Last month my wife and I had a much needed (and rare) night out without
the kids. We went to a fairly nice restaurant and ordered a nice bottle of wine.
The waitress brought out two nice Riedel Burgundy glasses, professionally opened
the bottle of Pinot Noir and poured me a sample. I took the elegant glass and
gave the wine a swirl and sniffed. The wine smelled fine, no flaws. I put the
glass up to my lips and took a sip. UGH! It was warm.
This has also happened to me with white wines where it was too cold. I have
said it before and I will say it again, most people drink their red wines too
warm and their white wines to cold. The idea that red wines should be drunk at
room temperature is a very old rule of thumb. So old in fact that it was the
rule was created before there was internal heat. Room temperature was the cool
cellar, not a 70º heated room. On the same note, a 40º refrigerator is too cold
for most white wines (except sparkling). When a wine is too warm, it makes the
alcohol seem high and can distort the actual flavors of the wine, making it
harsh. When too cold, the chill masks the characteristics of the wine.
White Wines: 45-50 °F Red Wines: 50-65 °F Rosé Wines: 45-55 °F Sparkling
Wines: 42-52 °F
The lighter bodied the wine, the cooler you would want to drink it. An easy
guide for temperature follows.
Waiter, There are some chunks in my wine!
What is all the fuss about sediment in a bottle of wine? You know, when you
open a bottle of red wine and you get little dark, chunky bits of....something!
Well those little bits are called sediment and they are harmless, normal and
nothing to worry about.
The technical name for this is called phenolic polymerization. A red wine gets
its color from pigmented components known as phenolic compounds, which come from
the skins, seeds and stems of the grapes. As the wine ages, these compounds bond
together to solidify, and the color becomes more of a brick like tone. The solid
bits of tannin are known as sediment. That is one of the reasons why one would
want to decant an old bottle, to separate the sediment from the rest of the
wine.
A World of Wine
With more choices than ever, the world of wine can be a pretty intimidating
place to explore. You walk into a wine shop and scan the labels. Pouilly Fuiss
What? Gigondas! Isn’t that what my Doctor told me I would get if I didn’t eat my
veggies? Montepulciano… Gazoomtight!
Even with such a vast array of choices, it still is easy to learn one or two
types of wine and stay within your comfort zone. How many of us always stick
with Chardonnay or Pinot Noir every time we go out to dinner? There is nothing
wrong with drinking what you like, but there is a whole world of wine out there
waiting to be discovered and explored.
It also can be a challenge getting your head—or lips, or brain, etc.—around the
diversity of wine. The fact that most of Europe labels its wine by regions, as
opposed to varietal of grape, makes it more mind boggling. This is why wine
education is important in today’s world.
Fortunately, just as there are many choices of wine today, there also are many
ways to learn about wine. One of the easiest ways to get started is by visiting
your local bookstore—they are stacked with books such as Kevin Zraly’s “Windows
on the World Complete Wine Course” or Karen MacNeil’s “The Wine Bible.”
When you read a book about wine and where it is produced, visit your local wine
shop and buy a wine from that area. This is how I initially began my studies.
Don’t forget that your local wine shop also can be a fountain of knowledge and
information.
Chardonnay Style
There can be a big difference in styles between wines from the same varietal
and even from the same area. Many elements factor into the variation of styles.
One big factor, especially for Chardonnay, is called malolactic fermentation.
Malolactic fermentation (or malo for short) is a secondary fermentation (so to
speak) that most red wines and some white wines undergo. Basically what this
does is change the acid in a wine from a tart malic acid (think green apple)
into a softer lactic acid (think milk). The addition of oak ageing along with
malo can make the difference in styles for chardonnay from a big California oaky,
buttery wine to a lean crisp tart Chardonnay like a Chablis.
What is up with screw cap closures on bottles of fine wine?
Cork comes from the bark of the cork tree which is most common in
Portugal and Spain. Once the cork tree is twenty five years old, the bark can be
stripped off every nine years. When the bark is stripped, it is set out to dry
for about a year and then boiled or steamed. Once that is done it is cut into
planks and cleaned.
Prior to 1995, the cleaning process involved washing in a chlorine solution (it
is now done with a hydrogen peroxide solution). The Chlorine solution can
react with the moisture and fungus in the cells of the cork and cause
2,4,6-trichloranisole (TCA) to develop in the cork. The TCA causes a musty,
mildew, damp basement odor in the cork and ultimately the wine. This is what
people refer to as corked wine.
TCA can be caused by things other than chlorine, such as infected raw cork.
Statistics show that 3-6% of all wine corks may be infected with TCA, therefore
many producers are choosing to use screw caps or plastic corks to eliminate the
problem of TCA. A corked bottle of wine has no bearing on the quality of the
wine or the producer. In most cases, if you get a corked bottle, the next bottle
of the same wine from the same producer will be fine.
The
Shape of things to come!
Have you ever wondered why Pinot Noir comes in a bottle with sloped, slanted
shoulders and Cabernet Sauvignon comes in a bottle with wider shoulders that
stick out? The reason is tannin. Cabernet Sauvignon is a grape that will have a
higher level of tannin than Pinot Noir, so as the wine ages, the tannin will
solidify and form sediment. The idea is to slowly pour the old Cabernet and let
the sediment get caught in the broard shoulders of the bottle.
A Case for Sulfites
Over the last few years
there has been concern with some people about sulfites in wine. Attention came
to sulfites in 1988 whe a law was passed that "Contains Sulfites" must be placed
on the label of wine. This was really nothing new because sulfites have always
been in wine and are a naturally occurring by product of fermentation and most
winemakers will add a small amount to prevent oxidation and spoilage.
The legal limit for sulfites in wine is 350ppm (parts per million) altough most
most wines contain 150ppm or less. Sulfites frequently get a bum rap and can be
blamed for headaches and rashes. Current research shows most people who suffer
from "wine headaches" probably have a problem metabolizing wine and sulfites are
probably not the problem.
Other products that contain sulfites include beer, cocktail mixes, cookies,
crackers, pizza, dried fruit, tacos and many other foods and beverages.
Rotten to the Core
When we think of rot on a piece of fruit, we usually think of it as a negative.
In the case of winemaking that is not always the case. Believe it or not, some
winemakers want rot to develop on some grapes. Not just any rot, but a mold
called Botrytis cinerea. Botrytis is also known as "noble rot" and occurs when
dry conditions follow wetter ones. This fungus dehydrates the grapes, leaving
behind more concentrated solids, such as sugars, fruit acids and minerals. This
results in a more intense, concentrated final product that can be result in
sweet dessert wines such as Sauternes or Tokaji Aszu.
Wine
Preservation
If you are like
me, you may like to have a glass or two of wine every night without drinking a
whole bottle. As you may know, it can become an issue how to preserve
the remainder of the bottle without it loosing its flavor. There are a few
different ways to help preserve the remainder of the bottle, over the years I
have evaluated different methods and here is my advice.
The most popular
method is the Vacu Vin. With this device, you have a rubber wine stopper
(replacement cork) and a hand vacuum pump. The idea for this is to suck all the
air out of the bottle since it is the air that causes the wine to oxidize. The
main problem is that over a period of time, the rubber stopper can wear out and
actually allow more air to get to the wine. IF you choose this option, I
recommend replacing the stoppers frequently.
I have had better
luck using gas products like Private Preserve. Private Preserve is a harmless
mixture of food grade argon, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The gas weighs more
than air, so you spay the gas into the half empty bottle and the gas mixture
will keep the air from getting to the wine. This can help preserve the wine for
a few days.
Of course the
best way to preserve the remains of you bottle is to pour the rest of the wine
into a smaller container where you can fill it up completely and seal, therefore
no more air can get to the wine.
It's Got
Legs!
Frequently
in the wine classes that I teach, people ask me about the "legs" of a wine. You
know, the thick liquid that drips down the inside of the wine glass after you
swirl the wine. Some people also refer to them as tears.
There is a common misconception that the legs of a wine have something to do
with the quality of the wine. In all actuality, it has nothing to do with the
quality. The legs are caused by the difference in evaporation rates between the
amount of alcohol & glycol and water that is in the wine. It has more to do with
science than romance.
To Decant, or not to decant...that is the question!
The act of
decanting is wine is more than just having an excuse to show off your nice
crystal decanter, it serves a purpose. There are two reasons why you would want
to decant a wine. If the wine is a young full bodied red, the flavor could
possibly be tight and tannic. By pouring the wine into a decanter with a larger
surface, it allows the wine to get more oxygen at a faster pace, therefore
giving the wine a chance to "breathe" and "open up".
The second reason
you would decant a wine is if the bottle is old. As red wine ages, the molecules
in the tannin bond together and begin to solidify. These harmless little chunks
in the wine is known as sediment. You would slowly pour the older wine into the
decanter and leave the sediment in the bottle. Be careful, if the wine is very
old and delicate, giving it too much air too quickly can throw it over the edge.
Chill the
red, warm up the white
Last month my wife
and I had a much needed (and rare) night out without the kids. We went to a
fairly nice restaurant and ordered a nice bottle of wine. The waitress brought
out two nice Riedel Burgundy glasses, professionally opened the bottle of Pinot
Noir and poured me a sample. I took the elegant glass and gave the wine a swirl
and sniffed. The wine smelled fine, no flaws. I put the glass up to my lips and
took a sip. UGH! It was warm.
If you have any questions
about wine, please feel free to contact us and ask us.
