Let’s be clear. Wine is to be enjoyed. Otherwise, what’s the point?

 

If so, how can wine be enjoyable? First and foremost, it should taste good. Wine should be delicious such that when you sip it the taste should bring a smile to your face. It should be pleasant, it should be noticeable in a positive way. It should capture your mood – enhance your mood, recall a fond memory, add to the occasion, bring friends together.

At Faber, we believe the most important measure of our wine is its palatability. It is a complex concept. Palatability combines a wine’s nature – appearance, smell, taste, and texture – with the consumer’s sensory capabilities and preferences, and the environment in which the wine is consumed. Phew – that’s a lot to deliver!

There are a lot of immeasurables to palatability. And this is where the winemaker’s experience and skill are important – to understand how to create palatable wines for a range of people and occasions.

We endeavour to craft and offer highly palatable wines. First, we understand that no one wine will be universally palatable – there is a range of personal preferences and many different occasions when wine may be enjoyed. If we are celebrating, relaxing after a long day, sharing a meal, enjoying company. If it’s hot or cold, day or night. If we are excited, relaxed, sad or glad. We need a range of wines.

Fruity, savoury, crisp, or soft, light, or full-bodied, sweet, or dry. They all have their place – some people just like one type of wine, some people like a range of wines. Regardless we want our wines to be flavoursome and characterful. We want freshness and an evenness – balance.

The occasion is important. When we are upbeat and celebratory we want a bright lively wine. When relaxing we want a comfortable wine. If we are eating we want something that complements our food. Wine can deliver all these things.

 

People eating food and drinking wine on a wooden sharing table

 

Picking the right wine for the occasion is important. Sometimes we want to be challenged by our wine, to experience new flavours and sensations (albeit pleasant ones). Sometimes we seek the familiar. To enjoy wine the most we believe we should be open-minded to trying different wines and we should seek better wines. Clearly, there is a level of wine that is sound but perfunctory. If we really want to enjoy wine, we must aim higher.  We all have a concept of value, and we will rarely enjoy a wine if we don’t feel it is of good value. Within our individual perception of value, better wine that is more intense, fresher, and better balanced will be more enjoyable. So aim high.

What we eat and drink should complement each other. Wine is uniquely positioned in its ability to be integrated into our meals. We hope all Wine Lovers have experienced the pleasure of a delicious wine complementing a beautiful meal. From the humblest to the most sophisticated meal, there is an infinite range of wonderful matches – oysters with a crisp sparkling, quiche and Verdelho, a steak and Shiraz, blue cheese and Muscat.

We don’t have to follow any rules – try your own combinations – start with a wine and a meal you enjoy and explore from there.

Wine is not about simply drinking. Wine doesn’t really go with getting up in the morning or working your day. Wine is social and wine is a part of eating and often both. It’s not about volume, although when enjoying delicious wine, it is natural to want more!

The food and drink we consume should offer more than simply sustenance. We like to know something of it – where it comes from, how it was made. What’s the story? Wine has such a rich culture, full of traditions, innovations, personalities. Thousands of years ago wine was seen as a gift from the gods. It still is!!!

An awareness of a wine’s story – its history, its source, its reason for being – and your connection to it, sharing that with others, can really add to your enjoyment of a wine. Who doesn’t have a sentimental favourite wine?  Was it simply the taste that made it memorable, or was it the context in which you enjoyed it?

So, how to enjoy wine? Try a range, aim high, match the wine to the occasion, try different wines with different foods, follow your heart, find your favourites and share with friends and family.