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yinshubackupI know it's not Wines-day, but I thought I better post this general little guide thingy before I went too much further with the reviews- so when I say "this wine has raspberries with a hint of fresh grass clippings on the nose" or "this wine has nice legs" you won't think I'm off my rocker.
Besides, I have that durn Wine Prelim coming up next Tuesday night, and this is my way of reviewing for it.
Learn better by teaching, and all that rot.
I think I will write this in series of posts in the next few days as I study. First, I will explain a a little bit about how wine is made, and then, define a few wine terms. Finally I will give you an overview of the basic wine-tasting ritual. (If you want to know the wine-opening-and-serving-ritual, ask me and I'll post it later.)
What IS wine, anyway? Well, here's the basic process:
1. Take a bunch of ripe fruit (you can use any fruit, but 99% of all wine is made from grapes).
2. Put fruit in a clean container that doesn't leak.
3. Crush the fruit somehow to squeeze the juice out (think purple-footed grape stompers, although now we use big machines to do it)
4. Wait.
That's it. After the fruit is crushed, yeasts come into contact with the sugar in the juice and gradually convert it to alchohol. This process is called fermentation, and it's what happens to fresh apple cider if you leave it in your fridge to long. Fermentation is a totally natural process that doesn't need human help at all; actually, wine has been referred to as a "pit stop" between fruit juice and vinegar. But of course, our dear winemakers have found myraid ways to tweak the process, and that's where the Le Art de Winemaking comes into play. Luckily, you don't have to know all the tweaky details to enjoy the end product.
Part 1: Red, White and Pink all over
"White Wine" is wine without any red or pink color. This means 'White Zinfandel" is NOT white wine(but I'll get to that in a minute). White wine can be yellow, yellow-green, gold, or pale as water. There are 2 ways it's generally made:
1. Use 'white' grapes (no red, dark red, or bluish-purple grapes).
2. Use the juice of red grapes, but don't let the juice stay in contact with the red grapeskins (which contain red pigments) very long. This is a less prevalent method, but they do use it for some types of Champange.
You can drink white wine anytime you want- they are often called aperitif wines, which means you can drink them before dinner, in place of a cocktail. They are usually served chilled, but beware of serving it too cold, which dampens the aroma and flavor. Serve a little lower than room temperature. Holding the bowl of the glass in the palm of your hand as you swirl it, to warm it up a little, is a good way to "open it up" if it's too cold.
Popular Whites: Chardonnay, Sauvingon Blanc (Sow-veen-nyON Blahnk), Reisling (REESE ling), Pinot Grigio (PEE-noe GREE zhoe), Gewurtztraminer (Geh VURTZ trah MEEN ah) (Imagine you're Nightcrawler from the X-men movie saying this, and it will help)
"Red Wine" is really red. It may come in different shades, but there's not much confusion there. It is made from darker red-to-purpleish-black grapes, and the juice is left sitting in contact with the skins to absorb the pigments. Besides color, the skins give the wine tannin, an important flavor/mouthfeel component of red wine. Tannin is actually the biggest difference between red and white wines (uhm, besides the obvious color, duh.) To borrow a friend's observation of tannins, "They make your teeth feel like they're wearing little fuzzy sweaters on them."
Red wines have a lot more room for tweaking than whites do, because vintners can play around with skin-contact time and such. So, there are more style variants of red wines and they tend to be more complex than whites. (This is not a hard and fast rule.) Don't drink it cold! Those tannins can taste really bitter- like a cold cup of really strong tea. Eww.
Red wine tends to be drunk as part of a meal rather than by itself, but really, it's up to you when you want to enjoy it.
Popular Reds: Cabernet Sauvignon (CAB er NAY sow veen nyON), Merlot (mair LOE), Pinot Noir (PEE noe NWAH), Beaujolais (Boe zhoe LAY), Chianti (KEY ahn tee), Zinfandel, Bordeaux (Bor DOH), Syrah/Shiraz (same thing).
"Pink it was love at first sight/
Pink when I turn out the light/
Pink it's like red but not quite/..."
"Rosé (Rose-ay) wines" are, well, pink colored. This is because the grape juice is left in contact with the skins for a very very short time, like hours or maybe a day, as opposed to days and weeks for red wines. They were popular back in the late 60's to early 70's. Then they kind of fell out of favor with the general public, and then a little later, some marketing genius decided to call them "blush" wines instead, and the American public began buying it again, because "blush" sounds cute and fresh, I guess. Problem is, the labels'll say something like "White Zinfandel" (even though it's obviously pink), lest the unwitting consumer realize it's really that uncool non-snob-worthy rosé stuff. Don't be fooled.
Now, just because rosé is unpretentious and has a reputation of being the black sheep of the wine family, is no reason to (not?) sniff at it. There are some very lovely rosés which tend to be on the dry side, and are great for summer afternoon lunches or just hanging around the house, or whatever. They tend to be inexpensive and versitile for any casual use. Some good reasons for rosé include:
-picnics in the spring or summer
-one person having fish, and the other red meat
-with brunch, lunch, or dishes like quiche or scrambled eggs
-with ham or other pork dishes
-when red wine just seems too formal or heavy
-when you're in the mood for pink! ;)
Part 2: Basic Wine Terms (or, wine-snob-ese):
Sulfites: Sulfur Dioxide, an antibacterial 'cure-all' compound naturally occuring during fermentation, often added in larger quantities by the winemaker to keep the wine from turning to vinegar. Congress passed a law requiring the phrase "contains sulfites" to appear on wine labels of any wine containing more than 10 parts per million, because about 5% of asthmatics are extremely sensitive to them. 10 to 20 ppm occurs naturally in wine, so that covers just about everything. Actual sulfite levels in most wine range from 100-150 ppm. This is about the same level found in dried apricots.
Alcohol Content: Required on the wine label by law. Can be expressed in "degrees" or "percent" (same difference). U.S. regulations actually allow labels to lie a little bit- they give wineries a 1.5% margin of error for alcohol content reporting, but there is a 14% maximum actual content allowance for any wine considered "Table Wine". So a wine that says 14% may actually be as low as 12.5%. However- if you see a percent or degree rating that is not a whole or half number, like 11.8 or 12.3 as opposed to 12 or 12.5, it's probably an accurate measure rather than a fudged number.
Table Wine: The normal, non-bubbly majority of wine. Legally, has an alcohol content in a specified range. For the U.S., no higher than 14%. For Europe, between 8.5 and 14%. Grape wine historically doesn't naturally attain a level of more than 14% alcohol during fermentation.
Dessert Wine: also known as "liqueur wine" (in Europe), or "fortified wine", because it is more that 14% alcohol, and usually the extra alcohol is added during or after fermentation. For example, Sherry and Port. Usually sweet and enjoyed after dinner, but not always. (There are dry Sherries usually served before dinner, etc.)
Sparkling Wine: Wines that contain carbon dioxide bubbles. Wine-snob tip: Champagne with a capital "C" is a specific sparkling wine, made from certain grape varieties in a certain type of process, that comes from a region in France called Champagne. It is THE real McCoy. There are many legal imbroglios overthe use of the word champagne, and how it is spelled, etc.
Many top sparkling wine companies in America won't call their wines champagne, even though it's currently legal as long as the bubbles aren't artificially added. They have too much respect for their French counterparts. Usually impostors trying to pass themselves off as champagne are of lesser quality.
Not that you can't enjoy cheap "champagne", too- just be aware of this sensitive snob-factor.
That's it for tonight, folks!
Next time- Sniff, swirl, slurp, spit, swallow? ^_^;
Besides, I have that durn Wine Prelim coming up next Tuesday night, and this is my way of reviewing for it.
Learn better by teaching, and all that rot.
I think I will write this in series of posts in the next few days as I study. First, I will explain a a little bit about how wine is made, and then, define a few wine terms. Finally I will give you an overview of the basic wine-tasting ritual. (If you want to know the wine-opening-and-serving-ritual, ask me and I'll post it later.)
What IS wine, anyway? Well, here's the basic process:
1. Take a bunch of ripe fruit (you can use any fruit, but 99% of all wine is made from grapes).
2. Put fruit in a clean container that doesn't leak.
3. Crush the fruit somehow to squeeze the juice out (think purple-footed grape stompers, although now we use big machines to do it)
4. Wait.
That's it. After the fruit is crushed, yeasts come into contact with the sugar in the juice and gradually convert it to alchohol. This process is called fermentation, and it's what happens to fresh apple cider if you leave it in your fridge to long. Fermentation is a totally natural process that doesn't need human help at all; actually, wine has been referred to as a "pit stop" between fruit juice and vinegar. But of course, our dear winemakers have found myraid ways to tweak the process, and that's where the Le Art de Winemaking comes into play. Luckily, you don't have to know all the tweaky details to enjoy the end product.
Part 1: Red, White and Pink all over
"White Wine" is wine without any red or pink color. This means 'White Zinfandel" is NOT white wine(but I'll get to that in a minute). White wine can be yellow, yellow-green, gold, or pale as water. There are 2 ways it's generally made:
1. Use 'white' grapes (no red, dark red, or bluish-purple grapes).
2. Use the juice of red grapes, but don't let the juice stay in contact with the red grapeskins (which contain red pigments) very long. This is a less prevalent method, but they do use it for some types of Champange.
You can drink white wine anytime you want- they are often called aperitif wines, which means you can drink them before dinner, in place of a cocktail. They are usually served chilled, but beware of serving it too cold, which dampens the aroma and flavor. Serve a little lower than room temperature. Holding the bowl of the glass in the palm of your hand as you swirl it, to warm it up a little, is a good way to "open it up" if it's too cold.
Popular Whites: Chardonnay, Sauvingon Blanc (Sow-veen-nyON Blahnk), Reisling (REESE ling), Pinot Grigio (PEE-noe GREE zhoe), Gewurtztraminer (Geh VURTZ trah MEEN ah) (Imagine you're Nightcrawler from the X-men movie saying this, and it will help)
"Red Wine" is really red. It may come in different shades, but there's not much confusion there. It is made from darker red-to-purpleish-black grapes, and the juice is left sitting in contact with the skins to absorb the pigments. Besides color, the skins give the wine tannin, an important flavor/mouthfeel component of red wine. Tannin is actually the biggest difference between red and white wines (uhm, besides the obvious color, duh.) To borrow a friend's observation of tannins, "They make your teeth feel like they're wearing little fuzzy sweaters on them."
Red wines have a lot more room for tweaking than whites do, because vintners can play around with skin-contact time and such. So, there are more style variants of red wines and they tend to be more complex than whites. (This is not a hard and fast rule.) Don't drink it cold! Those tannins can taste really bitter- like a cold cup of really strong tea. Eww.
Red wine tends to be drunk as part of a meal rather than by itself, but really, it's up to you when you want to enjoy it.
Popular Reds: Cabernet Sauvignon (CAB er NAY sow veen nyON), Merlot (mair LOE), Pinot Noir (PEE noe NWAH), Beaujolais (Boe zhoe LAY), Chianti (KEY ahn tee), Zinfandel, Bordeaux (Bor DOH), Syrah/Shiraz (same thing).
"Pink it was love at first sight/
Pink when I turn out the light/
Pink it's like red but not quite/..."
"Rosé (Rose-ay) wines" are, well, pink colored. This is because the grape juice is left in contact with the skins for a very very short time, like hours or maybe a day, as opposed to days and weeks for red wines. They were popular back in the late 60's to early 70's. Then they kind of fell out of favor with the general public, and then a little later, some marketing genius decided to call them "blush" wines instead, and the American public began buying it again, because "blush" sounds cute and fresh, I guess. Problem is, the labels'll say something like "White Zinfandel" (even though it's obviously pink), lest the unwitting consumer realize it's really that uncool non-snob-worthy rosé stuff. Don't be fooled.
Now, just because rosé is unpretentious and has a reputation of being the black sheep of the wine family, is no reason to (not?) sniff at it. There are some very lovely rosés which tend to be on the dry side, and are great for summer afternoon lunches or just hanging around the house, or whatever. They tend to be inexpensive and versitile for any casual use. Some good reasons for rosé include:
-picnics in the spring or summer
-one person having fish, and the other red meat
-with brunch, lunch, or dishes like quiche or scrambled eggs
-with ham or other pork dishes
-when red wine just seems too formal or heavy
-when you're in the mood for pink! ;)
Part 2: Basic Wine Terms (or, wine-snob-ese):
Sulfites: Sulfur Dioxide, an antibacterial 'cure-all' compound naturally occuring during fermentation, often added in larger quantities by the winemaker to keep the wine from turning to vinegar. Congress passed a law requiring the phrase "contains sulfites" to appear on wine labels of any wine containing more than 10 parts per million, because about 5% of asthmatics are extremely sensitive to them. 10 to 20 ppm occurs naturally in wine, so that covers just about everything. Actual sulfite levels in most wine range from 100-150 ppm. This is about the same level found in dried apricots.
Alcohol Content: Required on the wine label by law. Can be expressed in "degrees" or "percent" (same difference). U.S. regulations actually allow labels to lie a little bit- they give wineries a 1.5% margin of error for alcohol content reporting, but there is a 14% maximum actual content allowance for any wine considered "Table Wine". So a wine that says 14% may actually be as low as 12.5%. However- if you see a percent or degree rating that is not a whole or half number, like 11.8 or 12.3 as opposed to 12 or 12.5, it's probably an accurate measure rather than a fudged number.
Table Wine: The normal, non-bubbly majority of wine. Legally, has an alcohol content in a specified range. For the U.S., no higher than 14%. For Europe, between 8.5 and 14%. Grape wine historically doesn't naturally attain a level of more than 14% alcohol during fermentation.
Dessert Wine: also known as "liqueur wine" (in Europe), or "fortified wine", because it is more that 14% alcohol, and usually the extra alcohol is added during or after fermentation. For example, Sherry and Port. Usually sweet and enjoyed after dinner, but not always. (There are dry Sherries usually served before dinner, etc.)
Sparkling Wine: Wines that contain carbon dioxide bubbles. Wine-snob tip: Champagne with a capital "C" is a specific sparkling wine, made from certain grape varieties in a certain type of process, that comes from a region in France called Champagne. It is THE real McCoy. There are many legal imbroglios overthe use of the word champagne, and how it is spelled, etc.
Many top sparkling wine companies in America won't call their wines champagne, even though it's currently legal as long as the bubbles aren't artificially added. They have too much respect for their French counterparts. Usually impostors trying to pass themselves off as champagne are of lesser quality.
Not that you can't enjoy cheap "champagne", too- just be aware of this sensitive snob-factor.
That's it for tonight, folks!
Next time- Sniff, swirl, slurp, spit, swallow? ^_^;
