Wine 101

Familiarizing yourself with wine terms

Wine lovers are a special kind of breed that recognizes just how unique wines actually are.  You need not be an expert in order to savor this delectable drink.

If you wish to maximize your wine experience it’s suggested that you teach yourself everything relating to wine and this includes terms used when discussing wines.  All wine aficionados should find out all that they possibly can about their preferred choice of wine.

The following is a brief list of terms to familiarize yourself with wines and their descriptions.

Body – When you refer to the body of a wine you are describing how the wine tastes when you sip it and retain it in the mouth.  One particular way to portray it is by declaring that it feels light or heavy.

Aroma – Aroma or boutique as some people prefer to call it refers to the smell of a wine.  You will observe wine samplers sniffing the wine prior to tasting it.  By doing this they will be capable of getting a whiff of the fruit, spices and any other ingredients that are used in the production.  The reason for twirling the glass is because it adds to the wine aroma, allowing you to get the full effect of the smell.  Relishing the wine smell is a major part of savoring all that a wine has to offer.

Color – The wine color is an extremely crucial factor that permits you to get an impression of the wine quality prior to even smelling or tasting it.  When you observe a wine that possesses a whitish or transparent yellow or red tinge, then you are viewing a wine that hasn’t yet aged properly.  The well aged wines have a gold or darker red hue.

Alcohol – The alcohol refers to the alcohol percentage in a wine when sugar obtained from grapes is fermented in the course of the wine manufacturing process.  Red wines vary between 11%-14% alcohol while the white wines vary between 9%-14%.

Acidity – The acidity present in wine refers to the level of sharpness present in wine and is a natural wine component.

Barrel – The barrel simply refers to the little wooden barrel that’s used for the maturing and fermenting of particular wines.  These barrels are crafted from the wood of oak trees.

Time to bring out the Rose!

I love me a good Rose in the Summer time!  Some say that Spring time is the time to start drinking your favorite Rose, but in Southern California we don’t really have all four seasons.  As I see it, we have Winter and Summer.  With Summer being right around the corner, it is time to start stocking up on that Rose and getting ready for the Summer time BBQ’s.

When I say Rose, some people might turn up their noses and say they are not a big fan of Rose.  That is because they are recalling the Blush “Rose” that was a big hit in the 1980’s.  When I mention a Rose, I am NOT referring to a Berringer Rose!  WE have some really great tasting Rose’s in Temecula Valley.

Five fun facts about Rose:

Rose has long been the signature of Provence, a region in the south of France that this “white” wine is made from red grapes – primarily Grenache.

There are three methods to producing Rose:

            The “skin contact” method, in which red grapes are crushed and the skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for a short period to impart color and flavor (the longer that the skins are left in contact with the juice, the more intense the color of the final wine.)

            The “saigness” method, in which some of the juice used to produce red wine is “bled” from the tank shortly after crushing; this gives the final red wine more intensity.

            The “blending” method, which is rarely used and typically frowned upon, but involves simply blending a little red wine with white wine.

Rose wines can be made still, semi sparkling and sparkling.

Rose wine is made in a range of colors, from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes, additives and wine making techniques. 

“Blush” wines of the 1970’s and 1980’s were on the sweet side but the pendulum is now swinging back towards a drier, more traditional Provencal style made with grapes like Syrah, Grenache and Carugnan.

How to open a bottle of wine using a wine key

Let’s first start with an introduction to the different parts of the wine key. 

There is the knife, which we use to remove the foil around the top of the bottle, there is the corkscrew, which we turn into the cork and there is the lever which we use to help extract the cork from the bottle. 

Next we will want to prepare the wine bottle for opening.  The first step is to remove the foil from the top of the bottle.  Use the knife to cut around the top.  Now, twist the corkscrew firmly into the center of the cork.  When the corkscrew is in deep enough, hook the claw on the side of the bottle.

Now moving on to the opening of the wine bottle.  Now you can lift up on the other end of the wine key, and  using leverage, the cork should come right out.  If everything goes smoothly, the cork should come out with a satisfying pop and in one piece.

If by chance some of the cork breaks off into the wine, you can still drink it.  Simply pour the bottle through a strainer.  Or if you are a little more rugged like I am, you can pour the wine into your glass and scoop the cork pieces out with your finger.  Whichever you choose.

Now the part we all have been waiting for; serving the wine!  For many wines, it is a good idea to open them a little while before you plan to serve them, in order to give it an opportunity to breathe.  And now finally pour the wine into a glass and enjoy.

Serving basics

Here is a simple experiment you can try at home and amaze your friends.  Select a favorite bottle of white wine and another of red. 

Set out three or four different glasses for each person.  For example, you might use a big bowl shaped wine glass, a small thick rimmed glass, a simple tumbler and anything else you might have in your cupboard.  Then have everyone take a small taste of each wine from each glass.

Believe it or not, even a fairly decent wine will taste different in every glass.  Some will mute the flavor, some will emphasize odd scents and some will have scents at all.  If you are fortunate, one glass will present the wine perfectly and everyone will agree that this is how the wine is supposed to taste.  This is a wine fact that almost defies belief until you try it for yourself.

When you pour a great wine into a not so great glass it turns into a very ordinary wine. This happens quite frequently in the restaurants, but you may also encounter bad stemware at wineries, at public tastings and at dinner parties.  Imagine this: out comes a terrific bottles of wine and it is served in a glass that is too small, too thick, colored blue or green, stained or smelling of detergent.  With these bad conditions you won’t be able to detect and enjoy the true flavor offered by the wine.

Insisting on a good wine glass is not snobbery, it is common sense.  If you want to get all of the flavor out of every wine you pour, whether it cost you $10 or $100 , you owe it to yourself to invest in good stemware.  It does not have to be terribly expensive to be good.

There are specific glassed made for every major varietal and region in the world and they do work.  But don’t panic, it is not necessary to stock up on them all.  You will do just fine with a few well chosen glasses that are matched to your own wine buying, drinking and entertaining habits.  

What you will need will depend upon the type of entertaining you do and the quality of the wines you serve.  For a picnic or deck party, at which you most likely will be pouring simple wines from current vintages, a couple dozen clear glass tumblers may suffice.  For better wines and more formal tastings, or an intimate dinner gathering, you will want a selection of stemware that allows each guest a flute shaped for sparkling wines, a tapered ten to 12 ounce glass for white and a larger rounder glass for red wines.

Avoid colored glass, even if it is just the stem.  You want to be able to see the wine’s own color.  If you use a dishwasher, run the glasses through hot water only and do not use detergent.  Toss out those tiny thick lipped glasses with the rolled rims; use tumblers instead.  Remember size DOES matter when it comes to wine glasses.  Your glass should be large enough to hold 3 or 4 bottles…I mean 3 to 4 ounces of wine without being more than 1/3 full.  You need airspace to properly display the wine’s aroma.  REMEMBER aroma = flavor!

The right glassware is the single most important aspect of setting yourself up for a good tasting experience.  Close behind is serving your wines at the right temperature.  Whether white or red, wines that are too cold will lose all aromas and much of their flavor.  Wines that are too warm may lose their crispness and turn flabby and volatile.  Heat also intensifies the impression of alcohol.  Sparkling wines and sweet dessert wines are serves at cooler temperatures.  But they too can be over chilled, causing their aromas to be muted and their flavors less detailed.