweet wine. The sweet can either be red or white.
-Cheap wine is not bad wine. Ideally, there is no bad wine. It is all about your palate, you have to keep tasting to get your niche, you cannot do this in one day.
- Common mistakes in buying and serving wine
One big mistake is buying wine, open it, drink a little and then store it. Forgetting you have already opened it. One day you find it and drink it. Then you call a wine seller saying the wine is bad. If wine sits out for more than three days that’s no longer wine. Most people don’t know how long wine should stay after it’s been opened.
You can buy a wine keep — a kind of a gas that you can spray inside the bottle after opening or a special suction which pulls out the air from the bottle once the cork is off. After suctioning, cover it and your wine can stay for a week.
- What is Kenya Drinking?
Kenyans love their sweet wine, be it white or red. Not because they not exploring but because they have not been exposed to what the world of wine has to offer.
For beginners, Start with sweet wines or sangria. Then move to the natural sweet range. Then graduate to Merlot, then Pinot Noir, then Pinotage and then Cabernet Sauvignon.
If you have never taken wine and you go directly to the Cabernet, you may not enjoy it. You should start gradually from sweet to just dry then graduate to full bodied.
Sweet wines have between six and 10 per cent alcohol content but the full-bodied ones have 14 per cent. Port wine which is Portuguese has 19 per cent alcohol content. It is basically wine with some brandy in it. It is sweet but also very heavy.