Wine for Newbies is a one-man-show run by Andre Costa. I was born in Brazil and in 2001 I moved to New York City, where I still live.
I do not have a wine background, but I am working on creating one and Wine for Newbies was one of my first steps in reaching that goal. I decided to start Wine for Newbies as a tool to enrich my own knowledge about wine and, so far, it's working. It is a slow process, but a very rewarding one. I do intend to work with wine in the future as a main career, but I have not yet figured out which path I will take, as it seems the options are many. My next step is to take a serious wine class and add another layer to my knowledge.
Feel free to drop me a note. I am always looking for new like-minded friends, business partners, guest writers, etc.
Which of these red grapes is known for its tannic, structured wines with tastes of chocolate, black currants and tobacco?
— Wine Smarts Game
A - Cabernet Sauvignon
B - Merlot
C - Grenache
D - Zinfandel
Answer: Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most well-known grapes, often making big, powerfully flavorful wines that can start out tannic and mellow with aging.
Although this is not the first quiz I run on Wine for Newbies, this is the first time (of many more to come) that you will be rewarded for playing along.
Here is how this is going to work:
I will list 5 questions and you will have to find the answers by browsing the site! That’s [...]
I hope to be able to start providing some tasting notes on a more regular basis. The tasting notes will be coming from wines I tried myself or wines recommended and tasted by friends or other sources.
Please do add your own comments if you have tried the wine before.
Peel Estate Verdelho 2005
Verdelho is a white [...]
Yay! I am happy to introduce video to this humble wine blog! Welcome to the 21st century! Thank you! Thank you!
I believe it is quite self-explanatory that this blog, Wine for Newbies, has a goal to talk to you about wine from a very basic, easy to read and understand, perspective. So, I was quite [...]
Last week I introduced a game called Wine Smarts, which provides a way to learn about wine by playing a game. It is a fun way to kick your knowledge up a notch.
So, without much ado, here are the answers to last week’s questions:
- Vocabulary
Q: True or False - A corked wine is a [...]
Guest post written by Kathleen Lisson. Make sure to visit Kathleen’s blog!
Step One: Train Yourself to Taste Wine
Gary Vaynerchuk is making the rounds of late night TV with bowls full of dirt and tobacco, but you really don’t have to go that far to discover the aromas and flavors in the your favorite wine’s tasting [...]
This is the second part of our guest post written by Marnie Old. Visit Marnie’s website www.marnieold.com for more of her delightful writing!
Differences in climate, and hence ripeness, account for so much of the style variation found between wine styles, that we can make some useful, if sweeping, generalizations. For example, white wines and sparkling [...]
This is a two-part guest post written by Marnie Old. Visit Marnie’s website www.marnieold.com for more of her delightful writing!
Wine professionals can predict much about how a wine will taste, just by knowing where it’s from. And, so can you. It’s not rocket science – more like Sesame Street. Absorbing a few simple ideas can [...]
You probably know what the first best way is, right?! By tasting it, of course! I know I am quoting myself (over and over again), but although it does help to read about wine, and what other people are writing about it, the only way you will really learn how to grasp all the nuances [...]
