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Friday, December 10, 2010

Holiday Wine Survival Guide



With the holiday season upon us I often to feel the need to stock the wine cupboard with a variety of wines. A selection of wines poured in elegant glasses can add that special touch that transforms any special event into a truly great celebration. Not sure how much to buy? No worries, this party planning survival guide can help you through the holidays.

Number of Servings in a Bottle of Wine
The standard bottle is 750 milliliters, which is about 25 ounces. That translates to five 5-ounce pours, which is considered the correct amount, no matter the size of the glass.

How Much Wine To Buy
• Brunch for 8-10
3 bottles of sparkling wine, 1 bottle of white and 1 of red
• Dinner for 12
3 bottles of sparkling wine, 2-3 bottles of each white and red wine
Food friendly whites include Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand a non-oaked Chardonnay from France. Dinner reds to think about include Merlot from Washington State and Pinot Noir from California or Oregon
1-2 bottles of dessert wine such as late-harvest Riesling, Sauterne or Port.
• Cocktail Party for 25
8-12 bottles of red wine
Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile and Shiraz from Australia are great options
6-8 bottles of white wine
Italian whites or South American Chardonnay are excellent options
1 1/2 to 2 cases of beer,
1 bottle each of Vodka, Gin, Rum, and Tequila, plus mixers

Wine Serving Tips
Be aware of the temperature of the wine served.
• White wines should be served at about 55°
• Red wines should be served at about 65°
And finally, don't forget to stock the bar with non-alcoholics as well.

Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Parties That Pop


You'd like to throw a holiday party but finding the time over the next few weeks proves to be a challenge. No fear, here are a few solutions. Any of these wine-themed parties can be fun, festive and best of all, not a lot of work for you.

Parties that Pop - Sparkling Wines & Dessert
Here's an elegant and easy way to entertain. Invite people over on the late side - set out some desserts and just before your guests arrive uncork the sparkling wine and greet them at the door with a glass. Drinks are festive when they're bubbly and beautiful, and if you want to get fancy, make a few Champagne Cocktails.

Wine Pairing Dinner Party
Looking for a simple way to add something special to your next dinner party? Serving your guests a special wine with each course is a sure way to WOW them and all you have to do is open the bottles and pour. Once you have a dish in mind, look to the same part of the world for wine pairings; foods that grow together tend to go together.

Wine & Cheese Pairing Party
We're in the midst of a cheese revolution, and many markets are offering more varieties. If you really want to knock your guests socks off, pair the wine with the cheese. This offers yet another stress-free and super chic way to take entertaining to a new level. An elegant cheese tray requires almost no work. Select the artisanal cheeses by country, milk type, or by cheese style; add fresh or dried fruit, nuts (for a crunchy counterpoint), breads, crackers and honey.

One Party Fits All - The Grand Buffet
Tree-Trimming, Open House, New Year's Day, Super Bowl Sunday; the occasion is up to you. Buffets are the perfect all-purpose entertaining option. It's easier then a sit down dinner, can be as formal or informal as you like, and can range from a handful to a houseful of guests. When planning the menu, know that not everyone likes both red and white wine so plan to have plenty of both on hand.

Happy Holidays!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Back to School Time


With the school year in full swing and summer a distant memory, sharpen your pencil for a fun back-to-school quiz. My wine savvy quiz is designed to encourage you to pull many more corks in the quest for higher knowledge; so if you can’t make one of my October tasting classes, use this short wine quiz to find out how much you really know.

1. What is brix?
a) Combined with mortar, brix are used to construct buildings.
b) The sugar content of unfermented grape juice.
c) The determinant of alcohol content in a finished wine.
d) Both b and c.

2. True or false?
Fermentation is the process in which grape juice is turned to wine by transforming sugar into alcohol.
a) True
b) False

3. What does secondary malolactic fermentation do to a wine?
a) Boosts the fruit flavors
b) Turns the wine into milk
c) Introduces an odor of smelly socks
d) Converts acids to create a creamy texture and buttery flavor

4. Chardonnay, Semillon, and Muscat are all examples of what?
a) White varietals
b) Red varietals
c) Noble grapes from the Vitis vinifera vine
d) Both a and c

5. Which comparison clarifies the difference between acidity and astringency in the mouth when tasting a wine?
a) Acidity is like chocolate and astringency like lemons.
b) Acidity is like water and astringency like butter.
c) Acidity is like darts and astringency like a vacuum cleaner.
d) There is no difference.

6. What does the pucker you might feel in your mouth when tasting a red wine come from?
a) A corked bottle.
b) Tannins, chemical compounds in grape skins let loose into the wine by extended skin contact.
c) Drinking red wine with fish.
d) Brushing your teeth right before you drink.

7. In general, the ideal temperature to serve wine (in degrees Fahrenheit) is:
a) Chilled to 50-55 degrees for white, red, and rose alike.
b) Room temperature for white, red, and rose alike.
c) Chilled to 50-55 degrees for white and rose wines, and just below room temperature for red wines, about 65 degrees.
d) Chilled to 50-55 degrees for red wine, and just below room temperature for white and rose wines, about 65 degrees.

8. True or false? All wine is best served in a translucent 10-ounce rounded-bowl glass with a stem.
a) True
b) False

9. To better enjoy a wine’s flavors and structure, finish a previously opened bottle within:
a) Seconds.
b) A few days.
c) A few weeks.
d) Forever.

Answers
1-d; 2-a; 3-d, 4-d; 5-c; 6-b; 7-c; 8-b; 9-b

No matter where you stand on the learning curve, I hope my wine quiz has enlightened your palate and boosted your wine IQ.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Sip as You Stir



When the topic of food and wine arises during one of my wine classes, the usual flow of conversation revolves around what wine to drink with dinner. Yet sometimes the tougher decision is what wine to put in dinner. That's because when listed as an ingredient, wine is often suggested in the most generic terms, and you're left to wonder - will any wine do? But there is more to cooking with wine than using up last night's leftovers. Take a look at my top 10 tips.

1. Leftover Wine - As a general rule, never cook with any wine you would not drink. The month old leftovers in the refrigerator won’t do. 
Any off flavors in wine become more concentrated during cooking.
2. Cooking Wine - Avoid using these all together. They are made of a thin, cheap base wine to which salt and food coloring have been added.
3. Dry White Wine - If a recipe calls for dry white wine, the best all-around choice is an American Sauvignon Blanc. This wine will be dry and offer a fresh light herbal note that will enhance nearly any dish.
4. Aromatic White Wine - If the dish has bold or spicy flavors, go for a more aromatic white wine such as Gewurztraminer, Riesling, or Viognier. These wines have fruity flavors and exotic floral aromas that counterbalance heavily spiced dishes.
5. Dry Red Wine - If a recipe calls for dry red wine, consider the heartiness of the dish. A long-simmered meat dish calls for a correspondingly hearty wine, such as a Zinfandel. A lighter dish might call for a less powerful red such as Pinot Noir.
6. Sparkling Wine – When you cook sparkling wine, you eliminate its primary qualities, bubbles and alcohol. However, a simple beurre blanc sauce can benefit from the two remaining qualities of a good sparkler; high acidity and yeast flavor.
Fortified wines are among the best wines good cooks can have on hand. They pack the most intense flavors and with the added alcohol have the longest shelf life.
7. Port - Ruby port is probably the best for cooking. It has a rich sweetness and depth that's especially good in meat-based casseroles. Port is powerful stuff and should be used in modest amounts.
8. Sherry – True Spanish Sherry adds considerable character to a dish. It’s complex roasted nutty flavors can enhance just about any soup, stew, or sautéed dish. The two styles of Sherry that work best are Amontillado or Oloroso.
9. Madeira - There is no good substitute when a recipe calls for Madeira. It’s lush toffee-caramel notes are hard to replace. Madeira sauces have an affinity for beef, game, and mushroom dishes.
10. Marsala – This Sicilian wine is a staple in southern Italian cooking. Marsala comes in both dry and sweet styles. Seek out the sweeter, richer style for cooking.
There's no better way to spend an evening than creating a delicious dish while sipping a well-made wine for inspiration.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Bring a Chill to the Grill



Summer is in full swing and the opportunity to enjoy rosé wines is at its peak. During the warmer months, unfussy rosés are bursting with red fruit flavors and pair with a variety of foods especially foods from the grill. If I had to choose but one summer wine to accompany a variety of lighter grilled foods, I know what I’d choose in a heartbeat. I’m happy to chill out and grill out with a glass of cold rosé.

Here’s a primer to get you into top rosé shape.

Rosé 101
Rosé wines are made from red wine grapes fermented just a short time with their skins. Colors range from light salmon to bright pink to medium-deep rose. The length of time the juice is in contact with the crushed skins determines not only the final color of the wine, but to a certain extent the amount of tannin extracted from the skins and seeds as well.

A Rosé By Any Other Name…
Rosé spans the style spectrum. Because rosé refers to the color of the wine, as opposed to a specific grape variety, the wine can be made from a variety of red grapes and their blends, including Mourvédre, Sangiovese, Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. With the variety of grapes used to make rosé, the character of the wine ranges from light and fruity to medium bodied with hints of tannin. Try rosé wines from California or Italy, but especially from Spain or from Provence, France.

Food Pairings
Rosés are wonderful food wines and are especially suited to dishes featuring bold Mediterranean flavors. These pink beauties can pair with a wide variety of foods depending on the varietal and style of the wine; fruit-forward wines with an impression of sweetness can be paired with foods that would also go with dry Rieslings, Gewurztraminer or Pinot Gris, and the more light to medium bodied wines pair better with foods with an affinity for light reds.

Rosés are becoming more popular as people discover the joys of drinking pink.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

A Pairing Lesson


One of my favorite wine classes to teach is Wine & Food Pairing 101. I try to demystify wine and food relationships one ingredient at a time and provide some pairing strategies. The simple formula – white wine with fish, red wine with meat – once dictated all wine and food pairings, but times have changed. Rules like this just don’t fit the way we eat today. Well matched, even the simplest food and the humblest wine can create instant magic. If a wine and food pairing work well together, it’s usually due to one or sometimes both of the following principles:

• The wine and food are in some way similar - which usually diminishes the taste impression of that similar component.

• The wine and food contrast in someway - which usually leaves either the wine or the food as the dominant partner.

When pairing wine and food, several things can happen:

• Sweetness in food can increase the perception of bitterness and astringency in wine

• Foods with high amounts of acidity can erase the perception of acidity and make the wine taste richer and mellower

• Saltiness in the food can suppress bitter taste in some wines

• Finally the Golden Rule; You can't beat bubbles. When in doubt drink sparkling wine. The tingling acidity makes most sparklers a perfect match for a wide variety of food.

Taking a class is a great way to explore new wine and food pairing combinations, or picking up a wine and food pairing book for summer reading can be fun too. Some of my favorites include:
• Perfect Pairings by Evan Goldstein
• Great Tastes Made Simple by Andrea Immer Robinson
• Williams-Sonoma Wine & Food - A New Look at Flavor by Joshua Wesson
• The Wine Lover's Cookbook by Sid Goldstein

Create instant magic this summer with these pairing tips and have fun researching the perfect match.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

She's Got Legs



A common question I receive from my wine students is to explain wine "legs", a mythical indicator of wine quality. In wine, “legs” refer to the way that wine swirled in a glass runs down the inside surface.

How It Work
Fill a wine glass one quarter full and gently move the glass in a circular motion so that the wine swirls up the sides. Hold the glass still and look at the wine as it runs down. It may flow down in a fairly even sheet, or it may pull into more concentrated streaks. These legs, or tears as the French refer to them, are the streaks of wine.

What It Means
Once upon a time, these legs were interpreted as the sure sign of a rich, high-quality wine. While some people believe that the presence and thickness of legs relates to the sweetness, viscosity or quality of wine, none of these is correct.Today, we know that a wine's legs are a complicated phenomenon having to do with the surface tension of the wine, and the evaporation rate of the wine's alcohol. Because a wine’s “body” is affected by the alcohol content, there is some relationship between legs and body, but there are so many other factors involved that legs are a poor indicator of quality.

Give It A Try
Still not convinced that it's physics and not quality that drives this phenomenon? Try covering your next glass of wine and see if the legs present decrease when covered compared to when open. What you'll find is no evaporation, no legs. This is because the air inside the glass contains enough alcohol vapor to prevent more from evaporating and the formation of legs stops. Uncover the glass and legs will start to form again.

Swirl Away
If this is true then why do wine lovers still swirl their wine? Because it helps to release aromas which in turn makes tasting and smelling the wine easier. Swirling also increases oxygenation of the wine, which in turn affects the flavor, so swirl away!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Just Breathe



Does wine really breathe? The term breathing usually refers to the process of aerating the wine or simply maximizing the wine's exposure to the surrounding air. Wine needs to come in contact with at least a little air to release its bouquet. Technically, the air causes the esters - fragrant liquids - in wine to evaporate or volatilize. In addition the wine will typically warm up causing the wine's aromas to open up and the overall flavor characteristics to improve. That's why you swirl a wine in your glass before you smell it.

Which Wines Need to Breathe
In general, most red wines but only a few white wines and dessert wines can benefit from aeration. Many young, concentrated red wines, like an expensive Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux that can age for several years, undergo a sort of micro aging process by getting lots of air into them. The same goes for a young and concentrated or especially astringent white wine, such as a white Burgundy. The reason is that forced exposure to air begins to oxidize a wine, causing subtle chemical changes that affect both the flavors and the texture.

How to Let Your Wine Breathe
Just popping the cork isn’t going to get you there. Pulling the cork out of the bottle and letting the bottle sit there has little perceptible effect on aerating the wine. Under these circumstances only a small amount of the wine in the bottle has contact with air. The little space in the neck of the bottle is way too small to allow your wine to breathe very much. The best and most entertaining way to accomplish real aeration is to pour the wine into another vessel. If you really want to aerate your wine, do one or both of the following:

Decant - A decanter can be defined as any large liquid container with a wide opening at the top and able to hold the whole bottle of wine. This can be an orange juice pitcher, glass jar or clean flower vase you have on hand. The idea is to splash the wine as much as possible while pouring to maximize the wine’s contact with air. The increased surface area is the key to allowing more air to make contact with the wine.

Wine Glasses - The wine will do a lot more breathing in your glass than it ever would have while still cooped up in the bottle. Pour your wine into large wine glasses and let it aerate about 10 minutes before you plan to drink it. This is certainly the low-maintenance method and typically works quite well.

In general, the Aeration Rule of Thumb: the more tannins a wine has the more time it will need to aerate. Lighter-bodied red wines, Pinot Noir for example, that have lower tannin levels, will need little if any time to breathe.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

A Toast to Your Health



Buzz if your goals include: eating better, exercising more and getting healthy. The next time you raise a glass of wine to toast a friend's health, you may be doing more than expressing goodwill. For some of the same reasons "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" a glass of wine a day may set you on your way to wellness.

The Good News on Wine
Now is a great time to enjoy the pleasures of wine, especially since science is discovering the potentially powerful health benefits of drinking the fruit of the vine. We've all heard that red wine is good for us, but how good it is depends on how much and how often you drink it. When it comes to health, all alcoholic beverages are not created equal. While all may have the power to relax us, only red wine contains a lot of polyphenols, heart-friendly antioxidants that help inhibit plaque buildup in the arteries. Polyphenols, or tannins, which are derived from grape skins and seeds give red wine its color and act as protectors against cell damage caused by nasty molecules called free radicals. Wine is not the only source of polyphenols; they're also abundant in a wide variety of foods, including tea, chocolate and many fruits and vegetables.

The Art of Living Well
In the New York Times best-seller, French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure, Mireille Guiliano unlocks the simple secrets of the "French Paradox" – how French women, eating in the traditional way, can enjoy rich food and wine without getting fat (or suffer high rates of heart disease.) In a stylish and convincing way Guiliano clears up the mystery by giving away some French "secrets" which include getting regular exercise (not in the gym, but by walking); eating small portions; eating fresh and seasonally; savoring food to increase the feeling of satisfaction and drinking plenty of liquids. Above all, the book outlines eating for pleasure as a motivating factor in losing and maintaining weight. She goes on to say, "pleasure has proved to be the most powerful and lasting motivation..... If we can all harness the pleasure principle, we can lose weight, as French women have done for generations." Guiliano, former CEO of Clicquot Champagne, provides advice that is charming, sensible and tasty.

The "French Paradox"
The potential health benefits of wine were first popularized by the "French Paradox," a 1991 segment on the television show "60 Minutes." The program doesn't talk about wine very often, but when it does, people listen. Their findings uncovered the paradoxical fact that the French have relatively low national rates of coronary heart disease despite their rich diet. Along with moderate wine consumption a few classic principles of French gastronomy are worth taking note of. First, French people who drink alcohol tend not to vary their amount day to day but are consistent with moderate consumption. In contrast, many Americans drink no alcohol during the week and a large amount on weekends, a pattern which appears to increase risk of heart attack. Second, the French habit of eating smaller portions slowly at mealtimes. Rapid consumption of high-calorie meals tends to cause the body to store more energy as fat, and is more likely to lead to overeating than is the French-style of lingering over meals. In addition, the French would rather have a small amount of something delicious than endless quantities of low-fat food that is ultimately unsatisfying. Viva Le France.

While some of the recent wine and health studies are more conclusive than others, many of them offer a good reason to make wine part of a healthy lifestyle. I'll drink to that!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Wine & Chocolate Pairing 101



What could be more romantic for St. Valentine's Day than a box of chocolates and a terrific wine. Some say it can’t be done, pairing wine with chocolate, but if you have the right chocolate to complement the right wine, it can be a match made in heaven. Whether you are pairing a delicate white chocolate or a lively dark chocolate with wine, there are a few pairing tips to keep in mind.

Tips for Successful Pairings

MATCH STYLES - When pairing wines with chocolate, match lighter-flavored chocolates with lighter-bodied wines, and more intense-flavored chocolates with more full-bodied wines. In general, dark and bittersweet chocolates go best with stronger red wines while milk and white chocolates pair better with lighter reds and sweeter white wines.

THINK RED - Most white wines lack the muscle to stand up to chocolate's naturally robust flavors. If you prefer sweet white wines, such as a late-harvest wine, you'll have better luck with milk chocolates. However, the wines that match well with chocolate and make truly great combinations typically are not the dry red table wines people drink with meals. Leave the big, structured wines for food pairings and look for the lighter-bodied and fruitier wines that complement the fruitiness that is natural to most chocolate.

EMBRACE TEXTURE - The wines that work best have a rich textural element that match the texture, weight and creaminess of the chocolate. The perfect pairing also balances sweetness, fruitiness, and acidity.

THINK LIKE A CHEF - Flavors of chocolate in a wine do not necessarily mean that the wine will taste good with chocolate. Chocolate flavors are often found in dry red wines, which usually don't work well with chocolate. Seek wines that have the same flavor notes as the chocolate or look for contrasting flavors. The flavors that typically go with chocolate include things like raspberry, cherry and nuts.

KEEP IT SWEET - When pairing wine with dessert, choose a wine that is sweeter than the dessert. A wine that is drier than the chocolate or dessert is almost sure to make the match fall flat.

As with food and wine matches, only you are the arbiter of what works best. There are many kinds of chocolate preparations with different flavor profiles so no one wine is a universal match.

Have fun experimenting.

Friday, January 1, 2010

New Year's Wine Resolutions



I've made my share of New Year's resolutions through the years, but none quite as delicious (or easy to keep) as the ones about wine. How many of your resolutions are wine-related? Whether you plan to take a course or read a book, learning about wine can be one of the easiest, most fun New Year's resolutions to keep. Here’s a checklist of 10 things to do this year that will make wine more accessible all year long.
1. Open a Sparkler for No Reason - There are so many reasonably priced bubblies that they can be cheaper than ordinary wine. Put a bottle in the fridge and open it for dinner.

2. Drink More White Wine with Cheese - I've discovered that white wine generally tastes better with most cheeses than red; acidity does the trick. My favorite combination is goat cheese and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc.

3. Go to a Wine Bar - If you have been to some wine bars before, try a wine bar you haven’t visited and order a flight of wine.

4. Take Notes on a Fine Wine - You'll find that the wine will change with time, air and warmth. When you go back over your notes, you might be amazed at the changes.

5. Stop Holding Back "Great" Bottles - I'm as guilty as anyone of saving wines instead of enjoying them. Without waiting for a special occasion, invite friends over and open some of those gems you've got stashed away for.

6. Visit a Local Winery - You’ll be amazed at the diversity of wines and styles in your own neck of the woods.

7. Try Different Wines - There are more than 5,000 grape varieties in the world, but many of us drink the same one, or ones, week after week (the equivalent of eating chicken every night).

8. Try a Wine You Think You Don’t Like - Are you sure you don’t like German wine? Have you tried today’s Chianti? Things change, including your taste.

9. Order the Least Expensive Wine on the List- This takes courage, but I've found that many restaurant wine buyers work hard at finding great deals. And the opposite applies as well, go above your usual limit for wine if there is a bottle that looks interesting to you.

10. Enroll in a Wine Appreciation Class - Taking a wine class can be a fun, unintimidating way to learn more about wine. Whether you take a class on the basics or one with a narrower focus, you'll learn something new and have fun in the process. To get started consider one of the following; Wine Tasting 101 on 2/4 at www.walnutcreekrec.org or Wine & Chocolate Pairing on 2/19 at www.lafayetterec.org.

Extra Credit - If you have never dropped me a note to say hello or ask a question, don’t be shy. My email address is wineappreciation101@gmail.com. I'll do my best to get back to you promptly. Happy New Year!