Category Archives: Wine buzz

The Web’s wine buzz: Including tips to make Chinese New Year more festive

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Tune in to what top wine bloggers and experts are decanting into cyberspace with handpicked highlights of their latest and greatest. In this episode, we find advice for long-unopened bottles, tips for making the coming Year of the Rat more festive and a long list of reasons to think again about Merlot.

If you have a special bottle of wine gathering dust somewhere — the one that’s remained unopened through the years, perhaps with some fond memories sealed inside — start looking for the corkscrew.

Because Saturday night, Feb. 23, is Open That Bottle Night 9, as good an excuse as any to finally have a taste.

Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher at The Wall Street Journal explain:

Imagine if an evil genie took some of your very best memories and hid them in a wine bottle. That’s what so many of us do to ourselves. These dear bottles have a special way of retrieving warm and often-forgotten memories, but you have to pop the cork to release them. That’s why we invented Open That Bottle Night.

A nice read on what various friends of theirs have stashed and swear to finally open. You might be tempted to do the same.

You’ll also find a handy primer on the care and handling on what might be rather fragile vintages.

But that’s not the only wine-benefiting festivity on the horizon, as Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg at The Washington Post remind us.

The Chinese New Year (Lunar Year 4706) begins on Feb. 7, ringing in the Year of the Rat. This most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by one-quarter of the world’s population, merits an extended 15-day celebration, and its time-honored food traditions are beautifully enhanced by the right wines.

Perk up the Chinese cuisine with their selections of fruitier wine, ranging from a “beautifully balanced, crisp, fruity and minerally” 2007 Rudolf Muller Riesling Kabinett ($11) to a 100-percent pinot noir-based NV Gruet Methode Champenoise Rose Brut ($16) from New Mexico, “with strawberry notes and a hint of vanilla on the finish … terrific with our Peking duck.”

The article includes a sumptuous pairing chart, to bring out the best in, say, those shrimp dumplings or whole steamed fish.

Meanwhile, at Wine Enthusiast, Tim Patterson offers a smorgasbord of reasons for reacquainting ourselves with that once top-selling red that has fallen from popular grace, Merlot.

A widespread urban legend says that Merlot was whacked sideways off its pedestal in 2004 by a certain movie set in Santa Barbara’s Pinot Noir country. In fact, according to industry insiders, the leveling off started two or three years earlier. Mark Pucylowski, buying director for Sam’s Wines & Spirits in Chicago, noticed that some of his California producers were grafting over to Syrah well before Merlot became a cinematic expletive.

In some cases, the fall from grace was well deserved, particularly the California Merlot that “was planted on marginal sites and/or asked to bring in too large a crop.”

But there are still plenty of good ones to be had.

And the Wine Enthusiast Tasting Panel brings us a long list of some of the best — originating everywhere from France, Italy and California to Washington State, Australia and New Zealand.

And many of them sit well within the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index, including the Banrock Station 2005 Merlot (South Eastern Australia)  at $5 (not a typo).

The Web’s wine buzz: Montepulciano bargains and ‘love at first sip’ Chianti

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Tune in to what top wine bloggers and experts are decanting into cyberspace with handpicked highlights of their latest and greatest. In this case, some great minds appear to be thinking alike in the wine world — and what they’re thinking is Italian.

Our first selections deal with the kind of wine you might drink casually, from a glass tumbler in your kitchen.

An everyday affair.

But still good.

So good that you might feel the the lovely, easy rhythms of Italy in each swallow.

We’re talking about Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, the recent object of affection of Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher.

As they say in a delicious article about this “informal wine’s straightforward charm”:

We guess there are some really rich people out there who drink very expensive, precious bottles of wine every night. In our experience, though, even people who love wine and have plenty of money are still always looking for house wines: straightforward, inexpensive and tasty wines that require little money to buy and little effort to enjoy. These are the kinds of wines to keep around at all times simply to pop open and enjoy when you get home from work.

Results of the Wall Street Journal wine-writing couple’s tasting: Each of their Montepulciano favorites rated Good/Very Good or better. And cost $11 or under.

“Ka-ching!”

That’s music to the ears of the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index.

The best value in the list was the Castellana (Cantina Miglianico) 2006, at (ready for this?) $5.99. And several of the five others in the review are not far off.

As the wine gods would have it, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg at The Washington Post offer their own hymn to the grapes of Italy.

In this case, those particular grapes that produce that most famous of Italian wines — Chianti, a favorite with unpretentious roots that, as Page and Dornenburg note, is a top choice if your meal should involve any kind of marinara sauce.

In fact, they say, you should “build a shrine” to this wine:

A straightforward, invariably dry Chianti will pair better with red-sauced fare than will other wines many times the price. This wine’s popularity is well-deserved: There’s no better match with tomato-sauced dishes.

Why? Because of the simple pairing truism that “acid loves acid.” While moderate in body, alcohol and tannins, Chianti is high in acid, allowing it to stand up to a red-sauced dish’s own high acidity.

The article offers a tight, informative backgrounder not only on exactly what grapes are used for Chainti and what characteristic flavors you’ll find (typically, dried tart-cherry and earth reminiscences) but also what label terms to look out for to find “love at first sip.”

Though many of their selections are somewhat pricier than the Montepulcianos above, the 2005 Cecchi Chianti Classico ($13) and 2005 Gabbiano Chianti Classico ($14) might still feel at home in the kitchen rather than the dining room.

The Web’s latest wine buzz: Favorite bubblies, Zins and Oregon alternatives

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Tune in to what top wine bloggers and experts are decanting into cyberspace with handpicked highlights of their latest and greatest. This week’s episode brings us everything from favorite bubblies and alternative Oregonians to lovely Zins and expert wedding wine advice.

The New Year’s festivities may be over, but the party ain’t — not by a long shot — if you follow the directions of Food & Wine‘s senior wine editor Ray Isle, who serves up his picks for best rosé Champagnes and sparkling wines.

Strike anyone else as odd that we tend to reserve these wines for “special occassions”? Hey, not to get to touchy-feely about it, but any time can be a “special occasion” — depending on what you’re drinking, and who you’re with.

Granted some of Isle’s Champagnes can be a little pricey ($43-$175), but you can still get bubbly on a budget with his sparkling selections, including a personal low-cost favorite: Freixenet Brut de Noirs NV ($10). Pop that cork!

Speaking of New Year’s, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg came up with a fine resolution: “… devoting more time and space to the questions you ask us about wine and about what to eat with the wines you drink.”

And they kick off the year with a wine Q&A that, among other things, tries to answer that age old question about what “fairly inexpensive (around $10 or under) smooth red wine and a crisp — not too oaky or buttery — white wine to serve” at a wedding.

They provide some characteristically sage advice, but I’m personally leaning toward that Freixenet above … at least for the honeymoon.

Zin lovers, this is for you.

Wine Spectator‘s Tim Fish review the 2005s, and finds that year to be “one of the best vintages in ages.”

A long, cool growing season produced wines that are generally well-structured, not overly ripe and have gentle tannins built for short-term aging.

Fish cites his favorites among 16 wines in two blind flights.

Catching up on Eric Asimov is always a treat, like, for example, this nice read on an alternative Oregon wine:

European wine prices, already creeping higher, are likely to shoot up in the next couple of months. Inexpensive California wines are not hard to find, but they are rarely good buys. What is the value hunter to do?

May I suggest an excellent alternative? Pinot gris, from Oregon.

Oregon pinot gris is one of the least-talked-about, best-value wines on the market today. Certainly you won’t hear much about it from Oregon wine producers, who don’t want to talk about anything but their precious pinot noir, which they can sell for much more money and which brings much more luster.

But don’t think Asimov has by any means given up on those Europeans.

Far from it, he celebrates a batch of “extraordinary” Barolos. In fact: “It was the best gathering of Barolos that I’ve ever been a part of, and I was humbled to have the opportunity to taste the old wines.”

He names names. (Think of all the money you saved on the Freixenet — here’s your chance to put it to good use!)

Wine ratings illustrate that we live in an ‘impatient age,’ but wine can set us free

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There is a pure pleasure that comes from wine.

Something elemental.

Essential.

A delight that transcends the nomenclature of ratings that the wine-powers-that-be may have ascribed to a particular bottle.

Ninety-something this or eighty-something that — what does it really mean?

It means, according to Tom Wark at the Fermentation blog, that we are an “impatient age.”

A “very” impatient age, as British wine diva Jancis Robinson is aptly quoted as saying: “Wine doesn’t submit very happily to scores, but I realize people making buying decisions are in a hurry … We live in a very impatient age.”

Wark gives us some serious pause, and not only in the sphere of wine, as he explores the implications of someone with the eminence of Robinson succumbing (though “reluctantly”) to the numerical prerequisites of scores, at least on her website. Wark asks:

Why are we all so impatient that we would devour numbers describing wine, rather than words; that we would devour crispy nuggets rather than appreciate the aroma that wafts out of an oven that slowly roasts a squab? Is time that short? Is there so much to do with work and kids and friends and the house and soccer practice and meetings and blogs that just getting a chance to run down the numbers in the latest magazine or deciding whether its spicy mustard or ranch sauce is enough to satisfy us?

Wark’s article is a really nice read. With a glass of wine. If you have the time.

The Web’s latest wine buzz, 10/28/07

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Tune in to what top wine bloggers and experts are decanting into cyberspace with handpicked highlights of their latest and greatest, ranging from reviews of luscious rosés and a sweet desert wine to the skinny on Montalcino and the care of stemware.

For Master Sommelier Ronn Wiegand at Vino!, Autumn’s deepening signals it’s time to focus on rosés — the dry ones, which are “usually fuller bodied and more complex in flavor than most white wines.” He serves up 16 international recommendations, many of them well within Wine News Review’s fairly frugal affordability index. (Full disclosure: Chalk it up to the seasonal vibes, in advance of reading Wiegand’s paean, I gravitated to a lovely organic rosé the other day, a 2006 Chateau Miraval Cotes de Provence. Lively and dry, as “lip-smacking” as the label promises. No autumnal melancholy states with this baby around!) Anyway, to quote Wiegand…

Dry rosés have improved dramatically in quality in recent years, both because more top wineries are producing them and because the wine type is being treated with “respect” (that is, wines are being produced from quality grapes, by experienced vintners).

Speaking of coincidences, my gaze naturally gravitated to a Wine News cover story on Brunello, after trying a splendid 1998 Rienzi Brunello di Montalcino recently. (Frugality warning: At $65, alert readers will surely note that it’s way beyond the affordability index — but, hey, it was at a tasting event so I had to drink it.) Written by Kerin O’Keefe, this piece offers everything you might want to know about the history and current events of Brunello and its birthplace, Montalcino — an in-depth story with some suspense thrown in.

Montalcino has become an international sensation. Americans, in particular, can’t seem to get enough of what is undoubtedly Tuscany’s most prestigious wine, with one in every four bottles of Brunello made destined for U.S. shores. Yet the elite appellation is facing certain challenges that may require tough remedies to keep quality up and bring what has become the enological pride and joy of all of Italy to new and sustained levels of greatness. 

Dorothy J. Gaiter And John Brecher at The Wall Street Journal provide some delicious instructions on how to cap off a sensational dinner with friends — a “great finishing touch,” courtesy of Muscat, “with its unique aromas and tastes of honeysuckle, apricots, peaches and just-picked grapes.” With reviews of eight bottles, some quite affordable .

It probably will take some effort to find a Muscat Canelli. Many stores won’t have any and it’s unlikely you’ll find a big selection anywhere. But they’re out there— we bought ours from six states. So our advice is that sometime soon, long before your next big dinner party, call around and see if you can find one. Then, after dinner, don’t ask your friends if they want to try a sweet wine— they’ll likely say no. Just open and pour. The wine will do the rest.

An estimated 3 to 5 percent of cork-sealed wines go bad, and the blame often unfairly goes to the winery rather than, say, bad handling on the way to the shop or restaurant. Here’s a Washington Post behind-the-scenes glimpse by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg at the extent to which wineries are trying to fight back. With some wine recommendations thrown in.

Even if a bottle of wine leaves its winery in immaculate condition, the road it travels to your glass is fraught with peril every step of the way. Because wine is a living, breathing substance, it can be mortally wounded by improper handling. A wine that starts out perfect can be ruined by many factors: how it is shipped and stored, when and with what it is poured.

Although a number of those elements are out of the winemaker’s hands, if a bottle disappoints, customers probably will blame the winery whose name is on the label. That is why some wineries increasingly are going to extraordinary lengths to ensure customer satisfaction.

There are times when the reason for having printers attached to computers is crystal clear — that is, bring along this Vinography review of the Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries for 2007 event next time you’re headed to a wine shop, perhaps in case one of these selections happens to be on sale.

Thankfully the Wine & Spirits list doesn’t actually rank these wineries from 1 to 100, which would be inane to say the least. They just publish an issue with profiles of each and list their high scoring wines (which presumably got them on the list to begin with).

But more to the point, the magazine also happens to put on a tasting where all 100 of these wineries are invited to pour the wines that were rated highly by the magazine, and it ends up being one hell of a tasting.

Speaking of crystal, there’s “no excuse for stemware abuse,” says Wine Enthusiast. A quick and savvy primer on how to wash, dry and otherwise care for glassware so as to avoid unwanted tastes and odors. Stuff you should know.

You’ve gone to so much trouble to select the right wine, purchase the perfect glasses, serve just the right food — it would put a damper on your dinner to serve in cloudy glasses with a faint odor. If you’re guilty of neglecting your stemware, read on. The fact of the matter is that the way in which you wash and care for wine glasses has a direct effect on the taste of wine. Properly caring for your crystal will insure that your wines always taste their best.