"first thoughts on wine"

Hi babes! I wanted to cover two things in this post: Wine tasting at Eric's house, and an excerpt from the amazing Kinsley Amis.

From Amis (from "Everyday Drinking"):

"Before I get to a more positive approach [to wine], let me describe, in careful stages, not what you should do when serving wine to your guests, but what you nearly always do (if you are anything like me):

1) Realize that They will be arriving in less than an hour and you have done damn-all about it

2) Realize, on your way to the cellar or wherever you keep the stuff, that the red wine to go with the roast beef will be nowhere near room temperature if left to warm unassisted

3) Realize, on reaching the stuff, that it has not had time to settle after being delivered, and that you should have realized six weeks ago--or if you wanted to give Them a treat, ten years--ago exactly what wine you were going to need tonight

4) Decide that They can bloody well Take what They are given , grab some bottles and take them to the kitchen

5) Look for the corkscrew

6) Having (we will assume) found the corkscrew, unscrew the cork that someone has left screwed on [to the end of the corkscrew] and open the bottles

7) Decide that, while any fool can tell when a wine is cold, and nearly any fool knows nowadays that a red wine is not supposed to be cold, hardly anybody knows a decent glass of it from a bad one and put the bottles in a saucepan of warm water

8) Spend parts of the next hour and a half wondering whether old Shagbag [person who fancies himself a wine expert], who is reputed to know one wine from another, will denounce you for boiling out whatever quality tonight's stuff might have had, or will suffer in silence. Also wonder whether the others will think that 1971 [book published in 1973] is a rather insultingly recent year for Medoc , whether to get up another bottle on the off chance that They can force force down what you have "prepared" for the table, whether to boil that too or bank on Their being too drunk to notice or too polite to mention its coldness and kindred questions."

HAR!!

On a different note, we tasted two wines at Eric's house yesterday: Kris Pinot Grigio, which is under consideration for a reasonable alternative to the wildly popular "Santa Margarita" Pinot Grigio, and a Taval Rose.

The Kris was fruity without being overwhelming, crisp, light, balanced, and had a medium body and finish. It was, in all of our minds, a front runner for people looking for something comparable to Santa Margarita, with a better value, as Santa is about 40 in the restraunts, and this is about 10, retail.

The Rose was a revelation. Pinch hitter for the store Kevin (?- he's new! and quiet!) liked it so much he wanted to grab a bottle on his way home, I who have hated Rose since an incident a couple years ago with Thirsty Lizard, was won over, and Patrick and Eric loved it too. Eric wants to promote and educate on Roses, as they are the perfect summer wine- goes with anything and is refreshing to boot. Delicate in some forms, zippy and full in others (this Rose was a blend of Zin and Grenache, among others, giving it a "volcanic" taste and a very pleasant dry finish), it is considered by many critics to be their second choice "desert island" wine (first being Champagne). It rings in at about 15 for the bottle, a score for those of you looking for a special dinner or date wine.

Enjoy!

Warm lake

Friday night: the weather was sultry, warm, and close. I was dashing to meet a girlfriend at the Niagara Arts Council. Imagine my happy suprise when I note that Warm Lake Estates is doing a tasting at the event. Warm Lake is part of the Niagara Wines Region, and the owner is the head of the tourist concerns in the area. As I tasted his pinot noir he told me about his vineyard and his tours, and we exchanged cards. Here's a link to the site: http://www.warmlakeestate.com/events_niagara_wine_trail.html

The wine itself was smooth and very drinkable, with very light tannins. It was what I have come to recognize as a characteristic pinot noir: medium body with light tannins, fruit flavors like cherry, plum, and currant, and a silky character. The owner grows only pinot noir grapes, but makes brandy and icewines as well (something Niagara and Ontario are known for).

Pinot noir can be an intimidating varietal for someone like me: it's a "cult" grape mostly known for wine lovers, and as it's red, it can be harder to pair with food., as opposed to, say, pinot grigio, which happily bonds with almost any old thing. However, most pinot noirs are silky, light, and pair well with food- they are not the heavy "philosophical" wines like tassicia, or sassicia, which are smoky, tarry, and heavy, with high tannins and layers and layers of flavors. Pinot noir is also the grape of red Burgandies, which are considered some of the finest wines in the world- fyi. I would call pinot noir a "friendship" wine- a good wine for those of you cautiously moving from pinot grigio to chardonnay, then into the world of reds. Give it a try.

I've added a link to my store's home page, and will most likely cross link this blog from there as well. Happy trails and long legs!

Stainless steel or oak?

Welcome to the adventures of a novice wine buyer/ wine seller.

I am a grad student who just started working for a small, urban wine shop that is (as of now) under construction, but we hope will be up and running in about two weeks.
Before this, wine came in two categories: "oh, jeez that's bad. Hand me the ice." and "hey, that's not bad! How much did you say this was?" Alright, I'm exagerating, but not by much. I do remember the glass of wine that took me from not liking wine to liking wine: Dr. Konstantine Frank Reisling (at Romeo and Juliet's on Hertel), which is made right here in upstate NY--lucky us! Since then I've had a soft spot for the spine- tingling, green, racy, mineral finish of a good Reisling, but as someone who regularly attends art openings, I've also drunk quite a bit of plonk. The homework for this job has not been a chore. I've been keeping a tasting journal and I've tried quite a few things I've never tried before- most fall on the "keeper" side.
So, after I started with the store, I raced to the library and got some background material:
- A Very Good Year (the 2002 Ferrari- Carrano Fume Blanc story).
- The Billionaire's Vinegar (the 1798 Chateau Latour Thomas Jefferson Bottle story)
- Hip Tastes (modern girls' guide to wines and wine pairings)
-Windows on the World Wine Course (it's great, but it will make you kind of want to cry it's so detailed and overwhelming for the novice)
- How Geography affects wine (very, very, very dry. I would recommend this only to geography buffs)
-Everyday Drinking (still unopened, I'll let you know)

My boss was kind enough to send me links to Wine Spectator, where they have a quiz that I've become addicted to: What am I drinking? Essentially, they give you the tasting note and you have to guess the type of grape (varietal), the DOC or VAC, the country, and the vintage (within a few years). They do give you pull down menus, and you can "cheat" by looking at the DOCs and VACs first (if they're all in france, for example, you know you're not looking at a Napa Valley chardonny.) but it's delightfully challenging. I average a 65% success rate (3 or 4 out of 4), due to a combination of triva mind, and test taking skills.

In essence, I began this blog for myself, my coworkers, and my customers, as well as other wine buyers and sellers who are, like me, just starting. Those in the know say vines take about 30 years to produce the first good harvest...let's hope that's not true for oneophiles as well.