Jennifer’s most recent “Women & Wine” Column!! Click the image to enlarge!!
What to Serve with the Bird
Rosé - Dry, Pink and Perfect
Ask a winemaker what they’re serving with turkey dinner, and chances are, they’ll say Rosé. It pairs perfectly with turkey and all the trimmings.
Rosés are dry, and offer fresh fruit flavors of strawberries, cherries, and raspberries, with hints of ruby red grapefruit, watermelon, and spice flavors like thyme, cinnamon or ginger. A good rosé will have a nice acid balance with delicate fruit flavors. The clean, fresh flavors are followed by a crisp mouth feel. Rosés are excellent food wines due to the balance of acidity and fruit and a light to medium body.
Rosé wines are best served slightly chilled, similar to a white wine. A good Rosé focuses flavors and complements the richness of dark meat, gravy, and butter.
Try the Crios Rosé of Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina. It is under $15 and is a huge seller at Saint Louis Cellars!
White Wine - Popular for Thanksgiving
Pinot Gris is extraordinarily popular with turkey dinner. It fits well with a holiday designed to celebrate harvest and bounty. And it’s fresh, as the wine typically sports bright, clean, fruit-driven flavors when young. Styles vary, of course, but you’ll usually find fruit flavors of apple and pear, peach and mango. The best bottles spend extra time aging in oak, which adds a creamy texture and a refreshing minerality.
Northwest United States (i.e. Oregon and Washington state) Pinot Gris is more substantial than Italian Pinot grigio, with riper fruit, but it delivers the same lip-smacking acidity, which really sets off food flavors. An Oregon Pinot Gris, as compared to an Italian Pinot grigio, (which is the same grape, but from a different country) has significant weight in the mouth, is much fuller bodied, and adds a ripe, spicier note that melds well with both turkey and the trimmings.
Oregon Pinot Gris has a lot of bright, fruit flavors of apple and peach, with searing acidity and mineral notes that pair well with all kinds of Thanksgiving foods from creamed onions to sausage and herb stuffing.
Try the A to Z Pinot Gris from Oregon, again under $15 per bottle!
Pinot Noir and Turkey go Together
Chefs buy up medium bodied, fruity Pinot Noirs to serve at Thanksgiving dinner. The bold flavors and balanced acidity coax the best out of this sainted bird. Pinot Noir is a high-acid, low-tannin wine with loads of red-skinned berry notes to complement not just the turkey but all of the usual side dishes: your potatoes, your sweet yams, your cranberry sauce.
The dominant flavor of Pinot noir is of fresh, lively red fruit - cranberry, pomegranate, red currant, raspberry and sour cherry are common descriptors, some with an earthy quality as well. With these fruits come uplifting, refreshing acidity. Pinot works beautifully to foil the richness of turkey, Cornish hen, quail, etc. while providing contrasting flavours, especially if herbal, spicy dressing is added to the mix. Before serving it will help to decant and aerate young Pinot for an hour or two, and serve it just a touch cool.
Try the Belle Glos “Meiomi” Pinot Noir from California. It is under $20 per bottle!
So to recap, if you’re not sure what to bring with you to your Thanksgiving dinner, grab a Pinot—whether it’s Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris or Pinot Noir. If you’re not sure if the host prefers white or red wines, go with a Rosé and everyone will be happy!
Five Quick Tips for Pairing Cheese & Wine
We found this great article that simplifies how to pair cheese with wine. It’s not really as hard as it seems:
1. Salty with Sweet: The salty flavor of blue cheeses, and even some washed rind cheeses, balances out the sweetness of dessert wines, and vice versa. Try Stilton with Port or Epoisses with Sauternes.
2. Regional: Try pairing cheese and wine produced in the same region. Spanish Manchego or Zamarano with an Albariño wine, and Beecher’s Flagship Reserve cheddar with a Washington state Syrah are examples of regional pairings that work well.
3. Creamy with Tannic: Triple Crème cheese is buttery, smooth and gentle; the perfect foil for the rough tannins found in a young red wine from Bordeaux. Although slightly less creamy, Brie might be another good match.
4. Acidity with Acidity: Repeat after me: Goat cheese and Sauvignon Blanc. You will not be disappointed. Why? The acidity in goat cheese gives it a tangy zip that matches perfectly with the crisp acidity of most Sauvignon Blancs. Try French Selles-sur-Cher with Sancerre.
5. Rich and Creamy with Bubbles: If the only reason for this pairing is complete decadence, so be it. Champagne or any sparkling wine paired with a rich, creamy cheese is one of life’s great pleasures. Try it with St. Andre Triple Crème or a wedge of rich, dense Gruyere.
Source: Jennifer Meier, About.com Guide, Five Quick Tips for Pairing Cheese & Wine,
http://cheese.about.com/od/cheesebeverages/qt/quickpairing.htm
Wine Gifting Etiquette
Is there etiquette for giving a bottle of wine as a gift or hostess gift? Here are a few tips for gifting the perfect wine:
Add a Personal Note
Add a note that tells why you selected the bottle—the label made you laugh, you visited that country on your last vacation and wanted to share the memory with them, your favorite wine store said they would love it and more. Be thoughtful and original with the card that accompanies the wine. Luckily, Saint Louis Cellars does free gift wrap and ties a tag onto every wrapped bottle, perfect for you to write your message on.
Keep It Cold, Only if Necessary
Unless you’re planning to open the wine immediately with the person that you are gifting it to, don’t chill the wine. It’s not necessary and it’s better that it’s the right temperature upon serving than slightly cold. If the host asked you to bring champagne or white wine, then absolutely the wine must be chilled before arrival. You can put it in a cooler or tote with an ice pack or frozen veggies to transport it at the perfect temperature.
Respect Wine Pairing
If the wine is going to be opened and served with a meal, try to know the food that will be on the menu so you can choose accordingly. For example, Chardonnay with Mexican food is not okay—these things do make a difference. If you have tried the wine previously, and loved it, don’t forget to include that in your note. If it’s come from your cellar, consider bringing an aged bottle that you know would cost far more than you would spend today to a dear friend who you know will enjoy it. I also would let them know that fact so they realize that the bottle has been aged.
Give Wine with Pride
Be proud of bringing a wine gift. I’ve seen people arrive at a party and almost throw the wine gift at the person who is to receive it. Present it with the enthusiasm you had when picking out the gift!
SOURCE: http://www.divinecaroline.com/22170/62160-holiday-tips-gifting-wine/2
Top 5 Questions Asked to the Cellars Staff
1. How long does wine last once opened?
Wine, left open to the ills of oxygen, will spoil as early as within a day. Wine loses a considerable amount of quality within the first 12-24 hours. Happily, the spoilage rate may be slowed by the tannic makeup of the wine (reds will last longer thanks to tannins’ preservative powers) and temperature (wines kept at lower temperatures will also last longer). Re-corking and keeping a wine in the refrigerator will extend its life for up to 3 days, and removing the oxygen from the bottle first with the likes of VacuVin wine savers can preserve it for up to a week.
2. What are the benefits of allowing wine to breathe?
Fantastic things happen when a wine breathes, or is exposed to oxygen. Tannins can soften, aromatic volatize, and in general a wine can seem to blossom.
If you don’t have a decanter or an aerator, don’t worry! Just pull the cork, and perhaps pouring off a bit of wine to increase the surface area and then letting the wine oxygenate very slowly. As a general rule, young wines can only benefit from it, and it seems to help many older wines, though the window during which they drink well might be significantly compressed by decanting.
3. What wine will get me the most screwed-up the fastest?
I have gotten this question more often than you might think and the answer might be surprising. One’s first reaction is to answer “the wine with the highest alcohol content,” right? After all, it’s the alcohol that gets you drunk, so more would be better.
Well, actually it’s the rate at which your consumption of alcohol exceeds your body’s ability to metabolize it that makes you drunk. So, it stands to reason then that the combination of alcohol plus drinkability yields the answer. No matter what the alcohol, if a wine is tough to drink, you’re not going to get drunk quickly.
Of course, Champagne, or sparkling wine, is the best answer here. Not because it’s particularly high in alcohol (most average around 12.5%), nor because of its drinkability (I find the bubbles slow me down), but rather because of those bubbles! Studies have shown that the CO2 in sparkling wine speeds up the absorption of alcohol into one’s blood stream. Maybe it’s the pressure created in the stomach and intestines. I’m not sure, but repeated studies have verified this.
4. Settle the debate between my husband and I: Cork or Screwtop?
If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say, with a look of pure disgust on his or her face, “I refuse to buy any wine with a screwtop on it,” I would be a rich woman. At that point, it is difficult to change the person’s mind, but it is necessary for consumers to get the facts.
The wine industry estimates between an 8% and 15% failure rate in corked wines. Think about that percentage. That’s basically one bottle in each case of wine has some sort of taint from the cork! Can you imagine a hotel where one of every ten rooms provides an unacceptable experience?
Wine has been stored in bottles with corks for a long time. Why change? We no longer need to stock wine in the cellar for the year’s consumption. With today’s global distribution systems, wine is stored for much less time because it is so readily available. More than 80% of wine purchased in the USA is consumed within 48 hours of purchase and 98% is consumed within six months. Corks were a natural solution to longer-term storage of wine in the past because they could be forced into bottles, hold the liquid inside and yet be removed again. However, cork’s natural permeability varies and results in variable aging for identical wines in different bottles.
Long story short: screw tops offer the best choice to insure that the quality wine we put into the bottle is what you receive in your glass.
5. How do I know when to drink a wine?
Most wines made these days are meant to be consumed when they’re bought, or at least within a year or two of purchase. For the few that require aging, the right time to drink them depends on the region, the climate that year, and the wine’s longevity.
Wine: A Numbers Game
Age of vine before producing useful grapes—3 years
Age of vine before full production—5 years
Productive lifetime of a vine—30-35 years—Although the quality can remain good, the yield begins to decrease after that
Grape clusters in bottle—4-5
Grapes in a bottle—500-600
Clusters on a vine—40
Grapes in a cluster—75-100
Grape clusters in one glass of wine—1
Vines per acre—500-1300
Pounds of grapes produced by one vine—8-12
Tons per acre—4 (average—can vary greatly)
Gallons of wine per ton of grapes—120
Gallons of wine per acre—less than 500
Barrels per acre—13.5
Bottles per vine—4-6
Bottles per ton—500—700
Bottles per acre—4,000
Cases per barrel—24.6
Glasses per acre—16,000
Glasses in a bottle—5-6
Bottles per 60 gallon barrel—300
Calories in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine—100-125
Fat in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine—0
Carbohydrates in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine—1-2
Cost of acre of new vineyard in Napa Valley—$120,000 (some existing property has been sold for $300,000 an acre)
Cost of French oak barrel—$600-850
Cost of American oak barrel—$300-550
Average age of a French oak tree used to make barrels—170 years
Number of years an oak barrel is used—5-8
Why Do I Get Headaches from Red Wine??
Sulfites are naturally occurring elements in wine. In addition to the naturally occurring sulfites, vintners have been using sulfur in various forms for years. Sulfur is used in the vineyards, in the cellars, and during bottling to help protect your wine from spoilage.
Many people believe that the headaches they get from drinking wine are due to their allergic reaction to these sulfites. Truth is, very few people are allergic to sulfites and almost all vintners have been working tirelessly to bring the levels in their wines down.
Well, it’s probably not the sulfites, right? Indeed, it probably is not. The most likely culprits are histamines in wine. Red wines have higher levels of histamines than whites, since the histamines are in the skins of the wine and red wines spend time macerating on their skins to extract pigment, tannin, flavors, and, yes, histamines.
Those same tannins and flavonoids tend to help to preserve red wines, resulting in many white wines with higher levels of sulfites than red wines. So, if you’re getting a headache after drinking red wine, it is likely a reaction to the histamines, which can be prevented by taking an antihistamine before starting to drink.
SOURCE: Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gregory-dal-piaz/wine-questions-answers-faq_b_791773.html#s198628&title=What_are_sulfites
Wine regions of France.
French Wine: What Does It All Mean??
Ok, so what exactly is a Bordeaux? Is it a grape? A region? French wine is so confusing. Let’s explain…
BORDEAUX – A Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France, located on the southwest of the country. For red wines, the most planted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Cabernet Franc is not as common but also authorized. Petit Verdot and Malbec are scarce. For white wines, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon each represent 42% of the vineyard surface and Muscadelle 9%.
BORDEAUX RED VARIETALS
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Cabernet Franc
- Merlot
- Malbec
- Petit Verdot
BORDEAUX WHITE VARIETALS
- Sauvignon Blanc (42%)
- Semillon (42%)
- Muscadelle (9%)
BURGUNDY – Burgundy wine (French: Bourgogne or Vin de Bourgogne) is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as “Burgundies” - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from Chardonnay grapes. Red and white wines are also made from other grape varieties, such as Gamay and Aligoté respectively. Small amounts of rosé and sparkling wine are also produced in the region. Chardonnay-dominated Chablis and Gamay-dominated Beaujolais are formally part of the Burgundy wine region, but wines from those subregions are usually referred to by their own names rather than as “Burgundy wines”.
Burgundy is smaller than the Bordeaux region. It comprises the districts of Chablis (dry white wines), Cõte d’Or (red and white), Beaujolais (red), and Mâcon (white and red).
BURGUNDY RED VARIETALS
- Pinot Noir
- Gamay
BURGUNDY WHITE VARIETALS
- Chardonnay
- Aligoté
COTES DU RHONE – Côtes du Rhône (English: Slopes or Hills of the Rhône) is a wine-growing Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for the Rhône wine region of France, located in the southeastern area of the country. Côtes du Rhône are the basic AOC wines of the Rhône region, and exist as red, white and rosé wines, generally dominated by Grenache (reds and rosés) or Grenache blanc (whites). When someone talks about a Cotes du Rhone, they mean Syrah.
RHONE RED VARIETALS (in descending order):
- Grenache
- Syrah
- Mourvedre
- Cinsault
- Carignan
- Counoise
- Picpoul
RHONE WHITE VARIETALS (in descending order):
- Grenache Blanc
- Marsanne
- Roussanne
- Bourboulenc
- Viognier
- Picpoul Blanc
CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE – Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a French wine Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) located around the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Rhône wine region in southeastern France. It is the most renowned appellation of the southern part of the Rhône Valley. More wine is made in this one area of southern Rhône than in the entirety of the northern Rhône region.
CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE RED VARIETALS:
- Grenache
- Syrah
- Mouvedre
CHINON – Chinon wine comes from the vineyards around the town of Chinon in Touraine in northwestern France, in the Loire Valley. Unusually for the Loire Valley, it is mostly red wine, with 2-5% rosé and a little white wine. The reds and rosés are made from Cabernet Franc, with an allowance of 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Their whites are composed primarily of Chenin Blanc. They are typically described as dry, soft, light, and clean.
CHINON RED VARIETALS:
- Cabernet Franc
- Cabernet Sauvignon (up to 10%)
CHINON WHITE VARIETALS:
- Chenin Blanc
CHAMPAGNE – The primary grapes used in the production of Champagne (northeastern France) are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Champagne appellation law only allows grapes grown according to appellation rules in specifically designated plots within the appellation to be used in the production of Champagne.
GRAPES USED TO MAKE CHAMPAGNE:
- Pinot Noir
- Chardonnay
- Pinot Meunier
Proper Wine Tasting Etiquette
• The smell of young wine is called an “aroma” while a more mature wine offers a more subtle “bouquet.”
• A “cork-tease” is someone who constantly talks about the wine he or she will open but never does.
• Since wine tasting is essentially wine smelling, women tend to be better wine testers because women, particularly of reproductive ages, have a better sense of smell than men.
• Red wines are red because fermentation extracts color from the grape skins. White wines are not fermented with the skins present. For a Rosé wine, the winemaker removes the skins from the tanks earlier than they would to make it a full blown red wine. SIDE NOTE: remember there is a HUGE difference between Rosé and White Zinfandel…for a White Zinfandel, the winemaker adds sugar. For a Rosé, they do not. So don’t turn your nose up to a Rosé!!
• There is increasing scientific evidence that moderate, regular wine drinking can reduce the risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and gum disease.
• Red wine, typically more than white wine, has antioxidant properties and contains resveratrol, which seems to be important in the cardio-protective effects of wine.
• Swirling oxygenates wine and helps release its aromas
• Wine testers swirl their glass to encourage the wine to release all of its powerful aromas. Most don’t fill the glass more than a third full in order to allow aromas to collect and to not spill it during a swirl.
• Most wine is served in a glass that has a gently curved rim at the top to help contain the aromas in the glass. The thinner the glass and the finer the rim, the better. A flaring, trumpet-shaped class dissipates the aromas.
• When tasting wine, hold the wine in the mouth for a moment or two and then either swallow it or, preferably, spit it out, usually into a spittoon. A really good wine will have a long aftertaste, while an inferior wine will have a short aftertaste.
