What is the 1 thing that makes for a quality wine?
There could be many things that make for a bottle of quality wine, in fact, there are a few things that I think of first when trying to decide if this wine I just opened is a quality wine.
1. The Technicals
From a winemaker’s perspective, the wine has to be stable and non-faulty. Great grapes can be ruined if the wine was handled poorly causing it to be unstable, corked, oxidized, etc when bottled.
Most of us have a standard wine we expect and prefer and a faulty wine is something that usually falls out of that normal framework.
2. The Composition
A well-balanced wine should have flavours and aromas that are a great match with no overbearing factors on the palate.
Having healthy vines, good grapes and strategic winemaking decisions all seem to help in getting the right balance in a glass of wine to make for some memorable nights!
3. The Environment
The environment where you are drinking your wine has many factors that might influence your overall enjoyment of the wine.
These can include anything like where you are, what season is it, how you are feeling, are you alone or with people, is it a special occasion, etc.
Picking the right wine for the right time can make a huge difference.
I usually go for reds, but during this past hot summer, I found myself buying more and more whites!
If you have all of these components right, then I think you are in for a pretty solid wine experience. I’m sure this will be a bottle you remember time and time again.
Not only that, but the next time you get your hands on it, it can bring home the nostalgia of a wonderful night from the past.
The number 1 factor in a quality wine
So what is the number 1 factor in what determines a quality wine?
What truly makes a quality wine is up to you. The consumer is the number one factor that determines if a wine is a great wine or not.
We all have different tastes, perspectives, moods, backgrounds, and preferences. All of these things can make the wine of my dreams, the wine that you are pouring out because it reminds you have a bad night in college.
Most wineries understand this and they will try to get you to taste the wine and tell them what you think.
The beauty of wine tasting is there are no wrong answers.