"True Facts" Learn to Use Your Nose, Get Lucky.

We talk regularly with customers in the wine shop about how and why wines are described the way they are. What is the best way to learn to associate what you hear and read with what you are experiencing yourself? How the heck do people distinguish black currant from black cherry, for instance? Can you learn to understand, talk about and describe wine like a pro?

We are always eager to walk neophytes through the wine tasting basics, and an elementary education can be had at nearly every wine tasting room in the Willamette Valley. Steps 1-3: Admire the color, swirl the wine and sniff the aromas. Then enjoy!

It is just after this that things can begin to get uncomfortable. The tasting room staff launch into a rote list of all the fruit and herb and earth components that you SHOULD be experiencing. Someone asks for YOUR opinion of the wine! And what about those over-the-top printed tasting notes? Violets and pomegranate? Tea leaves and wet stone? Wow, does this ever make you feel inadequate about your ability to even use your nose.

If you merely want to talk the talk like you know from grape juice, check out this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sophie-brickman/how-to-fake-a-distinguish_b_153712.html

Want to learn to actually smell and taste like a pro? Train yourself! Let’s look to the movies for some help! Is there nothing that popular culture can’t do for us?

I direct your attention to three movies that influenced me and lit up pathways to understanding the senses that enable me to enjoy a glass of wine shamelessly. A common theme through selected scenes in these films is people making time to pay attention to their senses – smell, taste and tactile.

A recent movie with Matt Damon called Hereafter showcases a sensuous, entertaining and fun sensory-challenging experience that takes place in a cooking class. Damon’s character and his never-to-be love interest (spoiler alert) take turns wearing a blindfold while the other teases their nose and tongue with bits of food. There is a realness in how everybody struggles to identify common fruits, nuts, etc., and genuine delight when one finally guesses correctly.

The movie gets a bit slow but rent it or add it to your Netflix for the cooking school scenes in particular. Were it not for the actress Cecile de France (ooh-la-la), I might have fallen asleep.  

To see two people really get into a blind tasting sensory experience we have to go back to the eighties when the smoldering hot duo of Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger made a movie called “9 ½ Weeks”. This is a movie you won’t doze off to. Apart from watching these two actors at the top of their game, the movie is most memorable to me for the sensuous “refrigerator scene” where Rourke’s character tells Basinger to keep her eyes closed while he leads her on a sensory tour of the cleanest fridge in America. If memory alone of this film doesn’t have you feeding your partner fresh fruit, chili peppers and honey, then search online for  “Nine And A Half Weeks - Food Scene by the fridge”.

Finally, to tie together the cinematic sensory journey and the world of wine, we need to screen the movie French Kiss. The scene to highlight here is when Kevin Cline's character is showing Meg Ryan around the family winery he hopes to renovate in France. They come across an old wooden box from his youth and it is filled with flowers and herbs – an aroma box! Each vial and slot contained hand-gathered items to represent different scents one might experience in wine, so that he could learn to identify them by smell alone. Fresh flowers and herbs abound this time of year, but if you don’t create your own aroma box you can purchase such a thing ready-made. Le Nez Du Vin (The Scent of Wine) kits are available online.

Watch these movies or at least the relevant scenes for inspiration and for direction. Create a shopping list and get cracking with your own sensory party. Challenge your brain, ward off dementia, build synapses and neural pathways and re-learn how to smell. Don a blindfold and have a partner choose small spoonfuls for you to first smell and describe, and then taste and evaluate texture and every nuance while you attempt to identify what you are experiencing.

Just reach into your fridge today and you could probably come up with a reasonable sensory evaluation menu - a la 9 ½ Weeks. Fruit jams and jellies, maraschino cherries, oranges, lemons and other citrus, melon, olives. Don’t forget the spice rack for dried herbs and sweet baking spices. Throw in nuts of all kinds, both raw and toasted, as well as honeys and syrups.

A shopping list for items to buy for a wine-related sensory experience should read just like one of those winery tasting notes. Pick up fresh and/or canned versions of plums, berries, stone fruits, fresh apples and pears, bell peppers. Any concentrated substance will give you a leg up due to its intensity - such as fruit liqueurs like Cassis or Framboise  and the aforementioned jams and jellies. Fresh herbs like lavender, sage, and aromatic plants like eucalyptus and cedar fill your nose with pungent scents but are very tricky to identify blind for many people. A cigar or some pipe tobacco, and dried tea are useful to imprint leafy, earthy aromas onto your brain. 

A renewed focus on the sense of smell and taste seems to heighten all of the senses, making people more aware of their environment and of those around them. You'll definitely be a better wine taster, and who knows what else the experience can lead to.

"True Facts" Random Tips from the Wine Shop

Random Wine Tips

I’ve culled together for your enjoyment some of the topics and questions that regularly come up at the wine shop. Comment and add some of your own!

• Twisting and pulling the foil entirely from the wine bottle before uncorking is essentially undressing the bottle and akin to tearing off the label. Big money went into the packaging of the bottle, including the color and design of that capsule. Cut the foil just below the lip and leave the rest intact for presentation purposes.

• Wine aerators really do work to open up the aromas and flavors of young or tight wines. A decanter is also a suave and traditional way to serve wine with a flourish while allowing it to breath and reveal hidden character.

• Your first taste of a wine can be influenced by whatever you had previously tasted, whether that be toothpaste, gum/mints or that humus and pita appetizer. The wine deserves a fair chance so give it a first taste, and then try it again before deciding if you like it.

• When a sommelier or restaurant server asks you to approve of a wine, check the label to make sure it is the type and vintage you ordered. Then you need only to smell it - to make sure that it is neither corked nor vinegar.  You may proceed to taste the wine, but if it isn’t spoiled (which you could smell), you now own the opened bottle and it is assumed that you’ll drink it. If you want to sample different wines to find one you like ask for tastes of the wines available by the glass.

• The best wine opener is the one easiest for you to use. A lot of people like The Rabbit or the new cordless power openers, but just try to get one into your pocket or glove box. A wine key or “waiter’s friend” with a two stage lever is really all you need. These are inexpensive, uncomplicated and simple to use.

• Warmer climates make for riper fruit and therefore richer wines, cool climates make for lighter wines with more acidity. Where a wine comes from can be a good indicator of its style.

• Most wines, say 95%, do not age well and are ready to drink on release from the winery. For reds, 1 to 5 years is a reasonable window to drink them, and for most whites, within 1 to 2 years of age is the time drink.

• Regarding age, red wines get lighter with time as color compounds settle as sediment, while white wines gain color as oxygen takes its effect – just as it does on a sliced apple.

• Nearly all of what we think we taste and perceive of a wine’s character is actually through our sense of smell. The tongue is able to sense only the 5 aspects of sweet, salty, bitter, sour and the mysterious umami (think savory).  It is the olfactory bulb that allows us to enjoy all of wine’s complexities.

• We tend to like our varietal wines here in the USA. A wine labeled as Cabernet or Merlot is easy to identify and understand. However it is the winemaker's art of blending that gives the world its greatest wines. In fact, your favorite Cab may have small amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec or Syrah, for example, blended in for extra roundness, depth and color. Some reds like Syrah may even be blended or co-fermented with tiny amounts of white wine.

• For all the verbose and flattering descriptions of wine you may hear and read, none of the fruits, berries, mocha or chocolate, flowers, grass or rock are actually ADDED to quality wine. These adjectives refer to characteristics of the wine that are provided by the grapes themselves, the yeasts used in fermentation and the terroir (terr-whar), or sense of place, where the vines are grown.

• In general, most red wines are served too warm, and most white and sparkling wines served too cold. Red wines can seem too alcoholic when warm since the alcohol evaporates quicker and hits your nose more intensely. The fruitiness and aromas of whites are dulled and muted when the wine is too cold. An easy guideline is to serve your red wines at a cool room or “cellar” temperature (65 deg), your still whites at around 50 degrees (leave a bottle out of the fridge for 15-20 minutes).  Sparkling wines and dessert wines should be served slightly warmer than fridge temperature (~45 deg).   

• Use your cell phone camera to take a picture of the label of any new wine discovery. You won’t have to tax your memory trying to recall the name of a wine when you go searching for another bottle.  Or just show the pic to your wine guy or gal and let them do all the work for you.

• All wine sold in the US is supposed to be labeled with the percentage of alcohol by volume. Among other things this figure can be a good gauge of how sweet a wine is. The more grape sugar converted to alcohol by the action of yeast, the less sweet (and more potent) the wine. A wine with 8-10% alcohol would be considered off-dry. Dessert wines (not including fortified wines like Port) are in the 5-7% alcohol by volume (abv) range.

• When serving multiple wines over the course of a meal, attempt to pour lighter before fuller-bodied, drier before sweeter and lower alcohol before higher. The dessert wine should be sweeter than the dessert it compliments,  with perhaps one exception - chocolate.

• Proper glassware really does matter. Tucked in a hotel room with only the disposable plastic cups? Go for it. But when the wine and the company are worthy, only good stemware will do. In general, a deep wide bowl that tapers a little towards the rim will direct all those aromas right to your nose. The glass itself should not be dense or thick, and a glass without a rolled lip will not make you purse yours. The sensation of wine hitting the middle of your tongue will be fuller and more pleasing. There is glassware specifically designed for almost all beverages, but if you have neither $$ or cabinet space you can get away with a set of good quality all-purpose stems. Flutes for sparkling wine service are very elegant, however many pros prefer to enjoy fine Champagne from a standard white wine glass in order to better appreciate the aromas. 

"True Facts" Ancient Vines, Twisted Vines, the Dead Arm, Gnarly Vines - Old Vines?

Ancient Vines, Twisted Vines, the Dead Arm, Gnarly Vines… Old Vines? What is “old vine” wine? Like fine wine, do grape vines themselves improve with age?

Imagine if your tomato plants came back year after year, developing dense woody trunks with age. Imagine also that each passing season brought fewer and increasingly smaller tomatoes, each one with flavors sweeter and more concentrated than the last. This may give you an idea of what might differentiate old grape vines from young.

Grape vines can be pushed and pruned to produce viable fruit for wine making as early as 3 years old. They really come into their own after 5-7 years and are at prime right into their 20’s. By this time they have become battered and weathered soldiers, having lived through nearly 2 dozen winters. Despite (or because of) fending off the elements and disease the vines have become hearty and the roots system has grown deep and strong. They begin to produce fewer clusters of grapes and those have smaller berry size. The vine’s efforts and energy in these smaller clusters yield more intense sugars, color and concentration of flavors that many argue only the older vines can produce. 

So when do they officially become “old vines”?

Well, it is anybody’s call. There is no regulation as to when a wine label can state that it was made from old vines. 

In Maribor, Slovenia there exists a single living noble grape vine that state experts agree was planted more than 400 years ago. It is simply known as the Old Vine and is protected by an iron fence, the branches and canes trained so that its lush foliage grows to nearly cover the front of a 16^th century house. A symbolic annual harvest of the venerated Old Vine’s fruit is put into tiny bottles that represent precious protocol gifts.

Maribor's Old Vine - before it leafs out

Now THAT is old! Here in the states we begin to label vines as old sometime after 25 years of age, but 40-50 years seems more authentic, and vines 90-120 years old are truly ancient.  

   

It is in California, where grape vines can reach 120 years and older, that our domestic old vine history and tradition lives, and where Zinfandel old vines are now treasured for the production of premium red wine.

What is truly amazing is that we have ANY old vines at all. The scourge of Phylloxera took its toll on the vineyards of Europe beginning in the 19^th century. Here in the U.S., thanks to a rather embarrassing era of our past, that “Noble Experiment” known as Prohibition, most wine grape vines should have been pulled up and plowed over in the 1920s, and many were.

To the rescue?

In an ironic turn of fate it was the White Zinfandel craze of the 1970s that revived and saved much of the old vine vineyards left fallow following the Prohibition era. Although many considered the White Zin of the ‘70s and ‘80s to be insipid and uninteresting (modern versions have more fruit and are not so cloyingly sweet), it was the phenomenal success of this blush wine that saved many old vines in premium areas. Areas such as the Lodi region which has some of the oldest Zinfandel vines in the state, came into their own at the end of the 20th century as red Zinfandel wines soared back into fashion. The blush and the red Zin styles of wines are made from the same red grapes, but are processed in a different way and taste dramatically different.

Old Vine wine can still kick your butt

"True Facts" Wine IS Food - Goes WITH Food Part IV

Like the Swiss, True Facts is synonymous with money – when it comes to saving you some you some Cheddar.  

Everyone knows that other than a loaf a bread, and Thee, what goes with a jug of wine is…CHEESE. It is such an intuitive pairing and one where it is nearly impossible to go wrong. It is however possible to do better than just “all right” in pairing a wine to a cheese. In fact, as you might have suspected, there are certain guidelines to getting the most of this duet.


There’s a well-travelled path to the perfect match and that leads to pairing wines and cheeses from the same region, when you can. The experimentation has been done for you – perhaps centuries ago – and tasting those combinations can almost transport you to faraway lands. Italian wine, Italian cheese. Basque cheese with Basque wine, etc. Easy-cheesy!


In general, harder types of cheese (i.e. Cheddar or Parmesan) can handle more tannic wines. Bolder red wines are a good match for hard cheeses and those with mild flavors. Creamy cheeses, such as Brie, typically pair better with wines that have more acidity, like a Chardonnay. Give salty cheeses a sweet wine partner (i.e. Blue Cheese and Port).


White wines and light-bodied, juicy reds pair best with soft cheeses and pungent flavors. In fact white wines fair better here than bold reds. That’s because several cheeses, particularly soft and creamy ones, coat your palate with all that luscious fat. This can mute the flavor and body in reds, rendering them monotonous and bland. Crisp white wines, rosés and even light reds (think Beaujolais) can provide a cleansing effect allowing you to enjoy both wine and cheese flavors.


Fruity wines and those with a hint of sweetness work best with a wider range of cheeses. The spicy zing of a Gewürztraminer or the peachy zip of a Riesling is ideal for wide-reaching appeal.


If you go for the stinkiest of cheeses, reach for a big wine to back it up. A busty California Cab,  Zin or an Italian Valpolicella Ripasso perhaps. The strongest of cheeses and the big blues are ideally paired with fully sweet wines. The more pungent a cheese you choose, the sweeter the wine can be. This savory and sweet pairing is simply amazing. The bold flavors and depth of Ports, and dessert wines like Sauternes make for the best choices if you like your cheese mold-covered  or streaked with blue.


As in every other category of food and wine pairing, Champagne and sparkling wine will go with most any cheese. The “sparkle” in a sparkling wine can help zip through the fat in heavier cheeses, especially.


And if there were any doubt, Velveeta goes with boxed Franzia. I’m not a hater.










Here is a great website with a widget for more cheese pairing tips - http://www.oregonwines.com/pairing.php

Last minute food and wine pairing thoughts:

• Think of wine as a condiment, essentially a sauce that you drink. It should complement your food.
• When pairing, your goal is that complimentary synergy and balance; neither wine nor food should overpower the other.
• Balance the intensity. Pair lighter-bodied wines with lighter food and fuller-bodied wines with heartier, more flavorful, richer and fattier dishes.
• When serving multiple wines during a meal, and you are able to plan it this way, pour lighter before fuller-bodied, drier before sweeter, lower alcohol before higher, and the dessert wine should be sweeter than its complementing dessert with perhaps the one exception of chocolate.
• Match the quality  of the wine to the quality of the meal and the occasion. A black tie multi-course dinner party will warrant a different wine than when grilling on the patio.

My final thought is: Don't stress over the perfect food and wine pairing. Treat wine like a food and remember, the best pairing is good food and good company. Friends and loved ones are the most important ingredients.

"True Facts" Wine IS Food - Goes WITH Food Part III

In this great big world of infinite wine and food pairing possibilities you might very well discover your own new combination; one that so totally “works”. Often such a discovery involves a special person, a far away place, and a sense of adventure and experimentation that you wouldn't attempt while safe at home or in your favorite wine bar. Let’s say that you actually want to have that experience of food and wine discovery more often…

Humans have a heritage of seeking gustatory perfection, but our fundamental aims can be summed up with this Northern Italian expression: "Pane e vino fanno un bel bambino." In English: Bread and wine make a beautiful baby. In other words, food staples and wine together, are considered the  source of nourishment and of life. You will find this sentiment all over the Old World where local wine and food culture have evolved together - over centuries in many cases.

Trust the Locals


A very simple guideline to get you through almost any wine and food pairing dilemma comes in the form of another mantra, one  that wine pros have drilled into their heads: What grows together, goes together. The bounty of a region; of the land and sea and nearby lakes and streams determines the local cuisine. What people eat there inspires the wines that are made there.

Discover a food's cultural roots and then drink with it the wines from that culture -

Why do the Tuscans love their Chianti (and Brunellos) with their pasta and tomato sauce? Hard wheat and sun-ripened tomatoes are abundant in the region. The semolina pasta is a dense medium and the tomato sauce is acidic and tangy. Chianti with its juicy dried cherry-ness, medium-body and lifting acidity helps to marry the pasta to the sauce so well that Jupiter and Bacchus themselves may have created the match.

In France fish pulled from the upper Loire river and oysters and mussels harvested from where the Loire meets the sea all beg to be washed down with crisp and minerally white wines. And it just so happens that the local whites fit that bill; fresh and light like the seafood itself and never overpowering.

There’s nothing like the Classics

Like local customs, the classic food and wine pairings are all based on tried and true tradition. Whether they work for you is personal, but we can take what we have been discussing and understand why the classic pairings work so well.

At the high end of haut cuisine there is the wedding of Champagne and Caviar - You might say the pairing works just because you spent a small fortune on both (!), but more so due to Champagne's brisk acidity which cuts through the caviar's salinity and fishiness. The finish is then all about those wonderful celebratory bubbles bursting on your tongue right along with the caviar.

Muscadet and Oysters, Sancerre with Mussels - Muscadet is a rather austere white that balances well with the delicate nature of the oyster. And for the same reasons, steely Chardonnay in Chablis pairs magically with Oysters. The slightly fuller and grassy Sauvignon Blanc of Sancerre hits all the right notes with the richer meatier nature of mussels. 

Chianti and Southern Italian Reds with pizza or red-sauced pasta – as mentioned above, tomato's acidity together with garlic, olive oil and herbs can give a red wine a hard time - unless it has the tartness and leathery fruitiness that Chianti and many of Italy’s traditional reds have in spades.

Riesling and Sauerkraut – In Germany it’s Kraut and across the border in France’s Alsace it’s Choucroute. Combine with the region’s sausages and smoked meats and you’ll find no better wine match than the King of white grapes – Riesling. Gewurztraminer too would have the power and grace to stand up to the tang of fermented cabbage and oily meats. However, I don’t think anyone would argue with a suggestion of BEER paired here!

Southern Spain’s bone dry and lean Fino Sherry – paired with olives, oil-fried marcona almonds, chips or other salty snacks, AKA Tapas. This is not your grandmother's sherry  and sipped by itself Fino Sherry may not impress you at first, but pair it with a salty fried snack and you will have an "aha" moment. Fino Sherry has whopping acidity and even its own briny characteristic. Pairing it with salty tapas will seem so natural once experienced.

Port and Stilton - The English are not known for having a fine food culture nor for creating smart wine pairings. But in the generations of owning the big Port houses and being Port’s biggest consumers they have certainly stumbled on a winner of a flavor/texture/power combination here. Big, big flavors from the alcoholic, sweet and berry cordial-like Port mash up against the pungent (stinky?), rich and tangy, fine English bleu cheese creating a harmony that will astound you.

The neo-classic pairing of Cabernet with Ribeye Steak – Tannins with protein and fat, yes, and also rich cassis/blackberry fruit with sweet meat juices and caramelized drippings. Thank you California! Yet this pairing is a direct descendant of the classic French pairing of Bordeaux with Lamb. The herbal earthiness and blackcurrant fruit of French Cabernet blended with Merlot is why Bordeaux is in the glass next to the platter of herb-crusted rack of lamb with its distinct rich and earthy nature.

White Burgundy with Lobster – In Burgundy the Chardonnay is not made in the New World butter-bomb style, but with just a kiss of warm and spicy French oak. The wines have a roundness that melds with the rich sweetness of a lobster claw or tail, and with enough acidity to cut through drawn butter.

Tune in next time for tips on pairing wines with cheese. It’s ALL good, isn’t it? You bet, and some pairings are especially fine!