Hello all! I'm a Scotch and Kentucky Bourbon drinker and have never really paid much attention to wine. Actually, only took a few sips of wine and that's all. But I have decided to try out wine seriously.
Anyway, a few questions: how is wine supposed to be drunk? room temperature only or can you also drink it cool? A relative of mine likes to keep a bottle of wine in the fridge to drink with supper in the summer when it's hot. I bought a bottle of cabernet sauvignon last night and drunk a glass warm. Then tonight I drunk a glass at dinner time after keeping the bottle in the fridge. It tasted pretty good cool, especially since it's getting very warm and humid here in the mid-west.
I'm just wondering, if you buy a nice bottle of wine, will you drink it right out of the bottle and room temperature or would you drink it cool?
Also, does wine get matured in casks like whisky? If so, then how long? With Scotch/whisky, they sit in casks for five, twelve, eighteen, etc... or more years.
Is wine more or less considered food or a drink? I know it's a drink, but it seems like wine is just as big a part of a meal as the actual food itself.
Do you drink wine because it tastes good? Or do you drink because it makes your food taste better? Or both?
Does wine go bad? Even after it's bottled, does it age any?
I know there are lots of wine choices out there. That's why I bought a wine buying guide book. But if I asked you to name me three or four bottles of red wine that I can find at a typical small/medium liquor store, that is considered good and offers a range of flavors/character, what would you name? Something to get me started.
Anyway, I'm reading my little wine book and am starting to understand some of this wine stuff - cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, and merlot are grapes. I thought they were wine companies or something lol.
Much thanks!