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Weekend wine list — experts’ picks: ‘terrific’ Riesling to ‘seductive’ Syrah

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Comparing the picks: A survey of recent selections from popular wine experts. Whenever there’s an option, I highlight the more-affordable wines, focusing on possible choices for weekend purchases. Check their websites for full descriptions and other picks:

2004 750 Langwerth Von Simmern Riesling Kabinett Rheingau, Germany:
Natalie MacLean — you’ll find it to be a “terrific, well-balanced riesling with refreshing aromas of lime and citrus,” goes well with chicken, pork, ham. $22.95

Pacific Rim Chenin Blanc:
Jerry Shriver — “hits you with a seductive flowery bouquet, which leads to faintly sweet and lush pear flavors and brown-spice notes” — recommended with spicy Asian seafood dishes. $12

Cockburn’s Ten Year Old Tawny Port:
Jay McInerney — “lighter and mellower than the Vintage Ports from this house and slightly drier in style than other tawnies.” $26.99

Etim Blanco 2005 Montsant:
Jancis Robinson — she calls this 100% Garnacha Blanca “a revelation and a bargain … a full bodied, flavour-packed yet refreshing dry white.” £6.99

Stefano Moccagatta 2004 Tannat:
Edward Deitch — “one of the best red wines I’ve tasted this year … elegant and refined, full of dark berry fruit — blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry.” $26

Colli Orientali del Friuli, Pinot Grigio ‘Ramato’, Visintini (2006):
decanter.com — “marvellous wine from Grave del Friuli breaks the Pinot Grigio mould,” with its pale copper colour and “lovely purity of fruit.” £8.95

2003 Goose Ridge Vineyards Columbia Valley Syrah:
Lynne Char Bennett — a “rewarding” wine whose aspects include “dark woody notes, peppery bacon, extracted blackberry,” among an ample list of Washington state Syrah and Rhone-style blends featured here. $20

Tip: Print out this list and bring it to you local wine shop — even if a specific favorite isn’t available, ask the salesperson to recommend something similar. Or try browsing the latest wine reports from this custom collection of hundreds of news websites — filtered for bargains, continuously updated, and quick and easy to scan:

  • Reds (from Beaujolais to Zinfandel)
  • Whites (from Chablis to Sauvignon Blanc).

To hit closer to home, try WNR’s Advanced Wine Search tool and see what wine finds local columnists and wine experts may be writing about in your area. Once there, just type in your city and state (within quotation marks, as in, “Napa, California”), to get results ranked by relevance.

Or dig into some perennial standbys at SFGate.com’s Top 100 Wines of 2006, the Top 100 of 2006 list (PDF download) from Wine Spectator and the list of 50 Wines You Can Always Trust from Food & Wine.

Attracted to a bottle that’s advertised in the local paper or sitting on the local wine store shelf?

Do a little background research with Wine Enthusiast’s free, searchable Wine Buying Guide—either with a specific name or by types and price. For a little extra info, try Robert Parker’s handy Vintage Chart. Or see what the online wine community says about it with the search tools at cork’d, snooth or Wine Log.

Once you’ve selected the wine, you naturally want to decide what to eat with it. For some savvy guidance, try Natalie MacLean’s Wine & Food Matcher, which boasts a database of 360,000 wine-food pairings.

The Web is about community. So take a moment to comment about your experience with a particular wine — to help steer others to or away from it. And of course, have a great weekend!

Weekend wine list — experts’ picks: From smooth Malbec to juicy Shiraz

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Comparing the picks: A survey of recent selections from popular wine experts. Whenever there’s an option, I highlight the more-affordable wines, focusing on possible choices for weekend purchases. Check their websites for full descriptions and other picks:

2006 Alamos Malbec Argentina:
Natalie MacLean — “full-bodied, smooth and supple” — her best value red. $14.95

2006 Hayman & Hill Reserve Selection Riesling, Columbia Valley:
Jerry Shriver — “full of pure, fresh-tasting fruit … an ideal partner for Asian-style seafood dishes.” About $15

Broadbent, Vinho Verde (Portugal) Broadbent Selections NV:
Michael Franz — “the ticket for a bracing, supremely refreshing glass of wine for a warm Indian Summer evening.” He calls it a “striking wine at a strikingly attractive price.” $8

The Little Penguin  Shiraz South Eastern Australia 2006:
Wine Spectator — “smooth and juicy, with pretty blueberry and plum flavors” — with a nice finish, but drink it now. $8

Les Fiefs de Lagrange 2001 St-Julien:
Jancis Robinson — “sappy, lively, very respectable Médoc which has quite enough fruit to counterbalance the ambitious tannin level,” but drink it from spring of next year until 2016. $24.99

Tip: Print out this list and bring it to you local wine shop — even if a specific favorite isn’t available, ask the salesperson to recommend something similar. Or try browsing the latest wine reports from this custom collection of hundreds of news websites — filtered for bargains, continuously updated, and quick and easy to scan:

  • Reds (from Beaujolais to Zinfandel)
  • Whites (from Chablis to Sauvignon Blanc).

To hit closer to home, try WNR’s Advanced Wine Search tool and see what wine finds local columnists and wine experts may be writing about in your area. Once there, just type in your city and state (within quotation marks, as in, “Napa, California”), to get results ranked by relevance.

Or dig into some perennial standbys at SFGate.com’s Top 100 Wines of 2006, the Top 100 of 2006 list (PDF download) from Wine Spectator and the list of 50 Wines You Can Always Trust from Food & Wine.

Attracted to a bottle that’s advertised in the local paper or sitting on the local wine store shelf?

Do a little background research with Wine Enthusiast’s free, searchable Wine Buying Guide—either with a specific name or by types and price. For a little extra info, try Robert Parker’s handy Vintage Chart. Or see what the online wine community says about it with the search tools at cork’d, snooth or Wine Log.

Once you’ve selected the wine, you naturally want to decide what to eat with it. For some savvy guidance, try Natalie MacLean’s Wine & Food Matcher, which boasts a database of 360,000 wine-food pairings.

The Web is about community. So take a moment to comment about your experience with a particular wine — to help steer others to or away from it. And of course, have a great weekend!

Web sips: Wine headlines, 10/09/07

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Handpicked wine stories from across the Web…

New and notable headlines:

Online competition might lower wine prices
Short, sweet and to the point: "Consumers are better off when local stores have to compete with online sellers," said Assistant Professor Alan Wiseman, co-author of the study.

Wine cellars are the latest must-have in upscale homes
Not even the "shaky economy and the uncertainty of the housing market" have squelched the trend. (Hey, holiday season’s coming, and — who knows? — you might get lucky.)

Autumn bargains are in the air
Speaking of the holidays, here’s a quick roundup of deals, including wines. "Fall is always when the new bottles from last year’s harvest show up on shelves," says Natalie MacLean, editor of the wine site Nat Decants. "The crush of vineyards clamoring for your attention keeps prices low."

Rain may hurt taste of year’s pinot noir
Read it and weep: Oregon growers say "by and large the vintage won’t be what consumers are used to from the region."

Thirsty for more news? Follow up this serving of new and notable headlines by digging into continuously updated feeds from national and international news outlets: The focus is on red and white wine bargains.

Weekend wine list — experts’ picks: From Vinho Verde to dry Riesling

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Comparing the picks: A survey of recent selections from popular wine experts. Whenever there’s an option, I highlight the more-affordable wines, focusing on possible choices for weekend purchases. Check their websites for full descriptions and other picks:

2006 Aveleda Follies Vinho Verde 2006 Portugal:
Natalie MacLean — marked by "enticing aromas of grapefruit and citrus" — made from the Alvarinho grape, considered the best for Vinho Verde. Her best value white. $15.95

2006 Forest Glen Pinot Noir, Calif.:
Jerry Shriver — nice "ripe black berry and cherry flavors" but too much oak and one-dimensional. Yet you come "away satisfied and that’s what counts in the end, right?" $11

2004 “Portal Roble” from Bodegas Vinos Pinol (in the Terra Alta region of northeastern Spain):
Edward Deitch — "unusually complex and interesting for the price and reminded me that Spain still offers some of the best wine values." $20

2007 Penfold’s Thomas Hyland Riesling South Australia:
Jay McInerney — "a terrific price-to-quality ratio" for this very dry Riesling "with lime and green apple fruit." $20

Churchill’s Tawny Porto 10 Years Old:
Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg — "aged tawny ports trumpet their maturity on their labels as badges of honor," but here’s one for "those of us looking for the biggest bang for our bucks." $29

Tip: Print out this list and bring it to you local wine shop — even if a specific favorite isn’t available, ask the salesperson to recommend something similar. Or try browsing the latest wine reports from this custom collection of hundreds of news websites — filtered for bargains, continuously updated, and quick and easy to scan:

  • Reds (from Beaujolais to Zinfandel)
  • Whites (from Chablis to Sauvignon Blanc).

To hit closer to home, try WNR’s Advanced Wine Search tool and see what wine finds local columnists and wine experts may be writing about in your area. Once there, just type in your city and state (within quotation marks, as in, "Napa, California"), to get results ranked by relevance.

Or dig into some perennial standbys at SFGate.com’s Top 100 Wines of 2006, the Top 100 of 2006 list (PDF download) from Wine Spectator and the list of 50 Wines You Can Always Trust from Food & Wine.

Attracted to a bottle that’s advertised in the local paper or sitting on the local wine store shelf?

Do a little background research with Wine Enthusiast’s free, searchable Wine Buying Guide — either with a specific name or by types and price. For a little extra info, try Robert Parker’s handy Vintage Chart. Or see what the online wine community says about it with the search tools at cork’d, snooth or Wine Log.

Once you’ve selected the wine, you naturally want to decide what to eat with it. For some savvy guidance, try Natalie MacLean’s Wine & Food Matcher, which boasts a database of 360,000 wine-food pairings.

The Web is about community. So take a moment to comment about your experience with a particular wine — to help steer others to or away from it. And of course, have a great weekend!

Don’t get flustered about what wine to choose — get smarter instead

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It’s only natural to get a little flustered when a waiter hands you an impenetrable wine list. Or when your mind goes blank trying to decide what to pick up at the local wine shop, the one that mostly seems to carry bottles you’ve never heard of.

But becoming smarter about wine — figuring out what you really like and, perhaps more important, what you should plunk down good money to buy — that’s not as hard as it might seem.

Take it from Michael Franz, editor of the excellent Wine Review Online.

“You can learn a lot in a hurry,” Franz told a gathering of wine enthusiasts at a recent tasting event hosted by the Washington Wine Academy.

Wine democracy

Franz is one of those experts helping to promote a democratization of the wine scene with a philosophy that essentially says your own palate is the best judge of what tastes nice and what doesn’t.

The trick is learning to tell the difference between various styles and brands. And that, Franz said, comes down to just a few basic questions: What’s the grape variety, where was it grown and how was it made at the winery?

Much of that kind of information can be absorbed by doing a little homework. One place to start is the Wine 101 tab of the Professional Friends of Wine website. Focusing on some 80 selections that are of most interest to U.S. consumers, the listings not only tell you what aromas and flavors to look for in a grape variety but also how and where it’s grown.

Nothing beats sipping

Reading about wine is all well and good. But nothing beats actually doing some sipping at an organized wine tasting, where you’re likely to be more attentive and analytical about what you’re imbibing. Other advantages include having a large collection of types to test all at once, being able to compare tasting notes with others and getting encouragement from an experienced group leader.

Case in point is the Washington Wine Academy’s two-part “ABC’s of Wine” program. Each delicious part featured four pairs of different wines (not to mention a glass of chilled bubbly on your way into the conference room to shake off the workaday cobwebs).

Guiding us through the tastings with steady humor as well as expertise, Franz would point out, for example, how geography and climate can lead to some not-so-subtle differences that we might notice among wines made from the same grape variety.

Don’t despair

“But if you get them all wrong, it does not mean you should go back to beer!” Franz declared to a round of friendly laughter in advance of a blind tasting. The odds get better with practice, he assured us.

To find a place to “practice” near you, check out LocalWineEvents.com and Wine Events Calendar.

Or try out the Advanced Wine Search tool on the upper right of this page: Just type your city and state (e.g., Napa, California) in the text box, hit the Search button and then click on the “Tastings” link just above the initial results.

Trust me, you’ll feel much better next time you face a snooty wine list or find yourself roaming alone around wine shelves.