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The Language of Wine

July 11, 2013 by Don Lahey

Every field of study has its own language, and wine is no exception. But what is the language of wine? It’s simile and metaphor, simply because we humans have such a limited sense of taste. Sweetness, bitterness, acidity, and saltiness are our main taste sensations. Most of the rest of what we taste is actually what we smell, and scent for Homo sapiens evokes a collective memory from past experiences. Consequently, when tasting wine we resort to expressions that sound something like the following: “This Pinot Noir smells and tastes like ripe strawberries and the Cabernet in my glass reminds me of blackberries and currants, chocolate and coffee.” Are these descriptors just a bunch of hogwash? Can Pinot Noir really taste and smell like strawberries? And could the Cabernet in my glass truly possess the scent or savor of all those organic compounds? Certainly, though the perception of their appearance in wine can be subjective, depending largely upon one’s collective experiences. Nonetheless, research studies have revealed that organic compounds share many common characteristics, which can be accentuated by fermentation. During the fermentation process phenol compounds in grapes undergo changes that release esters (the combination of acids and alcohols that carry scent and flavor in plants and fruits) similar to other organic compounds. So, the next time you drink a wine that you think smells or tastes like berries, vanilla, or some other organic compound, you are probably evoking your collective memory. Relax and enjoy the reminder from your collective memory!

Salud!
Don

Summertime Wines

July 1, 2013 by Don Lahey

For many wine drinkers, summer means switching from red wines to white wines, but for me it’s more about choosing different red and white wines. After all, I’m an equal opportunity imbiber. I like both red and white wine, and I don’t relish giving up either, even for several months. In my ideal world every main meal throughout the year would begin with a tantalizing white wine to whet the taste buds, continue with a kick butt red, and follow with a meditative wine of either persuasion. But alas, my wallet and liver won’t support that much indulgence. So, I choose.

About this time of year, I think Bordeaux Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño, Verdejo, and the multitude of fresh, charming white wines that emanate from Italy. These are the kinds of white wines that make sitting on the porch with glass in hand a truly noble ambition – a time to relax, talk, watch the sun go down, or just wait for the grill to be hot enough to begin preparing dinner. That would also be time to decide what red wine to serve with whatever goes on the grill. For me, summer means choosing young red wines from the South of France, full-bodied aromatic offerings from California and South America, and Spanish reds of all sizes and styles. As the product of hot, dry Mediterranean climates, these reds can hold up to summer heat and whatever comes off the grill. Just remember to keep summer reds cool, which can be a real challenge. In hot weather, there’s nothing wrong with putting a bottle of red wine in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to bring it to cellar or cool room temperature (60°-65°F). I do, and I’m not ashamed. Life’s just too short not to enjoy red wine all year long.

Salud!
Don

Where to Find the Best Wine, People, and Places

June 20, 2013 by Don Lahey

The world’s viticultural areas are renowned for their natural beauty as well as their wines, but many have succumbed to crass commercialization and often exude an exulted sense of themselves, but happily not all. If you truly love wine and are looking for an exciting young wine country with many exceptional wines, plenty of friendly and passionate people, and an unspoiled land that offers a true feast for the eyes as well as the palate, try British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Situated in a scenic valley between the coastal mountains and the Canadian Rockies, Okanagan flows north for nearly 125 miles from the border with Washington State to north of Kelowna. The Okanagan’s vines lay primarily on sunny, well drained bench lands that overlook the countryside’s deep glacial lakes. Think Lake Tahoe.

So, yes indeed, the scenery is knockout beautiful and the Okanagan is serious wine country, too, so what more could you want? How about 200 fun loving wine bloggers, dozens of winery owners to go along with the picturesque scenery and fine food, the latter emanating from fresh sustainably grown foods from farms nearby! The organizers’ of this year’s International Bloggers’ Conference, which was held in Penticton, British Columbia, wisely chose to highlight Okanagan during the 2013 International Wine Bloggers’ Conference. Imagine spending four days with 200 passionate wine bloggers, hundreds and hundreds of wines from the Okanagan and from around the world, and passionate winemakers.

A good time was had by all. And in case you’re wondering, the wines of Okanagan are well worth searching out. What began earlier this month as a voyage of discovery has already yielded great fruit in the form of many of Canada’s most compelling wines. Stay tuned for more about Okanagan and this year’s wine bloggers’ conference.

Don

Some Reasons to Drink Cava

May 14, 2013 by Don Lahey

Cava is Spain’s answer to Champagne, although a case can be made for Cava offering more of a rebuke to Champagne than a retort. After all, Cava hails from a different climate and terroir than Champagne, and Cava is produced primarily or entirely from indigenous Spanish grape varieties such as Xarelo-lo, Parellada, Viura, and Macabeo, rather than the traditional French varietals inherent in Champagne. Naturally, all of this accounts for differences between Cava and Champagne, thereby rendering each nation’s sparkling wine unique. But then, there is also the difference in price. The vast majority of Cavas sell for under $20.00 a bottle. Is there much French Champagne available for half that price? Yet, like Champagne good Cava is produced by the same traditional method of fermentation in the bottle, and the end result is plenty of good drinking bubbly. The most compelling reason to drink Cava is simply this: Nobody makes better dry sparkling wine for the money than Spain’s Cava producers. With the addition of champagne yeasts during fermentation, the acid rich musts of Spanish Cava yield sparkling wines of rich flavor, softness and finesse that can at times rival those of Champagne. Where Cava may even have the “edge” on Champagne is in its soft, round, lingering finish – the antithesis of French Champagne which can often possess just a bit too much acidic verve in its aftertaste or finish to suit some tastes. Consequently, I enjoy Cava more often than Champagne because Cava is affordable, versatile, and appealing to a wide audience.

Bordeaux: What’s in a vintage?

April 16, 2013 by Don Lahey

In some wine regions of the world, the quality of wine doesn’t vary tremendously from year to year. The reason is that the weather in some wine areas remains fairly consistent and predictable. In other wine lands such as Bordeaux, vintage means everything. The weather in Bordeaux varies enormously throughout the growing season and from year to year, and because weather largely determines the quality of the vintage and the resulting wine, vintage speaks volumes in the most hallowed of French appellations. The saying in Bordeaux is June makes the quantity, August the style, and September the quality. If the flowering and subsequent berry set go well in June, growers can look forward to a bumper crop. And by August, the vignerons know roughly what to expect in style. But it’s September that ultimately determines how good the Bordeaux will be, particularly the reds, based largely on the amount and frequency of rain that falls during the month. If a tropical depression sweeps in from the Atlantic, all bets will be off. With this said, Bordeaux has enjoyed a bevy of fine vintages in recent years, and no two back to back vintages in memory rank higher than 2009 and 2010. Although the resulting wines are different in style, each of these vintages enjoyed ideal weather in September and October. The years 2009 and 2010 produced from top to bottom some of Bordeaux’s most drinkable and profound red wines. Consequently, I’m putting as many 2009 and 2010 red Bordeaux in my cellar as I can afford because Bordeaux doesn’t get much better than in these two vintages.

Don

Too Hot, Too Cold!

November 8, 2012 by Don Lahey

light red wine in glass — What is the temp of your wine?

What’s the best temperature to serve a wine? The age old response to the question is to serve white wines cold and red wines at room temperature. But in this case not only is traditional wisdom out of synch with recent university studies, it’s also vague and misleading. First and foremost, what is room temperature? Room temperature varies from season to season and locale to locale. In addition, the term doesn’t take into account modern heating and air conditioning, which greatly alter the temperature of a room. Moreover, when the conventional wisdom of serving red wine at room temperature came into vague in England and France centuries ago, room temperature was likely 55°- 65° F, if you were lucky. Not surprisingly, university studies confirm that the vast majority of wine drinkers garner the most flavor and pleasure from red wines consumed between 55°- 65° F, which is decidedly cooler than room temperature in most American homes. Consequently, the term room temperature is useless to most of us today with central heating and air conditioning.

Conversely, recent studies indicate that wine drinkers report the greatest pleasure and taste from white wines consumed between 45°-55° F, which means we may be cheating ourselves by nearly freezing white wines before rapidly consuming them. So, what’s a wine drinker to do? Drink wine at the temperature that suits your palate of course. Yet, you may want to experiment with some of your favorite red wines by cooling them down for 15-20 minutes in the refrigerator and allowing white wines to sit in a glass for 15 minutes before guzzling them. Personally, I think most of us consume red wines too warm and white wines too cold. However, no one else can determine your pleasure quotient. So, why not experiment a bit, and see what suits you?

In Praise of Carmenere

October 5, 2012 by Don Lahey

Carmenere may not be on the tip of everyone’s tongue, literally and figuratively, but for the life of me I don’t know why. Granted not everyone likes the same kind of wine. I get that. People should drink what they like because no one can drink anyone else’s palate. Yet, the fact remains: I really love good Carmenere, the missing link of Bordeaux varietals that thrives now in Chile like it hasn’t in Bordeaux for well over a century, and I feel the need to spread the word. Brought to Chile in the 19^th century, before the advent of phylloxera, Chilean Carmenere was mistaken for a clone of Merlot until the 1980s. It’s hard to believe that one of Bordeaux’s six legal red grape varietals could be misidentified for so long, but the truth is always stranger than fiction. So, what do I like about Carmenere? A lot! First, any decent Carmenere will dazzle the eye because Carmenere yield’s the deepest purple of any grape varietal. More intriguing is Carmenere’s luscious aroma and savory flavors: rich red fruit and blackberry scents and savors wed to hints of bell pepper, black pepper, dark chocolate and spice. And best of all, Carmenere’s tannins are smoother than those of Cabernet and its other Bordeaux compatriots, making it a pleasure to drink in its youth. The older I get, the less I want to wait for wines to age. Lastly, every time I bring a well-made Carmenere to a tasting, it’s a hit, among young and old. People like it, especially after it’s had a few minutes to breathe. I never judge a Carmenere on first sip; any good Carmenere will change a dozen times in the glass. Better to give a good red wine a little time in the glass to collect itself, than have to wait years for it to be ready to drink. For sure, Carmenere’s not for everyone, but if you haven’t tried one, I suggest you do. You may find yourself singing its praises to.

A votre santé!

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