how can you tell if a bottle of wine is any good before opening it?

Answer 1

Very good question. I have tasted a lot of wine over the years and have got to know the regions which produce wine that I like. I only drink French wine, as far as possible, because I find it really good. Some wine shops offer tastings, which is a good way to find out what you like and dislike. I also find that wines which taste terrible on their own taste entirely different when they are drunk with certain foods, so I enjoy reading books which help me to match food and wine.

Answer 2

It's not a bad idea to study the label. Usually any wine over about 12% proof should be reasonable. If it is estate bottled it usually comes from a small family vineyard and that's usually a good sign. Wines from South America can be good but you need to be paying around £4.00 to £5.00 a bottle for it, whereas with the French wine you can add about another £3.00 on top. I don't like to buy from Supermarkets because unless you are paying top notch the cheaper wines can be below par. Therefore I always buy my wine from Laithwaites (you can buy on line). They do really good deals (especially on the mixed sale cases) and deliver to your door and I can honestly say in 10 years I have never had a bad bottle.

Answer 3

Buy wine with a screw top or a man made cork - that way you don't run the risk of the cork reacting with the wine and going bad.

Never buy a wine where the cork doesn't sit flush with or below the level of the mouth of the bottle.

Go to the wine doctor website before going to the wine merchants for good advice on wine!

Answer 4

Look for Appellation contrôlée, cru classé, premiers cru or better still, grand cru classé on the label.
Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), which translates as "term of controlled origin" is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines.
Certain AOCs for wine are recognized as being superior to others in their region as first established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Typically these are variations on "cru," the French word for growth, and depend on the region. In general, wines called "Grand Cru" are at the top of the quality hierarchy, with "premiers crus" one level below. Beneath these are simple named places.

Answer 5

You really can't. That is one of the reason when you serve a bottle of wine in a restaraunt you poor a taste to the customer and the customer smells it and sips it. You can smell a bad wine. I work in 5star restaraunts for years.

Answer 6

Look for any cork damage, next it gets to personal taste, wine toffs disdain at some of the new world wines saying they rubbish but they selling loads.

Answer 7

I've never had any wine that didn't taste like vinegar and I don't mean just cheap crap. So my advice is stick to Tennents Super T - you know it's going to be good every time you crack open a can!

Answer 8

It's price tag usually says £20 or more! Or ask which is the most popular, unless you live on a council estate and then it'll be lambrini

Answer 9

If it comes in a box rather than a bottle, I don't recommend it.

It just depends on your preferences and your budget.

Answer 10

Hmm - don't think you can as it all comes down to personnal taste. you will just need to buy lots of bottles and try them all. Just as well its the weekend then eh!!!