Wine Straws?

It’s been a while since my last post.  Work has been especially busy and the NCAA tournament has taken up much of my down time.  But now that things have slowed a bit, I’ll have this week to get the blog back on track.

A friend forwarded me an ad for a new wine product that claims to allow you to “drink red and smile white.”  I’ve seen a lot of products claiming to protect your teeth from the purple tinge that red wine imparts, but never one like this.  The Wine Straws are little straws specifically made for drinking red wine.  The idea is that you use the straw to bypass your teeth and get the wine straight to your tongue and throat without dirtying the teeth.  I’ve never tried to drink wine out a straw, but I’m skeptical that doing so would allow you to experience a wine to its full potential.  My reasoning for this is that different parts of your mouth detect different tastes, so in order to fully experience a wine you are required to move it around in your mouth and get a complete feel for the wine.  Now, you can certainly move the wine around in your mouth and get a taste for it drinking out of a straw, but the purpose of the straw is to keep your teeth from coming into contact with the wine, and I cannot see how the wine would not touch your teeth when you move it around your mouth.  The purple tinge you get in your mouth is just one of the things you have to live with when drinking red wine.  I haven’t ever seen a product that can keep your teeth white without ruining the wine.  Just remember to brush your teeth after and you’ll be fine.

Now, after looking at Wine Straw’s website, I have to say that while I think the drink red, smile white claim is rubbish, but I do like their idea of these little straws offering a new take on the old wine glass markers.  Their current offerings are only for clear straws, but if they develop colored straws, they could be a new way to distinguish your wine glass at a party.

All in all, I’m not a fan of little wine gadgets like this.  I’d rather just have the essentials and spend my money on good wine and food to accompany it.

Bubbly 101

I never really thought that champagne would get so much airtime on my blog, but at a friend’s request, here is another post on bubbly.  I was asked to explain the differences between champagnes.  Example- what’s the difference between Brut and Dry?  What’s the difference between vintage and non-vintage?  The difference between champagne and sparkling wine?  And on and on.  So, here is my short guide to all things champagne.
First of all, champagne can only be called champagne if it is from the Champagne region of France.  Any other bubbly cannot bear the name champagne (there are a few exceptions, but they are very rare so we will ignore them for the moment).  So, first clue is that the word champagne on the bottle means that it is French.  Sparkling wine means it’s made in the style of champagne, but that it isn’t from that region of France.  It’s simple enough if you know to look for it.

Secondly, bubbly is rarely classified by vintage.  This is because sparkling wines are frequently made from a blend of grapes from several different vintages.  This allows producers to give the bubbly more different flavors, more complexity, and ultimately creates a more balanced drink.  Occasionally, a producer will release a vintage bubbly, this means that all the juice in the bubbly is from the same vintage.  This generally only happens in the best vintages and with the best grapes from that vintage.  With bubbly, style and producer are more important anyway, so let’s move on to the different styles you’re likely to come across.

The Brut, Dry, Doux, etc. that you are likely to find on a champagne bottle don’t refer to the varietal like they might with normal wine, rather they refer to the sweetness of the champagne.  I’ll list the types from least sweet to sweetest: Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry (or Extra Sec), Sec (or Dry), Demi-Sec, Doux.  So, Doux is the sweetest classification of bubbly you’ll find, Extra Brut the least.  I’d try several different levels of sweetness and see where you fall.  Most of what I see on the grocery store shelves range from Brut to Sec, so those might be a good place to start.

You should know what Rose refers to on a bottle of bubbly, if not, read my Pink Champagne post.  There are several other descriptions you might find on a bottle, so here are some common ones and what they mean.  Blanc de blancs refer to champagne made with Chardonnay grapes.  Blanc de noirs refers to champagne made with Pinot Noir grapes (it’s still lightly colored).  Prosecco, Asti, Lambrusco are all Italian takes on bubbly and hail from different Italian regions.  Moscato is likely a sweet, dessert like bubbly.  Cava is from Spain, and any bubbly with “sparkling wine” in its description is likely from a country that speaks English.

This is basically all I know about champagne.  The big thing is to try several different levels of sweetness to find what you like, and then at some point in your life, try a nice bottle of champagne; it really is something that everyone needs to try at least once.  I’ll leave with a fun fact.  There are about 50 million bubbles in the average bottle of champagne, but I’ve read that some scientists believe there are more like 200 million bubbles in a single bottle!  Either way, with each glass you pour, you are consuming more than a million bubbles!

Party Planning

I began to think about wine and special occasions this weekend when I was out running a few errands for a special occasion.  I know I’ve written briefly about drinking champagne for celebrations, but what about wines for a special birthday, anniversary, or even weddings.  When planning for an event like a birthday dinner, wedding, reunion, etc. many bottles of wine are likely to be involved, and some variety in varietals is likely necessary.  With large quantities, it’s unlikely that you’re willing or able to shell out the money necessary to buy that much expensive wine, so value is going to be a necessity.  But, because of the importance of the event, you’re also going to want something memorable (in a good way).  This creates quite the challenge, but I think I’ve got a few ideas for what I would personally do for a big dinner like this hypothetical one I’m writing about below. 

The first thing I’d do is to think about the total number of bottles I would need.  For simplicity’s sake, let’s say that number is 100.  Next, I’d look at my menu and see what varietals I’m going to want to get.  Because this is my party, it’s going to be Italian food, so Chianti is a must.  I’m also thinking that some Cabernet will be a nice safe choice for those that might not care for Chianti or might want something heavier.  Now, I need to look at whites.  Chardonnay is going to be tough to avoid, so against my better judgment, it’ll be the go to white wine.  As a secondary white, I’m going to go with Pinot Grigio to continue the Italian theme.  Lastly, I need some bubbly because it is a party, so the standard Brut will be the choice there.

I have my number of bottles needed; I know my varietals, so here is the break down that I’m going to use when I order the wine: Chianti will get 30 as the primary red, Chardonnay will get 30 as the primary white.  Cabernet and Pinot Grigio will get 15 each as my secondary, and the bubbly will get 10 for toasts, etc.  Now it is time to go shopping and figure out what I’m going to get for my party.  I’m going to shoot for under $10 per bottle and see if I can find a way to do under $8.  I’m hoping that I can find sales and get what I want for pretty cheap.  Buying in bulk should help too.

When it comes to Chianti, I know immediately that I’m going for Ruffino Chianti.  I know it is quality, it’s cheap, and it will be great for the party.  I’m hoping to get it for about $7.50 per bottle, and I know it’ll be a hit for the party.

Cabernet is pretty easy too, I’m going for Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet and at $9.00 per bottle, it is still well within my budget.

Chardonnay is tricky.  I know I won’t be entirely happy with whatever I choose, so I’m just going to go generic to try and please as many people as I can.  I decide Robert Mondavi’s basic line is the way to go.  I get the popular Chardonnay for $8.00 per bottle.

Pinot Grigio is pretty easy.  Gabbiano Pinot Grigio is my choice for this varietal, giving me an Italian style wine and a decent one that will fit within my budget.  This wine is also $8.00 per bottle.

For the bubbly, I’m going to go with Barefoot Bubbly Brut Cuvee.  Since it is mostly for toasts and the celebration aspect of the party, I’m not too worried about this one, so I’m just getting a drinkable wine that will give me another option and one that will add some festiveness to the party.  The Barefoot is $7.50 per bottle.

So, calculating it all out, I spent about $875 on the wine, getting enough to comfortably have 200 people at my party.  I’m not all the happy with all the wine that I choose, but I am happy that I was able to find a couple of wines that I would enjoy while still having a nice balance for my other guests to enjoy.

Now, I just need to come up with an occasion to put my party planning skills to the test.

Patience

Wine is something that requires immense patience.  From the growing of the grapes to the aging of the wine in a barrel or bottle, to learning about and appreciating it, wine takes patience.  I believe that this is something that draws me to wine, but I struggle with wanting to be too patient sometimes, so there is a fine line that I have to walk in the wine world.  I want to learn about the grape growing process, but I don’t have the patience to do the tedious work that grape growing requires (believe me, I tried one afternoon and hated it).  I want my bottles of wine to age and be at their peak when I drink them, but I don’t want to wait to drink them, and I especially don’t want to wait too long to open them.  Learning to appreciate wine is the one area that I seem to have infinite patience.  I know that this is the case because of the 3 examples I’ve listed here, appreciating wine is by far the easiest and the most enjoyable, but still, wine can be overwhelming and it does take a great deal of patience to learn your way around your vintages, varietals, and vintners.

I would love to own a vineyard and be in charge of making a wine throughout the entire process, but as I learned about 8 years ago when I spent the afternoon working in a vineyard, I just don’t have the patience to see the process all the way through.  I’d love to learn about the wine making process, but the grape growing process is something I can live without.  My inability and unwillingness to learn more about the grape growing process detracts a bit from my potential enjoyment of a wine, but it does give me an immense respect for those that are able to masterfully grow grapes to create quality wine.

How long to age wine is something that anyone that has a nice bottle has wondered at some point.  It is quite the dilemma.  You just bought (likely) an expensive bottle of wine that you want to enjoy now, but instead, the “experts” say it needs to age for a few years, and that anyone that opens it too young is wasting it.  Well, everyone likes wine for different reasons, and wine will taste differently depending on the day you open it.  My best advice here is better safe than sorry.  Always be sure to open your prized bottles well before there is any chance they could start to go bad.  After all, there is nothing worse than buying a nice bottle and letting it age too long.  Wine is meant to be consumed.  It isn’t meant to sit in a cellar and rot.

Patience in the appreciation of wine is a must.  This is because wine is very much an acquired taste.  I remember the first time I tried wine and I remember hating it, wondering how anyone could ever enjoy it.  Well, after trying it several more times, I began to learn the taste and I began to taste more than just the tannin that I had experienced with my first sip.  This is appreciation at its basic level, but truly appreciating wine requires more than just tolerance of the taste.  To appreciate wine, you must be patient enough to try multiple examples of a single varietal, region, vintage, or wine maker.  This gives you perspective and will allow you to learn more about the distinctions that can be found in each bottle.  This is not something that can be gained quickly; this appreciation is like a database that your senses slowly build as you try each new bottle of wine.  And, after the months and years of trying wine, you’ll build quite the database from which to draw reference as needed.

It’s strange to talk about patience with reference to a beverage, but in the case of wine, patience is very important.  Each step of the way, patience is required in wine making, wine aging, and its enjoyment.  While various aspects of wine can easily try your patience, for the most part, being patient with wine is easier than being patient with people.

Drawbacks of Knowing Wine

I realized yesterday that there are some significant drawbacks to knowing quite a bit about wine.  For example, being familiar with wine will make you realize how marked up it is at restaurants and will get you thinking: “did I really just pay $8 for a glass of this wine when I could have bought the bottle for $10?”  It’ll also inadvertently make you aware of what wines you give or receive as gifts.  For example, giving a nice bottle of wine is a great gesture, but will the person I’m giving the bottle to realize this, or will it be just another bottle to them?  Will giving a cheap, but good wine send a bad signal just because of the price tag?  I like to always try a wine and see what it’s like before jumping to conclusions, but there is that little fear that knowing a wine’s price or reputation will skew my view, or more importantly the view of someone I give a bottle to.

This realization on my part speaks to two of the worst aspects of the wine industry.  First, is the perceived prestige associated with price.  Second is the almost unavoidable aspect of snobbery in the wine industry.  Prestige and price are problems for the wine industry, because prices from top to bottom of the industry are so extreme.  You can get wine from $2 a bottle all the way up to $1000+ per bottle.   The price aspect of wine is a lot of what accounts for snobbery in the wine industry, but there is a different kind of snobbery that I find myself guilty of on occasion.  Like I mentioned previously, I always try to leave my perceptions about wine until after I’ve tried it, but I find myself guilty of being a snob when it comes to varietals and location in which they are grown.  This is mostly because I’ve got wines that I know that I like and those that I know I don’t, so I’m always going to be excited about a Chianti, and always skeptical of Pinotage.  My kind of snobbery isn’t all that bad in my opinion, but it’s snobbery nevertheless. 

I’ve written about prestige in the wine industry and how a brand name or even a numerical score from a critic can make the difference between a $50 wine and a $100 wine, but back to my initial questions.  When you give a nice bottle of wine to someone, will they really appreciate it, or will it be just another bottle?  I tend to think that the answer to this question doesn’t matter, and it is why I’m not in the practice of giving out expensive bottles of wine (I can’t afford to either).  I just give people wine that tastes good, or something that I think they’ll like.  I don’t think about how much it costs, I want them to have a positive impression when drinking my wine, and I want them to enjoy it more than anything else, so I try to throw price and prestige out the window and go for enjoyment.  I think this argument answers the next question of “will giving a cheap wine send a bad signal?”  Sure, two buck Chuck or Franzia won’t going to knock anyone’s socks off of, but that doesn’t mean that wines on the cheaper side are bad gifts.  I wrote about how wine at all price levels is improving, so going back to the enjoyment factor, if you can find a cheap, good bottle, give away, and should the recipient like it, they will likely be happy that they can buy more bottles of it cheaply and will thank you for introducing them to something that they may have previously overlooked.

Moral of the story (same story as in many previous posts…), wine is about enjoyment, so when giving or receiving wine, think about that first and foremost and give the wine an honest try before making any kind of judgment.  It’s hard to do, but  keeping an open mind will let you learn more about wine and help you enjoy it more.

Cooking Wine and Cooking with Wine

I’m sure pretty much everyone has seen a recipe that calls for a dry white wine or a fruity red.  I’m also pretty sure that most people have seen those little boxes of cooking wine in the grocery store, often costing less than a dollar for a liter.  Are these cheap little boxes the answer to cooking with wine, or are they just cooking wine?  The answer is easy, they are just cooking wine.  While this isn’t always the case in the wine industry, you get what you pay for with cooking wine.  The cheap boxes of cooking wine are likely barely wine at all, and if the liquid in there can be classified as wine, it is only just.  Think about it, if what was in those boxes were any good, don’t you think they would have bottled it and sold it as wine?

When a recipe calls for wine, it is to add the flavors of that wine to the food.  The bland cooking wines can rarely accomplish the desired result and should probably be left sitting in the grocery store.  When I cook with wine, I like to use a bottle that I am familiar with, one that I enjoy and something that is just quality wine to drink.  This often means that I spend more than the dollar per liter on my cooking wine, but on the whole, I think it’s worth it.  My general rule for cooking with wine- if I wouldn’t drink it by itself, then why would it be good enough to make it into my food?

Another benefit to cooking with a decent wine is that once you are done cooking with the wine, you can use the rest of the bottle to drink with the meal.  If the flavors of your wine have made their way into the dish you cooked, it will almost certainly be a great partner for your meal.  Definitely try to use quality ingredients when cooking with wine and you will notice the difference immediately.  Contrary to my beliefs for the rest of the industry, price is an indication or quality that you want to be aware of in this situation.

Grilling and Wine

With the start of baseball’s spring training and the NCAA tournament’s selection Sunday less than two weeks away, we are moving right along into spring and that means it is getting back into grilling season.  The vast majority of grilled food will go with some sort of red wine (except for fish and some chicken recipes), so that will be the concentration for this post.

Cabernet Sauvignon will go well with just about any grilled meat, but that is too easy and not adventurous enough.  I like to try out different wines when grilling, and I’ve found that Syrah/Shiraz is probably my favorite pairing for anything from burgers to steaks to sausages.  Old vine Zinfandel runs a close second.  I like the Syrah or Zinfandel pairing with grilled foods because, for the most part, you can get a better Syrah or Zin for much less than you can get a good Cab.

I’d be willing to bet that the average price for a Syrah or Zin rated 90+ points is about two-thirds the price of a Cab rated 90+ points.  By going with a cheaper wine, you can upgrade your meat quality without spending a fortune on a single meal, and the best part is, you’re not likely to sacrifice any quality, just trading out equally delicious wines.

Old vine Zin and Syrah pair so well with barbecue because they are not overpowered by hearty meats, but being the big wines they are, they also don’t over power the meat.  The spice tastes that can be found in both these wines go great with most marinades, barbecue sauces, and most marinades.  The one drawback that I’ve found is that when the weather starts to heat up, drinking a big red wine just doesn’t seem all that refreshing.  I don’t have a lot to offer to counter this feeling, but there are a few little things you can do.  First, serve the wine at room temperature, keeping in mind that the term room temperature refers to about 55-60 degrees.  This might mean that you have to put the wine in the fridge for just a few minutes (key words- just a few minutes).  Getting the wine too cold will dull its flavors.  Or, start off your meal with appetizers and have a chilled rose or white wine to cool everyone down on a warm day.

It’s hard to go wrong with wine and food when you grill, so if you’ve got another wine you like to have with the grill, let me know.