Wine-savvy

[bods1000]

Anybody who remembers those old Monty Python movies will be familiar with John Cleese. It turns out that the British comic is a "wine dabbler, but not yet an afficionado" and he has come out with a DVD called John Cleese's Wine for the Confused. With this documentary, he attempts to make choosing and buying wine less intimidating. "Wine is wonderful stuff. But so many people are put off by the snobbery of it. You only need a little bit of knowledge to increase your chances of getting a good bottle," he says.

 

Incidentally, Cleese lives in the Santa Barbara area and quite close to the locales used in Sideways. They chose 3 local wineries - Gainey in the Santa Ynez valley, Byron in the Santa Maria Valley, and Foxen, which appeared in Sideways - where the winemakers would discuss two of their most popular wines and offer wine advice.

 

Here are John Cleese's wine tips:

Know what you like and trust your own taste - Don't let anyone tell you what you like. Some wines that some experts think are absolutely exquisite don't appeal to me at all.

 

Learn to describe wines that you like - A few words like "sweet" or "dry" or "heavy" or "light" are easily understood.

 

Find a local wine shop and talk with the experts - They will help you identify more wines that you might like, at good values. You don't have to pay much.

[masi]

an uneventful wine weekend for me. popped a gran trillo last saturday night. was a bit introspective and gave me much time to focus on my sense of taste and smell. for a less than P200 a bottle, this wine stands its ground. mid-ruby color and a mild rich nose of cherries and a hint of vanilla. body was tangy and pretty sweet with moderate tannins. it lacked follow through.

 

hope you guys had a better one!

[floppydrive]

  Other favorites  from other renowned wine-producing areas in Australia are:  Sandgate Cabsav 2001 from Margaret River, Evans and Tate Cabsav 2000 (I think this is from Margaret River, too);  Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2001, Jacob's Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2001;  Peter Lehman's The Barossa Shiraz 2002;  Lindemann's CabSav 2001.  Wolf Blass also usually makes pretty good wines - try their yellow label cabsav 2003.    :-)

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What a weekend! I was cleaning up the pantry cabinet, and what do I find - a Jacob's Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2001! Apparently, a friend gave it as a Christmas gift, and it got stored away. Again, after going to Kikufuji, was happy to find a bottle of Torres Gran Coronas 1999 and a Torres Corona Tempranillo 2000.

[floppydrive]

an uneventful wine weekend for me.  popped a gran trillo last saturday night.  was a bit introspective and gave me much time to focus on my sense of taste and smell. for a less than P200 a bottle, this wine stands its ground. mid-ruby color and a mild rich nose of cherries and a hint of vanilla. body was tangy and pretty sweet with moderate tannins. it lacked follow through.

 

hope you guys had a better one!

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Senor Masi,

 

In such a case where the wine is not fantastic and you're drinking alone, do you finish the bottle, keep the remaining stuff and drink it again, keep it and use it for cooking, or throw it away?

 

I always have a problem when opening a bottle alone - I can't finish it.

[masi]

Senor Masi,

 

In such a case where the wine is not fantastic and you're drinking alone, do you finish the bottle, keep the remaining stuff and drink it again, keep it and use it for cooking, or throw it away?

 

I always have a problem when opening a bottle alone - I can't finish it.

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i drink more than half a bottle so much so that around 1.5 to 2 glasses would be left for the next day. it doesnt taste and feel as good the next day but at least i got the better of it. i wouldnt be doing the same for better vintages but beggars couldnt be choosers.... i had no other company last saturday!

 

i think the point of opening a bottle of wine is to get the most out of it at that moment. if you cant finish it, have no regrets finishing it the day after.

[masi]

What a weekend!  I was cleaning up the pantry cabinet, and what do I find - a Jacob's Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2001!  Apparently, a friend gave it as a Christmas gift, and it got stored away.  Again, after going to Kikufuji,  was happy to find a bottle of Torres Gran Coronas 1999 and a Torres Corona Tempranillo 2000.

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a tempranillo is my wine of choice at this moment. i wont have second thoughts of buying a bottle much more popping one open anytime. it's light yet balanced. it's a great stand alone company especially when drinking alone.

[agxo3]

an uneventful wine weekend for me.  popped a gran trillo last saturday night.  was a bit introspective and gave me much time to focus on my sense of taste and smell. for a less than P200 a bottle, this wine stands its ground. mid-ruby color and a mild rich nose of cherries and a hint of vanilla. body was tangy and pretty sweet with moderate tannins. it lacked follow through.

 

hope you guys had a better one!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Senor Masi,

 

In such a case where the wine is not fantastic and you're drinking alone, do you finish the bottle, keep the remaining stuff and drink it again, keep it and use it for cooking, or throw it away?

 

I always have a problem when opening a bottle alone - I can't finish it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

a tempranillo is my wine of choice at this moment.  i wont have second thoughts of buying a bottle much more popping one open anytime.  it's light yet balanced.  it's a great stand alone company especially when drinking alone.

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Just got home - it's 10:30 pm oin a sunday night ater what started out as a pretty unenvenbtul (wine-wise) weekend. Spent Satrudady looking at ktichen sinks and faucets trying to decid ewhat to do for our kitchen remodel. Not yet started, but we need to close one a nubmer of things, like what contractor to give the job to, and other assorted etails. It's guaranteed to drive you crazy!!!

 

But today we went to an event at the Wood Family Vineyards in Livermore. It's a small place, run by Rhonda Wood, a former stewardess married to the CFO of a big company (and therefore big bucks behind her!).

 

We first found this place thorugh a small ad in a local wine rag, and discovered her syrahs. Great stuff! Smoky, fruity, big, bold and not overwhelmed by tannins despite its young age. that was th 2002. Today they released the 2003s. Not as good, IMHO, but they also had a really nice 2002 zin (lots of berries, that characteristic black pepper finish that was well in check with smooth tannins and a bunch of plums and prunes onthe nose). A so-so cab sauv tha when blended with the 2002 cab franc was just awesome. I wonder why they didn't do a blend of these two wines???

 

Talked a bit to Rhonda but with so many folks there (seemed like over 300 at one point) it was hard to get her attention. Met up with someone from Piccetti (???) winery in Cupertino and got an invite to a private tasting next week, although I will be in Vegas next Saturday for a school reunion. Maybe the following weekend if she's there.

 

Went to dinner and had the zin with our meal. I had the curried lamb - nice!! - and my frineds had the smoked prok chops and the roast prime rib, both of which went really nicely with the zin.

 

Came home with a half case of assorted wines - a couple of zins ('02), a cab sauv ('02 - a bit young, a touch of green but nice fruit and the tannins to back it up. I wonder what a couple of years will do to this wine? We'll find out.), a chardonnay (in the Chablis style - not a lot of oak, a lot of grapefruit and honeysuckle, with a hint of cantaloupe), a cab sauv, a cab franc (nice! red berries, smoke, round tannins which is unusual for something this young and a hint of white peppers on the finish), and a syrah (everyone was raving about it and I bought a bottle just to see what the hoopla was all about - it was tannic, green and young. I hope it improves with age otherwise it's a contest wine!)

 

(For references to the "contest", backread a few pages for my descirption of my annual bad wine contest and the 8' shrub that's grown to 20' after being fed all the dregs from the contest.)

 

Closed out the evening with a nice cigar and some really good burgundy-cask aged single malt Glenmorangie (12 years old). All in all, a nice weekend. Have a nice week, all!

[heavygatin_but_cutie]

just passing by to say HI to everyone! hope all is well with all of you....the way the thread is going..I think you are all doing good and enjoying!

 

I can't contribute like you guys do...so just passing to commend everyone for the good exchanges..hirap lang sumingit!

 

ciao...till my next visit...when? i have no idea.....

[masi]

just passing by to say HI to everyone! hope all is well with all of you....the way the thread is going..I think you are all doing good and enjoying!

 

I can't contribute like you guys do...so just passing to commend everyone for the good exchanges..hirap lang sumingit!

 

ciao...till my next visit...when? i have no idea.....

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hi cutie! you are most welcome to drop by or stay on this thread anytime. not that i am the thread starter to tell you such but more of a contributor like you. nothing much happening on the thread since i guess we have been drowned by work or other endeavors.

 

have you any recent wine experience to share? none on my side except for a some moments with johnny black.

 

have a good 1!

[agxo3]

From today's San Jose Mercury News Food and Wine Section. Seems the integrity of California's wine industry is taking a few hits.......wonder if any of my winewaker friends uses any of these techniques???

 

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Daniel: 5 little wine secrets

 

TECHNIQUES MOST VINTNERS DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT

 

By Laurie Daniel

 

Special to the Mercury News

 

 

Winemakers like to say that their wines are made in the vineyard. These days, though, the fruit from that vineyard is more and more likely to be subjected to a range of sophisticated technology and added ingredients on its way to the bottle.

 

There are machines to reduce alcohol content. Another machine exposes the wine to tiny amounts of oxygen to soften the wine and help preserve the color. Acid is added or subtracted. Grape extracts intensify color in red wines. Powdered tannins add body.

 

Some winemakers use these tools only on a problem wine or in a difficult vintage. Others use them routinely.

 

``We have people who are method-driven. . . . If you do 20 things and check off the list, you'll make a great wine,'' says Roger Boulton, professor of enology at the University of California-Davis, home to the best-known U.S. school for winemakers. ``Are you a winemaker or are you a recipe follower?''

 

Many consumers and vintners aren't concerned. If such techniques make the wine taste better, what's the big deal? None of them is hazardous to consumers. But critics say that such wines are manipulated to the point that they're manufactured, no longer a natural product. At the very least, some say, wine producers should be upfront about the practices they're using and let consumers make up their own minds.

 

``There's a galactic struggle between those who believe in terroir and those who believe in manufactured wines,'' says Ted Lemon, a winemaking consultant whose own label, Littorai Wines, produces single-vineyard pinot noir and chardonnay. ``The terroirists, we're losing.''

 

Alcohol reduction

 

The trend toward picking grapes riper and riper is driving the use of some of this technology, especially alcohol reduction. Even if wine isn't ``made'' in the vineyard, the process starts there. In the past, most grapes were picked when they reached a desired sugar content. Now, many winemakers say they look for ``physiological maturity.'' They're waiting for maximum flavor development and for the seeds to turn brown so they won't impart green tannins to the wine.

 

This extra time on the vine is known as extended hang time. When grapes are picked at very high sugar levels, the result is high alcohol in the finished wine. Alcohol levels have been creeping up in recent years. California cabernet, for example, used to check in at 12.5 percent alcohol in most years. Now, many of them are well over 14 percent. Some winemakers have decided to live with that -- the wines have big, ripe flavors and richness. Others take steps to bring down the alcohol, either because they don't like the taste or because wines over 14 percent alcohol are subjected to additional federal tax.

 

One option is to add water when the grapes are brought to the winery. Very ripe grapes are often a little dehydrated; adding water, winemakers reason, simply replaces moisture that was lost when the grapes shriveled.

 

It can be difficult to ferment super-ripe grapes into a completely dry wine, because as alcohol levels build, the yeast responsible for fermentation starts to die. So California regulations allow the addition of some water. But the limit -- ``no water in excess of the minimum amount necessary to facilitate normal fermentation'' -- leaves winemakers a lot of wiggle room. Some winemakers have reported adding as much as 15 to 20 percent water to certain fermentation lots.

 

Although some winemakers claim that adding water dilutes flavors, water's defenders say the practice is less invasive than the high-tech solutions: reverse osmosis and the spinning cone. A portion of the wine is put through one of these devices, the alcohol is reduced, then the treated wine is blended with the high-alcohol wine to bring down the overall level.

 

Most winemakers don't talk about it, but many of them apparently are de-alcoholizing their wines. The two California companies that perform the service won't reveal the names of their clients, but Vinovation in Sebastopol, which does reverse osmosis, says it has 1,000 California customers, while ConeTech in Santa Rosa, which has the spinning cone, says it has 650. (California has about 2,400 wineries, a figure that includes both bonded wineries and ``virtual'' wineries that produce wine under someone else's bond, according to Wine Business Monthly.)

 

Some wineries use the processes on a selected wine here or there; others have made alcohol reduction a regular part of their routine. In total, the processing done by Vinovation and ConeTech affects more than 16 million cases a year. In addition, Vinovation also has sold reverse osmosis equipment to 25 to 30 California wineries that handle the process in-house.

 

A few winemakers were very candid when I asked about alcohol reduction. Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz says he has used both reverse osmosis and the spinning cone. ``I'm not proud of it, but I have,'' he says. Grahm says the key is managing the vineyard so that grapes gain mature flavors at lower sugars. He's hoping that a switch to biodynamic farming at his Soledad vineyard will help. ``We're trying to make the changes in the vineyard,'' he says. ``But it's a very slow process.''

 

Bo Barrett, winemaker at Chateau Montelena in the Napa Valley, says he uses reverse osmosis about one vintage in three for his riesling, which comes from Potter Valley in Mendocino County. Consultant Lemon, who works with various wineries, says he had one client, which he wouldn't identify, that routinely de-alcoholized its wines.

 

Ridge Vineyards in Cupertino took an unusual step when it stated on the label of its 2002 Spring Mountain District Zinfandel that part of the wine had gone through reverse osmosis and why. Winemaker Paul Draper has been critical of the use of too much manipulation in winemaking, so he felt that it was important to explain that he'd taken this ``one time only'' step. ``No one talks about it, and it's done all the time,'' Draper says.

 

But he warns that the use of these techniques diminishes a wine's connection to the vineyard, an opinion echoed by Lemon. The grapes for the Ridge zinfandel came from York Creek Vineyard, and the wine usually would carry a vineyard designation. But Draper says the staff blind-tasted the wine and couldn't identify it as York Creek, so the wine was labeled with a broader appellation designation.

 

Acid adjustment

 

Super-ripe grapes have low acid levels. Although some people like the plush smoothness of low-acid wines, I think the wines tend to be flat and heavy, lacking that lively, palate-cleansing quality that makes wine so good with food. Low-acid wines are also more susceptible to microbial contamination -- acidity inhibits growth of all manner of nasty things.

 

To compensate for low natural acidity, many winemakers add acid -- usually tartaric acid, sometimes the less-expensive citric acid -- to the wine. Tartaric acid also occurs naturally in wine grapes; it's responsible for the glass-like crystals that sometimes form on the underside of a cork.

 

It's generally agreed that acid is best added early in the process; winemakers I've talked to in Australia's Barossa Valley say they routinely add it to fruit when it's being crushed. Acid adjustment is often more obvious when it's done later, such as just before bottling. The acid will poke out more and make the wine taste disjointed.

 

Rarely (at least in California), a winemaker will add a substance like calcium carbonate to reduce acid in a wine.

 

Powdered tannins

 

The use of oak barrels is a winemaking tool that has been employed for hundreds of years. Oak barrels impart flavors, such as vanilla, to the wine. They also impart tannin, which leaves a drying, astringent sensation on the tongue. Because oak barrels are very expensive, some wineries line tanks with new oak staves or even use oak chips to mimic the effects of a new oak barrel. Additional tannin in the wine comes from the skins and seeds of the grapes.

 

But winemakers also can add what are known as ``enological tannins,'' derived from either grapes or wood. At a session earlier this year at the annual Unified Symposium, a trade show for grape growers and wineries in Sacramento, Andrew Waterhouse, professor of enology at the University of California-Davis, outlined the uses of enological tannins, including increasing a wine's body and aging potential and stabilizing its color. Winemakers on the panel also said the tannins ameliorate green, vegetal flavors and -- paradoxically, since tannins by nature are astringent -- decrease astringency.

 

Daniel Shaw, winemaker at J. Lohr's facility in Paso Robles, put together a tasting for me of his experiments with enological tannins in a 2004 cabernet sauvignon. The samples showed the effects of wood tannins, grape tannins and a mixture, added at various points during fermentation. There was also a control sample, to which tannins hadn't been added. The differences were subtle, and in some cases the sample wasn't as good as the control. But I thought the most complex wines were the ones to which a mix of wood and grape tannins had been added, either at the beginning or midway through fermentation.

 

Shaw says he thinks the tannins are a useful tool in making less-expensive wines from younger vineyards. ``That's what matters in the end -- making better wine.''

 

But he adds, ``With our higher end, we're just trying to achieve natural balance'' in the vineyard.

 

Micro-oxygenation

 

Before it's bottled, wine can benefit from judicious exposure to oxygen at various times. One technique that's used is called ``racking,'' in which the wine is moved from one barrel or tank to another. It's used to clarify the wine -- the clear liquid is siphoned off from the dead yeast cells and other sediment that's collected at the bottom of the container -- but racking also exposes the wine to oxygen. It's a very labor-intensive process.

 

Micro-oxygenation (also known as micro-ox or by the French term microbullage) involves a machine developed in France that dispenses tiny, precise amounts of oxygen. Grahm, who uses micro-oxygenation, says it's more efficient and less damaging to the wine than racking.

 

He and other proponents say the process helps stabilize color, minimizes green components in the wine and gives the wine softer, rounder, less aggressive tannins. But it ``can really damage the wine if not used properly,'' Grahm says, leaving it with an oxidized, stale, dried-out taste. It's not clear yet whether micro-oxygenation will shorten a wine's life span.

 

Micro-ox is popular in Bordeaux and is prominent in the documentary ``Mondovino,'' in which consultant Michel Rolland is seen continually advising his Bordeaux clients to micro-oxygenate this or that barrel.

 

Color enhancers

 

It's illegal to add food coloring to wine. But it has long been an open secret that some winemakers will boost the color of a pale red -- say, pinot noir -- by blending in a tiny percentage of something darker, like syrah. It's legal: Federal regulations require that a wine labeled with a varietal name contain at least 75 percent of that grape variety.

 

California regulations also permit the addition of grape concentrate, which can boost the body of a thin, underripe wine. Concentrates made from red grape varieties with a lot of color, like the hybrid rubired, grown in the Central Valley, also are used to add color.

 

Using a concentrate to add color somehow seems less ``natural'' than blending in some darker grapes. But Lemon, who's not advocating using concentrates, says that a wine like pinot noir is likely to be changed more significantly by the addition of, say, 5 percent cabernet than by the addition of a small amount of grape concentrate.

 

Clearly, it's hard to determine where to draw the line -- or whether a line should even be drawn. Some winemaking technology, such as temperature-controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks, is widely embraced. No one's arguing against using such tanks, which are easy to clean and give winemakers more control. For Lemon, it comes down to what he calls ``the terroir test'': Does an intervention fundamentally change the character of the wine so that it no longer reflects where it came from?

 

Grahm adds, ``A `great' wine can't be made with these techniques. I'm using these tricks because we live in an imperfect world.''

 

UC-Davis' Boulton, who isn't opposed to all types of winemaking technology, is troubled by some of the practices, such as using concentrate to add color and grape extracts to add tannin.

 

``If you like the wine, does it really matter?'' Boulton says. ``Well, in ethics and honesty, it does.''

 

At the very least, he says, ``it deserves an honest discussion.''

 

Draper draws a distinction between an inexpensive, everyday wine and fine wine sold at high prices. For the former, ``you've got to make the best wine for the consumer you can,'' he says. But ``using these techniques is farther and farther away from fine wine. . . .

 

``Is it no holds barred, all's fair in love and war and wine?''

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Laurie Daniel at ladaniel@earthlink.net.

[masi]

From today's San Jose Mercury News Food and Wine Section. Seems the integrity of California's wine industry is taking a few hits.......wonder if any of my winewaker friends uses any of these techniques???

 

------------------

 

Daniel: 5 little wine secrets

 

TECHNIQUES MOST VINTNERS DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT

 

By Laurie Daniel

 

Special to the Mercury News

Winemakers like to say that their wines are made in the vineyard. These days, though, the fruit from that vineyard is more and more likely to be subjected to a range of sophisticated technology and added ingredients on its way to the bottle.

 

 

 

``Is it no holds barred, all's fair in love and war and wine?''

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Laurie Daniel at ladaniel@earthlink.net.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

the purist in me is shouting, what the F*CK are they doing? but a much rational point of view is, as long as it is properly labelled as an "engineered" wine, I can live with that.

[floppydrive]

From today's San Jose Mercury News Food and Wine Section. Seems the integrity of California's wine industry is taking a few hits.......wonder if any of my winewaker friends uses any of these techniques???

 

------------------

 

Daniel: 5 little wine secrets

 

TECHNIQUES MOST VINTNERS DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT

 

By Laurie Daniel

 

Special to the Mercury News

Winemakers like to say that their wines are made in the vineyard. These days, though, the fruit from that vineyard is more and more likely to be subjected to a range of sophisticated technology and added ingredients on its way to the bottle.

 

 

``Is it no holds barred, all's fair in love and war and wine?''

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Laurie Daniel at ladaniel@earthlink.net.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ahh, such is the course of people's desire to maximize their investment. Kind of loses the romanticism of winemaking.

 

Is this also common practice in Europe and South America?

[masi]

i opened a Casillero del Diable Merlot 2003 last night from the Concha Y Toro Winery.

 

Deep red color, flavors of plum and some spice on the nose. Mouth was mild with a balanced tannins. Follow through was pretty light.

 

A friend and I sipped the Merlot in between puffs of our smoking pipes filled with Cherry Cavendish and bites of Italian Salami and Swiss Emmentaler cheese. A symphony of flavors and nationalities to start a weekend!

Edited August 22, 2005 by masi

[masi]

a slow saturday... surfing the cable channels while scanning through the pages of fall 2005 editions of wine spectator, drinks, wines and spirits and cigar aficionado. looking through all that food and vino gave me an inspiration to prepare tonight's meal.

 

started off with bruschetta pomodoro and prosciutto with emmenthal; arugula salad with choice of vidalia dressing (off the shelf) or a cilantro-coriander balsamic vinaigrette (my concoction) and delmonico steaks with vidalia onion, all pan grilled and finished in the oven.

 

washed down with Vina Albali, Gran Reserva 1997, 100% Tempranillo. I did my notes on this vino a few weeks back.

 

after all the wine and food a good puff of cherry cavendish. boy, i renewed my love for pipe smoking.

 

happy weekend to all.

[hint-of-lime]

Hi all! I just got my hands on a Rosemount shiraz cabernet 2003 from South Australia. I'm looking forward to a barbeque at my cousin's place tonight so we can uncork it and let the good times flow! Heehee! :thumbsupsmiley: