A Few Common Wine Questions

If you are just starting to get into wine, you may have a few questions that you find yourself asking. To help you sort out and answer some of those questions we’ve taken the time to answer just a few of those common questions you may be asking yourself about wine.

1. Why is it that some wines give you a headache? Wine has a little thing called histamines in it. Red wines have a higher concentration of histamines that white wines do. Histamines are found in the skins of the wine and red wines spend time marinating on their skins in order to excerpt pigment, tannin, flavors, and, of course, histamines. Those particular tannins and flavonoids have a tendency to help preserve red wines, which results with white wines having larger levels of sulfites than red wines. So if you happen to get a headache after sipping on some red wine, its most likely a common reaction to the histamines. Fortunately, this can be prevented by simply taking an antihistamine before you even start to drink.

2. What exactly are sulfites and should I be alarmed? Sulfites are a regularly occurring natural element in wine. Surprisingly enough, many vintners have actually been using sulfur in a wide variety of forms for years. In order to help protect and prevent your wine from spoiling, sulfur is used in the vineyards, cellars and during the bottling process. Many people actually believe that sulfites are a reason why people have a tendency to get headaches from drinking wine. However, the fact is that very few people are allergic to sulfites and practically all vintners do everything they can to bring the levels of sulfites down in their wines.

3. What wines offer the best vintages? Unfortunately there are no universally great vintages that can be easily picked out since vintages are very region-specific. Many producers will only bottle a level of quality that they can be proud of, so despite vintage having an effect on wines, it is more commonly a stylistic effect than a qualitative one. Often times, the best vintages out there are simply the ones you personally enjoy the most. Some drinkers prefer hot vintages that harvest higher alcohol content, fruitier, and even jammier wines, while others prefer the tastes of wines that are lighter-bodied, fresher, and more acidic wines from a cool or damp year.

If you ever have any other questions about the wines you are tasting or just wine in general, feel free to ask the Temecula wine tasting hosts of Ponte Winery. Ponte Winery is one of the finest Temecula wineries in Southern Califo
ia. As a fine Temecula winery, Ponte Winery can offer you and your friends and family an abundance of knowledge when it comes to wine, wine tasting, wine pairing and so much more. So the next time you are in the area, be sure to visit Ponte Winery to enjoy a relaxing day filled with mouthwatering wine.