If you’re planning to have a wine tasting party at home or want to start a tasting group, Erin McKee and Mark Jardarian, two of our winery tasting room representatives, will tell you everything you need to know to host a party that’s both fun and educational.

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Hosting a Tasting Party at Home is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

What could be more decadent than pairing wine with your chocolate?

Warning! It’s not a slam dunk. Most of the time pairing with and food is really easy because wine’s structure makes it a natural partner. But, serving dry wine with sweet food takes a little thought because the sweetness of the food can make the dry wine seem sour. Think chocolate cake with lemonade – yuk!

But, the pairing is definitely do-able and when it comes together right, it’s really quite wonderful! So, here are some tips:

1. Chocolate and dry wine: If you want to pair chocolate with dry table wine, like a good Cab, Merlot or Zin your best bet it to go with dark, bitter and bittersweet chocolate with a high cacao content. Bitter nuts, like walnuts and hazelnuts help. So does espresso or coffee. And, berry fillings if they aren’t too sweet. And, in this day of chocolates with unorthodox fillings, I’ll recommend black pepper — maybe it’s out there, and its bitterness is a great bridge builder.
2. Chocolate and sweet wine: Now, this is MUCH easier! Because chocolate is a strong flavor, red dessert wines like late-harvest Zinfandel, Port and Banyuls wine are a good way to go but you won’t have any sourness problems with other choices like Sauternes, sweet Madeira (Malmsey) or Tokaji. Or, even a sweet Muscat, like the Goosecross Cellars Muscat Canelli.
3. Nuts are a great thing! Nutty fillings are delicious with nutty, sweet Sherry (Pedro Ximenez), tawny Port and Madeira.
4. When caramel is in the mix: Keep in mind caramel is very sweet, but it also presents a luscious opportunity: Vin Santo, tawny Port and Madeira have wonderfully caramelized flavors and will be yummy partners!
5. Have you ever seen a whole bottle of wine, dipped in a 1/2 pound of chocolate??? Talk about decadent! 

Cheers!

5 Tips for Pairing Wine with Chocolate is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

Wine aging, what, why and how, is probably the most mysterious and confusing thing about this whole subject of wine. It’s important to start by saying that it’s almost impossible to generalize because the wine itself is somewhat unpredictable and optimum drink-ability is subjective.

Most Wines are Best When They’re Young

Contrary to popular belief, most wines aren’t made for aging, they’re made for drinking. This should be good news, because most of us don’t want to store wine in the first place. We Americans are notorious for aging our wines in the back seat of the car on the way home, and in many cases, that’s the best way to approach it.

Most wines are fresh and simple in style, and are at their best when they’re young. Here in the Napa Valley and in some other highly regarded winegrowing regions of the world, there are wines made with very good aging potential. Most of the time, these are red wines, but there are numerous exceptions.

The best advice for anyone is to ask questions when you’re buying wine. Don’t be shy! When you have questions, it can be worth a few dollars extra to buy your wine at a wine specialty shop, where the staff is knowledgeable.

Again, optimal age is subjective. You can generally assume that if the wine is for sale, you can enjoy it now and the bottle aging is optional. Most wineries won’t release a wine that’s so young it’s undrinkable, or not if they want to stay in business! Beyond that, bottle aging is purely a case of personal preference.

In a subject with so few absolutes, there’s at least one: aging always reduces fruitiness. If the fruit is the thing you enjoy most about the wine, drink it when it’s young.

Whites and Rosé Wines

The vast majority of whites and rosé wines are meant for early drinking, which means you should drink them within 2-3 years of the vintage date. The vintage date is the harvest date, and is the best way to determine the wine’s true age. If the only thing the wine has going for it is fruitiness, the younger the better. Time will only make the fruit less vibrant.

Some of the more full bodied whites are perceived to improve with a little age. Quite often these are Chardonnay wines, but, as you know, not all Chardonnays are created equal. Again, if you prefer fruitiness, drink it young. As it gets older, the fruity, apple-like character lessens, but in a quality Chardonnay, the trade-off can be a toasty, nutty, caramelized or mineral character that can be very appealing.

One way to tell if the Chardonnay is a good candidate for bottle age is to notice the acidity. If the wine is relatively high in acid, it will have a tart, fresh finish and make your mouth water. You’ll notice it along the sides of your tongue. Acid is a very good natural preservative, and a relatively high acid is an indicator that you can lay the wine down for a few years. Cool climate wines tend to be higher in acid than warm climate wines, which means that if the Chardonnay comes from the coolest growing regions it’s likely to be quite tart when it’s young, and the tartness will round out with age.

A Chardonnay grown here in the sunny, Napa Valley will usually have a softer acid from the beginning, and is often more approachable and better for drinking when it’s relatively young. Our signature style here at Goosecross is to make a Chardonnay that’s fresh in style with a crisp acidity. It’s lovely upon release, and it can be very nice at 5 years old too. You’d have to try it both ways to see what your preference is. Sounds like a fun experiment!

Champagne and Sparkling Wine

This is a very tricky area. The conventional wisdom is that all of the aging is done at the winery and that the wine shouldn’t be bottle-aged at home. As with all things in wine, it depends! Vintage-dated and prestige cuvees from the Champagne region can often live for quite a long time after release, and if you like greater richness and a softer acidity and mousse, bottle aging these wines for a few years is for you. If the label says RD (for recently disgorged), it means that the wine spent a number of years aging on the yeast lees in the bottle at the winery. It will be quite rich and toasty and further bottle aging will accentuate the richness. Non-vintage Champagne is a blend of old and new wine and is generally meant for drinking upon release. Many new world sparkling wines are fruit-driven and meant for early drinking, but as with great Champagnes, the prestige cuvees that were long aged on the yeast are candidates for further bottle aging. It’s smart to ask questions when you buy.

Dessert Wines

Dessert wines cloud the issue further. Sauternes styles and other late harvest wines such as German Auslese or Vouvray Moulleux can evolve beautifully over a very long period of time. So can good ice-wines (eiswein) and well-made fortified wines, such as Port or Madeira. The fortification is alcohol, and the higher alcohol serves as a preservative.

So, in a nutshell, while most whites should be consumed when they’re young, full bodied whites and dessert whites are possible exceptions.

Red Wines

We often hear that whites don’t age well and reds do. That works some of the time, but not all of the time. You can assume that moderately priced reds are not made for aging. The producer doesn’t expect that you’ll clutter up your cellar with ordinary wine, so he crafts it for early drinking. Drink value-priced reds within 3-4 years of the vintage date. For fine reds, there’s a lot of variability, but fortunately, the wine will give you clues.

If you taste a young red wine that’s slightly astringent and has a drying effect on your palate, then you know there’s some tannin in it. Winemakers value tannin because it’s an anti-oxidant that helps the wine to age gracefully. If the wine is tasty and somewhat “tannic,” then you can probably lay it down for a few years and it will soften up. If you taste both high acid and high tannin, then you have a wine with very definite potential for aging, providing you like its other characteristics.

Will you like it better when it’s older? Maybe. Here in America, we drink a lot of young red wine, and we’ve developed at taste for it. If you like big, powerful, fruity Cabernets, then a ten-year-old Cab might disappoint you because it will be less fruity and powerful than it was in its youth. The trade-off is complexity and subtlety – often good, older reds defy description, but they’re treasured for their soft, subtle richness. The fruitiness will still be there, but it won’t necessarily be the dominant force anymore. Much of it gives way to aromas that remind you of leather, truffles or sometimes dried fruit. The wine often seems earthier with age and the tannins soften up. We tend to prefer the things we’re accustomed to, so let that be your guide.

How long to age? Good question! It depends on the producer and style. Never feel foolish or intimidated about asking questions when you’re buying wine. There’s no way for any of us, no matter how sophisticated, to predict a wine’s ageability without tasting it or learning something about it from a reliable source. Again, this is a very subjective area, and there’s lots of room for error. If you have several bottles of the same wine, then you have the advantage of being able to open one every so often to gage its progress. It helps if the producer has a well-established track record. You can look at how previous vintages have evolved.

Proper Storage

Of course, none of these wines will age well if they aren’t stored properly. Reds, whites and bubblies all need the same thing. Keep them in a cool, dark place, avoiding temperature fluctuation and vibration. Some humidity, around 60-70% is less important, but very desirable, if you can do it. Cork finished bottles should be kept sideways (hence, the name of the movie!) so the cork is swollen with wine and the seal is tight. For bottles with plastic corks and screw caps, the temperature matters but the bottle position doesn’t.

So often we see wine being stored in the kitchen. Unless you have a wine fridge, the kitchen is second only to the garage for fluctuation! It’s one of the worst possible choices.

Tough assignment, finding a good place? Be creative! Look around your house. Ideal temperature is between 55 and 60, but you’ll be okay if the temperature gets as warm as 70, as long as there’s not much fluctuation. If you’ve got a basement, you’re way ahead of most of us. If you don’t, try putting your wine in the crawl space under your house. Or find a closet that doesn’t touch any exterior walls. Buy a used fridge and put it on the warmest setting. Remember that the less ideal your storage conditions, the less you should expect in terms of longevity.

Once you’ve been bitten by the collecting bug, you may find yourself investing in a temperature and humidity controlled storage locker. They come in all sizes and work beautifully. But beware – wine is for enjoying, not for storing. Don’t put the wine on a pedestal to the point that there’s no occasion good enough for it. The best wine is the one you enjoy with family, friends and great food!

Aging and Storage is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

Wine may help you keep your weight in check!

And, on a list of the “most common questions about wine”, which one rises to the top? How many calories in a glass of wine?

So, here goes with the most sought after information: Just click here to learn about how wine may help keep weight in check.

And the calories in a glass of wine? Between 75 and 100 in a 4-oz glass of dry wine, depending upon the alcohol (the higher the alcohol, the more calories).

Wine may help keep your weight in check is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

Here are some good, basic tips on how to get the most out of your wine when you’re entertaining at home tasting room staff. They offer practical suggestions for selecting the glasses, deciding on the serving temperature, knowing when and why to decant and more.

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Wine Service at Home is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

Is it important to smell the cork? Are the “legs” a sign of quality? Is older wine always better? There are persistent truths and myths, when it comes to wine. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones.

Older Is Better

In surveys, this is one of the most pervasive misconceptions of all. In reality, the vast majority of wine is meant to be consumed within just a few years of the vintage date. Fortunately, if the wine is over the hill it won’t hurt you, but what a disappointment to open a treasured old bottle only to find out that it’s turned brown and smells like bad sherry!

Then, which wines to age? Whites are almost always better when they’re young, and it gets more complicated with reds, sparkling wines and dessert wines. There are four important things to remember:

1. Optimum drink-ability is subjective.
2. Fruitiness is always a youthful trait, so if you like your wine fruity, drink it young.
3. With very few exceptions, if the wine has been released it’s considered drinkable and further bottle-aging should be seen as an option, not a necessity.
4. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions when you’re buying wine. This aging business is kind of complicated and it can be worth a few dollars extra to buy your wine at a specialty shop, where the staff is knowledgeable.

The companion myth for this one is that “older is always more valuable”. Don’t you believe it! It may be more valuable, but investing in wine is a very tricky business and unless you really know what you’re doing you could end up with a cellar full of oxidized wine you can’t even give away.

You can listen or read for more detailed information on aging and cellaring.

Good Legs Are a Sign of Quality

This is a myth that truly has legs! “Legs”, “candles” or “tears” refer to the little driplets that come down the sides of your glass. The alcohol gives wine its legs and a high alcohol wine may well have very nice legs but, as you know, high alcohol is not necessarily a good thing. Winemakers are always looking for balance, so you can discount this myth.

The roots of the myth may exist in the old country where the cool climates in many regions make it difficult to reach 12% alcohol and above. Many regions establish minimum alcohol levels, among other requirements, in order to gain appellation status.

For more detailed information, check out our blog.

You Must Sniff the Cork After the Server Opens The Wine

There may be that occasional surprise but, in almost every case, the cork smells like a cork. You might take a look at it. It’s a rare restaurant that tries to pull a fast one, but it can’t hurt to make sure the information on the cork like the brand and vintage date matches the label. If the wine has been stored properly one end of the cork should be wet so you know it’s been swollen with wine to create a tight seal. If there are signs of seepage, that’s a little ominous but, in reality, there’s nothing the cork can tell you that the wine can’t tell you much better and faster. So, smelling the cork really isn’t necessary. But, never pass up the opportunity to smell and taste the wine. Never doubt that if something’s wrong you’ll know it! You can read or listen to more information on restaurant etiquette.

Screw caps are Only For Cheap Wine

It’s not really fair to call it a myth because there was a time when this was generally true. But, things have changed amazingly rapidly in the past decade. An increasing number of respected brands have begun using screw caps and other cork alternatives to seal their wine. According to recent surveys, public opinion is that this has to do with cost, which is certainly an undeniable factor, but there are other forces at work. A big reason for the move to alternatives is the phenomenon called cork taint. No one seems to agree on the frequency, but from time to time a bad cork taints the wine so that it smells musty and moldy. It’s not harmful, but it ruins the wine and some winemakers don’t want to deal with the risk any more.

It’s ironic that the new closures have become so widely accepted now that the cork industry has nearly solved most of the cork taint issues. In fact, many would say that the only reason the cork industry went to work on this problem was because of the threat of being replaced by other closures. Our supplier has access to cutting edge means for measuring trichloroanisol, the substance that causes the taint, and has also developed a very sophisticated way of removing it. Other companies are doing similar work, and it probably won’t be long before cork taint is no longer an issue. But, for the sake of full disclosure, it should be said that there are other ways for wine to be tainted by trichloroanisol although they’re far less common.

The same surveys indicate that the acceptance of screwcaps is much greater in the southern hemisphere than in Europe or the US but, world-wide, a large majority still prefers natural cork, especially if the wine is over $15.00 a bottle. You can read or listen to more detailed information about cork alternatives.

It’s Important To Pull the Cork and Let the Wine Breathe

The point of this practice is to get some air into the wine, but if you take a look, you’ll see that there’s very little opportunity for exchange through that skinny little neck. You have some much better options.

Try pouring the wine out of the bottle into a decanter an hour or so (unless it’s old) before dinner. Moving the wine from one container to another exposes it to air and the time just sitting is beneficial too. If you forget to decant the wine, just pour it into the glasses on your dinner table a little ahead of time and it will change quite rapidly just by sitting there.

Which wines to decant? Most any wine except a sparkling wine will benefit, but reds, especially young ones, seem to benefit the most. If it’s a young, tannic red go ahead and splash it into the decanter. If it’s an old red then stand it up for several hours to get the sediment to the bottom. Then decant it off the sediment at serving time and down the hatch! Older reds shouldn’t be decanted too early because if the wine is tired, the extra air might just push it over the hill. You can read or listen to more information on wine service at home

Swirling the Wine Is Pretentious

There’s so much fuss associated with wine it’s hard to sort out what’s practical and what’s pretentious. Swirling may look pretentious, but it’s actually a very practical way to get more enjoyment out of your wine and is even more efficient that decanting.

The next time you have a glass of wine, try a little experiment. After pouring (don’t fill the glass more than about 1/3 full), smell the wine. Then swirl it vigorously for several seconds and smell it again.

The reason the wine is so much more fragrant is that aromatic esters that were bound in the liquid have been released as vapor. For what wine costs, it’s smart to get every bit of enjoyment out of it you can! You can read or listen to more tasting tips.

Reserve Wines Are Better

There are a number of marketing terms that appear on the label but have no meaning. Much of what you read, such as the place of origin or the variety, has legal requirements behind it. Other terms, such as “reserve”, or “old vine” may indeed identify wines of great character and quality but the actual terms are not regulated. Same with “special selection”, “mountain”, “limited release”, the list goes on and on. For information on label regulations, click here.

Serve White Wine Chilled and Red at Room Temperature

These well intentioned guidelines are just a little off or out of date. White wines and sparklers are always more refreshing if you serve them with a bit of a chill, especially on a warm day, but consider this: When you heat a pot of soup, you can smell it all over the house. If you take the left-over soup out of the fridge the next day it has almost no aroma. Cold wine straight from the fridge doesn’t have much fragrance either. If you’re opening a really nice bottle, you want to get the full enjoyment so serve it cool enough to be refreshing, maybe low to mid 50s, but not too cold. If it’s in the fridge, just take it out a half-hour or so before you serve it. If it’s a hot day and you want ice-cold wine, don’t waste your money on a fine white. Just pick up a simple white and have it cold, even toss in an ice cube, and enjoy!

Has anyone ever served you warm red wine? Most reds taste bitter if they’re too cold, but the term “room temperature” must have been coined in the old days and they meant room temperature in some old European castle! 72 degrees is too warm to be pleasant and accentuates the alcohol. Serving temperature is subjective but the range for most reds is 55-65 F. Do some experimentation to find your preferences. For big reds, many decide to go to the warmer end of the scale and, for lighter reds, a bit cooler if you like. You can read or listen to more information on wine service at home.

Merlot Isn’t Any Good

“Good” is always a matter of taste, but it’s hard to understand why Merlot has taken such a bad rap this past decade. Historically, Merlot has been viewed as a noble variety and it makes the most expensive wine of Bordeaux, Chateau Petrus.

It took a hard turn in the 90s. One possible explanation is that it suffered from over-popularity. Wine is a trendy business and when the demand for Merlot suddenly sky-rocketed, many wineries went into overdrive to meet the demand. Merlot is not a very forgiving variety, and those winemakers who cut corners sent some rather unappealing examples out onto the shelves. Another possible reason is that we think of it as just a blending variety. There may be a perception that it’s not good enough to be a stand-alone wine. There are countless wonderful examples of delicious Merlots from the Napa Valley and we’re very proud of our Goosecross Merlot. If you’ve been disappointed by Merlot, or all of your friends have told you that it’s an inferior variety, you might just give it another try. You can learn more about Merlot here.

Critics Have All the Answers

If the wine got a 96 from the Wine Spectator, surely it must be worth the $85.00 price tag, right? Just like optimum age, it’s subjective. In the course of researching wines for a staff tasting we discovered that a highly regarded, rather pricey Merlot got a 94 from Robert Parker and a 78 from the Wine Spectator.

Who do you trust? If you’ve found a publication that seems to be aligned with your taste, that’s the ticket. Otherwise, it’s just like reading a movie review. You may or may not agree.

So, if you can’t rely on critics, what are you supposed to do?

• Take advantage of the growing number of retail shops that include a tasting bar.
• Wine by the glass at restaurants is another great way to try something new without investing too much.
• Find a good retailer and develop a relationship – give them feedback on the wine you take home. After awhile, they’ll have a sense of your likes and dislikes and be able to help you make selections that make you happy.
• Get together with other friends who like wine and form a tasting group. It’s lots of fun and exposes you to lots more wines than you can taste on your own. You can read or listen to more information about hosting a tasting at home.

There are lots of other myths going around, so if there’s one you’ve been wondering about, just write to us and we’ll try to find the answer for you!

Debunking Some Wine Myths is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

Is a wine library the same as library wine? Not quite.

If you’ve been collecting books by your favorite wine writers, you’re building up a valuable wine library and the answers to your wine-related questions are right at your fingertips. And, if you have a nice collection of old bottles, you might also refer to it as your wine library.

But, what about library wine? These are the actual bottles in your cellar – the ones you’ve been carefully aging for later enjoyment. When you pop one of those open for your friends, you’re treating them to a library wine.

Why bother building a collection? Because well-aged wine is a rare commodity. If you go looking for the 1987 vintage of your favorite Napa Valley Cabernet, today, your only option is to shop online. And, once you track it down it will, likely, put a good dent in your credit card. If you like to drink old wine, the most practical and economical thing to do is to buy young wine and age it yourself.

Of course, you need to store the wine properly or it will spoil. What a shame to age the wine for years and years only to find that it tastes like bad sherry or has gone sour.

If you buy an older vintage from another collector or at public auction, some offer guarantees regarding the cellaring history, some don’t.

So, what are you to do if you love the character of well-aged wine, but don’t have any on hand?

Some wineries put a little wine aside, to age, as library wine. If you call with a specific request, they may shake a bottle or two loose for you. They may even offer these older wines for sale from time to time. These, too, may be expensive but at least the winery can guarantee that the wine has been stored properly.

What is Library Wine? is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

There’s a common misconception that good tasters are a rarefied group with special abilities. Nonsense. The reason most of us aren’t good tasters is that we haven’t tried. Most of the time when you have wine you’re conversing and there’s food, music and all kinds of distractions. It’s hard for anyone to evaluate anything under those circumstances. This is not to say that the scenario is wrong – wine is made to be enjoyed with friends and food, but if you really want to learn something about the wine, you’ll need to take a quiet moment and tune in to it. The following suggestions are meant to help you get the most out of your wine by putting your senses to work.

Fill the glass a generous 1/3 full and hold it by the stem or the base, whichever is most comfortable for you. This isn’t just tradition or etiquette, although they play a role. If you hold the glass by the bowl, you can’t see the wine and you’ll smudge it with your fingerprints. A clean, clear bowl will help you evaluate the color and clarity of the wine, and you’ll also avoid warming the wine with your hand.

CLARITY AND COLOR OR HUE

Hold the wine up to the light or against a white background. The wine should be brilliantly clear, and free of UFOs (unidentified floating objects – a little cork won’t hurt you!). The wine should please all of the senses, including the eye. If the wine is cloudy, it may be an indicator that the wine is past its prime or is spoiled, but never let this put you off of tasting the wine to make sure. If it tastes okay, it is okay. However, good clarity is the ideal.

The color of the wine gives you some hints about what to expect from it. It’s best to use a white background and tilt the glass at a 45° forward angle against it. There is a range of color into which white and red wines fall, and the hue can send a message about the stage of development and condition of the wine. Here is a sample list of colors for white and red wines, and the color progression that occurs with age, from young to old:

You can see that white wines go from pale with youth, to gold and brown with age, while reds start out with blue and purple tones and gradually turn to brown.

Some whites are so pale, they’re almost clear. Most often these are whites that were not barrel aged and shouldn’t be bottle aged. They are light and fresh in style. When young whites are yellow it tells you that they have probably been barrel aged. Barrel aging before bottling speeds up the aging and turns the pale wine light yellow.

While whites deepen in color as they age, the reds lighten in color over time. In both cases, slow oxidation is the cause. For reds, in addition to browning, the pigment enlarges with oxidation and falls out of solution. This is why you see sediment in older red wines. Brown color is a sign that the wine is old, perhaps too old.

SWIRLING THE WINE

Swirling the wine mixes oxygen into it and brings out the aroma. This is called “aerating” the wine, or if you want to impress your friends you can say you’re “volatilizing the esters”. If you’re new to swirling, put the glass on a flat surface and grip the stem close to the base. Swirl briskly to get the liquid really moving in the glass (it’s smart not to fill the glass more than 1/3 full or you’ll end up wearing the wine!). If you are skeptical or this seems pretentious, try an experiment. Smell the wine, swirl it for several seconds, and then smell it again. You’ll become a believer!

After swirling, you may notice little rivulets of wine coming down the glass. Those are the legs, or they’re sometimes called candles or tears. There’s a persistent rumor that the legs are important, or that “good legs,” are a sign of quality. Not really. Wines of ample alcohol are the ones with “good legs”, but more isn’t necessarily better when it comes to alcohol. Like every other component in the wine, the alcohol needs to be balanced. The best way to find out if the wine is any good is to smell and taste it.

SMELLING THE WINE

Why do tasters spend so much time smelling the wine? Because smelling is half of the equation, and at least half of the pleasure. The ultimate goal of swirling and smelling the wine is to get as much enjoyment out of it as you possibly can. Just as the smell of a delicious meal makes you hungry, a beautiful nose on a wine whets your appetite for it. In grade school you learned that your nose is far more perceptive than your tongue, and so it’s a great tool to help acquaint you with the wine.

The terminology can be a little confusing. Some refer to the aroma as the grape fragrance and the bouquet as the complexity the grape fragrance takes on by being fermented, barrel aged, bottle aged and so on. Most of us use the terms interchangeably. It’s easier to talk about the nose, which combines the two. The nose is the way the wine smells.

Nose = Aroma + Bouquet

To evaluate the nose of the wine, first swirl it, take a deep sniff, and see what impressions pop into your head. First and foremost, the wine should smell good, but let’s go beyond that. As you smell the wine, think about whether it smells fresh or rich. Does it smell fruity or herbal? Coffee-like or oaky? The wine will remind you of aromas you find in other foods so you can put words to it.

Sometimes it helps to have a little prompting. Here are some common descriptors.

If you Google the phrase “wine aroma wheel” you can purchase a wonderful tool from University of California at Davis. It includes all kinds of descriptors beyond fruit and really helps to get your descriptive wheels turning.

These descriptors are a big help when you’re at a restaurant or wine shop. If you know how to describe the wine to someone else, you’re more likely to get a wine that you like. For instance, you can say that you want a Chardonnay that’s fruity, and not too oaky and rich, or vice versa. Then your retailer or server can steer you toward one that you’ll really enjoy.

If your description of a wine differs from your friends, even if that friend is an “expert,” don’t be intimidated by presuming there’s a right or wrong answer. There is no right or wrong to perception, and we all have different sensitivities. We don’t experience wine the same way, just as we don’t have the same food preferences. Trust your instincts and your sense of smell, and you will be surprised by how much you can discover and enjoy in each wine.

TASTING THE WINE

For your first taste of the day, always allow for a palate adjustment. The first sip can be a shock, so take another sip, and think about how the wine tastes and feels.

Since the early part of the 20th century, numerous credible scientific studies have mapped out the areas of taste sensitivities on the tongue and it’s become something we take for granted. Today, there are increasing numbers of equally reputable sources telling us that we have receptors for all of the basic flavors all over our tongues and that it’s not area specific. The best thing to do, to learn about yourself, is to pay close attention when you taste something noticeably sweet, sour or bitter. How does your tongue react – and where? File that little piece of information away for future reference. But, for the sake of tradition, here are the areas of sensitivity as we have understood them, along with the tannin and alcohol:

If all of these components are balanced, you can notice them, but none of them will stick out.

Does the wine feel light or heavy (skim milk vs. cream) on your tongue? Does it seem to coat your palate or refresh it (cream vs. lemonade)? Is the wine soft or astringent? These elements are part of the mouth feel. Which fruit, vegetal or floral characteristics do you taste? Do you notice any oak influences? Do the flavors complement the nose of the wine? Is your mouth watering (acid), or drying out (tannin)?

After swallowing the wine, notice the flavors and sensations that linger on your tongue. Are they pleasant? How long does the flavor last? The aftertaste is the all important grand finale.

The flavor sensations can be amplified by using a little technique: first, as you hold the wine in your mouth, purse your lips and inhale gently through them bubbling the wine in your mouth (we call this the “reverse whistle”). There’s a passageway at the back of your throat that leads to your nasal cavity, so the reverse whistle brings your nose into play, making you far more perceptive. It does for the flavors what swirling does for the nose and also prolongs the aftertaste. Second, chew the wine, and swoosh it all around in your mouth to draw the last nuance of flavor from the wine. Exhale with your mouth closed.

Let’s go back to the question of whether your mouth is watering or drying out, because it can indicate the presence of two major players in wine: acid and tannin.

When your mouth waters, it’s telling you that the wine is relatively high in acid. You’ll notice it along the sides of your tongue. We tend to think of acid as being sharp, but if the wine is balanced the acidity is expressed as a refreshing, crisp finish when you swallow. If the wine is sharp with acidity, we’d say it’s acidic and out of balance rather than crisp. If the wine is too low in acid, we’d describe it as flat, and it leaves a dull finish.

Tannin is more of a feeling than a flavor. When your mouth dries out and your teeth begin to feel furry, you’re sensing the tannin in the wine. Tannin comes mainly from the grape skins and serves as a natural preservative. It helps the wine to age gracefully rather than becoming old and lifeless. Red wines generally have more tannin than whites, because the reds are fermented with the skins, while white wines are usually not. The skins are the source of all of the color, most of the tannin, and much of the flavor and body in red wine. The tannin is part of the overall texture of the wine and a slight drying sensation is to be expected in young reds. Too much tannin makes the wine bitter and very astringent – poorly balanced.

When you taste a young red wine and notice that it has nice, chewy tannins, it’s an indicator that you can keep the wine longer if you like, providing you store it properly (50° – 60°F). The tannins will soften and the wine will become more subtle and complex with time.

Acid is also a very good natural preservative, and if you notice it in a young red or white, you can assume the wine will soften and develop for a few years under proper conditions.

To age or not to age is a very personal question. You can assume that if a winery releases a wine for sale they consider it enjoyable. Fruitiness is always a youthful characteristic, and if you like fruit-driven wine, you should drink it when it’s young. If you bottle age a wine with potential for it, it develops complexity beyond its youthful fruitiness, and the acid and tannin soften. Will you enjoy it more when it’s young, fruity and vibrant or older, softer and more complex? Only you can say. The best way to find out is by tasting.

Your preferences in wine are as individual as your preferences in food. If you want to become a more perceptive taster, think about forming a tasting group or having a tasting party with other friends who are interested in wine. Besides learning from the wines, you’ll learn from each other and have a lot of fun along the way.

Wine Tasting Basics is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

Do sulfites give me headaches? No, but they sure make me cranky.

It happened again. I popped into the tasting room to get a bottle of water and overheard some people telling Jose, the Tasting Room Manager, that they “usually only drink French wine because it doesn’t have any sulfites so they don’t get headaches from it”. Jose and I exchanged glances and smiled wearily. We both knew he had a good 10 minutes ahead of him to tactfully try to set them straight, and that they probably still wouldn’t believe him. He’d much rather talk about the vineyard source that gives the wine that nice anise aroma or help them decide where to have lunch. I had to fight my knee-jerk irritation. What I really wanted to do was scream “Who keeps perpetuating these myths???!!!” It was better for me to take my water and leave.

Two things wrong with their statement:

1. All wines have sulfites regardless of country of origin.
2. Sulfites don’t give you headaches.

Now, let me back up my statements with facts from a much better source than my own humble self.

Regarding point 1, Andrew Waterhouse of the University of California at Davis, one of the best wine schools in the world, stated that European and American wines both tend to average about 80 parts per million (ppm) total sulfur, some more, some less.

Regarding item 2, the same Andrew Waterhouse stated unequivocally that there’s absolutely no indication that sulfites cause headaches. He suggests you eat some colorful dried fruit to put this to the test. The bright color testifies that the fruit has been treated with a hefty dose of sulfur, far, far above 80 ppm. If you don’t react to that, you don’t have a problem with sulfur. He even invited people to write to him if they believe they have compelling evidence that their headaches are caused by sulfur.

Can you buy wine with no added sulfites? Yes, you can, from any country including the US and its absence will usually be screaming at you from the label. But that doesn’t mean that the wine doesn’t contain sulfites. Sulfur is a by-product of the fermentation, albeit a small one, but all wines contain at least a few parts per million.

Wines with no added sulfites are difficult to come by because the vast majority of winemakers, including those who farm organically, find that their wine isn’t very good if they don’t add small amounts. Of course, we’d all like to make wine without adding the sulfur but so far we’re just not technically sophisticated enough to pull it off. The wine tends to have a short shelf life without it. Of course, there are those who disagree. Best way to hunt down some of these no-added-sulfite wines is online. Give ‘em a try!

Do all countries add sulfur? Absolutely, and the Europeans were the first to figure out that it’s a smart thing to do. Sulfur and wine have been partners in winemaking since at least Roman times – first as part of the seal, then as a barrel purifying agent and later as an outright additive.

Sulfur levels are generally lower now than they were a few decades ago because, with modern sanitation methods and winemaking techniques, we can get away with less. Typically, a bottle of Goosecross wine contains about 30 ppm at bottling time. The legal limit in the US is 350. Dried fruit may contain over 1000 parts ppm.

To be fair to this couple who were talking to Jose, it’s reasonable to assume that they think American wine is alone in adding sulfur because, up to very recently, America had a labeling requirement that European wines didn’t: if the wine contains 10 ppm or more, a warning must appear on the label regardless of where it was made. I’m happy to say that any wines made or sold in the EU, bottled after 11/25/2005, will have the same warning. The regulation is the same as that of the US. So, it means that when you go shopping for wine anywhere in the EU, you should see the warning on most whites and young reds by now. Austalia has a similar requirement. When you buy wine in Melbourne, you’ll see a reference to “preservative 220.”

I don’t like being fair when I feel so cranky. Buzzing around the internet to see what is said on the subject, there’s lots of good information, but misinformation also abounds. Especially about the headache thing. So, we can’t be cranky. We have to be fair and patient and explain. By the time we’ve explained it to every wine drinker on the planet you know what? They’ll figure out how to make good wine without adding sulfites!

Do Sulfites Give Me Headaches? is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting

In fact, it wasn’t until around the 1960s that oak flavor became important! Some time after that we began to see the first references to “new French oak”. And, of course, now there’s so much focus on oak flavor these days that it’s easy to forget the main reason we still use barrels: Aging! The color, aroma and flavor of the wine changes due to very slow aeration inside the barrel. New Cabernet looks a lot like Welches Grape Juice and smells pretty grapey too. With time in the barrel the primary fruit aromas evolve into something a bit more subtle and complex. An initially clumsy mouth feel gains finesse.

In California, we aged and stored most of the wine in redwood or concrete tanks until stainless steel and small cooperage came into the picture. Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma is credited as the first California winery to use French oak to age their wine in the 1950s. They were followed by Heitz Cellars in the 60s and, as they say, the rest is history!

Barrel Aging: It’s Not Just for Oak Flavor! is a post from: TopFlight Wine & Beer Tasting