New Year's Eve: Here are easy tips to help choose your wine for the party

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With the festive week currently underway, the parties are never-ending and New Year's Eve is going to be no different. While there will be a lavish spread of food, there is also going to be some spirits. With wine becoming more popular over the years, people are going to need a guide on how to choose the perfect wine for the occasion. If you are wondering how to go about it, then Indian wine experts say you have to keep it simple.

Gorakh Gaikwad, winemaker and COO at Sula Vineyards, says, "Choosing the right wine can truly elevate your celebrations. For a classic pairing, The Source Sauvignon Blanc is an excellent choice to complement light appetisers like bruschetta or fresh salads. For heartier mains, such as roasted meats or rich gravies, Rasa Shiraz offers the perfect balance of boldness and complexity. And if you're looking to add a touch of sparkle to your celebrations, The Source Moscato is perfect for toasts and desserts."

On the other hand, Sumit Jaiswal, chief operating officer at Grover Zampa Vineyards, says it is important to choose a wine that matches the emotion of the moment and evokes a memory. "A sparkling wine is always a good start to start the celebrations and one can try the Grover Soiree and LA Réserve sparkling."

While there are many different kinds of wines, Jaiswal adds that off dry style of wine are usually preferred for the Indian palate but tastes and preferences are also evolving. The vineyards's Art Collection Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, he says, are perfect examples of off dry style of wine. People are trying more and more premium and reserve wines.

He goes on to add that white wines are ideal to be paired with poultry and fish dishes and their in-house art collection Chenin and Sauvignon, VA White Viognier Réservé and LA Réserve blanc are some examples. On the other hand, red wines like Chene Tempranillo Shiraz, VA Red, La Reserve Red and Signet range perfectly pair well with red meats, tandoori and barbecues dishes and turkey. "Art Collection Cabernet Shiraz also pairs well with Christmas and plum cakes. The One Tree Hill mulled wines makes the occasion cosier and add that's warmth to the festive celebrations," he adds.

Jaiswal busts common myths about wines

Myth: The older the wines, the better
He says not all wines improve with age. Some wines are made for immediate enjoyment and are meant to be drunk young and fresh, while others benefit from the right amount of aging. Furthermore, aging controlled by experts in a winery, in barrels or bottles under ideal temperature and humidity conditions, is not the same as aging at home. In other words, storing a wine for a long time is not enough to improve its quality. Moreover, wines are like people, they are alive and they evolve, each one in a different way, so a well-preserved wine can age well and give us a pleasant surprise, or it can evolve in an unfavourable way that harms its organoleptic properties.

Myth: Red wine is served at room temperature and should never be chilled
First of all, he asks, "What do we mean by room temperature?" He further explains, "If we were to think of the global temperature and find the average between the world's different climates, the calculations would result in a global value of about 14°C (which, unfortunately, is rising). In reality, the ambient temperature turns out to be colder than we think and is not common for all the inhabitants of the Earth nor for all the seasons of the year. The ideal recommended temperature for drinking red wines ranges from 13 degrees Celsius to 18 degree Celsius (the global average temperature falls within this range), which is what we mean by "room temperature"."