Wine Dinners

I’ve been to plenty of dinners that feature wine, but I have never been to an official “wine dinner.”  You know- the kind that you pay for a meal that has been meticulously matched to specific wines by some expert, the kind of dinner that will cost at least $50 (and often a whole lot more than that!) because it has been prepared by some master chef and features some yummy wine.  Now that I consider myself a wine writer (wine blogger didn’t sound as cool to me), I decided that this situation is something that I need to remedy.  So, for the past month or so, I’ve been on the lookout for a dinner to come along that was both affordable and that featured some intriguing wines, and I finally found one!  I know that I give Wally’s Wine nothing but praise and here comes some more.  My first ever wine dinner will be at their store and will feature wines to be paired with In N Out burger!  The dinner, on the cheap side of the wine dinner range (only $30) will let me try 15 different wines made by 3 different wineries with a Double-Double from In N out. 

I enjoy fancy, three course meals, but I rarely like them when they have set menus, so the simplicity and the deliciousness of the In N Out Dinner was immediately appealing to me.  I was also drawn to this particular dinner because two of the three winemakers will be presenting their wines in person, which is always a bonus, but especially so in this case because I’ll be interested to hear exactly why these wine makers thought that In N Out burger would make a good partner for their wine. 

I’ll have to report back about the experience after I go to the dinner, but I already have to say that I’d recommend the experience to any wine lover.  In my searching for a suitable wine dinner, I found dinners that featured everything from the perfect wine for pizza to chili, and ice cream to sushi.  If you have the money, you can even go upscale and try some of the best wines in the world at these dinners.  Looking at the economics side of things, going out to dinner these days is fairly expensive, especially if you buy a bottle of wine at a restaurant, so why not wrap the dinner and the wine into one predetermined cost so you can know what you are going to be paying and stay within budget for the evening without having to make sacrifices once you get to the restaurant?  Anyway, I’m excited for my first wine dinner and I will let you know how In N Out’s Double-Double partners with some of Central California’s best wines. 

Yes, boxed wine is ok to bring too.

I’m going to Stagecoach, a country music festival next week and I came across this sentence in one of the answers to the FAQs on the festival’s website.  Added as an afterthought to a long paragraph stating allowable amounts of alcohol, the organizers decided that yes, boxed wine is ok to bring too.

I kinda had to laugh upon seeing this statement.  I think that in the paragraph talking about allowable beverages to bring to the event, they mentioned that no glass of any kind is allowed some five or six times, so I can (barely) see their need to clarify that our cherished Franzia in a plastic bag will be allowed at the venue, but I still found this amusing.

The main reason I’m amused with this is because of the stereotypes that are associated with country music fans, especially the country music fans that travel to festivals in the middle of the desert in their RVs.  And, to set the record straight, I’m partly talking about myself when referencing these stereotypes so it’s ok, I’m not judging.  But, my stereotypical country music fan is someone that drinks cheap beer (think PBR) from a can, and when they want something a bit classier, they reach for the Jack Daniels.  I don’t see wine being a drink of choice for Kenny Chesney fans, so Stagecoach’s inclusion of the wine clause as I’ll call it draws attention to the fact that more people are drinking wine these days.

Wine even pops up in country music from time to time.  Darius Rucker (who will be performing at Stagecoach) mentions red wine in the first line of his song, “Alright,” Dierks Bentley includes a glass of wine in the chorus of his song “Down on Easy Street,” Kenny Chesney “took Katie down by the river with a six dollar bottle of wine” in “Nothing More,” and Brad Paisley talks about Bordeaux in “Alcohol.”  These are just a few examples I can think of off the top of my head.  Being an exception to the norm (or my idea of the norm), my love of wine and country music finally seem to be more acceptable as likes found in a single individual.  So, bolstered by my newfound hope that wine is accepted in the country music world, I composed this list of wine pairings and country songs.  Note that all of these people will be performing at Stagecoach.

Kenny Chesney- “Summertime” with Beaujolais Nouveau.  You gotta chill the wine a bit, but Beaujolais makes for a great summer wine for summertime.  Classic combination of wine and song that put you in the summer state of mind.

Carrie Underwood- “Cowboy Casanova” with Franzia Burgundy.  I’d never try this pairing out myself, but I can see Cowboy Casanova drinking this wine when he’s leaning up against the record machine, thinking it makes him appear classy.

Rascal Flatts- “Too Good Is True” with Da Vinci Chianti.  Love the upbeat optimistic song with a great wine that is good vintage after vintage.  Both song and wine are a bit generic but they make great partners.

Darius Rucker- “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” with anything 5+ years old.  A song full of memories and feelings, touching on regret deserves a mature wine that has the ability to bring up some memories on its own.  The lyrics in this song make you think about the past and decisions made, and an old wine can bring up some of those same memories.

Josh Turner- “Your Man” with Kendal Jackson Chardonnay- buttery smooth wine flows with his smooth voice.  Also, a very romantic song so might as well choose a wine that both a guy and a girl can enjoy.

Jack Ingram- “Love You” with Bitch Grenache.  Lyrics of the song and name of the wine are perfect for each other.  Not a fan of the wine and not a real fan of Jack Ingram (he kinda fell off the map after his one hit, Love You).  Interesting combination that some sassy country loving lady will enjoy.

Easton Corbin- “A Little More Country Than That” with anything French.  I just laugh when I think about what a French wine snob would say if they saw this pairing in action.  About as conflicting in styles as you can get, but it works, and I think country music fans will appreciate the irreverent attitude toward French wine.

Wine Toys

It was my apartment’s turn to host Sunday dinner again last week.  We fell back on the usual pasta option and decided to keep it simple with a meat sauce.  Determined to make the simple dish as good as I could possibly make it, I decided to start it a good 3 hours before dinner and let the sauce simmer with the hope that it would gain flavor as it was cooked.  I think the sauce turned out pretty good but I’m not sure that the couple of hours spent in the kitchen were worth it.  Especially since I wasn’t drinking wine while I was cooking.  I tend follow the old saying- “I love cooking with wine; sometimes I even put it in the food.”  I was amazed that I went so long cooking Italian food of all things without thinking to open some wine. 

When I finally decided to go open a bottle, I took a quick inventory of my Italian wines.  I had just two.  An Amarone and a Brunello.  I decided to open the Brunello but knew that I wasn’t going to wait anytime at all for it to aerate and open up before drinking it.  So, I pulled out my handy Vinturi aerator, hoping that it would do the job for me.  I’ve got mixed feelings on this little contraption but I was in a bind so I had to trust that the little glorified funnel would open up my wine in an instant rather than waiting hours to let it happen naturally.  I was impressed with how it worked on the first glass, I had tried a sip of the wine immediately after opening the bottle and couldn’t taste much but this time I got a wide variety of flavors and even seemed to get a different finish.

While the difference in taste between the Vinturi and naturally aerated wine diminished with each subsequent glass, the little aerator did make for a good wine toy and it intrigued most of my friends that were over for dinner.  I know that I spent most of my last post pointing out the negatives in what I consider to be a useless wine toy, and I am well aware of the fact that the Vinturi aerator could very well fall into the useless wine toy category as well, but I kinda enjoy it despite the fact some people see them as useless.  Wine toys are fun on occasion.  They get people excited to drink or try new wine which is always a good thing, so maybe I was a little harsh on the wine straws last week.  They still aren’t for me, but if they encourage others to try more wine or if they make drinking wine more enjoyable for some, then more power to them.  I’ll just keep playing with my aerator.

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.