wineLIFE: Rashida Veronique Fitzgerald D.W.S. Presents

Wine and West indian Wednesday

2012-01-18T10:44:00.003-05:00

Last week, Lisa Donneson DWS, owner of North Fork of Long Island AVA brand Bouké Wines and I got together at her home in Brooklyn Heights to dish, cook and drink wine – it was hard work, really it was! The goal was to pair some dishes I grew up eating with some of her wines. My family on all sides –mother, biological father and stepfather – hails from the tiny and bucolic Commonwealth of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean (I’m first generation American). Growing up in south Brooklyn, my childhood memories recall sunny Saturday mornings with my parents eating Accra, also known as fishcake, saltfish fritters or to my latino peeps “bacalao-itos”, while listening to Carl Anthony spin reggae and soca tunes on 1190AM WLIB before starting the chores and cleaning. Then it was smoked herring with plain bagels – 6 for $1.00 back then purchased on Flatbush Avenue near the corner of Flatlands – after Sunday mass. It was family time over heritage food. No wine was involved back then. My stepfather, who is a chef by trade and an awesome cook (he currently operates his own bar and restaurant in Pointe Michel, Dominica called The Curve), taught me how to make all the dishes I grew up eating, and today I incorporate them into my wineLIFE with a lots of love.

Lisa and I chatted the previous week to decide the menu and she asked me for a shopping list. For a heartbeat, I was stumped. These are not “recipes” per se, so I gave her what I thought I’d love to have on hand in the house if I was in the mood for any of these dishes, more akin a wish list than an ingredient list. I let her know I would bring along some homemade pepper sauce to give everything its authentic spice kick, but the rest was up to whatever was available in Brooklyn Heights. As a result, the nature of the actual food items was left up to some interpretation. I’ve been buying saltfish and smoked herring for decades now, its almost a reflex.

She emailed me to say that her fishmonger instructed her to start soaking the salt cod immediately on Friday so that it could be cooked and eaten on Monday. When I arrived, I was delighted to find that instead of the dried tail cuts available in supermarkets (labeled bacalao, usually not even real cod), there was a lovely, fleshy belly cut soaking in a ceramic dish. I knew I’d stepped into something marvelous!

These dishes were to be paired with her off-dry rosé, under the Bouquet label in her line. The 2010 vintage we tasted is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with a spot of Gewurztraminer for aroma (the brand signature). It’s just off dry, just enough to lift the fruit, and the finish is squeaky clean. We got to work on our little island feast.

We enjoyed the rosé best with the sautéed salt fish, which we cooked with onions, garlic and bell peppers and finished with cilantro and a squeeze of lime. The spicy, savory, salty dish awakened all the marvelous fruit notes in the wine and put the acidity to work cleaning and freshening up the palate for the next bite. Perfect pairing!

The fishcake was a natural with Bouké Perlant 2009, which is a slightly effervescent blend of three Pinots – Gris, Blanc and Noir. Sparkling wines and fried foods usually make happy couples.

The smoked herring, which I made with tomato paste and fresh Roma tomatoes, found a partner in Bouké Red, a wine that often goes well with tomato-based dishes. The Bouké Red is a wineLIFE fan favorite, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Petit Verdot, and the 2008 vintage is still drinking beautifully!

Conclusions:
1. Wine and West Indian food can work well together – and we don’t all have to drink sweet to enjoy it!
2. The white wine with fish rule is officially broken!
3. When buying saltfish, spring for the belly cut of real cod– it makes for a much nicer finished product!

It was a big meal! I walked it off over the Brooklyn Bridge, past Liberty Plaza (Occupy! Salute!) and down to the Ferry to head home.

Visit Lisa’s blog for the full ingredient lists and methods of preparation:
http://boukewines.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/salt-cod-and-herring-west-indian-style/

Meet Zinfandel - The Soul Singer

2012-01-04T20:52:00.009-05:00

It’s one o’clock in the morning. Pinot’s party is in full swing. Pinot Gris has switched the vibe with some mellow acoustic soul, and Merlot has had enough glasses of bubbly to feel encouraged to approach the object of his desire. He has been trying to find the right words to use to approach her. “Excuse me Miss Sultry, you’re aroma called me from across the room, I just HAD to get closer to you.” Or “Gorgeous Lady Zin, loving you could never be a sin.” There she is, holding her position by the baby grand, microphone in one hand, her other pretty bejeweled hand playing with the stem of a glass filled with something white, something chilled. She’s having a chat with Viognier and Syrah, he’s thinking about how to interrupt gracefully. The off-white silk dress clinging to her full bodied curves makes his heart race, and when she smiles, her pearly whites look as though their floating in the darkness like the grin of the Cheshire cat. “Brown sugar mama, blackberry baby love, I want you in my life.”

Although discovered to be the same as the Primitivo grape cultivated in Apulia, Italy (the heel of the boot), and a close relative of a grape from Croatia called Plavac Mali, Zinfandel is indisputably an American original. Up until 1998 it was the most planted grape in California. Many are familiar with the pink pop known as White Zinfandel, the rosé “blush” which is produced in copious amounts and invariably sells for less than $8 a bottle – bubblegum in a glass! The variety was taken for granted for the most part until the 1960’s, when a handful of winemakers, most notably Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards on the Montebello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, made the red version an icon by producing single vineyard Zinfandels and Zin-dominated blends. There is even a thriving trade organization to promote the variety called ZAP – Zinfandel Advocates and Producers. They sponsor research in Zinfandel Vines and host events for consumers and trade every year. Those who fall in love with Zin are captivated for all time!

Flavor Profile
Here’s an amazing tasting note from Certified Sommelier Countess Rose Perry (Follow her @VinoCaPisco on Twitter), self-proclaimed Zinfandel expert (her words), for Hunt Cellars Rocket Man Zinfandel:

Appearance – Deep Amethyst, almost opaque

Nose – Violets, twizzlers and brown sugar-coated tea rose

Palate – Fleshy, meaty, jammy & extremely Marilyn Monroe type full bodied, flavors of blackberry jam, white pepper crusted ripened strawberries, clove, spiced grape jelly

Conclusions – LOVE IT!

This should give you an idea of what a typical Zinfandel can bring into your life – the goody goody goods, all day. Definitely for an American palate, kids who grew up on these flavors can skip the pink stuff and go straight for the red!

Food Pairings
In truth, Zinfandel is divine as a solo act (a few back up singers can enhance the blend, but she doesn’t need accompaniment beyond that). Nonetheless, I pressed our Countess Rose, who agrees about drinking her Zin unadulterated, but suggested a Jarlsberg grilled cheese on brioche or green Cerignola olives with old vine versions.

Your Homework
Attack 2 Zins this weekend, one on the high end of the market if you can, and one for under $20. Top Zinfandels are worth the bucks, but you will have to shell out upwards of $60 a bottle for Ridge, Turley, Rosenblum, A. Rafanelli and the like, that Hunt Cellars Rocket Man included. These wineries are Zin temples, where homage is paid in the form of hand selection of grapes from old vines and painstaking blending and aging. There is, nonetheless, enough good juice (even from some old vines) on the lower end to go around, since it is such a ubiquitous and highly productive vine. One of my faves is Gnarly Head Old Vines Zinfandel, which retails for less than $13 a bottle and is delicious for the price. You’ll find Zinfandel based blends containing Petite Sirah, Grenache, Carignan, and other Syrah-compatible varieties. It turns out Merlot doesn’t end up in her mix – she’s too much woman for him!

*Old Zinfandel Vine planted in 1925 Courtesy of my Facebook Friend, Wine Trick

Tasting Note: Marqués de Tomares Rioja Gran Reserva 2001

2011-12-31T22:45:00.009-05:00

Before I layed me down to sleep
I prayed my decanter my wine to keep
If it had died before I woke
I wouldn't have found it a funny joke!

Today, New Year's Eve 2011, I tasted at 12:30PM in a gorgeous Bottega del Vino glass from Verona, Marqués de Tomares 2001 Rioja Gran Reserva. It was in great shape *phew!*, and I wrote a tasting note following the Wine and Spirit Education Trust guidlines I was indoctrinated with while practicing for my 4 tries before passing the Unit 3 tasting exam (just one less try than the number of road tests for my NYS Driver's License)

Marqués de Tomares Rioja 2001 Gran Reserva is a limited production run of 10,423 numbered 750ml bottles (today I opened bottle number 1158) and 960 Magnums. It's 90% Temrpanillo and 10% Mazuelo, a less heralded but very important grape variety that is one of four red varieties legally allowed in Rioja wines. It's known as Carignan in France, and job is to contribute a little seasoning to a blend.

Gran Reserva is a term regulated by the Consejo Regulador, and can be applied to wines made in only in very execptional vintages from the top vineyards of the region. White Gran Reservas exist, but they are even more rare than red ones. The law requires they are aged for a minumum of two years in oak barrels and they are not allowed to leave the winery until six years after vintage, although in practice they are usually treated to much more aging - this particular Gran Reserva had nine cellared years at Marqués de Tomares winery before it arrived on US shores. It rested thirty months of that time in American Oak barrels (customarily the oak of choice in the region) and spent the rest of the time louging in bottles in the cellar. The 750 ml bottles arrived in handsome wooden cases (six to a box), while the magnums were packed in individual branded wooden coffins. Wine swag!

I first tasted this wine in the summer of 2010 while considering it for purchase for the shelves at my shop, the erstwhile wineLIFE Wine Shop in New York. I retasted it in November of that year and wrote a very simple tasting note:
Appearance - Garnet (in WSET terms, garnet is more of a reddish brown, normal for old world wines and wines from older vintages, while ruby would define a red leaning toward purple or blue, normal for young wines)
Nose - Earthy, Green Pepper, Black Olive
Palate - Complex, layers of cinnamon, coffee, spice, green tea... and I wrote acidity, which in wineLIFE speak indicates that the wine's acidity was surprisingly fresh for its age (this was a tasting note jotted quickly while standing in front of the wine's importer, James Turney of Parador Selections, in my store)
I gave the wine five stars. It was a freshly opened sample, not decanted.

The next time I drank it, we were having ribs, baked macaroni and cheese and other wonderful comfort foods on July 5, 2011 for the birthday of my long time friend Wil Otero - we drank magnum number 342. It was an epic summer celebration!

So last night around 11:00PM, I gently poured the wine into a Riedel Merlot 750ml decanter* (see end note). While doing so, I remembered an interesting piece of wine history, very old, simple technology that I could see last night still works. The bottle this wine was packaged in is the traditional Bordeaux shape, that is straight sides with shoulders. The original purpose for the design of that bottle was so that while you pour, the shoulders would catch any sediment so you wouldn't have to chew on polymerized tannins in your glass while drinking. I could see this happening as I poured - the shoulders were indeed holding back the sediment!

I let the decanted wine stand in my kitchen overnight, in a shady, relatively cool corner. For lunch I had it with a grilled cheese sandwich and took a thorough tasting note a little over 12 hours after decanting. As I write this post at 4:00PM I'm still sipping it and it is still giving up lots of delish goods. Now, withouth further ado, today's tasting note on this wine:

Appearance - Deep garnet, mahogany core fading to a brownish rim

Nose - Clean, deep and intense with a bouquet of leather, sage, dried raspberry, cherry and fig, caramel, cedar/ciagr box, cured black olives

Palate - Long length with beautifully balanced alcohol and acidity, silky fine graned tannins. It reminded me of a charred sirloin steak off the grill, cooked medium rare, or jerk seasoning minus the peppery kick, and that cedar/cigar box aroma played in my retronasal passage (accessed from inside the mouth while tasting). Hints of herbal flavors of rosemary, bayleaf and green olive laced the profile and there was an underlying flavor of black trumpet mushrooms (trompettes de la mort)

The wine still gets five stars - it is in amazing condition and decanting showed me the mature side of The Dreamgirl, with all her contures. Complex, this wine is a picture of power and soul. She could hold off the Klan with a shotgun to protect her children one day and cry while watching a love story the next.

A rare and wonderful experience to end this rare and wonderful year and usher in the promise of 2012. Cheers, Happy New Year, thanks for reading. Please share, tweet, post and comment to your heart's content!

*Riedel Merlot Decanter is a model name. While its probably true that Riedel made this specific decanter with Merlot's best interests at heart (they are known for specialist varietal glassware) it still worked just fine for the Gran Reserva. In fact, I have other decanters that are wider and would have spread the wine out more, but I chose this one because while I wanted to aerate the Rioja, I didn't want to assault it with too much oxygen. This decanter kept the wine in close quarters. By the 24 hour mark, it was starting to fall to pieces.

Vino Bash at Pinot's

2011-12-21T11:16:00.017-05:00

It’s the second-to-last Friday in December. The halls are decked, the candles are lit, and Riesling, The Cheerleader, is putting finishing touches on the holiday cookies for the Vino Bash at Pinot’s (Noir that is)! She has an apron on over her turquoise and black Diane Von Furstenberg Naomi dress. She wanted to make sure everyone would be happy, so she baked ginger snap Christmas trees, shortbread dreidels, and she couldn’t figure out what to do for Kwanzaa so she made Africa-shaped chocolate cookies. Ah, sweet Riesling!

Pinot Noir is not even home yet. She’s still at Saks trying on shoes. All day has been about hair, makeup, nails and frock, and she has not been satisfied with any of it so far. She’s just hoping Cabernet Sauvignon makes an effort not to show up in his stupid team jersey and talk about football all night! But more importantly, as host of this glam slam, she has got to outshine all the other girls – especially Miss Tempranillo, the so-called Dreamgirl. OMG its so hard to be The Princess!

She gave the job of writing the invitation to Merlot, The Poet. Judging from all the silky lyrics he has been throwing at her since they met, she knew he was perfect for the task of presenting her holiday party as the can’t-miss-event –of-the-entire-season. And that he did, for the RSVPs came back in a deluge. He’s so smooth!

Its already 8:30PM and the party starts at 10:00PM. Syrah, The CEO shows up early as always, ready to pitch in and help pull things together. Riesling is relieved he’s here. He grabs her checklist and proceeds to move around Pinot’s large upper east side apartment making sure all I’s are dotted. Chardonnay arrived right on his heels. She wasn’t sure what time she should come and she didn’t want to be late. Plus she wanted to find a comfy spot on the couch so she could fade into the background. She pops into the kitchen to say hello to Riesling.

“Do I look OK?” asks shyly, in sensible flat shoes, wide leg khakis and an off-white cable knit cardigan.

Riesling washes her hands. She takes Chardonnay’s hair down out of the ever-present single ponytail, removes her glasses and hands them to her. “You look great!” she says and turns back to arranging trays of snacks and cookies.

Guests start arriving around 10:30PM. Pinot Gris is the DJ for the evening. He is selecting a great mix from his own collection with a little help from Spotify. His mohawk is freshly cut and he’s in black leather from head to toe with super pointy embellished wing tips. The house is rocking by 11:00PM. But where’s Pinot Noir?

At around 11:15PM, the door flies open. It’s Moscato, The Life of the Party, with a bottle in each hand yelling “Pop Pop!!” The party erupts in cheers and two of his friends carrying a cooler full of bubbly follow him through the crowded room to the coffee table. He jumps up on to the table, opens the two bottles, shakes them and sprays the crowed with sparkling wine. Syrah is appalled. Viognier, The Supermodel, slender and aloof in her yellow satin vintage couture cocktail frock, red leather L.A.M.B. clutch and black Manolo Blahnik heels suddenly comes alive and dives behind the bar in fright to avoid ruining her dress. She just knows it isn’t vintage champagne in the air!

Around 11:30PM sexy Miss Tempranillo arrives on the arm of Cabernet Franc, the Exchange Student. Merlot cuts his eyes at them with a jealous look. “That damned Franc gets all the girls! I bet it’s the accent,” he thinks to himself. She is every picture the dreamgirl, voluptuous in knee high heeled leather boots and a well fitted black calf length cap sleeved knit dress with shimmering silver trim, conservative on her bust line but deeply cut in the back to show off her tattoo, hair immaculatelycoiffed. Franc is in a slim fit double cuff royal blue Thomas Pink shirt with a red Prada blazer and white skinny jeans evoking Lupin the Third. Viognier peeks over the bar to see if its all clear. She spots the two of them and casually eyes Franc. She plots to catch him alone later for a chat, maybe when Temp goes to the bathroom.

Merlot turns his attention to Zinfandel, The Soul Singer, who had arrived about 20 minutes earlier. It would be his first time meeting her in person, even though they have a number of mutual friends. He’s seen her in some of their Facebook photos, but the pics don’t do her justice. She is gorgeous in an off-white silk dress and matching headdress that provide a flattering contrast to her dark cocoa skin tone. He stares at her full lips thinking “baby you can sing my poetry,” as he casually make his way across the room to baby grand piano where she’s standing chatting with Viognier and Syrah.

At around 11:45 Sauvignon Blanc arrives with Verdejo. Sauvignon decides to surprise everyone and show up in modern-day Bing Crosby Christmas special swag, complete with reindeer snowflake sweater and Santa hat. But the Santa hat is black and white and the reindeer on the sweater are trampling grandma. Verdejo sashays into the room, looking for the crudite platter so he can find the snack with the least calories so as to keep his perfect physique on point. His ruby velvet jacket layered over a gray scoop neck $50 Armani Exchange t-shirt is carefully accessorized with a powder blue pashmina scarf. He’s wearing his pewter pinky ring on the hand he always holds a wine glass with – his right one.

Finally, at 11:50PM, the door opens again, an there’s Cabernet Sauvignon looking dapper in a magenta suit and perfectly matched shirt (Versace for H&M) accented cleverly with a canary yellow bowtie and handkerchief. He’s so cocky! On his arm is his lady Pinot Noir, looking as perfect as she had hoped. She settled on the Christian Louboutin black feathered Carnival d’Orsay shoes and that Stella McCartney gold sequined cocktail dress that had just arrived at Bergdorf’s earlier this month. She is accessorized with tasteful black opal drop earrings and lots of black and gold bangles on her wrists. She is smiling and making the entrance she had planned with all her guests looking on. She starts to circulate the room with all the graces of a perfect host, while silently surveying the food and bar set up. She is satisfied with it all. She knew she could count on Riesling and Syrah to make sure her fete was tight! “I have arrived,” she thinks to herself, “the party may begin now.”

In all her earlier kvetching, Pinot didn’t even consider glamour competition from Gewürztraminer, who did indeed show up unexpectedly at exactly midnight. That Diva upstaged Pinot with a spectacular, show stopping entrance into her own party in a pair of Irregular Choice Best of All peacock feather platforms. She let her white rabbit fur coat slide casually off her shoulders to reveal a fabulous sleeveless fuchsia sequined cowl neck ankle length jumpsuit and an obscenely blingy diamond and sapphire necklace with matching earrings, cocktail ring and bracelet that looked like something from a Cartier window display. All eyes turn to take in her shine. Pinot nearly popped her cork!

By 12:30AM, the party was in full swing, and everyone was blending in happy holiday spirit. Here’s to a happy and safe season. Sip responsibly and get home safely!

Wine Community Pitches In for Haiti

2011-12-06T22:52:00.032-05:00

This story of help sent to Haiti after the catastrophic January 2010 earthquake sets itself apart indeed. Design Diva Lavinia Campo, my High School bestie and the muse for my Meet Gewürztraminer – The Diva - September 7, 2011 blog post connected me to the I Am Haiti Art Scarves Project in late October.

At the behest of some concerned friends who implored him to reach into his network for donations to an orphanage in the town of Maranatha that was destroyed in the earthquake, documentarian Kevin O’Hanlon, founder of Films on Artists (follow @FilmsOnArtists on Twitter) took a unique approach to front line aid. In collaboration with Haitian born artist Richard Laurent, he brought paint, brushes and canvases to Haiti and encouraged the children of Maranatha School and Orphanage to paint the future they envisioned. Thus, in their very first artistic creations, they brought their innermost desires out front and took their lives into their own hands. Soon after, some of the works were sold at Kevin’s Rogue Space Gallery at the Chelsea Fine Arts Building in Manhattan to finance the reconstruction of the orphanage. That was just the beginning.

Kevin’s continued efforts have brought a great deal of attention to this project, including that of Frank and Caroline Fleischer, founders of the non-profit Franca Art and Fashion. Caroline, CEO of fashion industry consulting firm Talents For Fashion, envisioned a line of luxury scarves featuring the children’s artwork. Frank is the CEO of major textile manufacturers TMS Fashion, whose client list includes ESPRIT and Topshop. The scarves, which are digitally printed on the finest cashmere, will go on sale this Friday evening at the I Am Haiti Art Scarves reception in Chelsea (details below). They will sell for $100.00 apiece. Fifty percent of the proceeds – 100% of the profit – from the sale of the scarves will continue to sustain the Maranatha School and Orphanage.

Friday night’s event is sponsored in part by two generous wine providers so you can sip and shop in style:

South Pacific Wines LLC
For ten years, New York-based Kiwis Mei Fong and Michael Carr-Smith have brought a lovingly curated boutique selection of New Zealand wines into the United States from the regions of Hawkes Bay and Marlborough, with the recent addition of a Pinot Noir from the world’s most southerly wine region, my beloved Central Otago. The white wines, including a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and a barrel fermented Hawkes Bay Chardonnay from the flagship Crossroads label and the Unoaked Chardonnay and Pinot Gris that form the Curious Cove line, will be featured at this Friday’s event. Expect clean, crisp wines that have ripe fruit character and beautiful balance – even the 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay drinks like fresh juice! The author is proud to be an independent sales representative in Brooklyn and Manhattan for this importer. Contact veronique@southpacwines.com for retail and restaurant inquiries.

Available at Harlem Vintage in Manhattan and Zap Wines and Spirits on Court Street in Brooklyn.

Follow @CrossroadsWines on Twitter

Bouké Wines
Fellow WSET Diploma of Wine and Spirit graduate Lisa Donneson DWS founded Bouké in 2007 “to satisfy the tastes of an emerging generation of American wine drinkers who share her belief that wine should be an everyday pleasure for the senses” – a woman after my own heart! I had the pleasure of stocking her wines at my erstwhile Stapleton, Staten Island store, including her full bodied, beautifully balanced red blend and the slightly effervescent, super pretty Pérlant. She is providing a mixed case of her white and rosé wines for the evening. What a treat for all of our deserving I Am Haiti Art Scarves supporters!

Available at Harlem Vintage in Manhattan and Red White and Bubbly in Brooklyn. Find more stockists at www.boukewines.com

Follow @Boukewines on Twitter

I Am Haiti Art Scarves Introduction Reception
Franca Gallery
526 West 26th Street, #417
Chelsea, NYC
Reception
Friday December 9, 6-10pm
More Documentary Screenings and Events
Saturday December 10, noon - 8pm
Sunday December 11, noon - 8pm

For more information: 
Visit http://iamhaitiscarves.com/
Press/Media Contact:
 Marie Theodore 646.529.9349/ MarieDrivenpr@gmail.com 
Follow @MarieDriven on Twitter
http://Mariedrivenonthescene.com/
For General Entry: Teamexecutionpr@gmail.com

Meet Moscato - The Life of the Party

2011-11-16T01:32:00.005-05:00

A party ain't a party until he shows up. He’s the catalyst; something about his vibe just brings fun into any room just like the character Magnitude from Community whose name is a combination of the words Magnetic Attitude. That’s Moscato. Who cares if he doesn’t always get his work done? When the clock strikes five and its time to loosen your tie or kick off your pumps, that’s when it’s most important to have a guy like him in your mix!

Moscato is the Italian name for the Muscat grape, one of the only few wine grape varieties (of the vitis vinifera species) that actually tastes grapey when made into wine. This is not to be confused with Muscadet from the Loire (made from a grape called Melon), the Muscadelle grape from Bordeaux, or the American Scuppernong grape Muscadine (which is a different species all together – no relation). Moscato is also the name of a wine style from the northwestern Italian village of Asti in the Piemonte region. What became popular in the 80’s and 90’s as Asti Spumanti – spumanti is Italian for sparkling – is now simply known as Asti. It’s the same sparkling, low alcohol, sweet Muscat wine. Moscato d’Asti is even lower still in alcohol and less effervescent. It’s usually sold in bottles that have a regular cork or screw top, unlike Asti and other fully sparkling wines that come with a mushroom shaped cork held down with a little wire cage. Pop Pop!

Muscat also makes a fabulous dessert wine, sometimes fortified to around 15% alcohol like the southern Rhône treat Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. These wines are often built to last long years and evolve into joyously mature bliss later in life. Meanwhile, in the south Australian region of Rutherglen, Muscat (known locally as Brown Muscat because it gives a high proportion of dark grapes) is a mainstay that is made into decadent mahogany colored stickies that could put the best Swiss dark chocolate to shame.

Flavor Profile
When your palate craves natural sodas and homemade sweets like tablet (a coconut treat from the French and Kweyol speaking Caribbean) or Greek Kataïfi, that is a palate that would appreciate well made Asti, Moscato and Muscat dessert wines. There is such a thing as dry Muscat, very popular on the Greek wine scene. It’s a bizarre bird indeed – you recognize the Muscat aroma, but then you get it in your mouth and it’s not at all what you expected. When your mind is on a cumin and fennel vibe, that’s a good time to reach for a dry Muscat.

Food Pairings
For a wine that is so simple, it can be a most difficult thing to pair with food. Truth is most Moscato/Muscat wines can stand alone. Have sparkling Moscato drastic as an aperitif to start your evening – at only around 5% alcohol; it’s a great way to ease into a lovely night. Finish a meal with a fortified Muscat from the south of France. As I dig deeper into my food and wine memory, I recall enjoying blue vein cheese with a good funk on it in the company of a non-fortified Muscat dessert wine. I can imagine one of those dark Rutherglen Muscats from Australia making a great connect. With a dry Muscat I like Mediterranean flavors like oil cured black olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes – think tapenade, humus, pita and grape leaves. It’s a party, and Moscato is on the scene!

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try a Moscato d'Asti, a dessert Muscat wine and, if you can find one, a dry Greek Muscat. There’s a world of Muscat wines you can get into. This trio is a good cross section – the sweet, the dry and the bubbly. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_, #MoscatoHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall.

Meet Pinot Grigio/Gris - The Gemini

2011-11-02T08:23:00.004-04:00

Everyone gets Pinot Grigio. This side of the Gemini's personality is very easy to understand, there are no surprises. As easy as he is to understand, he is just as easy to find. He's everywhere you are. Button-down shirts, sweater vests, khakis, clean shaven face, argyle socks, oxfords - that's a Pinot Grigio look. Just a regular guy. Perhaps he's a great looking regular guy, but you could definitely bring him home to meet the parents.

You can’t miss the evil twin - Pinot Gris. Same guy, different guise. Pungent cologne, bright red jeans, loud, artistic and bizarre - nothing you'd expect from his laced up alter ego! He and Sauvignon Blanc would get along well in theory but in practice they don’t blend! That would be far too much insanity in one room.

Really they are simply two names for the same gray-hued grape - Grigio in Italian, Gris in French, both mean gray. But as they've evolved in their respective homelands, they've evolved into two very unique styles of wine. So unlike Syrah grown in Southern France and Shiraz grown in Australia, the two incarnations of the gray Pinot are very different from eachother indeed.

In northeastern Italy, Pinot Grigio is the sweater vest. It produces light, crisp, clean wines that don’t offend. We call these kinds of wines “crowd pleasers”. From the Tre Venezie comes massive amounts of Pinot Grigio for easy drinking There are notable exceptions from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige, smaller parts of the region that take pride in bringing the best out of the variety – floral notes on the nose, minerality on the palate – great structure in general. Nonetheless, they are true to their argyle socks.

In Alsace, the eastern French sliver of land isolated from the rest of the country by the Vosges Mountains, Pinot Gris has both his septum and labret pierced. The dry styles are funky with more body than most white wines of the world – in a way they remind me of extra virgin olive oil in both texture and aroma. The sweeter styles are rich, aromatic and complex, a wine geek’s dream indeed. Overall, Pinot Gris from Alsace (known once upon a time as Tokay Pinot Gris or Tokay d’Alsace) is unlike any other wine experience.

Based on the two benchmark regions, wines produced anywhere else in the world from this variety are named according to the style in which they produce. So you can expect Pinot Grigio from California to be crisp, clean, perhaps more fruity than the Italian version because of the warmer climate, but still simple. These wines are made for the uncomplicated palate, the baked potato set. Then when you see a Pinot Gris from Nelson, New Zealand, you should buckle your seat belt! These wines, like their French contemporaries, are for you food voyeurs who have actually thought about or even ventured a taste of monkey brains… don’t say ewwww!

Pinot Grigio and fried chicken are famous friends, much in the same way that sparkling wine and non-vintage champagne works (and interestingly, some Pinot Grigio does indeed come with a light spritz), the crisp acidity is the perfect foil for this greasy, salty summer favorite. Think potato chips, cheese nachos, over easy eggs – simple, savory, nicely salted, non-spicy, accessible standards.

You must think more gastronomically for Pinot Gris on the other hand. For starters, you can break the rule of white wine with white meat and voyage into the land of the other white meat – pork! Alsace, having been a part of Germany for a period of time, has rich food traditions that mix both cultures into a beautiful pot of proverbial stew. Think sausage with sauerkraut or a pork loin roast with winter vegetables, country or mousse pâté or even souse (braised pigs feet) on a Sunday morning tossed in a vinegar salad with onions and cucumbers, slight pepper. Pinot Gris will handle any of that like a champion for you. For those who don’t partake, duck or game meat give just as much of that rich flavor that hits you in your retro-nasal passages with a funk you hate to love for that Pinot Gris swag.

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 2 Pinot Grigios and 2 Pinot Gris. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for wines from the above mentioned regions. Your two Pinot Grigios should definitely be Italian – go for a $10 bottle and get a recommendation on a $20-25 one (please avoid that one overpriced brand for which you only are really paying a popularity fee – you know who you are!). Both of your Pinot Gris can be French, or you can do as Gris does and have an adventure in another part of the world. The thing is when the wine is labeled Pinot Gris its bound to be interesting! Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_, #PinotGHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. Don’t you just love these assignments??

Meet Tempranillo – The Dreamgirl

2011-10-19T14:21:00.007-04:00

Killer curves. Great beauty. Tempranillo is the witty, friendly, smart, sexy lady in your life. She’s graceful like leather, herb and baking spice notes often supported on a black cherry heart. Some guys may not have what it takes to convince her, but they all want to see if there’s a chance. And she doesn’t make it easy.

Ribera del Duero is a loving home for Tempranillo. The climate there is continental, with hot summer days, cool nights and a cold winter. The Tempranillo vineyards of line the Ribera del Duero, a river that starts in Spain and flows through Portugal where it is known as the Douro. This environment makes for great 100% Tempranillo wines that often have impressive longevity. In the Rioja region, Tempranillo’s often the strong link in the chain (a blend) with Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo. This is Spain’s noble grape. In many ways, Tempranillo bears a resemblance to Pinot Noir, another beautiful wine experience.

Much like with Pinot Noir, your palate should be used to high quality foods and ingredients, including organics (as I see it, if you take the time to treat your crop with good organic love, your efforts must produce something of high quality). Your palate should appreciate purity, as it does when your diet is strictly itals. Your palate is teased with a little spice in my fave Ribera del Duero reds that I tasted just recently at Wines of Spain Great Match 2011 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. (I shot my Rioja twitcon there, follow @RiojaWINE). I had the pleasure of vibing with both Verdejo and Tempranillo on personal level. They could be great mates in the same meal – Verdejo paired with a light appetizer like seared foie gras tourchon or saltfish with dumpling and sautéed spinach and onion. The main course could be a beautiful heritage chicken roast rubbed with Illchef #7 spice (link @iLLCH3F to inquire, and please truss that bird before roasting!) with carrots, onions, garlic and celery to compliment the Tempranillo. I suggest decanting Rioja Reservas and Grand Reservas as well as Ribera del Dueros older than age 6 (2005 or earlier).

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 3 Tempranillos. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for Ribera del Duero and Rioja. You can easily find a Rioja Joven or an inexpensive Crianza (under $15) then treat yourself to two Ribera wines – one around $15.00 and the other, on the older side, at $40.00 and up. Pay close attention to the varietal makeup of the Rioja. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_, @riojawine and @wines_fromspain #TempranilloHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. You will fall in love!

If you love this blog as much as I love writing it for you, please share it. I love sharing what I’ve learned about wine and life!

With Love,

Vee Fitzgerald DWS xoxo

Meet Verdejo - The Dancer

2011-10-12T07:54:00.006-04:00

Meet Verdejo – The Dancer
I’ve met Verdejo on several occasions in the past – surely several times while studying for my Diploma of Wine and Spirit and we carried Valdelapinta Verdejo 2009 (imported by Parador Imports) at wineLIFE among our summer 2010 selection of wines. Last week at Great Match 2011, Wines from Spain’s annual wine and food tasting event, I had a chance to rub elbows with him and really get to know him better. And you know what? He’s a unique variety that deserves his own week to be featured!

Drinking Verdejo is like watching a ballet. Verdejo is that dude in tights, but don’t mistake his wardrobe for weakness. He is strong and lean and graceful, and all the ballerinas want to run across the stage and leap into his arms. The tights let you see his taut muscle tone. He lifts the ballerina in the air as though she were light as a feather. They move in unison. His moves are masculine and precise. Many times it seems she will just wither into his arms and he would catch her, hold her, balance her, look into her eyes… Ah Verdejo!

Rueda is Spain’s most respected white wine region, and Verdejo is the noble grape on which the best wines are based. Traditionally, as in many old world wine regions, Verdejo was the star in a duet (blend) with Palomino, but nowadays, the variety does solos regularly. It is not a difficult grape to grow, and as soon as Spanish winemakers made the discovery that with temperature controlled fermentations in stainless steel with no aging Verdejo could be a star, he took center stage!
Flavor Profile and Food Partners
Verdejo is for lovers of unique food combinations short of pregnancy cravings. With all that lovely crisp acidity, pink grapefruit and rosemary character, they tend to have an underlying nuttiness – that is it’s signature.

This past Sunday night I broke down a whole chicken and curried it with carrots, onions, garlic and flour dumplings and it was fantastic (just ask my three year old daughter, who was not just licking her fingers, but her whole hand!). It had just enough sizzle on the back palate to clear up congestion without making you lunge for a piece of bread – water only makes a burning palate burn hotter, in case you didn’t know. And the flavors were rich! I was generous with cumin and clove, salt and plenty pepper. All I could think about was my new friend Verdejo who I didn’t even have the decency to invite over for dinner! If I had, he and my curry would have become the closest of friends. His racy acidity and vivacious fruit character would have been the perfect counter point for the richly savory, sufficiently spicy curry in my pot. I had a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc instead, and that was just as lovely as I had hoped.

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 2 Verdejos. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for Rueda. Pay close attention to the varietal makeup. You should try one that is 100% Verdejo and another that is at least 60% Verdejo blended with other varieties. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ and @wines_fromspain #VerdejoHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. Viva España!

Meet Viognier - The Supermodel

2011-10-05T21:15:00.004-04:00

The thing about that supermodel is that she’s not just tall, skinny and pretty. She’s super because she’s in very high demand and did not need to “get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day”. Viognier is that “it” girl. As a child, she was taller than even some boys – she was a tom boy who slouched a lot and was great at sports but not so great at make-up, hair, clothing and shoes. As she came of age she realized what she was working with and inevitably ended up in the fashion world, where her height was now an asset and her additional assets set her apart from the rest.

Who is she anyway?
Viognier is one of the “white wine trying to be a red wine” grape varieties, so much so that it ended up in blends with Syrah (the CEO, see previous post). This seemingly odd blending tradition started because they dwell in the same vineyards in parts of the Northern Rhône, and ended up getting picked and pressed together – field blend. French law sanctions up to 20% of Viognier in a Côte Rôtie wine, but this fickle, difficult-to-grow, low yielding vine makes it less than possible to eek out more than around 5%, and nowadays she doesn’t even show up for work (today’s Côte-Rôtie wines are 100% Syrah). The Aussies carried on the tradition in wineries that pay true homage to the heritage of Shiraz, blending Viognier in and even saying so on the label. These blends also only contain around 5% Viognier. Nonetheless, her presence in a blend is felt.

As a soloist, Viognier’s sensual, heady perfume and full body on the palate makes for a highly sought after varietal wine. The benchmark is Condrieu (pronounced kon-dree-YOU) in the Northern Rhône, one of France’s most exotic and captivating white wines. Her other happy home is in California, under the auspicies of The Rhône Rangers, the wiley wine renegades who wanted more than just Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay for a muse. Viognier has a few things in common with Gewürztraminer (the Diva, see previous post), including an difficult-to-pronounce name – say “vee-OH-nee-YAY”. And don’t mess it up or you might get slapped!

Flavor Profile and Food Pairing
For flavor profile, lovers of great classic perfume would love Viognier. If your mother wore Channel No. 5 when you were growing up and you enjoyed the summer’s ripest peaches or you enjoy exciting things that the mainstream consider luxurious such as artisan cheeses, truffles, smoked salmon, caviar – you’re a Viognier person for sure. If you really must pair Viognier with a meal *sigh* I see filet mignon with fingerling potatoes and perhaps some wilted spinach as a nice meal. But understand that you will have to tailor the meal to the wine (that’s generally true but it is especially true for the supermodel). You will find that she is worth it indeed!

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 2 Viogniers. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for a California Viognier as well as something from the Languedoc (south of France). New York State also produces some Viognier – Brooklyn Oenology makes one from North Fork of Long Island grapes which was a favorite at our store. Be prepared to spend $15.00 or more per bottle – because the vines yield low, its naturally an expensive wine to make. For extra credit, treat yourself a bottle of Condrieu. Top producers include Georges Vernay and E. Guigal). Not everyone will have these in stock but most will know what you’re talking about. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #ViognierHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. That’s delicious!

Meet Syrah - The CEO

2011-09-28T07:52:00.005-04:00

He was the senior class president, always impeccably dressed to stand out from the rest of the high school crowd. He’s into older women and they love him too. Never needing any ostentation to impress, he has instead a way of commanding your attention and respect with a deep, booming voice and eloquent, well-chosen statements. As CEO of a major corporation, he puts those skills to good use. It was either that or politics – he would have found success there too, no doubt. Shiraz for president!

As Syrah, this thick skinned grape lives a happy life in France’s Rhône Valley, situated toward the south, working solo in the Northern Rhône (sometimes blended with a bit of the Viognier that resides in the same vineyard). From Côtes Rotie in the north to Cornas in the south, he’s the main event. In the Sourthern Rhône Syrah’s in lots of great company with Grenache, Mouvedre, Cinsault, et al. The region’s signature wine, Châteauneuf du Pape, can legally contain up to 13 different listed red varieties, all together or in any combination. Syrah is almost always in the mix and is usually detectable in the blend, the head fruit in charge. Take the Rhône all the way down to the Mediterranean and you will find Syrah still reigns in many quarters – the people’s choice!

As Shiraz, Australia has built a reputation on his shoulders, from the very cheap, animal-adorned party juice to the very rare and collectible music-in-a-glass. Like the Rhône, Australia has lots of hot sunny climes for Shiraz to thrive under – thick skinned grapes can stand more heat to develop more sugar and offer greater pigment and tannin for the making of very full bodied wine.

It’s the perfect wine for the typical American palate: think grape Blow Pops, Bazooka Joe, Sour Power, Swedish Fish and all kinds of fast food. Did I forget to mention chocolate? This is where Syrah goes in a different direction in flavor profile – not for the Snickers bar set. If Syrah were chocolate, it would be 70% Dark and Swiss or Belgian. Nonetheless, Syrah is very approachable, just be ready for your mouth to be taken over for a little while by a commanding presence.

Because it is so high in tannin and relatively low in acidity, Syrah not the greatest food wine – a glass can be a meal in itself! Nonetheless, your city’s best burger with the works and a side of fries would be a great mate for a glass of Syrah. Along the same lines, a good steak and a baked potato would work well. In fact, I always recommend Syrah wines for Thanksgiving, because that’s the ultimate flavor frenzy and this wine can handle it all! (Caution: Syrah may also help your turkey to cause all around drowsiness and you may find the football game watching you, but you’ll give thanks nonetheless!)

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 3 Syrahs. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for something from the Northern Rhône – St Joseph wines are the most accessible in profile and in price, but feel free to splurge on anything from Cornas or Crozes Hermitage splurge big on the venerable Hermitage itself. You will easily find Australian Shiraz in any wine shop or liquor store you enter. Try a cheap one that you can get under $10.00, and then find one over $15.00, just so you can clearly see the quality difference. My favorite wine region in Australia for Shiraz is McLaren Vale for that over $15 bottle. For extra credit, find a Syrah from California. You will impress your wine retailer with your knowledge of the name Rhône Rangers. It may very well serve as your password to gain access to some goodies from Paso Robles winemakers dedicated to Rhône Valley grape varieties – this could be lots of fun! Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #SyrahHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. That’s delicious!

Meet Pinot Noir - The Princess

2011-09-22T00:10:00.010-04:00

Everything I know about Pinot Noir says princess. She’s that girl who demands and gets everything she wants. She’s stunning with a great figure, and she is generous to those who fulfill her desires – but she is definitely not easy. Her shoe and handbag styles are always on point. Her wardrobe is a collection of designer originals and runway fashions from the most recent shows in Paris, Milan and New York. When she’s fully decked out with high-end jewelry to accent it all, she’s absolutely fabulous. Just one look and you know she’s worth all the trouble.

As a grapevine, Pinot Noir is demanding. It is difficult to grow and disease prone. Thin skins make growing and harvest timing a serious matter – thin out the vine’s leaves too much or let them hang too long on the vine and the grapes may sunburn, or if there’s rain, they can swell, split and rot. In the winery, she’s no less challenging. Anyone who takes on the duty of ushering Pinot Noir from grape to glass must have a great deal of love and patience for the variety. Those who do are able to coax its characteristic red berry aromas and flavors to the fore are a special breed indeed. With judicious use of oak, they bring out other treats, including cola and smoky bacon or barbecue notes. The thing that makes Pinot Noir so amazing is structure. On the palate, the worst Pinots are anemic, but the best exhibit precise balance and substance – just enough tannin, acidity, alcohol and amplitude of fruit character to make each mouthful a nearly religious experience.

Purchasing Pinot Noir is almost as tricky as growing and making wine out of it. Burgundy is the French bastion of Pinot Noir. It is very rarely blended here, so any red Burgundy (or properly, Bourgogne) is 100% Pinot. This is where the easy part ends. When it comes to Burgundy, or most Pinot Noir in the world for that matter, knowing the producer and his/her style is paramount. Even in tiny villages in the Côte de Nuits, two wines made from the same vineyard by two different producers in the same vintage can taste greatly different – both can be amazing in general, but one may appeal to you more than the other. The only way to find out is to taste them both. Buying Oregon Pinot Noir posses a similar challenge. Willamette Valley is Oregon’s most famous region, and Pinot is its claim to fame, but not all Willamette Pinot is created equal, and since the 2004 film Sideways popularized the varietal, prices of Pinot Noir from Oregon and California have increased much faster than other wine prices, but the quality has not increased in tandem in many cases. The one source for consistent Pinot Noir, surprisingly, is the Marlborough region of New Zealand. In this realm, prices are reasonable, and you can almost choose blindly to get the glass of wine you want every time no matter the producer. New Zealand’s Martinborough and Central Otago regions produce more noteworthy Pinot Noir, although they present a similar predicament as Burgundy and Oregon – purchase by producer.

And did you know...
Pinot Noir is a component of champagne? Yes, that which we pop is made from a blend of white wine grapes Chardonnay, and red wine grapes Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (not fermented on skins so no pigement for non vntage brut - they are left in to make rosé).

Pinot Noir for Your Palate
If you grew up eating high-end food made from high quality ingredients and fresh meals cooked frequently then Pinot Noir is right up your alley. A palate that has been reared on or become accustomed to fresh, high quality ingredients is geared to appreciating the fine nuances of this wine. If you have been and still are constantly inundated with the up front flavor of instant gratification foods, you might miss the point. Nonetheless, you should pick a night to relax, spend $18 on a bottle of Pinot Noir, and cook something simple for dinner. You can enjoy Pinot Noir with tuna and salmon seared rare or sashimi style (hold the soy sauce). Cheese choices include a lighter cheddar, gouda or gruyere – you’d be surprised to enjoy a glass with an omelet. I also love Pinot Noir with pork, particularly loin.

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 3 Pinot Noirs. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for a Bourgogne Rouge. You will easily find Pinot Noir in any wine shop or liquor store you enter, but I strongly suggest that you spend at least $15.00 per bottle. Pinot Noir under that point has been consistently disappointing. Find yourself Pinot Noirs from Oregon, California and New Zealand. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #PinotNoirHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. Enjoy!

Pictured: Hospices de Beaune Volnay-Santenots 2005 1er Cru and Treleaven Pinot Noir 2009 Cayuga Lake AVA New York, retailed at wineLIFE for $17.99

Meet Merlot - The Poet

2011-09-15T07:55:00.001-04:00

When I think of Merlot, I remember the guy who at first glance didn’t really stand out in a crowd, but could lace you up with lyrics if given the chance. He’s average height and he’s actually kind of cute. His silky voice delivers great poetry right from the tip of his tongue. With that, he gets the girl every time.

Merlot is so smooth! He blows raspberry and cherry notes out of his saxophone – easy listening. Usually a band accompanies him – Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in a melodic blend. But in some specific sites in the old and new world, Merlot is rich like bass, with impressive tannic texture on the palate by itself.

Bordeaux is where the world’s most expensive Merlot has been produced for centuries, and these are two of the world’s most expensive wines. Chateau Petrus and Chateau Le Pin grow ancient Merlot vines on a subsoil of ferrous clay on the right bank of the river Gironde. The wines made from these vines are special and rare things indeed. Another other great bastion of Merlot is in Washington State. Leonetti Cellar has been making wine since 1905 in the Walla Walla Valley appellation, where the summer sun is generous and Merlot ripens happily into something of substance.

If you are a basic meat, potato & string beans kind of person, Merlot is for you, because it doesn’t demand much at all for you to enjoy and understand. As far as food pairings, we could talk about what to avoid – abundant spiciness and pepper or acidity in food will over speak Merlot’s smooth, placid, poetic voice. Keep it simple.

Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 3 Merlots. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for a right bank Bordeaux or any Bordeaux in which Merlot is dominant. You will easily find Merlot in any wine shop or liquor store you enter. My suggestion for the other two is to try one that is around $10 and another one that is closer to $30. That way you will see a definite quality difference. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #MerlotHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. Enjoy!

Pictured above: Thomas Henry Merlot 2007 Napa Valley, retailed at $15.95 at wineLIFE Wine Shop. Tasty berry and cherry fruit and silky tannin, drinks nicely, finishes dry.

Meet Gewürztraminer - The Diva

2011-09-07T16:45:00.007-04:00

When I think about Gewürztraminer (pronounced ge-VIRTS-trah-meener), I recall the early-bloomed exotic beauty that struts the halls in stiletto boots. She has legs for days and a rude attitude that makes her even more intriguing. Dudes offer her gum just so they can watch her pouty pink lips move when she chews. Those who hate her secretly study her swag so they can learn how to command the kind of attention she gets.

Literally translated as the spicy Traminer – Tramin is the place in northern Italy from which the grape hails, gewürz is the German word for spicy – this variety is unique indeed and is beloved by those who truly understand it. Think ginger spice, just think about that funk and sizzle that ginger gives you on the nose. You can expect a wine with a lot of body and that’s rather perfumy, often smelling of rose petals and lychee fruit. In the glass Gewürztraminer tends to have deeper color than some other white wines as a result of contact with its blushing skins during fermentation – the perfect tan. Sweeter versions give you more of the tropical fruit characters, but still the signature heady aroma. In general, Gewürztraminer smells sweet but tastes dry (all the sugar is fermented out).

Gewürztraminer’s homeland, if not its motherland, is Alsace, the almost German region in eastern France. Usually it comes 750ml size Alsace flute, the same tall slender bottle Riesling comes in. It is grown all over the world with happy digs in the Nelson region of New Zealand, Germany, Austria and various New York AVAs. It’s used in some well known blends from California and Oregon. No matter how many other grapes are in the blend, Gewürztraminer stands out as a striking presence.

Comfort foods that remind me of Gewürztraminer include Christmas rum raising cake, Easter hot cross buns and ginger snap cookies. Having said that, I just love dry Gewürztraminer with Thai curry noodles, or on a different vein, tuna or salmon sashimi – juicy acidity rolls itself happily around the rich oily fish on the palate.

Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 3 Gewürztraminers. Start with one from Alsace – luckily these are the French wines that are labeled by grape. Then see if you can find a local one, as well as one from New Zealand. Don’t be surprised if you’re left speechless after she first passes your lips. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #GewurzHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. Go get ‘em!

Meet Sauvignon Blanc - The Rebel

2011-08-31T19:42:00.003-04:00

When I think about Sauvignon Blanc, I remember that guy who went against every imaginable grain. He didn’t play sports or join clubs because it was too normal – he was an individual. If everyone was wearing red that year, he wore blue or black. Instead of a letter jacket, he rocked a

tough leather and perhaps some chains. When all his friends were listening to pop and hip hop, he preferred grunge and painted his fingernails black. A true rebel. Not the boy next door.

When I put my nose into a great glass of Sauvignon Blanc, my reaction is usually “What the funk???” Because it gives you what you wouldn’t expect from a wine – freshly cut grass, green bell pepper, scallions, etc on the nose, and if it isn’t a lower end Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, or something similarly new world, you will be shocked and appalled by the austerity on the palate! And that’s the way he wants you to react when he enters a room. Just like he wasn’t interested in team sports or clubs in school, he’s not for corporate – he owns his own Harley Davidson shop so he can dress however the funk he wants and talk bikes all day. Sancerre, located at the inland end of the Loire Valley in France, is the official homeland of Sauvignon Blanc. It is also grown in Bordeaux, and when blended with Semillon and sometimes Muscadelle (not related to Muscat, Muscadet or Muscadine) it is Graves (pronounced Grahv) the official white wine of the region. Sancerre set the standard for grassy Sauvignon Blanc, that beloved “cat’s pee” swag that true Sauvignon fans look for in their glass. From these wines you can experience citrus flavors, particularly lemon or lemon zest and grapefruit, and they’re invariably bone dry.

On a different vein, Sauvignon Blanc proliferates in the Marlborough region of New Zealand’s South Island, brand new world. More audacity – of all the random places to take root! Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc can be grassy with that cat’s pee vibe as well, but on the palate they take on a distinct passion fruit flavor, with less austerity than their French contemporaries. They’re much more user friendly, in their own rebellious way.

In general, because of characteristically high acidity, Sauvignon Blanc is a great food wine. I like it with fried foods, anything salty or creamy like baked macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, fried clams, fried fish, French fries, eggs benedict – yes, why not have a glass of wine with breakfast, it’s a wonderful way to start a day! Also I love Sauvignon Blanc with dried sausage or cured meats, and semi-soft cheeses (avoid blues, the acidity in those cheeses will clash with the high acidity in the wine).

Your homework for this week and weekend is to drink six Sauvignon Blanc. You are excused from this assignment on Thursday, as September 1 is #CabernetDay, but then you must dive back into your devoirs! Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé (the other Loire Valley Sauvignon benchmark) are highly recommended. Quincy is a less expensive alternative to these, not quite like the authentic article but at least you will be drinking from

the same region at about half the price. Marlborough is also a must. These are ubiquitous and plentiful – shop in the US$13-$18 range, you can almost pick blind because they are so consistent! If you can get a Graves or another white Bordeaux called Entre-Deux-Mers, grab one for a unique experience. Then see what is produced near you. Sauvignon Blanc can pack up and move anywhere to thrive, so you’ll find wines from various US States, Austria, South Africa, Italy, Chile and various other locals in your store or on your fave wine website.

Then just for kicks, treat yourself to a Sauternes. This is the celebrated dessert wine of Bordeaux, the only place in the world famous for making sweet Sauvignon Blanc (blended also with Semillon and Muscadelle). You deserve dessert! Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #SauvBlancHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. Bottoms up!

Meet Cabernet Franc - The Exchange Student

2011-08-24T08:48:00.011-04:00

When I think about Cabernet Franc, I recall the first glimpse of that new, foreign countenance I had never noticed before. As soon as his name is discovered (It’s pronounced Frahnk), it is whispered on the lips of many others around him. He’s handsome in a unique way – lean and taut with a slender face, a prominent nose and an uncommon haircut that all suit him quite well. His style of dress is unusual but cool nonetheless, and if he does play a sport, he plays soccer and calls it football.

His speech is accented, and this works like a charm on anyone whom he encounters. Sometimes he is a little difficult to understand. Nonetheless, people who know he’s in the building want to know more about him. They approach him with a measure of awe, and they endeavor to partake in a cultural exchange that will enrich their lives in ways they haven’t even thought of yet. And when they do dig in and find out what he’s about, they become his newest fans.

There is a specific type of wine drinker who enjoys Cabernet Franc. That palate is stimulated by something rather unexpected – a red wine with the acidity and herbaceousness of a Sauvignon Blanc (they are from the same family) that is lean with hints of fruit but overall quite austere even when it is grown in warmer climates. This variety is not as widely grown as some others, by the way, but that’s what fascinates me and other Cab Franc-ophiles. Those who decide to grow and make wine from it are instant specialists who lay a keen eye on making sure it is true-to-type, because Cabernet Franc drinkers know exactly what they’re looking for and they never want to see him lose his accent and adapt.

His homeland is in the Loire Valley in France, specifically the village of Chinon in the Touraine subregion. The climate here is on the cooler side, being a northern location that is too far inland from the Atlantic coast to benefit from the maritime influence. As an interesting side note, it’s relatively dry in this region, so organic and biodynamic viticulture are easy choices and more prevalent than elsewhere. As far as food is concerned, think paté (goose or pork rillettes) and Andouille sausage, or you can use some Chinon wine to make Coq-au-Vin and then you have a perfect pairing at your table!

Its hard to say what comfort foods remind me of Cabernet Franc, because as a wine, its outside of many peoples’ comfort zones. If you grew up eating and loving lots of green vegetables you could dig Franc, especially if you grew up in Europe where traditional cooking does not exhibit very bold flavors in general. Or if sushi was always one of your favorite things, then you’ll appreciate the purity of this wine like you enjoy the purity of a piece of salmon sashimi without the help of soy sauce or wasabi.

Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 3 Cabernet Francs. Start with one from the Loire – look for Chinon or Bourgueil on the label. Then get your hands on a bottle of Schneider Vineyards Cabernet Franc from the North Fork of Long Island, NYS (look online). Bruce Schneider is one of the best Cab Franc specialists in the New World, and while I’m on the subject, I think the North Fork is the PERFECT home for Cabernet Franc and should produce much more of it than it does Merlot! For your third one look elsewhere in the New World wine sections (Old World is Europe in winespeak). California has a fair amount of Cab Franc for you to try.

And please avoid blends. Although it is one of the grapes blended in Bordeaux and is used in other parts of the world as a blending grape for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, give yourself a chance to cut through his accent and cultural differences and get to know him. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #CabFrancHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. This is going to be fun for YOU!

Meet Chardonnay - The Intellectual

2011-08-17T08:46:00.008-04:00

When I think about Chardonnay, I’m reminded of the wallflower, the girl who preferred to fade into the background lest she be singled out and ridiculed for some made up reason. Nonetheless, if you need a tutor or a study partner, sitting at a table with her is your fastest way to an A.

The truth is, just like in the movies, she cleans up very nicely – with some nice clothes (Malolactic) and perhaps a little makeup (aging in oak), she can be rather attractive. But just as she is, in her everyday wardrobe with her hair pulled back and poorly chosen spectacle frames, she doesn’t really shine except in the classroom or boardroom.

That’s the thing about Chardonnay. While there is a goodly amount of unoaked Chardonnay on the wine market, much of it has little character and sort of reminds one of a less exciting version of some other varietal white wine. But after fermentation in oak with a dose of beloved lactic bacteria that turns the malic acid into something soft and buttery, and then aging in some more oak to give that round mouth feel and add a layer of flavor complexity, she can really be a bombshell! She lends herself well to these techniques, so to me, Chardonnay as a wine is a study in style, a winemaker’s opportunity to demonstrate artistic talent and intellectual vinification.

The benchmarks for Chardonnay come out of Burgundy’s Chablis and Côtes de Beaune sub regions in France and from the Napa and Russian River Valleys in California. The former homeland can offer a range of styles from the very crisp, mineral, linear wines to the curvaceous, rich and complex, all with precise balance and minimal fruit character. The latter is known for wines that are consistently described as “oaky-buttery”. They often weight in heavy in alcohol and are either beloved or detestable to a wine drinker – the wallflower that has come out of her shell and will never look back!

Think basic with Chardonnay: if you grew up on meat and potatoes, chicken for dinner most nights, Chinese take out or pizza once a week, then it’s an easy wine for you to wrap your head around. Unoaked Chardonnay and ones that have had just a light handed dose of oak lend themselves to almost anything that isn’t spicy or elaborately seasoned or sauced, including poultry, fish, beef and lamb. It’s a comfort wine for comfort food – I love it with baked macaroni and cheese or beans and rice.

Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 5 Chardonnays. Start with a Chablis (the real stuff from France, none of that Franzia 5L Bag-in-Box or Carlo Rossi please!). Shop also for a Napa Valley Chardonnay in the $15 range and an Unoaked Chardonnay from Australia or New Zealand (many specifically say Unoaked on the label). Since Chardonnay is made just about everywhere, have a local one. Chardonnay doesn’t need to be served too cold, so perhaps an hour in the fridge to just cool it down a little if your bottle spent an 30 minutes in a hot subway car or walking down the street in the heat with you. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #ChardonnayHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. Also feel free to post questions. We would love to talk wine with YOU more!!

Meet Riesling - The Cheerleader

2011-08-10T11:16:00.005-04:00

When I think about Riesling, I’m reminded of a cheerleader. She’s amicable and pretty and lovable. People like having her around because she makes everyone happy. She’s a cutey with an easy smile and great posture. Usually she’s sweet and agreeable but in her serious, austere self, Riesling is the picture of balance and finesse.

As a member of the cheering squad and as the proprietor of her own bakery today, her bright, vivacious, congenial character gets her everywhere! She can light up a room all by herself. Even when dry, she’s racy and fun. But most know her sweet self, whether its just a spot of residual sugar that brings out all that tropical sunshine in her personality, or the nectary dream of a decadent dessert that makes your mouth go mmmmm!

When buying Riesling, you will definitely need a bit of guidance to determine how sweet your selection is. If the wine is sold in a slender 375ml bottle with straight sides and you spot any of the following words on the label: Ice Wine, Eiswein, Trockenbeerenauselese (Or any portion of this word), Auslese or Spätlese, you have a sweetie on your hands. The best of these should not be syrupy per se. They should be just short of unctuous with flavors of ripe tropical fruit and (this is key) enough acidity to help you clean some of that sugar up off your palate so you can enjoy another glass or a bite of pie.

The rest of the Rieslings are usually found in 750ml bottles that are tapered from bottom to top, and they can vary from very dry and minerally to medium sweet. In general, there is no simple way to know what you’re getting unless you know the style of the producer who made it. Although trocken is the German word for “dry” and halb-trocken means “half dry”, those terms are relative to each producer’s concepts of dry and sweet. Your best bet is to seek further guidance, either by reading a description of the wine if you’re shopping online or, if you are shopping in a physical store, read the back label and ask your retailer. Truth is if its riesling you want, and you get something that is sweeter or dryer than what you expected, you’re probably not going to be that disappointed - It’s Riesling, after all!

Germany is variety’s best known homeland – in fact, pretty much all of the German wine we have access to in the US is indeed Riesling. She is also a favorite for producers in the Alsace region of Eastern France (which is right by the German border and was once actually a part of Germany), as well as upstate New York’s Finger Lakes wine region and Canada’s Niagara Peninsula.

If you grew up in the tropics, like in the Caribbean, Hawai’i or South East Asia for example, and you were accustomed to eating pineapple, citrus fruits, lychee, mangoes and other tropical delights, you will LOVE Riesling. You will especially love Riesling with spicy foods. This wine acts as a wonderful counterpoint to curry, jerk and other peppery dishes – she can make the palate punishment of hot spices a much more enjoyable experience. She’s also a perfect partner for pork - think pernil, chops, tenderloin or hot sausage.

Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 5 Rieslings. You should definitely have a German Riesling, and since Riesling is made just about everywhere, have a local one too - New Yorkers and Canadians, you are in so much luck!. Also make sure you find a dry one to try, don’t just drink sweet all week. They’re lovely with a nice chill on them in general, so if you’re in the northern hemisphere, you will enjoy this summer wine research immensely. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #RieslingHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. We would love to keep up with what you are drinking!!

Meet Cabernet Sauvignon - Team Captain

2011-08-03T11:05:00.007-04:00

When I think about Cabernet Sauvignon, I think about the jock. The guy who played three sports and was six feet tall with a great body and a handsome face with chiseled features. He probably rocked the gridiron, as well as either baseball or soccer, and he was on the wrestling team. He was captain of all of them. He is grown up now but he still has that winning smile that captured the attention of almost every girl in school (and some boys).

As a member of those teams, and as a top sales manager in his firm today, he relies heavily upon his teammates for success – Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot are usually his MVPs. But he can definitely hold his own with little or no help. He’s a strong character, but he gets along with everyone – he is well liked. Nonetheless, he doesn’t bend to anyone’s whim. He is who he is no matter what playing field (wine region), or what combination of teammates (blend), or what coaching (winemaking) style. Cabernet is always reliably Cabernet.

When buying Cabernet Sauvignon you can start with these two benchmarks:
Bordeaux from the Left Bank that are blends in which Cabernet is usually the main ingredient and the strongest character
California (particularly Napa Valley) varietally labeled Cabernet

If you are intrigued by wines and foods that have great balance and acidity and are not overtly fruity, Bordeaux is a good way to go. You can find pretty decent Left Bank Bordeaux, particularly Bordeaux Superieur, between US$10-$20 that will suit your taste. If you’re feeling special, look for wines labeled Première Côtes de Bordeaux, Pomerol, Haut-Medoc, Grand Cru and Grand Cru Classé. You will spend more money but in most cases, you do get more for your dollar out of those bottles. They are usually a bit fuller bodied with more layers of interesting flavors.

If you prefer wines and foods that are very flavorful and rich, especially if you are an unabashed lover of meat, then Napa Valley Cabernet should make you happy. You can find good Napa Cab starting around $15. Below that, you may see Cabernet simply labeled as “California” which means the grapes came from various unspecified regions in that great big state. I can’t vouch for these as suitable substitutes. Go for Napa. In general the more expensive the Napa Cab, the bigger a wine it will be on your palate. A couple of C-notes will score you a linebacker!

Nonetheless, there is Cabernet Sauvignon coming out of every corner of this great wine world! And the truth is most of it, even if it is labeled Cabernet Sauvignon, is blended. Cabernet tends to have trouble filling your palate by itself, so he usually teams up with Merlot to fill out the center for you with yummy berry fruit. (in the US a wine can be labeled varietally as long as it contains at least 75% of that grape variety, so Napa Cabernet can contain up to 25% Merlot or other varieties) But he is usually the backbone of a blend, the go-to guy.

Your homework for this week is to try 5 Cabernet Sauvignons. You should have one Napa Cabernet, one Bordeaux from the Left Bank, and three others from totally different places - South Africa, Argentina, New York, Italy, Texas, New Zealand - and tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #CabSauvHW. Tell us which one was ur fave (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much u paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. We would love to keep up with what you are drinking!!

...And Wine for All

2011-07-26T12:15:00.001-04:00

Wine is universal. Vitis Vinifera, the grape species populated by the many beloved varieties that are made into the wines we enjoy everyday, has a very special and unique power. Unlike with other fruit, wine made from these grapes can give a world of different flavors that seem to have nothing to do with grapes at all!

What I mean is that wine made from, say, pineapples will taste just like pineapples, plum wine tastes like plums, but when Chardonnay grapes become wine, the wine can taste like green apples. Young Pinot Noir can taste like a salad of fresh raspberries, red cherries and cranberries. After a little time in an oak barrel, it can smell like baking spices - cinnamon and nutmeg, perhaps tobacco leaf and cedar, and it can have the flavor of hickory smoked bacon. Sauvignon Blanc can smell like freshly cut grass and green bell peppers, taste like citrus fruit like grapefruit and lemon, sometimes even passion fruit. No other fruit can do that!

So when I say wine is universal, I mean that with all those wonderful possibilities, there’s a wine out there for every palate. Seriously. If for example you enjoy eating grapefruits, and you love lemonade then I would think you should start buying and trying Sauvignon Blancs from around the world. If you grew up in South East Asia eating lychees, star fruit, rambutan and food cooked with ginger and lots of spices, get with some Gewürztraminer (say it with me now: ge-VIRTZ-tra-MEE-ner)

This is not the same as pairing wine with food. While that is a fun and interesting exercise, it does not definitively address the issue of personal taste and palate memory. If the flavors in a wine are familiar to you, then you will better be able to relate to that wine, and so it can serve as an easy go-to for you. Like when I first tasted Chardonnay, I just didn’t get it. Growing up in a West Indian household, I did not eat apples really - certainly not green ones. So I downshifted to White Zinfandel (don’t judge me). Bubblegum! Yes, I’ve had that! Then I shifted back up into the real wine world by trying some Riesling - yeah, tropical fruit flavors. Now we’re talking! Suddenly wine wasn’t alien to me anymore. Soon afterward, I took my first wine class - the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Certificate at the Birmingham College of Food in the UK - and the rest is history.

Drink what you like based on what flavors resonate best in your food life. That is my best piece of advice for your wineLIFE!

Wine for a New World

2011-06-22T10:11:00.001-04:00

The terms Old World and New World are used quite often in wine-speak. They imply not only a physical location where the grapes are grown and the wine is produced, but they also imply the idea of a style of wine.

The Old World in wine is pretty much Europe and includes places where wine has been made for multiple centuries and is a part of the tradition and lifestyle. The New World is everywhere else, where wine industry is a phenomenon of the last 150-200 years or so, and the culture-at-large still leans toward beer and/or distilled spirits.

As far as style is concerned (you know how I like to think of wine the way I think of people) Old World Wines are quite like that beautiful woman in the long dress who barely looks in your direction and makes you work hard to get her attention. They don’t show all their cards on the first sip, they often age beautifully and improve over the years, and even those entry level wines that aren’t built for aging are still quite coy. New World Wines in general are more gregarious. You might find they remind you of an episode of Girls Gone Wild Spring Break - they are cute and perky and leave very little to the imagination.

The Old World has that kind of opinion about the New World wine consumer, particularly the rapidly growing number of wine drinkers in the United States to whom every wine producer and his grandmother wants to sell some vino. Their very wide sweeping assumption is that we are Coca-Cola Nation - we grew up with lots of sugar, everything we eat slaps you with in-your-face flavor as soon as it hits your palate. They think that’s how we like it. In some cases they even produce a separate wine for export to the US, thinking they have done a good job pleasing our palates.

I submit that there are far too many people drinking wine in America for such a sweeping generalization to be true. I don’t think wine for a new world should all be fruit forward, crowd pleasing grown-up juice. In fact, I offer another curve ball: the same person can be a different kind of wine drinker depending on the scenario - with or without food, alone or with friends or with a love interest, in cold or warm weather - these could all mean different wine needs!

What consumers in the New World DO need in general though is to feel more confident about buying wine. When the Old World of wine is producing something to send out to the damn Yankees, they should think a lot more about packaging that communicates well with the consumer than changing the wine inside to fit some stereotypical new world style. Because satisfaction in wine should come from finding and drinking wines you love, based on what they were meant to be from the start of their lives that vintage, not based on how well they were doctored up to please the lowest common denominator. In that, we will all find satisfaction.

Sending it Back: When you are NOT in the Right

2010-09-06T23:50:00.003-04:00

I’ll never forget it: The elderly lady walked into the store I was working at 6 years ago with a look of complete horror on her face. “There is glass in my wine!” she exclaimed, with an accent that was distinctly Eastern European. “Glass! I may have cut my tongue!” And there I was, greenhorn with a few years of wine study under my belt, foolishly attempting to explain to her that it was not at all glass. I even had the nerve to smile about it - the wine nerd in me couldn’t wait to wrest the bottle from her possession so I could examine the phenomenon.

Tartrate crystals, also known as wine diamonds, but as far as she was concerned, they were NOT her friend! I did catch myself lest she try to swing the bottle or her little old lady handbag at me in defiance. I apologized and promptly refunded her money, but in truth, there was nothing wrong with the wine she was returning. Tartrate crystals will precipitate from time to time in white and red wines alike when the wine is not “cold stabilized” (chilled down to near freezing so crystals will form BEFORE bottling) at the winery. In the case of wines that were made by low intervention winemakers, you may find diamonds, darling!

Another chewy thing you might find is sediment. Oh boy, this could get technical (donning wine geek pocket protector and glasses with tape in nose bridge) The tannins - you know the stuff that we all seek for antioxidant properties, those molecules that make our tongue feel a bit dried out after a sip of red wine? Well, they start out life as monomers, but over time, they form chains - or polymers - by linking together into groups. Then they become little chunks. Once again, very natural. No reason whatsoever to send a bottle back! There are gadgets on the market created to help you remove the sediment from an older wine (polymers form over the passage of a few years normally), or you can simply decant it. The classic tradition of decanting is not only to give a wine breathing room, but also to very slowly pour the wine out, leaving any sediment behind, so none ends up in your glass. Although it is not a real “fault”, I’ll admit that finding a chunk of polymerized tannin in your mouth isn’t a pleasant sensation.

Now if the cork should be dried out and crumble a bit into your wine, and you find a bit or two of it floating in your wine glass, just get over it - fish it out, and drink your wine! That is definitely NOT a fault. If the wine still looks and tastes fine, it may just be that the bottle was stored standing up for most of its life, so the cork remained dry because no wine came in contact with it to moisten it up. See last week’s article to see what kind of a fault a cork can be the culprit of.

In these circumstances, it really isn’t right to expect a retailer or restaurant to take your return of an opened bottle of wine. Nonetheless, a good one will explain if you want to hear, empathize if you don’t, and do what it takes to make you a happy customer.

Sending it Back - When you are right to do so!

2010-08-27T09:47:00.010-04:00

**I must preface this by saying that although I have renamed this blog "wineLIFE Almost Weekly" and have struggled to at least post monthly in these last few turns, I am back with lots of thoughts and new knowledge to share, and I will be posting with a vengeance!**

And now: Sending it Back!

So far since we’ve been open, we have had only one customer come back to us and say that they thought that something wasn’t quite right with the wine they purchased from our store. We asked them for the bottle back, but they had done away with the wine already.
They weren’t pressed about getting a refund, but they did feel compelled to inform us.

The more unsettling thing was that she was the only person who has come forward. I’ve had just a few people say they were not wild about one wine or another, but the overwhelming response has been positive to the wines we’ve been working with. Not that we want anyone to be unhappy. Nonetheless, we’ve theorized about this, and come up with a list of possibilities that also serves as a list of good reasons why someone should feel very free to send a wine back.

SEND IT BACK! There are indeed some cases in which you are right to either bring an opened but unconsumed wine back to your retailer for a refund, or send an ordered bottle of whatever back to the sommelier after you’ve been poured a taste and determined it is NOT IN SALEABLE CONDITION. There are two important things to remember in this formula:

A. If you are asking your retailer to refund or replace a bottle - BRING THE BOTTLE BACK! Think about it: if you wanted to return a garment to a clothing store because of a defect, you would need to bring it back and show the defect to the staff, correct? Same goes for wine. We would pour a bit into a glass and verify your claim. Just as in the retail store, we wine shop owners can return defective merchandise to our distributors and recover our money.
B. Unlike the clothing store return, it really isn’t OK to return a wine just because you “don’t like it”. Do you not like it because it is in bad condition, or because it simply is not your bag? If its the latter, then neither the retailer or restauranteur would feel compelled to take the return. Our reasoning is that you had an opportunity to get with something you’d like - that’s the importance of shopping in a good wine retail shop or ordering wine at a restaurant where the waiters know the wine list or where you can consult a sommelier. You are encouraged to tell us what your style is and then its our job to help you find something in our inventory that’s right for you. But in plain business terms, we are hard pressed simply take a return if you just plain don’t like it because once a bottle is opened, it is no longer saleable - we wouldn’t ask our distributors to refund us on these.

OK, on to our list:
1. WHAT HAPPENED: Cork Taint - When you open a bottle of wine and pour your first glass, the aromas should be alive and it should take less than a minute or two for them to arrive at the entrance to your nostrils and entice you. If this doesn’t happen, if the wine smells flat - either moldy like your basement or attic, or it actually has the dead smell of the very cork you pulled from the bottle, then your wine is probably corked. It helps if you’ve had the wine before and remember what it tasted like the previous time. HOW DID IT HAPPEN: This is a condition that occurs when a chemical known as TCA finds its way into your natural cork. Oddly, this happens during the process used to clean the tree bark into which the corks are made with a kind of bleach. Your odds of cork taint are between 5-10% - pretty high! WHY HAVE WE SEEN SO LITTLE at wineLIFE? It turns out (not on purpose) that a majority of our wines have either screw tops or synthetic corks in them. No cork, no cork taint!

2. WHAT HAPPENED: Vinegar - Wine is just one step away from Vinegar anyway. Look at the word: Vinegar - VIN - Egar. The French word is Vinaigre, which literally means sour (aigre) wine (vin). HOW DID IT HAPPEN: All it takes is the presence of enough Acetobacter, the bacteria who’s job it is to turn wine into vinegar, and the deed is done. Most of the winemaker’s responsibility lies in protecting the wine from such ugly scenarios, but some are less inclined to intervene in the winemaking process than others - they’d rather let it do what it do, and as such, if they have not fought off the baddies with sulphur dioxide, the winery’s all purpose friend, then acetobacter may find a home in your bottle. WHY HAVE WE SEEN SO LITTLE at wineLIFE: Our inventory is largely under $20.00 a bottle. While we do have organic wines, sulphur dioxide is allowed in organic wine making (its a natural by-product of the fermentation process anyway, and SO2 is itself organic) At this price level, most winemakers don’t take chances! We carry wines of commerce - recent vintages, made, like 98% of the wines on the world market, to be consumed young.

3. WHAT HAPPENED: Madirization - the wine oxidized in the bottle. It might smell like sherry. Caution: some wines smell like that ON PURPOSE. Once again, you are encouraged to talk to the good folks at your neighborhood wine store or restaurant for advice. For the most part, though if you open a bottle and it smells sort of like eggs or feet, it is not a good thing. White wines may actually take on a brownish hue, as well. HOW DID IT HAPPEN: Usually this is a symptom of pour storage. Wine that is stored in a warm place can fall victim. A good wine retailer or restauranteur will buy from distributors who are careful about their warehousing, and will consider the temperature of their own storage place very thoughtfully. WHY WE HAVE SEEN SO LITTLE at wineLIFE: We work with very good, mostly small companies who really love their wines and take great pains to make sure you enjoy the magic as well. We are all wine people. We care.

4. WHAT HAPPENED: Reduction - Sometimes, wine will suddenly feel painfully shy, and the flavors will retreat into some unknown place, leaving very little in the glass for you to love. In some cases, you’ll only have rotten eggs! HOW DID IT HAPPEN: The jury is still out, but most experts agree that it can be prevented to a degree in the winemaking process. WHY WE HAVE SEEN SO LITTLE at wineLIFE: Good wine makers understand and can prevent this in their wine before bottling it. Also, quite simply, this condition can be very subtle and most people don’t spot it. They may simply decide that they weren’t wild about that wine and that they’ll try something else next time they shop.

In any of these scenarios, you are right to send it back and have it replaced, pick something else out or simply get your money back. But remember, if its from a store you’ve gotta bring the bottle back. Next week, I will cover other “wine faults” that are not eligible for a refund.

Hint: Girl’s Best Friend.

How We Select Wine

2010-07-15T08:50:00.003-04:00

How do we Select Wine for wineLIFE Wine Shop?

The short answer is that we taste. We’ve tasted every single wine in the store at least once. People bring us wine to taste, and we try them, and based on their cost, we decide whether we can a. stand behind it as a wine of quality and value for money and b. fit it into our growing catalog of wines (gratuitous plug).

The long answer is still simple. In our store, we want to offer our customers a well chosen selection of wines. So we started by categorizing everything we tasted - first just into groupings like white, red, rosé, sparkling, then into grape variety categories. And so evolved our Chardonnay (including a lovely, oaky-buttery number from upstate New York and an Unoaked refresher from Australia), Sauvignon Blanc (including an austere white Bordeaux and a fruity Argentine darling), Riesling (including both sweet and dry versions and a great 3L Bag-in-Box), Pinot Noir (including one great Chilean under $15 that actually tastes great) and Malbec (including one with a few years of age on it) sections. Thus we began filling in other areas - Sparkling wines with simple sweeties, crisp Cavas and a Blanc de Blanc Champagne, Cabernet and Bordeaux Red blends.

We also wanted to support local as much as possible, so we made sure to fit in a strong offering of wines from the North Fork of Long Island and the Finger Lakes. Rounded out with some great Italian reds, which will expand into a World Reds section (because honestly, we’re probably not going to have a Sangiovese section in the store), an international selection of rosés, some Pinot Gris and Grigio and some great stickies, we have a store we can be proud of.

Now if we could just wean our customers off that damned Bitch Bubbly...

Love in Carneros

2010-05-14T10:56:00.003-04:00

Fabulous weekend in Napa! Remember the list in my last post "Wine Tripping Rocks"? My top reason for loving wine travel was the people, and sure enough, it was the people who made the trip uniquely wonderful!

I have to start with Amelia Moran Ceja. On our Sunday Morning vineyard tour, Amelia herself – Founder and President of Ceja Vineyards – hosted a group of 10 Women for WineSense members from San Francisco, Seattle and New York at her beautiful winery and vineyards in the Carneros AVA. The sunny, beautiful weather was indeed a great help, but it was her hospitality and the stories she shared with us that made it a special afternoon. A lot was learned on many levels for everyone present. And of course, the wines were fantastic! Beautifully balanced with a sort of European vein of acidity that makes the mouth water – perfect for food!

Out the back door of the Ceja Vineyards tasting room on Las Amigas Road are two Bocce courts. I recalled an episode of The Cosby Show when Cliff’s Trinidadian friend came over to play (they called it Petanque) on one of the coldest days of the year in the back yard of the Huxtable’s Brooklyn Heights brownstone. In costrast, on this gloriously sunny day in Carneros, Amelia found us (the New York City Chapter girls) outside making up our own rules to the game. “The great thing about Bocce,” she sang – her voice is like a lovely, never-ending song – “is that you don’t have to have any athletic ability to play, so its fun for everyone!” She showed us how to skillfully toss the pallino (the target ball) into position, and showed us where we could stand to bowl our balls within its range – it was Chardonnay (green balls) vs Pinot Noir (red balls), with our “Vana White” keeping score on a large courtside abacus. We were soon joined by WWS ladies from Napa/Sonoma and Seattle, and Amelia treated us all to her new release Vino de Casa white blend while we played. The wine was crisp and delicious under the beaming late morning sun.

Soon we started the vineyard tour, where Amelia allowed us to get up close and personal with her budding vines. These are natural vineyards – lots of wild growth around the bases of trunks and posts and in between rows. She showed us the row of great oak trees where glassy winged sharp shooters, those beautiful but deadly-to-vineyards insects, live just at the edge of a healthy vineyard – I’m still amazed, perhaps we could learn from this type of harmonious coexistence. She showed us her home, which looked as though it had risen up right out of the soil in the midst of the vines , where she had just come from hosting 20 of her family members for Sunday morning breakfast – business as usual for the Cejas.

Love is evident in every ounce of Amelia’s spirit and in every aspect of Ceja Vineyards, from the river of life symbols that flow across labels and down the capsules of the bottles, to the symbol of the Camino Real bell Amelia spent a year researching to choose for a logo. You can view the bell hanging from the arbor archway entry to this beautiful place – the clapper signed by the smith who cast the bell, the winery’s ethos etched around the lip: Vinum, Cantus, Amor – Wine, Song, Love, or as Mr Ceja lovingly interprets it, Wine, Sex and Rock and Roll!

Wine Tripping Rocks!

2010-04-29T07:17:00.003-04:00

Flying out to California every year is ALWAYS a fun thing! This is my forth year in a row, third Women for WineSense Grand Event - yes, your math is correct, I attended the second one while I was 6 months pregnant with my daughter. Here are the things that make this trip so special every year:
1. Seeing my friends again that I rarely see or only get to see during this event - not only my Cali posse, but women from all over the country come through - my Dallas girls, my Oregon crew from Portland and Bend, ladies from Richmond.

2. Traveling with my northeast region girls, enjoying the growth of our friendships in a shared hotel room in St Helena and at the Grand Event luncheon at CIA.

3. Getting Chef Shehu some Charles Krug Rosé right from the source. (perhaps I’ll see my friend the little jackrabbit who hangs around the picnic area outside of the tasting room, too?)

4. Visiting a new vineyard or winery I haven’t been to before - last year, it was Spottswoode, to pick up my allocation of Sauvignon Blanc. This year, I will visit Ceja Vineyards on my Sunday morning Vineyard Tour (part of the Grand Event ticket package - WHAT A DEAL!!).

5. Dining at some of the countries most fabulous and beloved restaurants. This year, Mustard’s Grill!

6. Watching the Napa Valley Wine Train go by and waving at all the “happy” people on board while eating a burger at the Taylor’s Refresher, THE BEST burger joint I’ve ever been to! (Imagine great burgers, perfect fries and an AWARD WINNING WINE LIST! I KID YOU NOT!)

7. Amazing new experiences - in 2007, I met Mrs Margrit Mondavi, in 2008, I blended and bottled my own wine at St Supery, last year Samantha and I drove through Sonoma Valley and stayed with a new friend in Tiburon, where I had a fantastic morning run, this year - WHO KNOWS???

8. Beautiful weather, which we always seem to be blessed with.

9. A little time away from the concrete (and let’s face it, a little me time without hubby and baby) - at least enough time to miss it all and want to come back home!

Support your Nabe Retailer on Earth Day

2010-04-29T07:15:00.004-04:00

There’s no doubt that doing what it takes to care for farm land in this way ensures a great future for the people who eat and drink from it - sparing their vines and soils from chemicals, letting nature take its course. The naturally farmed vineyard has been a wild and beautiful sight every time I’ve seen it around the world.

Some of my fave Biodynamic Organic Sustainable (BOS) wines:
Grove Mill Winery, Wairau Valley, Marlborough, NZ
Sokol Blosser, Willamette Valley, OR
Jean Luc Colombo, Cornas, (northern) Rhône Valley, France
Felton Road, Bannockburn, Central Otago NZ

My best advice: visit your good neighborhood wine retailer - an attractive store with knowledgeable staff who enjoy wine are indicators that they will a. Have a healthy selection of these wines to show you and b. Enjoy talking about the wines with you.

Shop small retailers on Earth Day www.awinelifestyle.com.

written on Thursday, April 22nd to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. Sorry for the delay!

Bringing Wine

2010-04-15T12:11:00.001-04:00

So you've been invited over for dinner and you're not sure what wine to bring? I got you! There are several ways you can arrive at a decision of what to buy, and its a good idea to have a sense for what you want BEFORE heading down to the wine shop (in this case, wineLIFE, I'm sure) to make your purchase. Just follow this easy wine buying strategy, and you'll be in and out of the store in no time with the perfect bottle for the event!

When thinking about what wine to buy, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who will I be drinking this bottle of wine with?
If you're visiting good friends, and you're not particularly worried about what they will think when you pull the bottle out of the bag, then skip to question 3.
If this is your first time to someone's home and don't know what's for dinner, go red. Think Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah - these wines have wide appeal.
If you want to impress - meeting the parents, going to the boss's holiday dinner, wowing a client - go with a wine that has a good reputation, whether red or white, still or sparkling.

2. What food will I be drinking this bottle of wine with?
If you know what's for dinner, go with rules of thumb that work - whites and lighter reds for fish, pork and poultry, richer reds and bold whites for red meat and game. If you know me, you’ll know that I abhor wine rules, but in cases when you’re not sure what’s being served, it helps to narrow down the choices.
3. How much should I spend?
In most cases, $15.00 can get you a great bottle of wine.
If you are eager to impress, be prepared to spend at least $20.00
If you know what is being served, go with the tone of the menu. If your host is just having hors d'oeuvres or making guacamole, a bottle around the $10 mark should be fine, but if he's going to town with confit duck and wild mushroom risotto, your bottle should live up to his efforts.

4. Should I gift wrap it?
Yes you should! Presentation makes all the difference - a fun wine bag or just wrapping the bottle in nice tissue paper shows you really appreciate being invited over and the wine purchase wasn't strictly obligatory.

A Few More Tips...

Be open to the possibility that your host may have the wine for dinner taken care of and that they may put your bottle on the rack to enjoy another time - that's a great way to offer a wine gift!

The wine, your experience buying the wine, even the bag you brought it in can all be great fodder for conversation. Consider this when making your buying decisions.

Sparkling wine is always fun and is not necessarily just for celebrations - they go great with foods that call for crisp whites. Champagne is usually $30.00 or more per bottle. If you don't want to spend that much, Cava and Prosecco are other popular alternatives that cost a lot less.

Happy shopping!

Albariño - From a Rainy Region for a Sunny Summer

2010-04-08T12:29:00.001-04:00

Rías Baixas is an exciting wine region located in rainy northwestern Spain. Its local specialty is Albariño, a crisp white wine that has a character that changes seemingly with the changes in your own mood. I had my first Albariño of the season - Martin Códax Albariño 2008 ($13.00, easy to spot with a funky old school type of guitar on the label) - two days ago on the first of several much-hotter-than-usual days in New York City.

The retailer kept it in the fridge. At first, knowing this was more of a liquor store and that the people running probably had no clue, I was concerned about how long it had been in there - the 2008 has been on the market for at least 8 months now, and the label was beginning to warp. Nonetheless, I took a chance on it, and I’m glad I did. It was memorable, with stone fruit aromatics that reached up and caught my attention as I was still pouring my first glass. The wine had an herbal undertone - eucalyptus? or star anise? - it was hard to put my finger on, but easy across my palate with a mouthful of flavors, crisp acidity and a clean finish.

I strongly encourage that you espouse this grape this summer - well, have an open relationship, still try other wines, but make it your business to seek out Albariño all summer long, buy them, try them with your peoples, see what you think. Buy in the $10.00-$15.00 per 750ml bottle range - steer clear of Vinho Verde, its not the same thing! By summer’s end, you’ll be an Albariño connoisseur, and you’ll tell me which ones are best! I’d love that!

Wine, Women and... Power!

2010-03-04T09:54:00.007-05:00

So this is Women’s History Month, right? And Monday, March 8th is International Women’s Day, correct? And the wine you are drinking right now, made by a woman? Maybe... And in a lot of cases, people don’t even know, don’t think it matters. But just like any other product, it is interesting, if not completely earth shattering, to learn about the people behind it.

I’ve heard some people in the wine industry distinguish wines made by men from wines made by women - for example, when tasting wines from Palmaz Vineyards in Napa Valley, one can discuss the differences from one vintage to the next of their top flight Cabernet - Mia Klein is at the helm of the winemaking team, a changeover from her male predecessor both in style and approachability. The differences between the vintages that overlap this personnel change are indeed cliché - the male winemaker’s wine could still stand some aging, for it is brash and far too edgy to be consumed now. Ms Mia’s wine, made in the ensuing year, is indeed more approachable with silkier tannins, enjoyable now although it has the characteristics to develop with some cellar time. But this is not always the case.

Prime example: Screaming Eagle, America’s favorite Cult Cabernet, a massive, tannic bottle of wine that needs at least a decade to begin to show its goods and can definitely be characterized as “masculine” in style, made by the talented and lovely Heidi Peterson Barrett. (Also maker of Women of the Vine Cellars Syrah Napa Valley 2006, Author Deborah Brenner's label)

Women wield power in the wine industry in other ways, as well. Not only are we supposed to have more keen palates than our male counterparts, but depending on what study you read (I swear by Adams Beverage, personally) women account for at least 60% of the buyers of wine in America - don’t we usually do all the shopping, anyway? And we make our decisions based on advice from our girls.

More and more we are seeing women wine writers and bloggers taking a front row seat, women in the influential rolls of Sommelier and Buyer at top restaurants and retailers everywhere, and most importantly, women in the stores holding their own and ordering from the wine list when dining out with their partners.

All of this is to make a statement about Wine, Women and Power, and to take my hat off to all my sisters of the vine. I salute you!

This blog is dedicated to all the women who have paved the way for me and other young rising stars in the wine world, especially
Mary Ewing-Mulligan, MW
Linda Lawry CWE
Margrit Biever Mondavi
Ambassador Kathryn Hall
Gabrielle Leonhard
Melanie Young
Karen Jess-Lindsley
Michaela Rodeno
Elaine Honig
Margaret Duckhorn
and Julie Johnson.

Why Wine is Awesome Reason #10 - Travel

2010-01-28T10:06:00.005-05:00

In the spirit of my Uses for Cheap Wine series that is evolving through this blog, I’ve decided I should start another series, because just as there are indeed many good uses for cheap wine, there are many reasons why wine is awesome.

As President of the NYC Chapter of Women for WineSense, it is a privilege and duty to make my annual pilgrimage west to Napa Valley, land of our founders. Each spring for the last 3 years, I have travelled to California to celebrate and collaborate with many lovely, successful and fabulous members and officers from Women for WineSense chapters nationwide. Two out of those three years were Grand Events, most spectacular occasions, the second of which I dutifully attended and thoroughly enjoyed even though I was 6 months pregnant with my daughter Ché Elizabeth. Last year, during the height of the economic revolution, although we decided not to have a Grand Event, there was still a congregation, a very important annual summit took place as usual. While many important and serious discussions ensued, wine was poured and vineyards were toured.

The truth is you can travel just by trying wines from different parts of the world. While wine’s character is largely determined by the grape varieties it is made of, there is an undeniable sense of place in almost every bottle - not just in the packaging but in the character of the wine itself. For example, you can take a mini tour of the world by trying a selection of Sauvignon Blancs from different places - visit Northern France, the South Island of New Zealand, South Africa and the North Fork of Long Island all in one week on your tour.

Nonetheless, there’s nothing like the being there in person. Voyaging to the places where wine is grown offers such a unique look at a place you often go to for other reasons, as perhaps in Spain, Chile or California or it can take you to places you wouldn’t otherwise go to at all, such as the Upper Loire Valley and the aforementioned North Fork of Long Island (a sleepy farm area that still pales in comparison to the Hamptons in summer appeal, but is now a fantastic destination for wine touring!). Add the experience of drinking the region’s wines and enjoying the foods that they do best - MAGIC!

Wine has given me both many reasons to travel and the opportunity to enhance my travel experiences by adding in winery and vineyard visits and tasting through otherwise unbeaten paths all over the world as well as very close to home. The great thing is that you can always recapture a little of that by enjoying those wines again later, and the pictures tend to be really awesome when you get back home.

Photos from Previous Women for WineSense Grand Events, Enjoy!

Uses for Cheap Wine #3 - Cooking

2010-01-21T10:03:00.001-05:00

I must preface this by clarifying that cheap wine doesn’t necessarily mean bad wine, and it is my firm belief that one should never put any wine in their food that they would not drink. To quote the comedian WC Fields “I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food!”

Here are some tips on cooking with wine at a discount:
When you want to create a perfect pairing of wine with a dish that you are cooking that has wine in the recipe, use the same wine you are drinking in the dish. Now, I’m not saying that you should deglaze* your pan with your Kistler Chardonnay! At $100.00+ per bottle, that would make for one expensive pan jus! Instead, get a Chardonnay that is $8-10 a bottle, something that is similarly oaky, but make sure that it is something you would happily drink on a more casual evening.
To make a fabulous herb butter, add white wine to your recipe for herb butter. The wine will provide balancing acidity - use a $6-8 crisp white such as torrontes, or sauvignon blanc.
Use an $8-12 shiraz or cabernet to marinate tougher meats such as beef cheeks, ox tails, veal shanks or brisket. The acid helps to break down the meat and add wonderful flavor. As always, the wine should at least be drinkable.

This should get you off to a good start cooking with wine! Bon appetit!

*Deglaze - after cooking a meat, poultry or fish on a frying pan, add wine to the hot pan. The wine will collect all the pan residue. Reduce this over a low flame, then add cream or butter to make a great sauce!

Why Champagne?

2010-01-14T10:08:00.002-05:00

Not that anyone has ever actually asked me this question, but I thought perhaps it is something we could delve into, what with my upcoming True Champagne tasting at wineLIFE. (hope you are registered already!)

Just to clarify, at the risk of sounding cliché, all champagne is sparkling wine but not all sparkling wine is champagne. Champagne is a place, a region defined by three towns that form sort of an acute triangular slice a mere 100k east of Paris. The towns, cathedral-and-cobblestone-clad Reims, the even smaller Epernay, and the southern satelite of Aÿ create a triad that contains some of the most valuable Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards in the world. The other triumvirate of Champagne is the trio of featured grapes - the two aforementioned, joined by a much more obscure Pinot Meunier in a blended bubbly that varies in style from house to house depending on its recipe.

Here in Champagne exists the greatest anomaly of the wine world: vintage wines are the exception, not the rule. Not only are the wines a blend of grapes, the traditional practice in champagne is to reserve wine in stainless steel tanks every vintage, usually over about 5 years, so as to blend across vintages to achieve the house style. Most champagne sold in the US is non-vintage brut, at around $30.00-$40.00 a bottle - Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label, Taittinger, Laurent Perrier and Pol Roger are some more recognizable ones.

Vintage champagne is only made when the conditions are perfect - not a common occurance in this cool, northerly region. They are given the lofty title Tête de Cuvée, the top pop (tête = head) and fabulous names like Veuve Cliquot’s La Grande Dame, Moët’s Dom Perignon, Laurent Perrier Le Grand Siecle (literally “the great century”) and Louis Roederer’s now highly unpopular but still astronomically priced Crystal. Their price tags and packaging always match their status - a Tête de Cuvée starts at around $100.00 and soars upwards of $250.00 from there.

Champagne comes in a small but intriguing variety of styles that you could have fun exploring. If you like pink, try some brut rosés, the best of which is made by Billecart Salmon and is quite tough to come by! The anomalies continue - champagne is the only rosé that is actually made by blending red and white wines, not by the saignée method (literally bleeding, referring to the steeping of the skins of red grapes in the vat with the juice so they will impart color), and here again, the non-vintage version is less expensive than the vintage version. You can also try creamy Blancs de Blanc (translates literally as white of white) champagnes that are 100% Chardonnay or Blancs de Noir, romantically fragrant wines that are made of 100% Pinot Noir, but are indeed, as their name suggests, white bubblies.

You’ll also notice that sometimes I spell champagne with a lower case c and sometimes with a capital C. Capital C refers to the region, lower case c refers to the wine. But I still haven’t really answered the question have I? Why champagne? Because while there are many great substitutes that are much less costly - I’m a huge fan of Prosecco, I don’t balk at Cava, and I enjoy tasting sparkling wines from a around the world that are made in the traditional method - champagne is the originator of the style - sparkling wine was invented here! As an American wine drinker, who’s market is bursting with cases and cases of fabulous high end champagne (in contrast to England, where cheap champagne lines the shelves of supermarkets nationwide) I can’t help but quote Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: Aint nothin’ like the real thing, baby, aint nothin’ like the REAL THING!

Stay tuned for Why Champagne? Part Deux - Growers

Uses for Cheap Wine #17 - Wine Rack Filler

2010-01-07T10:12:00.002-05:00

You LOVE wine! You’re the kind of collector who never has a full rack or wine fridge - you just can’t not drink it! Well, here’s my advice for how to keep your wine indulgence satisfied and still maintain a full rack, because let’s face it, an empty wine rack or wine fridge is NOT acceptable.

On a $500.00 budget:

Take some of your allocations from your favorite California mailing list wineries, perhaps wait until you get your tax refund, and buy:

2 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir @ $54.00 each (or you can split this up into a Pinot Noir and a Zinfandel for more variety, although you would get variety if you got two different Pinot Noirs from WS - the cuvées from different vineyards offer different flavor profiles)

1 Vie Les Amours Syrah @$42.00

1 Anomaly Cabernet Sauvignon $89.00

Treat yourself to a couple of special bottles from the Old World:

1 Chateau Calon Ségur St. Estephe 2005 $90.00

1 Guiseppe Quintarelli Valpolicella $100.00

And then...

you could pick up 4-6 more bottles at your favorite local wine retailer for $45.00 or less TOTAL COST, because the market is abundant with cheap wine, and a lot of it is surprisingly decent!

2 Mia Prosecco, (dry sparkling wine from Italy) $6.99

1 Mil Piedras Malbec, Argentina $8.99

1 OCD Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand $9.99

1 Amour Vin de Pays de Vaucluse, France $4.99

1 Falkensteiner Rieden Zweigelt (dry red wine from Austria) $8.99 for a 1 liter bottle

Total expenditure to fill your rack: $468.95 + tax. And you didn’t even have to buy Yellow Tail!

The truth is there is a lot of flexibility in what you can fill your rack with. Personally, if I didn’t have a toddler running rampant in my apartment, I would do the above, and put all those fabulous pricey bottles on top, reserving the bottom spaces for a revolving supply of good, cheap vino. And no, I don’t let my higher end stuff sit around too long either, because let’s face it, a special occasion can be the evening I come home to a my warm apartment and I’m feeling extra thankful, and then I’m popping the cork on my $89.00 Anomaly Cab to enjoy with leftover Truffle Risotto with Pork and I’m pouring some into my daughter’s sippy cup and mixing it with a little water.

Also, based on the above, you could actually fill the whole rack for $100.00 or less!

My final piece of advice: Always leave one or two spaces open for those unexpected bottles you get as gifts. Whoever said it’s better to give than to received obviously never got anything, and unlike in France, we are happy to accept a bottle from a friend around here!

Uses for Cheap Wine #12 - Mulled Wine

2010-01-01T09:59:00.000-05:00

Published Yesterday at www.awinelifestyle.com

Picture it: December 2009. You are young, beautiful, wealthy and wise, and want to stay that way. You decide that wine’s the thing to maintain at least two out of four - not bad! You enter a fabulous wine shop - one of your city’s finest - on the hunt for a few good bottles. Your wine rack sits uncharacteristically empty at home, awaiting your fantastic finds.

In the shop, the first thing you see: Prosecco $6.99. You think to yourself “Grab a cart, dude, the pickins are plenty!” Six bottles later, you are lookin at an $8.00 Malbec, an $8.00 liter of Austrian Zweigelt, a $6.00 Torrontes and a Vin de Pays de Vaucluse for a crazy $4.99! Add two bottles of that cheap Prosecco, and you have a mixed 6 for a very smart $46.75!

Later on, while he’s putting the little one to bed, you decide on the Malbec and choose your most fabulous wine glass, thinking that just as they had made the $15.00 bottle of Nero d’Avola taste much more expensive, perhaps there’s hope for the $8.00 Malbec. You pull the synthetic cork (I cant’ stand those things!) and pour for you and a visiting friend.

You swirl. You sniff. The only descriptor either of you can muster is “grapes” for the smell of it, and then the fleeting fruit dissipates and all you smell is alcohol - a whopping 14% for that tail!! You both take a few sips while you catch up on family stories, but neither of you savors the wine, just looking to achieve a quick buzz while chatting

You have almost 2/3 of the bottle left the next morning, and you DON’T FEEL LIKE DRINKING IT ANYMORE - it was that bad.

What do you do?

To me, since the wine was in the condition it was supposed to be (it didn’t smell like basements or funky shoes, just bad wine) it is uneconomical to simply throw the wine down the drain. If it’s in a 750 ml glass bottle decently packaged, chances are it’s at least drinkable.

Uses for Cheap Wine #12 - Mulled Wine: Mulled wine is a warm version of sangria, in which the wine is heated up, usually sweetened and seasoned with whole baking spices such as clove, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks and star anise, and kept on a low heat so that each cup is warm. Often served at ski areas, it is a great way to warm yourself up inside on a cold day!

Ingredients

2/3 of a 750ml bottle of cheap dry red wine

2 Tablespoons Raw Sugar

3 Cinnamon Sticks, broken into small pieces

1 Whole Nutmeg, cracked and shaved to release flavor

1 Star Anise

1 Snowy Day (optional)

Method

In a saucepan, put the wine on a high flame. Add the Sugar, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Star Anise into the wine. Add fresh, cold water to achieve a ratio of 1 part water to 2 parts wine. When the wine is just below boiling, lower the flame all the way down just to keep it warm, letting it steep for at least thirty minutes. Mulled Wine tastes better as the spices continue to release flavors into it and the sugar integrates.

Serve in Irish Coffee Mugs, garnish with a Cinnamon Stick. If it starts to reduce as it sits, add a little more water.

Serves 3-4

Next on Uses for Cheap Wine - #17 - Wine Rack Filler

Let no wine go to waste!

Happy New Year!

Love,

Vee Fitzgerald

Wine Events - Reinvented

2009-12-17T10:44:00.002-05:00

Even after having participated in or been at the helm of planning and executing over 40 wine events and seminars in the last 5 years of my career with the likes of Women for WineSense, Divas Uncorked and the erstwhile Vintage New York, as well as in my own entrepreneurial shoes with Illchef Productions and now wineLIFE, I find that the notion continuously evolves. I mean, one can just open some wine and invite some friends over, then you have a what - wine tasting? wine party? wine event? Or you can put the bottles in paper bags for blind tasting, or open up games like Wine Smarts to get the mental juices flowing. While it is true that it depends on who is attending, the main idea is that fun is had by all, barring the unforseen (spills of red wine on gorgeous white clothing - yes, I’ve been the perpetrator of such a snafu!)

At wineLIFE, we have, in the short time we have been doing events, evolved as well. At first we resisted calling them wine classes, even though the neighborhood asked us for wine classes every day at Van Duzer Summer Streets! Nay, these were “Wine Tasting Sessions” - with handouts and pencils and seats and spit cups - that reaks of class, not in a good way! Now, our handouts have become note papers to be used at your whim, there are not seats at a table, and you make your own tasting experience unique in the context of the theme we set up. This past Tuesday was wine for food for YOU Part Two, and I think the new format was fantastic! I have honed the branding - no longer is it the wineLIFE Discover Wine Series, it is now wineLIFE taste! - and used that branding to make cute hand written signs to identify the food and wines laid out. We did sort of a swap half way through, moving bottles around so that they weren’t next to the same foods all the time. We wanted our guests to discover what pairings they liked and what they didn’t like, to take whatever notes they wanted or none at all, to taste what they wished and bypass anything that didn’t intrigue.

Our philosophy: in wine, the rules are, there are no rules. You know what you like! Also, we don’t think you should have to take a class to learn about wine. Tasting on as many occasions as possible, bringing wine home to drink and enjoy at your leisure, visiting wine venues, wineries, etc on your travels, that’s what builds a connoisseur and thus a wine lifestyle!

All things considered, I like what we have created, and the evolution continues. See you Sunday!

Consultants - Who needs 'em?

2009-10-15T11:22:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time I asked myself this very question. I couldn’t understand paying someone for some abstract service of “consulting”, like giving advice. I get free advice all day, every day, even if I don’t want it! To be honest, I’ve long avoided using certain words to describe myself, consultant being one of them. The other was expert. I’ve gotten over that one.

Truth be told, if a person has a high level of knowledge and experience in a field, they should not shy away from referring to themselves as an expert. You worked hard, you devoted yourself, and now, you have a breadth and depth of knowledge in your discipline that surpasses most and rivals the top people in your field. You are an expert. That being said, it doesn’t mean that you know everything, that your opinion should be taken as the final word on a subject. Rather, you are a good source for an educated opinion or guess when a question is asked, you are a good person to learn from about that topic. So yes, I am a wine expert.

And now, I am a wine consultant. Same concept as being an expert, except now you get paid to share your opinions, advice, guidance. So who needs a wine consultant? Well, the truth is many of the things I can do for you, you can do for yourself. For example, I have a client who wants a complete overhaul of his wine list at his restaurant. Could he select and purchase wine, write it up on a piece of paper and hand it to a customer to peruse without my help. Absolutely! Now here are the questions to be asked:

What wines are you buying for the new list? Why these wines? What does your product mix look like as compared to that of your closest competitors and the market at large?

What kind of pricing strategy are you implementing? Are you making the most money you can on your list?

Is your staff equipped to sell the wines (after all, a wine list is a sales tool, you still need the human element)? Do they know what to say and how to say it, how to serve it? Can they explain the offering to your guests?

How is your wine stored and where? How much storage space is available? How will that affect your purchasing strategy?

I could go on. The point is you as a restauranteur could

A: Spend a few years taking wine courses to bring your knowledge base up so that you can create, implement and administer a wine program well.

B: Make all the determinations of storage, purchasing, market positioning etc. on your own.

C: Conduct ongoing wine training for your staff or hire more wine savvy servers and bartenders (who then expect more financially)

D: Hire a full time sommelier and pay payroll taxes and worker’s comp insurance for them.

E: All of the above.

Consultants - who needs ‘em? People who want to do something positive for themselves, their asset portfolio, their business and their lives, but don’t have the expertise or time to do what they would like to get done. As Robert Kiyosaki says in his iconic book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the rich are wise enough to hire and pay people who are smarter than them to get things done for them. Wine Consultants, unite! We are important and needed, so let’s get crackin’!

A Million Wine Stories in the Naked City

2009-10-09T16:26:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite things about wine is that there are so many amazing stories behind each and every label, even the ones you think are huge, heartless corporations are still small business when considered in the realm of corporations around the world. Today, at a tasting of one of the largest wine portfolios in the New York, I heard a few stories that I felt compelled to share with you.

Its a sad thing that too many of the people who sell wine feel obligated to talk stats - grape composition of blends, use of oak and malolactic fermentation, reviewer scores, yadda, yadda, yadda! Just when I was getting to the tipping point, I met Hugh Hamilton, the owner and winemaker of Hugh Hamilton Wines in McLaren Vale, Australia. He was friendly, a refreshing face in a room full of sellers and buyers, a refreshing personality from a place so far removed from our venue, Budda Bar, in the bowels of the meat packing district. I arrived at his table specifically interested in tasting Jim Jim Unoaked Chardonnay 2007 and Jim Jim Shiraz 2007. Who is Jim Jim, you ask? “He’s our dog,” said Hugh, as he handed me a postcard with a picture of the Labrador/Kelpie mix enjoying a sunny day in his home vineyard. “He’s a clever dog,” Hugh said proudly. The postcard was apparently one in a series of Wine Dogs - the dogs of Australian wineries. You’ll find this kind of canine-wine love in the books Winery Dogs of Sonoma and Winery Dogs of Napa (Winery Dogs Publishing, $36.00 & $38.00 respectively). The wines were really good, as well! The Chardonnay, crisp and refreshing with lovely balance, the Shiraz showing the depth and complexity of a pricier wine than itself - two winning selections!

From right here in New York, a relatively new wine called Imagine Moore, owned by Tim and Diane Moore, comes in a bottle whose label is silkscreened right onto the glass. The winery is the first one to be established in the Naples Valley, a Finger Lakes outpost, in 100 years. Each bottling features a picture of the Moore children. I tasted Imagine Moore Peace Pinot Gris 2007 which was rather good, with an edgy herbal, eucalyptus, sage vibe that reminds me of versions of Pinot Gris from Alsace, France. Their other wines dare you to imagine in many ways - Imagine Moore Joy Riesling, Imagine Moore Grace Dry Rosé.

There are a million wine stories in the naked city - stories of fortunes lost and won (see my first blog in this series, Wines of our Lives), families growing, pets, landscapes, history. Next time you go wine shopping, ask your fave retailer for some interesting tales among the wines you find on their shelves. If you’re lucky, you’ll walk away with more than just a bottle for the night!

The wines mentioned herein were tasted at no cost to the author of this article, but were not provided for the purposes of this article. The providers of these wines had no prior knowledge of the author’s intention to mention and endorse the wines in this blog

The New Wine Connoisseur

2009-09-24T22:34:00.001-04:00

The term “emerging markets” has a specifically nouveau riche intonation when people are talking about wine consumption in China and India. The story of the Beijing business man who opens up a first growth Bordeaux worth upwards of US$700.00 and adds coke to it before drinking has become a new urban legend in the wine world. At a panel discussion last night at Christie’s Rockefeller Center, Charles Curtis MW, wine consultant Judy Beardsall and Bloomberg News’ Wine and Spirits Columnist Elin McCoy could not help but bring this topic up when discussing Fine & Rare Wines in a Changing Market.

Charles, who is Vice President and Head of North American Wine Sales for Christie’s, referred to an auction in Hong Kong earlier this year where top wines were selling for well above their high estimates, in some cases 3 or 4 times as much at gavel - especially those of Chateau Lafite, one of the five first growth Bordeaux wines (newly released bottles of this wine fetch upwards of $800.00 a pop, even more in fantastic vintage years). Indeed, as consumers in Asia are finding that they now have more disposable income than ever before, they are exploring these luxury goods, and wine is finally finding new fans where it never did before.

There is even wine production taking place - in India, Sula leads the charge, with a decent, value-priced Syrah and a few other wines. When you think India, don’t make the mistake of thinking hot. Such a large country has parts that do indeed experience winter, and cooler mountain areas where vitis vinifera grape vines can flourish. The same is happening in China.

Also in China, sadly typically, is counterfeiting of higher end wines. Elin repeated a statement she said she’d heard a Canadian Liquor Control Board official make - “50% of the Canadian ice wine in China is not ice wine, and its not Canadian”. So it’s not just dvd’s and Louis Vuiton handbags in the fake market anymore! Caveat emptor! Verify the authenticity of a coveted wine you are thinking of buying and purchase from reputable sources - these are key elements of what we call provenance.

On the bright side, these new wine buyers seem to be ignoring the Wine Spectator and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate scores that have long been polarizing driving forces behind the perception of quality in individual wines, and therefore, there pricing and their sale-ability. Instead, they are listening to what their friends and colleagues are saying, in what Charles referred to as the “rise of the consumer review”. I would be interested to follow that supply chain and see where the friends and colleagues are getting their information from - I sincerely hope it is from drinking the wines themselves, and not from one of the aforementioned magazines.

That’s the thing about wine, though. The fun is in discovering. It makes me very happy to know that there is a whole new, very large group of consumers who are discovering and developing a palate for wine. Its a wine world after all!!

Photo Credit: Jupiter Images www.jupiterimages.com

Corked or Screwed?

2009-09-17T14:18:00.003-04:00

I should preface this by saying that I’ve published this very piece of writing many a time before, and that I will keep publishing it until all my wine peeps are wise to the cork vs screwcap game. It is that serious. Enjoy this week’s blog, winebabes!

***

Hard to believe there is a raging debate in the wine world surrounding such a small item – a bottle closure. To the wine drinker, cork, screwcap, rubber ball bearing, whatever is sealing the bottle is just a barrier they need to get through to get to their wine. Nonetheless, to the producers, importers, distributors, restauranteurs and retailers who deal in wine, that closure can affect the way customers receive the end product in more ways than one. Between the perception the consumer might have of either closure (some still think screwcaps only go on inferior wines) or the condition of a bottle when it is opened, all the parties involved have a stake in the game.

You see, naturally this topic would be of interest to me, the New Zealand Wine Specialist, because about two thirds of New Zealand wines are bottled with screw caps instead of corks. For those of you who don't understand what the fuss is all about, here's a short explanation.

Cork is made from the bark of a tree. Don't worry, it is completely renewable - the bark is stripped from the living tree, only one stripping per tree every nine years, and the stripping doesn’t harm the tree in anyway (I guess they like to be naked – I can relate to that!). The thing is that cork is porous and can harbor fungus and pathogens that sometimes proliferate and get all the way through to the wine. Ironically, the worst cases of this issue stem from the method used to sterilize corks. So when you open a bottle of wine, and it smells like musty basement or wet cardboard, we call it "corked", and send it back to the sommelier or the bottle shop, because all parties involved knew the risks and took the chance on selling you that bottle of wine anyway.

Cork was the seal for wine amphorae in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, and once glass bottles were developed in during the 17^th century, it emerged as the most economic choice of stopper. Since the 1980’s, as awareness of cork taint in wines was increasing, development of alternatives closures proliferated. Now, in addition to screw caps, we have synthetic cork, the Zork (convenience of a screw cap paired with the pop of a cork) and the glass Vino-Lok (the super cool glass T stopper), among other innovations. They’re even exploring the use of a crown cap as a final closure for champagne and sparkling wine.

So I was at a symposium on syrah in the vineyards of Hawke's Bay, New Zealand two years ago, and I noticed that the issue was deftly glossed over. On the panel was a syrah producer from California, one from Australia, one from New Zealand (other local producers were present) and a Master of Wine. The question was burning my chest throughout the day. I decided to take the mic towards the end during the q & a period and open the barrel of worms.

If the choice of closure for syrah is an important consideration because of the nature of the grape (they mentioned in the notes that it is naturally reductive; that is a slowing of the aging processes in bottle, and suffers often the formation of stinky sulfur compounds), then what closure is best? It was the Aussie who dismissed me with the very abrupt answer: If the wine is "reduced" when you bottle it, it's going to stay that way, whether it's under a screw cap or cork. The panel quickly took another question.

Afterward, I was thanked by one gentleman for being brave enough to pose the question. After all, it is something that should be addressed in the company of wine professionals who are discussing marketing opportunities for wine, especially New Zealand wine. The thing is that the issue is so polarizing, especially among winemakers, and a cork producer was one of the sponsors of the event, yadda yadda yadda, no one would touch it.

I was then introduced to the lovely Jenny Dobson, winemaker at Te Awa in Hawke’s Bay. She recognized me immediately as the poseur (or imposeur, as it were) of the hot question, and she happily treated me to her thoughts on the subject.

In her experience, one has to prepare the wine for the closure. One choice of closure is not necessarily better than the other. Each has its flaws, and there are issues with screw tops that "no one likes to talk about". For one thing, wine producers have a limited choice of bottles for screw tops and the neck size has to be perfect for the machine, as well as compatible with your choice of screw top, otherwise the collar doesn't sit quite right on the bottle. Although screw tops are less expensive than corks, changing your bottling line over is initially an expensive endeavor. Also, if you stack palates (a large, flat wooden platform that holds like 500 cases of wine) too high, literally two high, the pressure can break the seals of the bottles on the bottom.

She uses both closures. Her corks come directly from a producer in Spain (most of the world’s cork comes from Iberia), and they are composite corks from which the offensive microbes have been removed. Cork producers are working hard to improve the way they grow, produce and clean corks. At dinner that night, I was chatting with Amelia, winemaker at Matariki Wines, and she echoed Jenny’s sentiments, adding that her choice of closure has more to do with marketing than with the wine itself. Her less expensive, second label goes in a cute, stylish screw cap. The estate wines, made for cerebral enjoyment and old school aging, are finished with corks.

Still, people, especially people who make wine, generally have very strong opinions about which is better. From all accounts, had they taken my topic on, dudes might have had to break up a fistfight!!

Personally, I like screw tops for their easy access, and I also like being able to reclose the bottle. I've had (myself, purchased for personal use) very few corked bottles of wine, and at least once, I've had a screw top bottle I couldn't open because the collar was too loose and so I couldn't break the seal. I’ve had corks dry up and break as I try to extract them, then expand so fat that reinserting them was impossible. The latter is especially common with synthetic corks, which can also be really tough to remove from your corkscrew! Bottom line, drink wine and enjoy life. Drink it out of screwtop or cork or Zork, bottle or box or can, stemmed or stemless glass, plastic tumbler or coffee mug. Much like your last blind date, its what’s inside that counts.

Photo Credit: The Paupered Chef, March 2007, www.seriouseats.com

Tasting While Congested

2009-09-10T17:38:00.001-04:00

If you ever wondered if you could party yourself sick, you can. I partied so hard this past weekend, I woke up Tuesday morning with a sore throat, swollen tonsils, and my nose completely clogged. That evening, I was due to taste the wines of Palmaz Vineyards, a small Napa Valley concern down by the city of Napa with just a handful of wineries nearby (most of Napa Valley’s wineries are further north near the towns of Rutherford, Yountville, Oakville, St Helena and Calistoga)

Palmaz is another intense wine story of family, money, change and fortune (see my June 4th blog on Charles Krug). The property, originally a little stone house on a hill, was founded in 1800’s by a gent who was actually distilling, rather than making wine. Henry Hagen, a German immigrant who was a Napa Valley winemaking pioneer, purchased the property in 1881, built a magnificent 4 floor mansion, and took the property from moonshine to wine under the name Cedar Knoll. Sadly, Prohibition would force him out of the business and the property, and when the bank foreclosed on his home and land, he and his family took all that they could carry and left. For 85 years, no wine was made there.

Fast forward to the 1970’s when Dr. Julio Palmaz, a surgeon from Argentina, came to the University of California at Davis to study - who knew UC Davis had a medical school? Inevitably, he met many winemakers and caught the wine bug, but he and his young wife Amalia soon moved south to Texas where he would build his medical career. Their fortunes turned when Dr. Palmaz made a discovery that would revolutionize heart surgery. He created the Heart Stent, a device that holds the artery open to improve blood flow. He sold his invention to Johnson and Johnson, and treated himself to this fantastic property back in Napa, where he and his family now live and work as winemakers.

At a table in the lobby of the swank Ace Hotel in Flatiron, Alan Greenberg, the company’s East Coast representative, told us this captivating story over olives, salami and cheese. Samantha, Betty and I, three of the five board members of Women for WineSense NYC Chapter were about to be treated to a tasting of 5 of this winery’s 6 wines, including a rare vertical of three vintages of their $100.00 Palmaz Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. But alas, my nose could not cooperate.

I sniffed and I snuffed and I blew but I could only get a tiny bit of air through one nostril. Through that portal I took a deep whiff of the Palmaz Chardonnay Napa Valley 2007 - success! It came though! Crisp green apple, citrus and cream aromas were lovely! On the palate, the acidity was perfect - not so soft as to be flabby from the malolactic, not sharp. Fabulous. I had a lot less luck with wines that were a lot more expensive. I could smell fresh red berry, cassis and hints of cinnamon in a very youthful 2005 Cabernet, and leathery cedar and tobacco aromas in a more mature 2003, but the 2002 was kinda lost on me. I could just cry!!

The Palmaz Muscat Canelli 2007 was spectacular, though. Grapey as Muscat can be, laced with lovely floral aromas. The sweetness was delightful on the attack, but it subsided as it progressed across my palate to a clean finish, and had a nice vein of acidity to balance it out. Very impressed, as were Samantha and Betty.

The moral of the story? Well, I guess there could be several:

Don’t schedule an important wine tasting the day after a big party weekend.

Don’t skip a wine tasting just because your nose is stuffy - you may surprise yourself.

If you can’t control the scheduling of a tasting, bring along other trusted palates to help you evaluate the wines.

A beautiful dessert wine can conquer flooded sinuses!

I can’t wait to taste the wines with a clear nose!

The ABC - Alcohol Bullsh!t Control

2009-09-04T08:07:00.002-04:00

OK, I get it. US state and city governments and law enforcement agencies were absolutely shell shocked by the end of Prohibition. I mean, after the rampant bootlegging, proliferation of speak-easies and the boom of organized crime that was the gratitude to the 18th Amendment over the skinny 13 years - a time frame that, inopportunely, also hosted the Great Depression - who could blame the recoil after repeal? So when in 1933 the federal government replaced the 18th with the 21st - which effectively gave all the states the right to make their own autonomous alcohol laws - it is no wonder that the “Great Experiment” yielded these crazy results.

So what do we have now? Pandemonium! A nation of 50 different alcohol fiefdoms that are adjoined by a massive interstate system (save two, of course). Wanna send your friend in Kentucky a bottle of wine in gratitude for hosting you and yours at their home last summer? No can do - Kentucky and 12 other states still consider it a crime to ship alcohol directly to its resident’s homes. Wanna open a restaurant in Pennsylvania? Sure, be our guest, but you do not have access to the wholesale tier to purchase wine for your wine list - you’ll be shopping in the same retail aisles and paying the same marked up prices as consumers, then you’ll have to build your profit in on top of that. You can buy wine in the supermarket in Hawai’i and New Jersey, but not in New York. In most states, if you want to have a mimosa with your Sunday brunch, you still have to wait until noon to order it. There are even some counties that are “dry” - yes, that means that alcohol is prohibited within the county limits. Stories of rows of liquor stores that press up against the county line in the very next, usually very wet, county abound. And yes, it is a crime to return across that county line with alcohol (legal contraband) in your possession.

What if you want to open a lovely little wine shop in a swank New York City neighborhood? You can do it, but be prepared to pay rent on an empty space until you have finished gathering all of the necessary items - questionnaires, bank statements, penal bonds, proofs of citizenship. You have to get fingerprinted by the police and in addition to the lease, your land lady has to further affirm that she is giving you a right to use this premises, but is not a shareholder in the business. And you or any of your investors can’t be employed by the NYPD. And even though the legal age for someone to work in a wine shop is 18, your investors must all be at least 21.

At least I can open a shop, though. If you are running or working in a wine shop in Pennsylvania or Utah, you are a state employee. If you’re a consumer, well, your selection is limited to only what the state alcohol-beverage-liquor-control-board-authority-guys decide they want to buy for the stores statewide. Special requests? Prepare to jump through bureaucratic hoops! But I can only open one shop - New York State law prohibits me from having more than one off premise (retail) license, so my dreams of expansion are presently deferred (until I figure out another way around it).

Yes, I get it; criminals made it big during Prohibition, the Great Experiment that went so wrong. But 76 years have elapsed since its repeal - doesn’t it seem fitting that these laws should be reviewed and brought up to date? I’m no Al Capone. I just wanna sell wine and make babies!

For more information on the various state laws regarding wine and wine shipping, visit our friend Shackles at Free the Grapes.org.

Back to wineSchool

2009-08-28T00:26:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday at wineLIFE, we started our mailing list. We asked for people’s names, email addresses, and we asked them to write in what their favorite wine was. Some were very vague (red), while others were very specific (merlot, montepulciano), but the overall common thread of the day was made up of many requests for wine classes.

The Back to Wine School window looks really good - complete with marble notebooks, big number 2 pencils, wine text books and a real school desk (please, don’t ask me where we got it from!). Now, it seems, the theme will continue inside as I think hard about what classes to offer and how.

My first thoughts were to offer a set of themed series - five classes covering five of the major grape varieties, a series on different wine countries or regions, perhaps a three part look at red, white and sparkling wines. One thing was clear in my mind: I’m not sure a “wine 101” is the way to go. Of course, final decisions will be steered by the results of a poll I will conduct among the people who would be my students. But based on what I’ve seen so far, no one really needs to be treated like they have to go to a vinous version of Pre K. Wine savvy comes in all forms from those who know think they “don’t know anything about wine” but know enough to know they love Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay/Merlot, to those who love Italian wines, like Burgundy. All of this would strike the average wine connoisseur as very elementary, but to me, it means that consumers have a sense for what is out there, and know what they have enjoyed in the past and/or present, so it is time to take them to the next level so they can feel more confident navigating the world of wine.

Email me, please, with your thoughts on what wineLIFE wineSchool should cover. It will help me form a curriculum that is both valuable and enjoyable to all my future students!

Here's to a Deal!

2009-08-20T23:40:00.002-04:00

Imagine my surprise to find Gnarly Head Old Vines Zinfandel 2007 from Lodi CA for a shockingly cheap $8.00 at the Wine Library in New Jersey last week! In my retail days back in 05 and 06, the store I was working as a buyer at, a store that definitely had the ability to take large quantities in to get the best price, was retailing this wine for somewhere in the $13.00 a bottle range. Seeing old Gnarly Head selling for under $10.00 served as a vivid reminder of the state of the wine market and how it, much like the housing market, is definitely in favor of buyers now!

Wine Spectator magazine reported earlier this year that for the first time in modern history, Americans purchased more Prosecco than they did Champagne for New Year’s Eve 2008. The US and Japan have historically been the Champagne region’s top markets for the good stuff that starts around $30.00 a bottle, and goes up for Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay champagnes), Vintage Champagne and Têtes de Cuvée (the top pop, such as Dom Perignon, which is Moët’s top wine and Louis Roederer’s Crystal) to well over $200.00 a bottle. It looks like we wised up, America, and our long honeymoon with Champagne and other high priced wine has come to an end as we realize that less expensive options will fit the bill with just as much festivity. Prosecco, Italy’s most jovial bubbly from Valdobbiadene in the north east, weighs in at a meager $10.00-$15.00 a bottle.

What does all this mean to you? It means that now more than ever, wine is financially accessible. The barriers of high prices are coming down quietly as retail and restaurant operators continue in their struggle to move all the stock they took on during last November and December and wholesalers are not able to clear their warehouses with new vintages coming online. There are lots of great deals around - wines that retailed 3 or 4 years ago above the $10.00 mark are coming down below $10.00, those that peaked at over $20.00 are coming closer to that $15.00 sweet spot.

My recommendation? Buy at around $15.00, but don’t be afraid to take a chance on stuff that is in the $10.00 range. Many shops will cut margins close to move an older vintage out. Reds vintage dated 2003 or later or whites from within the last 2-3 years are usually safe bets for everyday wine drinking, though the picture becomes a little more complex at the higher end. Restaurants won’t be as forgiving on price as they must maintain their caché and make their margins to cover much higher overhead. Nonetheless, I would fish in the $30.00-$50.00 a bottle pond on the wine list of a reputable place, and you will indeed find better deals on wine by the glass these days - sommeliers and bar managers seem to be pushing it below $10.00 a glass, as low as $6.00, in even the most chic neighborhoods.

Baileyanna, makers of boutique, single vineyard, sustainably grown Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah in the Edna Valley region of California, has the perfect formula for their high price points that traditionally started in the low $20.00’s and stretched close to the $50.00 mark, yet I found their 2007 Firepeak Vineyard Chardonnay at a shop in PA for a fabulous $9.99 a bottle - and it was really good!

Also, I always recommend connecting with the folks at your local shop - find someone who steers you in a direction you like with his or her recommendations. But make them stick to your price point - they will have lots of great options that you can enjoy inside your budget. That way, you can continue to live your wineLIFE without going broke!

Epiphany in a Glass

2009-08-13T18:23:00.004-04:00

The thing that makes wine grapes so very intriguing is the fact that the wines they become can smell and taste like so many different things in the world - flours and fruit, vegetables and minerals, spices, fur, tar, cedar - the list goes on! No other fruit can claim this talent. In my wine drinking adolescence, I remember how often I’d hear people talk about “buttery” Chardonnay. I had no idea whatsoever what they were talking about. It was a time when I started to question the validity of all these colorful descriptors, started thinking that the aromas and flavors they were talking about were implied - I mean come on, you can’t really smell butter in a glass of wine?! Or for that matter berries, smoke, citrus fruit, tea leaves... stop the nonsense! And then the day arrived when I was sitting in a wine tasting with a glass of California Chardonnay in front of me, thinking to myself “what the heck am I going to write for a tasting note?” I picked the glass up by its stem, pointed my nose downward over the rim and inhaled - “I SMELL THE BUTTER!!” Yes, everyone turned and looked at me, but they all understood my elation - as a wine aficionado, I had arrived.

As my wine education progressed, I learned more about the naturally occurring chemical compounds that create these smells, such as pyrazines that make Sauvignon Blanc smell like green bell pepper (I remember that epiphany well in a glass of Sancerre - it is those same pyrazines that make green bell peppers taste like green bell peppers!), and the lactic acid that makes Chardonnay taste like butter (the same lactic acid that makes butter taste like butter - see the pattern forming?) Not that I had to learn all of these chemicals by name - not that anyone has to learn them. Happily, my epiphanies continue even today, as I discover new things through my many wine tasting (read: drinking) experiences.

Its fun as well to revisit the things that I have discovered in the past, like last night, enjoying a glass of J. Bookwalter’s Subplot No. 22. from Columbia Valley, WA (NV) at Sweet and Lowdown in the Lower East Side and I suddenly felt something hard click against my tooth. I was tickled to find wine diamonds, those tartrate crystals that sometimes form when wine is changing temperature, clinging to one side of my empty glass. They are not common anymore, as most wineries will cold stabilize the wines before releasing (the wines are chilled down to make the tartrates form, and then filtered out and bottled), but they are a naturally occurring phenomenon in wine, and I remember the first time I spotted them myself while tasting a Pinot Gris in one of my WSET lessons. A few years later, I was working in a retail wine shop in SoHo when a woman came in looking very displeased, complaining that there was glass in her wine. The feeling of the little crystal on my tongue took me back to that memory, and although she would not believe me when I tried to explain, I felt good at least that I could offer an explanation. What can I say? I guess one woman’s epiphany is another woman’s fright.

I’m looking forward to my next epiphany, though its becoming harder, as I have discovered so much already. Time to really get my feet stained!

Real First Fruits - Southern Hemisphere Harvest Preview

2009-03-30T06:29:00.004-04:00

Wine drinkers are often taken of guard when they find Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand on the shelves of their favorite stores vintage dated in the current year. The simple explanation is that by April, vineyards in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina have finished their harvest. So while Northern Hemisphere wineries rush to market in November with the first wines of the vintage - Beaujolais Nouveau from France, Novello from Italy, even the North Fork of Long Island gets in on the act with Macari's Early Wine - the kiwis are shipping their first Sauvignon Blanc to US shores. And unlike those rushed first fruit bottlings, these wines are finished, and usually quite delicious.

I ran a Southern Hemisphere Harvest Roundup in April 2007 while I was writing for The Nibble and I'm feeling the urge to do it again - oh boy!

Come back next Monday for the report!

A Toast to March - Wines for a Month of Transition

2009-03-17T23:23:00.004-04:00

They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, meaning that the weather can be really fierce and scary in the beginning, but by the time the end of the month comes around, it is calm and gentle, may be even a little warm and fuzzy. Perhaps, in winespeak, March then comes in like a Zin and out like a Pinot Noir - depending, of course, where they are made. Also, a full bodied, ripe red California Zinfandel is perfect comfort wine for cold and blustery weather, which we also find in the early days of this transitional month. While Pinot Noir is not necessarily a warm weather wine, the benign late days of March are good days for venturing out and finding something new among the wonderful wines of Burgundy.

And for my Pisces posse, we have crisp New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, delicate Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie and lean Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige - all great wines for fish. Venture into Austrian Zweigelt or perhaps a Long Island Cabernet Franc if you prefer salmon or tuna steak. Aries Rams, your gamey flesh needs something more rich and rustic, like Aglianico del Vulture from Basilicata in Italy's dirty south, hand crafted Grenache-Shiraz-Mourvedre blend from McLaren Vale Australia or South African Pinotage, so try one of these after the 21st.

So what does one drink on the ides of March? If you are filing business taxes at the last minute, then whatever you can open quickly, preferably something with a screwtop, but if your taxes are in and you are enjoying the transition from winter to spring in relative leisure, you can get a preview of the season of new beginnings with Tempranillo, Spain's early girly, say goodbye to winter with a fairwell sip of German Eiswein, or start celebrating early with a fabulous grower champagne.

Here's to March! Try these:

Gnarly Head Old Vines Zinfandel 2006 Lodi $10

Eradus Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough $19

St Michael Eppan Pinot Grigio 2007 Alto Adige $20

Lieb Cabernet Franc 2002 North Fork of Long Island $25

D'Arenberg The Cadenzia GSM 2006 McLaren Vale $25

Man Vintners Pinotage 2005 South Africa $9

Christoffel Ürziger Würzgarten Eiswein 2001 Mosel $112 half bottle

L. Aubry et Fils Brut NV Champagne $36

Women of the Vine

2009-03-11T09:36:00.006-04:00

So I wanted to wait to post this blog because I wanted to give you a recap of last night's Women of the Vine Cellars tasting and tell you about some of the most compelling reading I've done in the last few years.

My friend Deborah, who is also a member of the NYC Chapter of Women for WineSense, changed her life a few years back by writing and publishing a fantastic non-fiction book called Women of the Vine. In it, she profiled 21 women in wine, including Master Sommelier Andrea Immer Robinson, Stephanie Browne, founder of Divas Uncorked and a host of women winemakers. In the beginning, she talks a bit about wine basics in a tone that is easy to sip and savor, and then she launches into compelling profiles of phenomenal women who have each carved themselves a niche in the male dominated wine world. After all, we are responsible for at least 65% of all the wine purchases that take place in the US (think, who is usually responsible for shopping for the household?)

and in my opinion, we write the most interesting wine books! If you haven't read one already, read this one!

So last night's event was at Fred's, the restaurant on the top floor of Barney's New York on Madison and 61st in Manhattan. This was a fabulous venue! Marketta Formeaux, one of the winemakers Deborah wrote about, was on hand to talk to us about the line and specifically the wines she made, the Sauvignon Blanc and the Cabernet Sauvignon, in the line. She is a lovely, friendly French woman with a fantastic story and the Midas touch - the wines were good as gold! She explained that 25% percent of her Sauvignon Blanc is fermented in oak (not normal for this grape variety) which I thought was a nice touch and added some weight in the mouth and some delicious spicy notes to the overall flavor, which was characterized by crisp, fresh fruit. There is also a Tempranillo, a Zinfandel and a beautifully made Chardonnay and more in the line. All the links I've provided here will help you find out where to buy them. Also, keep up with my blog and you will find more opportunities to taste the wines, meet the author and winemakers and get your copy of Women of the Vine autographed.

Another amazing story of a woman in wine is that of Susan Sokol Blosser, of the eponymous winery in Dundee Hills appellation in Oregon's Pinot Noir wine country. She endured a

turbulent marriage, the birth and upbringing of three children, aging parents, political changes - she even once ran for a local polictical office - and she later on took over the winery as her husband phased himself out. They are apart now, but Sokol Blosser is going strong, and her book, At Home in the Vineyard, chronicles all of this in an honest voice that makes her so compelling. Last year, I met Susan, who founded Oregon's first Women for WineSense chapter years ago, at the Women for WineSense Grand Event in Napa. She was accompanied by her lovely daughter, who was just about as pregnant as I was at the time.

Last but not least, much closer to home for me, is the story of Louisa Hargrave. She and her husband Alex planted Long Island's very first vineyard in 1973 amid apple and potato farms. They really did what they did against many odds - the locals thought they were crazy, the administrators at Cornell University's viticulture reasearch program saught to sabotage them, and she too was pregnant during the planting of the vineyards. She was out in the field nonetheless putting the vines down in unfriendly weather. The vineyards are still there, under the stewardship of Anna Marie Borghese and her husband, though Louisa, now a journalist, has since moved on. But here is yet another compelling story of a woman who went through the fire for her passion and created a legacy in wine. Where there were once potatoes, a burgeoning wine country now flourishes on the North Fork of Long Island. The Vineyard is a must read for those of you who are seeking inspiration for starting a new business of any kind.

So what's the difference between men and women when it comes to wine? Here are some differences that I've discovered over the years:

1. Women are indeed from Venus when it comes to wine - we talk about it in like it-don't like it terms, and sometimes can't explain why, but can definitely tell you how it makes us feel (typical, huh?). We are also good at accomodating other people's perceptions.

Men talk about wine in definite terms, for them there is right and wrong in discussing the flavor profile of a wine and what makes it taste the way it tastes. And much like in sports, they like stats.

2. Which brings me to my next point. Men invented the 100pt rating system of wine and for the most part, they rely on these kinds of stats to help them decide what to buy, and even what to like (men inside the industry are a bit exception to this rule). Most wine collectors are men, who buy wine not to enjoy, but to display on racks like trophies and trade like stocks (can't hate on that, investment grade wine performs amazingly as an asset class!).

Women buy wine to enjoy in the short term, and share with their friends. In general, they will buy and try what their friends suggest and seek recommendations from their girls.

3. They say women's palates are better than men's. (They're probably right!)

4. Women tend to be less confident about affirming what they like and don't like if they think they don't know anything about wine.

Ladies and gents, please take my poll below. I'd like to know more about how wine fits into your life. Also, your comments are very welcome (again, typical :)

What Makes a Wine?

2009-03-02T23:02:00.003-05:00

My chapter of Women for WineSense had a great tasting with David Moore at Moore Brothers Wine Company last week in Gramercy. One of the things that makes this shop so unique is that they specialize in wines from France, Italy and Germany, and as well, they have a wonderful event space that has a kitchen stocked with sleek stainless steel appliances - Chef Shehu, who came to pick me up, was drooling!

Listening to David Moore speak that night brought to light another unique feature of this shop. A main vein wine philosophy that likely directs all the wine selections in the store. He talked at length about the places the wines came from - it seems he had not only visited them all, but was surprisingly familiar with minute details like soil and climate differences between this vineyard and the next vineyard over - and it soon came to light that he places a high level of importance on the origin of a particular wine.

Although the reasons for this fact are arguable, it is undeniable that wine is a product of its place. Nonetheless, I had to disagree in my own mind with the way he diminished the importance of the grape variety as a contributor to the character of the wine it becomes. "Calling Chinon Cabernet Franc is like calling bread flour," he opined, referring to one of my favorite red wines from France's meandering Loire Valley.

To be clear, Chinon is the name of a place in the valley, also referred to as an appellation. The wines of Chinon are red wines made from the Cabernet Franc grape. I agree that Cabernet Franc wines made in Chinon must taste different than Cabernet Franc made on the North Fork of Long Island, as a function of the phenomenon we call terroir. Nonetheless, I maintain that Cabernet Franc as a grape has a distinct character and therefore is a major contributor to what makes Chinon Chinon. If Pinot Noir were also grown and produced in Chinon, it would be an inherently distinct glass of wine.

As well, to say that calling a wine of place by the name of the grape it is made from is akin to calling bread flour is a bit simplistic. One of the magical things about wine is that it is the least processed of the agricultural products that undergo processing to reach a final result. Water, sometimes sugar, eggs, seeds, grains, flavorings of various types and heat must be added to flour to create bread. Wine, in its most essential form, is never embellished to this point. It may be aged in oak or fermented with selected yeast strains, but it remains what it is from day: 100% grape juice. And the juices of Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling grapes all taste distinct. Even the addition of water can change the flavor of flour, depending on where that water comes from.

In my crusade to help the wine consumer confidently buy and enjoy wine, I have found that grape varieties are a much more simple thing to latch on to and make sense of. A grape can have a character like an person, and it can travel and live and grow in various places, take on new characteristics, even reinvent itself, but still be what it is. To understand a particular location as the identity of a wine can be a bit confusing, because while all wine is a product of grapes, not all wine is an inextricable product of the place it was made.

I love a good Chinon. We tasted one on the night of our event in our cute shoes side by side with a Bourgeil. They tasted different to me, one a bit more tannic and earthy than the other, but none the less I loved them both. Two wines made from my favorite grape variety: Cabernet Franc.

Designer Wine

2009-02-23T03:14:00.006-05:00

One can imagine how disgusted I was to walk into a wine retailer in Gramercy to see three bottles of Ed Hardy wine lined up on his desk - a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Chardonnay and a rosé. I looked at him, he looked at me, we both sighed in disgust. He said he bought it as a favor to one of the wine reps that services his shop, and after the guy walked out the door, he immediately regretted it. They don the ubiquitous Ed Hardy signature and each features the now iconic tattoo-esque graphics that this designer has made popular on T-Shirts and trucker hats. Don't get me wrong. I love the tattoes, but on cheap wine? Is this really a help to the brand?

Well, I suppose in a way it is, because the bottles are just one more place for the logo and images to find exposure, and the wine is, as I said, very value priced, so more of it will find its way into the market than Diesel's Italian line of wines, released about four years ago. These debuted in the portfolio tasting of a chic wine importer that was held at a Vespa showroom in SoHo. Unlike the Ed Hardy wines, and much like their jeans, the Diesel bottlings were not for priced the people, with wholesale prices upwards of $500.00 for a six pack case of Chardonnay (packaged in an obviously

expensive bottle and shipped in wood, both brandished with the Diesel logo we all know and love). You might find them somewhere for a whopping $85.00 or more per bottle. Serious retailers who buy at this level would think thrice before locking up that much cash in inventory that might sell to an unabashed fashionista or a loveless brand collector, but would more likely die a lonely death on the shelves. The Ed Hardy wines look wholly unappetizing at first glance, but are likely to sell at under $20.00 a bottle on the strength of brand recognition.

Wine from Diesel Farm

Wine and fashion have been wanting to get into bed for ages, but it hasn't been as easy a task as it would seem. There are rules to fashion and rules to wine, and although those rules can often be flouted, great designers and great winemakers usually feel a natural compulsion to stay true to their respective crafts. Partnerships have been tried - Ecco Domani, the makers of a not-that-fabulous Pinot Grigio sponsored the shows in Milan 3 years ago. This was great exposure for the brand, which hit the shelves in New York at around $12.00 a bottle and moved brisquely through the market for the next year thereafter. Last Spring, Vibrant Rioja, the marketing group for the northern Spanish wine region, was the official sponsor at the tents in Bryant Park. At the time, my friend Lisa was the Program Coordinator, and she created a great campaign that splashed the Vibrant Rioja logo all over the park and the city, complete with promotions and tastings throughout the month of February. This Spring? I can't identify the wine sponsor. Maybe there was none.

Do models drink wine? If many of them are under 21, and a handful drinking age but still under 25, then maybe not - the wine industry does a poor job of targetting young drinkers, who choose ready-to-drink products like Bacardi Mojito and beer, as well as vodka and cocktails over wine for the most part. Do designers drink wine? This is a lot more likely, but how large a consumer group is this? Designers who show at events like Fashion Week can likely afford to indulge in wine at whatever level they like, but this is a small group compared to the many starving artist level designers who probably can't enjoy the best just yet. Waiting for the breakthrough!

What about the fashion consumer? Now here's a group to target. People who can buy couture, or at least designer label garments and accessories can surely afford to enjoy fine wine, can't they? Unfortunately, the fact is, these people tend to be very label concious and, outside of the Champagne market, wine is not a label-centric item. Two sensibilites at loggerheads. What do you serve at your next fabulous event? What will impress the judges? I look for what suits the menu and theme and tastes great, but you may not recognize the names of what I'm pouring. On the other hand, I'll probably be wearing some very fashion forward frock that I saw in latest BCBG Maxazria lookbook, and be carrying a designer handbag rented from Avelle (the new Bag Borrow or Steal). The wine and the hostess will both be ultra fabulous!

My wine glass poll is still open. Go to the original blog post, or just scroll down and vote now!

Broke and Job Free? Go to a wine tasting!

2009-02-16T04:25:00.005-05:00

If you still have your job, or you were bold enough at some point to follow your inspiration and own your own viable business, chances are you know someone who's out of work - its that bad right now. And I know that money is tight, and many of you find it frivilous to spend money on anything other than food, rent and your next mani/pedi (gotta look good for interviews!). Nonetheless, I say, when times are tough, go to a wine tasting.

A wine tasting can take on various forms. It can be an elaborate dinner of three or more courses with a winemaker flown in from Bordeaux/Napa/Barossa to talk about the most recent vintages of their latest, greatest, impossible-to-afford cult classic that you never heard of before you spent $150.00 for your ticket to this event. You can go to a class, sit down in front of a paper placemat where six glasses sit atop six labeled circles and the guy next to you whispers sweet tasting notes in your ear the whole time (whether you want him to or not) because he knows it all. Or you can go to your local wine retailer on a Friday or Saturday evening between 4:00 and 8:00 pm and see who's standing there with plastic cups and open bottles - these latter incarnations of the wine tasting are free.

Now, you know I would not be your favorite wine snob if I didn't plug my own wine group, Women for WineSense, and mention the fact that they hold tastings all year long in 15 chapters nationwide (including NYC) and that most of these events cost less than $50.00 a ticket. (The New York City chapter is charging less than $40.00 for all of its 2009 events - the next one is February 24th at Moore Brothers Wine Company) But here's my point: for $40 you can either buy yourself 3-5 bottles of deliciously inexpensive vino to enjoy in the privacy of your own home while you wait for responses to the 50 resumes you sent out to Craigslist postings this month, or you can take that $40, and GO TO A TASTING EVENT NEAR YOU!

Because we all know it aint what you know, its who you know, and who you know right now is not helping you find whatever opportunity you are looking for, so it might behoove you to go meet some new people. Tastings at this price tend to be more informal events, where you mingle and chat while you sample various wines. The other great thing about these tastings is that you will probably either

a. taste more wine than you could have bought with the money you spent on your ticket or

b. taste more expensive wine than you could have bought with the money you spent for your ticket

OR (this thought makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside) BOTH!

Plus, you can spend time chatting and mingling, talking about what makes you so great and what you're looking for out of life this year, and who knows? You might meet your next employer/investor/friend/date. Imagine that? Meeting someone through networking! Who'd uh thunk it??

OK. Let's review:

Wine dinners are great, but probably too expensive for many.

Classroom style tastings can vary in price, but are not generally conducive to mingling and networking.

In store tastings are good if you happen to be in the store at the time by chance, but I wouldn't mark these on my calendar.

Informal tastings - especially Women for WineSense ones - are just what the doctor ordered in these here times.

Tip of the week:

When buying inexpensive wines, I like to employ a few tactics to make sure I get the most for my dollar, because even a small amount of money spent on bad wine is wasted!

1. White wines under $20 a bottle, especially those under $10, should be from a vintage within the last two or so years - steer clear of anything in this price range that is older than 2007. They tend to lose their acidity and fruit, and are probably that cheap because the distributor and retailer want to get rid of them to make way for a more recent (possibly more expensive) vintage.

2. My best experiences with reds under $10 have been with wines from Southern France - (AOC Languedoc and Vins de Pays), California Cabernets and Australian and South African Shiraz. You can find surprisingly pleasing wines under $10 in these categories, but understand that they are likely to be straightforward, possibly slightly unbalanced wines, because you are getting what you are paying for. Still, they aren't bad in most cases.

3. Leave that Beaujolais Nouveau alone! At this time of year (February) it aint Nouveau anymore!

4. Pinot Noir below $20 is average at best. Don't do it to yourself!

What if wine is allowed into New York Supermarkets?

2009-02-08T21:51:00.005-05:00

A fellow Women for WineSense member recently updated her Facebook status to "is glad she does not own a liquor store in New York State." She directed you to www.lastmainstreetstore.com to sign a petition to oppose the legalization of wine in grocery stores.

Last Store on Main Street, a group of liquor and wine retailers, argue that jobs will be lost because liquor stores will be forced to close and that teenagers will have more access to alcohol.

New York's industry is made up of two types of alcohol retailer - the liquor store and the wine shop (though they are all classified as liquor stores by the SLA). A lot of these used the strategy of opening up near a supermarket, so as to create a symbiotic business relationship. At this point, they can

a. canibalize themselves - the supermarket can pick up wine to compete with the liquor store

b. continue the symbiosis - The two stores can balance their product offerings to compliment eachother.

Alternatively, there are wine shops, who carry wines from smaller producers that don't get representation in large supermarkets because they do not produce enough to supply the Costcos and Trader Joe's sized markets. These, and the ones that are not near supermarkets, but instead have a small grocer close by. The inherent symbiosis is that large supermarkets don't want to deal with small production wines, just as smaller grocers won't choose to tie up more money in inventory and overcoming a learning curve.

OK, I admit it, I relish the thought of wine shops selling food! The kinds of people who own wine shops can put the same attention into fine cheeses, charcurerie, chocolates preserves as we do into selecting fine wines from small producers. That means more business for small, local cheese makers, farmers and artisan chefs and small wine companies. We'll probably leave the produce, milk and eggs in the grocery's hands - why would we want to get into that?

My local grocer, Charmar Superette, boasts an impressive selection of beers, fresh bread every day and a pretty decent deli case. It's great having a market like that in the neighborhood complimented by a wine shop that has possibly a few more expensive artisan cheeses and boutique chocolates.

And as for teenagers having more access to wine through supermarkets, thereby increasing the posibility of teen drunk driving? Like Murray asked Bret "What's your reasoning?" The law is clear: we card anyone who looks younger than 21.

All I'm saying is, this could actually be a good thing for all retailers, distributors large and small, and most importantly, customers and neighborhoods.

Where do you stand? Take my poll! I will share this post and the results of the poll with selected elected officials. They should know what the people think.

Deuces

Wine for you?

2009-01-28T17:30:00.005-05:00

This is off the cuff. Let's just start by saying that now that I've blown off some steam about the people I've encountered over the last 4 years in New York City's wine industry in my new YouTube series, also called Wine Life, I am ready to get into a glass of the good stuff with you.

What is good? What's really good? It can be hard to tell, with so many wines on the market. One cannot determine just by looking at a label, a bottle's shape, the closure (cork? zork? screwtop? glass t-stopper?), nor even by the price, whether it will be good - FOR YOU! These last two words are key, my friend, because wine is very democratic that way. There is a wine for every person, no matter what you eat or drink, or where you live, or what your income or lifestyle.

Good wine, in my humble (read: expert) opinion, is wine that makes you feel good, not just because of the buzz, but because of the flavor and the mood. So be good to you, try something different today - go to a tasting (Women for WineSense has chapters nationwide, and they hold tasting events all year round, as do many local retailers on Friday and Saturday evenings in many cities) or just take a chance on a bottle that a friend recommended (caveat: consider the source).

Or try one of these. Think you don't like wine? I promise you, seek, and you shall find the wine that likes you, and you will likely like it back!

Whites - When your mood is chill...

Verget du Sud Vin de Pays Blanc, France 2005 - $7.00

Man Vintners Chenin Blanc, South Africa 2008 - $8.00

d'Arenberg The Hermit Crab Marsanne Roussane, Mc Laren Vale, Australia - $11.00

Te Awa Left Field Unoaked Chardonnay, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand 2007 - $15.00

Alphose Mellot Sancerre Blanc La Moussiere - $30.00

Pinks - When you are flush with excitement...

Cantalupo il Mimo Nebbiollo Rosato 2007, Piemonte, Italy - $11.00

Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Rosado Cava, Spain - $9.00

Reds - When its official...

Trapiche Malbec 2007, Mendoza, Argentina - $10.00

St. Supéry Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Napa Valley, California, USA - $25.00

Eric Texier Chateauneuf du Pape Vielles Vignes 2005, Rhone Valley, France- $45.00

Valli Pinot Noir Bannockburn Vineyard, Central Otago, New Zealand - $60.00

Sweet Red Bubbles - When he/she is flirtatious...

Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui, Piemonte, Italy - $16.00

Swirl on...

We Swirl On...

2009-01-03T00:14:00.000-05:00

The way to release all the aromas of wine in a glass is to swirl it. We wave the glass through the air in a circular motion like a magic wand, and essenses leap from its bowl, giving you myriad clues about the wine inside. In honor of the new year, the new era of American history, the new feeling in the air, the new prosperity that lies ahead, we pour our best wine into our best glass - stem or no stem, your choice - we share it with our peoples, and all in unison, we

Swirl On...

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