WinePod

The WinePod promises to "teach...you how to make wine just like the pros do". It's sleek, attractive and seems enticingly simple. Makes the old fashioned way of making wine seem, well, downright archaic.

However, the $1999 price tag doesn't make me want to run out and buy one right away (I can't, actually, even if I wanted to. There is a waiting list and they haven't even been released to the public yet). I'm curious to see if would-be home winemakers embrace this product, or see it as too of a high-tech solution that takes away some of the romanticism of doing it the traditional way.

I personally haven't yet gotten into home winemaking (but I hope to in the next year or so), but I can't help but think that part of the attraction of making your own wine is the satisfaction of knowing the time, labor and determination that went into making the finished product. The WinePod may make it too easy.

Entre-Deux-Mers Bordeaux

Entre-Deux-Mers (literally "between two seas") is that area of Bordeaux situated between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers. Here, you can find mostly dry whites made with straight Sauvignon Blanc or Semillon, or a blend (sometimes with a bit of Muscadelle thrown in for good measure...)

Last night, we had a 2004 Chateau Bonnet Entre Deux Mers. This wine was a blend of all three grapes (50% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Semillon and 10% Muscadelle). While it had a decent amount of crispness, and a bit of lemon/green apple flavor to it, it also unfortunately showed that "hot, alcohol" feeling that you sometimes get from wines where the grapes were too ripe and the alcohol is too high to balance the fruit.

I'm going to try a few more producers from that area (same vintage) and see how they taste. But in general, Entre-Deux-Mers can be a good area for values, which are often hard to find in Bordeaux.

Marques de Caceres

This is one of my favorite Spanish producers. Try their (red) Rioja Crianza or Reserva--very approachable, with lots of fresh cherry fruit and just enough structure and tannin.

Incidentally, Marques de Caceres switched over to screw caps for their whites for the 2004 vintage. Their Rioja White 2004 is 100% Viura, the most popular white grape in that region. It was done in all stainless steel, and the result is a vibrant, fruity, crisp white that goes well with food and is perfect for patio sipping this summer.

There are a lot of exciting things going on in Spain, wine-wise. Check out The New Spain for a primer.

Tips for Enjoying Wine in a Restaurant

Selecting and enjoying wine in a restaurant can sometimes feel like a daunting task. But it doesn't have to be. Here are ten tips for enjoying wine when dining out:

1. Don’t be afraid to ask the sommelier or server for advice. Let him know what kind of wine you and your dining companions prefer (ex. “We like light reds that don’t dry out our mouths”; or “We don’t like white wines that are too oaky.”)

2. Look beyond the bottle. Many restaurants now offer other options for wine lovers. Wines served by the glass, as well as in half-bottles, and wine flights (2-3 ounce pours of several wines, served at the same time), are great when you are dining out and everyone wants to eat and drink something different.

3. Visit the Southern Hemisphere for white wines. New Zealand and South African Sauvignon Blancs are terrific food wines because of their herby, citrusy quality and great acidity. They work with so many foods for the same reason that squirting a lemon wedge on your dish does—it “wakes up” your taste buds, makes your mouth water, and compels you to go back and take another bite of your food. Also look for “Unoaked Chardonnays” from the same areas—they are crisp and refreshing, without the oaky aftertaste that can often overpower your food.

4. If all of you wishes to drink the same kind of wine, but each guest is ordering something different from the menu (one person is ordering roast chicken, another is opting for grilled salmon, and a third wants filet mignon), select a Pinot Noir from California, Oregon or Washington. Pinots are typically light to medium bodied, with light tannins. They can hold their own next to any dish (even a steak, in a pinch…), and they go exceptionally well with duck, salmon and chicken.

5. Seek out value areas on the wine list. Wines from South America, South Africa and the Languedoc region of France are delicious choices that won’t break the bank. You may end up finding a new favorite wine (and impress your friends with your stellar wine knowledge!)

6. Select Champagne or other sparkling wines. Usually relegated to Valentine’s Day, anniversaries or other celebrations, sparkling wines are often overlooked when dining out. But they are great wines to enjoy with food—the bubbles and acidity cleanse and refresh the palate. An expected, but wonderful match: Champagne and sushi. In addition to French Champagne, also look for Spanish Cava, Italian Prosecco, and California sparkling wine.

7. Remember a few pairings. Pinot noir is just made for salmon. Chianti and Pinot Grigio go perfectly with anything tomato-based (i.e. a lot of Italian cuisine). Cotes du Rhone pair beautifully with lamb and stews. Off-dry Rieslings and Gewurztraminers work with Thai, Indian and Vietnamese foods.

8. Make sure the wines are served at the right temperature. Often, red wine in restaurants is served too warm. “Cellar temperature” for reds is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. If full-bodied reds like Shiraz or Zinfandel are served much higher than that, you may feel a hot alcohol sensation in the back of your throat. If this happens, ask the server for a bucket of ice water, and submerge the bottle for a few minutes (if the wine is served by the glass, send it back and ask it to be chilled). Likewise, whites served too cold, while refreshing on a hot day, will numb the fruit flavors. If a white is served ice cold, just use your hands to cup the glass for a few minutes to bring it up to a temperature where you will be able to enjoy its nuances.

9. If the wine smells or tastes musty or moldy, send it back! TCA is a chemical compound caused by a mold in the cork, and causes the wine to smell and taste moldy, musty or like wet dogs or wet newspaper (not appealing to the average diner…). About 5% of the world’s wines are affected with TCA. Let your server or sommelier know if you are one of the unlucky ones who gets a bottle or glass contaminated with TCA. They should have no problem replacing it.

10. Wine isn’t what you expected? If you and your companions just don’t like the wine, you can certainly send it back and get another bottle, but do not expect the restaurant to foot the bill. But don’t let it ruin your dining experience. Wine is very subjective, and figuring out what you like to drink is an ongoing process. Next time, try something else on the menu!

2005 Bordeaux

For those of you who like to read what Robert Parker's thoughts are on wines, then check out this article on the 2005 Bordeaux vintage. He is hailing many wines as "the finest in decades."

A little bit of fizz...

I love fully sparkling wines, (including Champagne, of course). But I also like refreshing white wines with just a bit of fizz. One of my favorite value white wines that fits into this category is Vinho Verde from Portugal. The name means "green wine," and it's fresh, fizzy and fun. It's also low in alcohol, which makes it cool and refreshing. Winemakers pumped it up with a little bit of Carbon Dioxide, so it has just the smallest hint of effervescence.

My favorite thing about Vinho Verde? Trader Joe's sells it for $3.99--a great choice for a spring or summer weeknight evening when you just don't want to break open an expensive bottle. Look for Vinho Verde in a tall, green glass bottle., and keep a few bottles around to use as your house wine.

Do I need to smell the cork?

Clients sometimes ask me if it's really necessary to smell the cork when the sommelier presents it to them in a restaurant. The answer is no! Wine with a cork that smells a bit "off" could still be fine, and vice versa. When the sommelier hands the cork to you, just give it a quick look--if you see wine on the bottem of it, then it means the bottle has been stored on its side--a good sign, since oxidation can change a wine's aroma, flavors and color. If the wine is a bit older, you may see some cork damage (it might be drier, or cracked). This might not necessarily mean anything, so give the wine a taste to be sure.

Incidentally, about 5% of wines produced suffer from what is referred to as "cork taint." This is caused by the presence of TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) in the cork, and it can give wine a musty, wet basement aroma and taste. If you encounter this in a bottle of wine, have the sommelier replace it, or take it back to the store.

Cork taint is one of the major reasons that winemakers are now using synthetic corks and screw caps. Synthetic corks do not provide as good a seal as real corks, but the technology is improving all the time. Many New Zealand and South African producers are embracing screw caps--inert gas is inserted into the top of the bottle to prevent oxidation, before the screw cap is applied. It's fine for wines that are meant to be consumed relatively young. It's also very convenient to take a bottle of screw-capped wine on a picnic--no corkscrew to worry about!

Coffee style and wine preference

I read this article a few years back, but I just found it again. It's a pretty interesting theory--that how people take their coffee determines their wine preferences.

Personally, I drink cream or half and half in my coffee, and no sugar. And while I do enjoy smoother reds like Pinot Noir, with low tannins, I also like big, tannic reds, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Zinfandel.

Check it out and see if what you get at the local coffee bar correlates with what you get at a wine bar...

Favorite all around wine reference book

Hands down, it's the Oxford Companion to Wine, by Jancis Robinson. Granted, it's not exactly a page-turner that you are going to read from beginning to end, but if you are even remotely an oenophile, you will want it on your coffee table or bookcase. Written in encyclopedia/dictionary form, everything is included, from grape varietals, to wine making terms, to vineyards and wine regions, to historical wine figures.

Take some of your tax refund, buy a case of wine and this book, and start "studying"!

DC International Wine & Food Festival

The place to be on June 24 and June 25. The chance to sample over 1700 wines from 240 wineries (spitting is essential, of course...). It's going to be a fantastic event.

One of my favorite wine accessories...

Along with my foil cutter, VacuVin wine saver pump and Wine Enthusiast decanter, these non-drip pourers are a must-have wine serving accesssory. They assure a perfect pour--without drips--every time, and are essential if you have a hard time perfecting what I call the "sommelier wrist twist." If you are having friends over for dinner, and plan on using white or light table linens, they give you piece of mind, as well...

History of Champagne

I'm reading this book right now, and it gives fascinating insight into the history of Champagne. It also makes me extremely thirsty for bubbly every time I open it...

Some interesting pieces of trivia:

* The Champagne house of Veuve Clicquot invented the process of remuage ("riddling"), the process of placing bottles of champagne on a rack that gets progressively more vertical each day, and twisting the bottles once or several times each day, to move the sediment to the neck of the bottle. Then, the necks are frozen, and the frozen sediment pops out. The bottles are topped up, and recorked.

* Madame Pommery, at the champagne house of Pommery, was the first to make dry champagne. Before that, all champagne had been sweet (and the first wines made in Champagne were dry, still reds!) Making Champagne sweet often covered up faults in wine, especially unripe grapes. But Madame Pommery was convinced that the market was ready for a drier style. She was right, and sales of drier Champagne sky-rocketed.

Bogle Petite Sirah

We had a bottle of Bogle Petite Sirah yesterday for Easter, along with some seared duck breast with a red wine and lingonberry reduction, and it was a delicious choice. The Petite Sirah was very jammy (blackberry, mostly), and medium to full-bodied, with easy tannins. It's also very dark purple!

Petite Sirah is the same variety as the French grape Durif. DNA testing has revealed that Syrah and Peloursin are the parents of Petite Sirah. Look for Bogle Vineyards, Fife, Concannon, and Parducci Wine Estates.

For more info on this interesting grape, check out the Petite Sirah advocacy group.

(Dry) rose wines

One of my favorite wines for this time of year is dry rose, especially from France or Spain. These are usually made with the grenache/garnacha grape, and can have a hue ranging from pale to vibrant pink. They are wonderful because they are served chilled and refreshing like a white wine, but have some of the weight, intensity and flavors of a red wine. (And no, I'm not talking about White Zinfandel here, though if you like it, by all means drink it!). Dry roses can have a fresh strawberry flavor, decent acidity, and no residual sugar.

Unfortunately, last night, I had a poor example of a rose... It was a 2005 Fat Ladies Rose Pinotage from South Africa. (Pinotage is a very "savage," rough red wine produced extensively in South Africa--goes well with their game cuisine). Anyway, this one was VERY high in alcohol, and that's about all you tasted and felt--that hot, alcohol burn. NOT very refreshing at all, and we dumped it after a sip (what a waste...)

When shopping for roses, look for the most recent vintage you can find (you will be able to find 2005 for Southern Hemisphere wines, and mostly 2004 for Spain and France). These wines are meant to be drunk young--age turns the pink color to a tawny, peach hue, and the fresh fruit flavor becomes dull and tired.

It is a great choice for Easter ham. If you haven't tried one, get past your prejedice against "pink wines" and buy one!

One of my favorite wine and food pairings...

Today I had one of my absolute favorite wine and food pairings: crisp New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and a mixed greens salad with herbed goat cheese on top. Unbelievably good!

The crisp, herby, light citrus aromas and flavors of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc go perfectly with the mixed greens used in the salad, and the tangy quality of goat cheese. Top the salad with a light vinaigrette, and add a fresh baguette, and it's a fantasic spring lunch.

Some NZ producers to look for: Kim Crawford, Monkey Bay, Cloudy Bay and Nobilo. NZ SBs are fantastic food wines because of their bracing acidity and unoaked quality. They work so well with food for the same reasons you use lemons and limes in cooking: to "wake up" your taste buds and make your mouth water.

DC area wine festivals

For those of you who like to plan ahead, here are some wine festivals coming up this spring and summer in the Metro DC area:

May 20-21, 2006: Wine in the Woods (Columbia, MD)
June 3-4, 2006: Vintage Virginia (Centreville, VA)
June 10-11, 2006: Great Grapes! Wine, Arts and Food Festival (Cockeysville, MD)
July 29-30, 2006: Great Grapes! Wine, Arts and Food Festival (Annapolis, MD)
September 16-17, 2006: The Maryland Wine Festival (Westminster, MD)
September 30-October 1, 2006: The 31st Annual Virginia Wine Festival (Leesburg, VA)

Vouvray for Spring

We had a Vouvray last night with dinner (grilled rosemary pork loin, grilled asparagus, roasted potatoes), and it's a great choice for spring.

Vouvray is from the Loire Valley of France, and it's made with the Chenin Blanc grape. Styles range from dry to semi-sweet with flavors of melon, lemon, apples or pears. The one we selected (Chateau Lacheteau) had some residual sugar, and would have gone really well with some spicy Asian food (the sugar would have offset the spiciness). It actually tasted a bit like an off-dry Riesling.

It's a nice wine for spring--and would actually go well with Easter ham.

My wine blog!

Hello fellow wine lovers, and welcome to my blog! I will be posting wine tips, suggestions and random news about wine. Keep checking back. Cheers!