Happy Thanksgiving!
November 24, 2011
My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #2
November 23, 2011
#2 Wine drinking is about as social as it gets!
Sure you can drink wine alone, but where’s the fun in that?
A bottle of wine begs to be shared, invites discussion, and there is nothing more satisfying than sharing a glass of vino (or 3) with the ones you choose to be close to, often over a great meal! The juice in your glass undoubtedly has a story behind it, and to be completely honest, I almost enjoy hearing the story that surrounds a wine (even the story behind the wine label), almost as much as drinking the wine itself!
Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines for 2011
November 23, 2011 Posted in News | Tagged Top 100 Wines, Wine Spectator, Wine Spectator Top 100 2011 | Leave a comment //The Thanksgiving Wine Survival Guide
November 22, 2011
Selecting Wine
Since there’s no possible way you can select one bottle of wine to satisfy everyone’s taste-buds,so I recommend we split it up! The one theme I do suggest you stick to is, whichever wine you choose, make sure it’s from the U.S. (Beaujolais being the exception). It’s an American holiday after all!
White Wine
Californian white blends are usually a big hit, especially ones with a hint of sweetness to satisfy the Riesling drinkers, but also keep from alienating the Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio fans. There’s a huge amount of white blends coming out of California at the moment, and you shouldn’t need to go over $20 to find something decent!
I also recommend you pickup a bottle of something a little-bit heavier to keep the Chard drinkers happy. Napa / Sonoma Chardonnay should do the trick!
Red Wine
Whether it be from Santa Barbara, Monterey, Sonoma, or a little further North in Oregon, Pinot Noir should serve as a perfect pairing with Turkey with Cranberry Sauce.
If you’re looking for something a little heavier, my suggestion would be a red blend, whether you want to go with a Meritage [Mare-eh-tidge] from Napa/Sonoma, or a Syrah/Cabernet dominated from Washington State. In the same respect as the white blend, a blended Cali red should serve to keep the majority of drinkers happy!
Sweet / Sparkling
If you’re looking for something sweeter, I don’t think you can ever go wrong with Moscato as a dessert-style wine. The bonus behind Moscato right-now is that with it being such a “hot grape”, wine brands are rushing to get theirs to market. The only downside is that the quality of Californian Moscato is sometimes questionable.
On the pure sparkling-side of things, I’ve always been a fan of Brut Rose Sparkling Champagne (I proposed to my wife over a bottle of Laurent Perrier Rose Champagne). It doesn’t necessarily have to be true Champagne, Californian Brut Rose Sparkling will be just fine (I like J Brut Rose)!
Quantity of Wine Needed
Everyone pours different, but personally I usually get 5 glasses out of a bottle (which I would say is about average), so base your buying off that. The worse case scenario is that you’ll buy too much, and have some bottles leftover (which is never a bad thing)!
Beaujolais
If you’re opting to pickup a bottle of Beaujolais, instead of throwing the Beaujolais Nouveau (released on the third Thursday in November) into your shopping basket, opt for Cru Beaujolais! Wines from these 10 defined regions are often overlooked by consumers as they normally don’t bear the term “Beaujolais” on the front label. The quality of Cru Beaujolais is usually considerably higher than Nouveau, and only a few $’s more. I recommend Beaujolais Cru’s of: Brouilly [BREW-yee], Fleurie [FLUR-ee], Juliénas [JOO-lee-ay-nah] and Morgon [more-GOH].
Wine Serving Temperature
Wine temperature is one of the most overlooked things when it comes to serving wine. It may not sound like a big deal to most, however if a red wine is served too warm (as it most often is) the alcohol will show through, and it will taste vinegary. Too cold, and the wine will be “muted” and won’t show its full potential.
A simple guideline for getting your wine close to its correct serving temperature is to use the 20 minute rule. Take your white wine out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before you are ready to serve it, and put your red wine in the refrigerator 20 minutes before you are ready to serve it.
Don’t Forget the Mulled Wine!
Check out my previous article on mulled wine! I promise you won’t regret it, ESPECIALLY if the weather is cold where you are!
Posted in Facts, News | Tagged Beaujolais, Mulled wine, Pinot Noir, Serving Temperatures, Thanksgiving | Leave a comment //My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #3
November 22, 2011
#3 Wine is good for you!
It seems that every week a new study is released showing the health benefits of wine. Research shows that moderate consumption of wine can combat everything from premature aging, to Alzheimer’s, to risk of heart attacks, or cancer.
I would however like to “throw a spanner in the works” to a certain degree, and give you something to think about in terms of all wine these studies. Let me first start out by saying that I understand more than most people the health advantages of moderate wine consumption; however, I do sometimes question the way that people are surveyed in these reports.
I’m going to suggest that wine drinkers are generally more active, consume their beverage of choice in a more restrained way (that in comparison to liquor), eat less processed foods, and partake in other healthy activities which lead to a healthier lifestyle. Granted, wine is a heavy contributor to this lifestyle, but I don’t think it should be given 100% of the credit. Controversial I know!!!
I’ve also spent a good amount of time working in wine retail, and I often take the time to question why someone might be choosing red wine over white, even though they just stated that they clearly prefer white; “Well I heard red wine is good for you!” they’ll say. They aren’t wrong, and I’m not disagreeing, however a single bottle of red wine is not the fountain of youth!
I would also like to emphasize the words moderate consumption, as it has also been shown that after consumption of over two glasses a day, all health benefits are lost and excess calories set in.
Saying all of this, it cannot ever be disputed that moderate consumption of a glass of two of red wine each every day, single-handedly yields more health benefits than any other alcoholic beverage available. Period.
My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #4
November 21, 2011
#4 Terroir
Terroir isn’t just a fancy-schmancy word thrown around by wine geeks, in order to confuse those who aren’t as “in the know”. Terroir is real!
The term terroir comes from the French word “terre”, but more accurately it means "a sense of place". Terroir is applied to vineyards to collectively reference the weather, the soil, sunlight hours, the slope of the hill where vines are planted, the macro climate of the region as a whole, right down to the meso/micro-climate of a row of grapes and their individual canopies etc.
No other agricultural product in the world can reflect where it comes from more than wine can!
If you don’t believe me, do your own experiment (it also gives you a random reason to throw a party in the name of “science”!)
-Purchase a few “decent quality” bottles of wine made from the same grape, but from different countries; for example, Sauvignon Blanc from Napa, Sonoma, New Zealand, Bordeaux, Loire Valley, and Chile.
-Gather a few friends around (maybe even ask them to bring a bottle).
-Taste the difference. You’ll be astonished!
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