What Wine Matches Well with Bunny Ears?

 

It's not Easter in our home unless we have at least one solid milk chocolate bunny with extra-long ears. Of course the ears are the first to go.  And, while a nice, cold glass of milk may be the beverage of choice, there are other more "adult" options to consider.

Looking to the experts, the general consensus is the pairing wine and chocolate is not straightforward.  It can take a bit of experimenting to find the best wine and chocolate combinations.  However as a general rule of thumb, the wine should be sweeter than the chocolate to avoid and clashing.   Match ligher chocolates with lighter-bodied wines; stronger chocolates are matched with more full-bodied wine. 

Milk chocolate bunnies are preferred nearly 3 to 1 over dark chocolate bunnies so it is important to understand its composition. Milk chocolate has a higher percentage of sugar and smaller percentage of  chocolate liquor. This, along with its milk content, yields a milder, sweeter product with fewer flavors and aromas. 

So, what do I drink with my milk chocolate bunny (probably sans ears at this point)?  A pinot noir or lighter merlot will pair well.  But I think my chocolate bunny needs some fortified wine- a nice tawny port. Its nutty nuances highlight milk chocolate’s nutty and caramel notes and enhance the overall chocolate flavor. The combination is a delicious treat.  Sip, bite, repeat.

Happy Vernal Equinox!

The daffodils and crocuses are peeking out of the earth, robins are returning to the backyard and slowly, slowly the days are getting longer.  Ahh, spring is in the air!  Clean off the grill, pull back the pool cover, and dust off the patio furniture.  The winter doldrums will soon be a distant memory.  Time to celebrate!

 

Throughout history, wine has played an important part in spring rituals.  The Greek god of Wine, Dionysus, is synonymous with many of these rituals.

Greek religion is dominated by the cycle of life, death, and re-birth  and viniculture is an integral part of this cycle. Grapevines bud in the spring, fruit ripens in the summer and fall, and then lie in wait during the winter in anticipation of the cycle to begin again. Dionysus was a dying god, who like the grapes, was ritually killed each winter only to be reborn in the spring.

In April, around what the Greeks considered their new year, was the Anethesteria. Anthesteria, one of the four festivals in honor of Dionysus was held annually for three days.  At the center of this wine-drinking festival was the celebration of the maturing of the wine stored at the previous vintage, whose vessels were now opened, and the beginning of spring.  It must have been quite a party. 

The first Greek wine I consumed was during a trip to Greece many years ago-  the ubiquitous Mavrodaphe wine.  It was inexpensive, easy to pronounce, and easy to drink.  Greek wine has come a long way over the years and there are now many more options.  Check out New Wines of Greece to learn more.  

And what better way to serve your wine than in the aptly named Dionysus glasses.  Grab some feta, olives, a nice loaf of bread and celebrate spring!

YAY for Chardonnay!

I like Chardonnay. There, I admit it.  Even with all of the press about the health benefits of red wines, the French Paradox, and the proliferation of gourmet steak houses, given a choice, I always choose Chardonnay.  It is the perfect wine  to unwind after a hard day at the office or with a group of friends.

It seems I am not alone in my love for Chardonnay.  According to The Wine Institute and Nielsen , a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, wine sales in U.S. off-premise measured channels from all domestic and foreign production sources grew 2 percent on volume and almost 4 percent on value.  Most of the growth was with wines from California and other U.S. states, up 4 percent in volume, while imports shrunk 1 percent in volume.

Within table wine, Chardonnay remained the most popular with 21 percent of the volume, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 percent volume share; Merlot, 10 percent volume share, Pinot Grigio/Gris, 8 percent market share, and White Zinfandel, 7 percent market share. 

Why is Chardonnay so popular?

Chardonnay grapes are easy to grow and can be crafted into many different types of wines. Perhaps they are also so popular because they have little innate character of their own and instead inherit the characteristics of the soil and climate where they are grown. Chardonnay's strength is its structure and its ability to age rather than its aromatic intensity. In general Chardonnay wines are medium to full bodied, with medium acidity and an attractive creamy, buttery character on the palate. Aromas and flavors range from citrus, green apple and pear in cooler climates to more stone and tropical fruit in warmer climates.

While prized Chardonnay wines can be pricey, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a well-made wine.  One of my favorite, inexpensive Chardonnays is Cupcake. If nothing else, the name is friendly and puts me in a happy mood even before I open the wine. Go ahead, uncork a bottle of your favorite Chardonnay!

Equestrian (?) Wine

We live in a very friendly neighborhood, filled with great people, kids of all ages, and a few wine lovers. On a regular basis, the wine lovers, along with some special guests (usually beer drinkers) get together for  fun, informal tastings along with a great meal. Everyone chips in to make it easy on the host, which in for this gathering was me. My job was to make sure there were enough wine glasses for all of the guests.

During a recent tasting, the dinner menu featured filet mignon from our local favorite butcher with an assortment of salads and sides provided by our fellow wine tasters. 

During hors d'oeuvres we enjoyed several lighter white wines including:

• 2005 Château Carbonnieux Blanc, a White Bordeaux (Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon). Dry, with complex, buttery flavors due to bottle age.
• 2005 Fernand & Laurent Pillot Chassagne Montrachet Vide Bourse, a White Burgundy (Chardonnay). Golden color. Mellow citrus flavors. Mild oak.
• 2005 Kesselstatt Spatlese (Riesling). Aromas of sweet petrol. Very complex fruit flavors, with well rounded sweetness.

These wines were refreshing and primed us just enough before dinner. As we were enjoying our perfectly prepared filets (compliments of the men at the party), we moved to our dinner wines, starting with a 2009 Dunham Trutina, a Washington Cabernet/Merlot blend. It is described as having new world aromas of licorice and vanilla oak with plush flavors matching the aromas. We also enjoyed a 2005 Realm Cabernet Beckstoffer to Kalon and a 2005 Gorman Evil Twin (Washington Syrah/Cabernet blend).

But one wine really stood out: the  2003 Château Smith Haut Lafitte (Bordeaux Cabernet/Merlot blend)—that really got the folks talking! It has been described by others as having earthy aromas with hints of tobacco, blackberries and pencil shavings. Yet the first reaction one of the guest had, after noting the "dirt" smell, was that it tasted like a horse's rear end! Hmm... does not sound terribly appealing, but yet is quite accurate. There WAS a subtle barnyard or "equestrian" flavor that was strangely addicting.  Needless to say, it was the wine that made the night.

Need an Equestrian Decanter to go with your equestrian wine? Visit SimplyLoveWine.com.

Wine-Tasting Classroom at Home

A friend asked if I had any good information on the best wine-tasting schools — classes that would help her learn to be a more educated and discerning wine aficionado. I referred her to some of the first that came to mind: Corkbuzz Wine Studio's options, the wine classes at Otto (Mario Batali's Greenwich Village pizzeria), and the Astor Culinary Center.

But now I'm having second thoughts. She could do herself a favor by spending the money and time on homeschooling. That's right. You've heard it before — the best way to learn about wine is to drink alot of it — "Buy a good corkscrew and use it."  If you have the budget to spend on classes, consider setting up a wine tasting curriculum at home. It's not all fun — it takes preparation. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Enlist some colleagues. Schools function better with students. The interaction between you and your colleagues will help you better enjoy learning and make it less of a chore. You can be as casual or formal as you like, but you need to recruit friends and family for this educational get-together. And since food and wine are best buddies, it's even better if they share and prepare one of their favorite recipes. Don't sweat what goes with what.

Decide on a budget for school supplies. You're going to need a variety of wines, so don't blow it one bottle. With a price range of $10–20 each, you could afford a case of twelve bottles for $200. They won't all be fantastic. The odds are likely that you will have a bottle or two that you won't like. But discovering a new favorite that will enjoy again and again is worth the investment. Visit your trusted wine shop and ask them to put together a varied collection within your budget. In my experience, the experienced wine shopkeep is more than happy to work within any budget. And always be prepared with wine glasses and a notebook.

Begin class. This is the fun part. You and your fellow pupils are gathered for a scholarly adventure. Enlightenment awaits. Swirl, sniff, sip and spit! Spitting, of course, is optional if you're already home or have a designated driver to get you there.

Keep good notes. It's easy to lose yourself in the moment of discovery. Be diligent and write down what you're smelling and tasting in each wine, and your reaction to it. How does the aroma and mouth feel strike you? Harsh? Heavy? Sweet or savory? No need for to be ultra-specific, and remember a wine's taste may evolve on subsequent sips. Your taste in wine certainly will change over time.

Rinse and repeat. Try a blind tasting, or with wine labels out in the open. Focus on a single type of grape, or part of the world. Change up the guest list and introduce newbies to experienced tasters.

Nothing beats experience, so go on and get some — with your own homeschool wine tasting session.

Are Sulfites Giving You a Wine Headache?

"WARNING: Contains Sulfites"
Sounds bad, right? Even sinister!

In the 1980s, the US Congress passed a law requiring this phrase on the label of virtually every bottle wine because about 5% of asthmatics are highly sensitive to sulfites. The EU passed a similar law in 2005 requiring labels. 

Sulfite sensitivity affects about 0.4% of the population. And if you are sensitive, you would surely know it by the age of 21. Just a bit of dried fruit or bottled lemon juice might cause breathing difficulties, anaphylactic shock and severe headaches—these foods can have sulfites as much as 200 to 2,000 ppm (parts per million), whereas wine usually has about 150 ppm.

But hey, why take in any more chemicals than you need, right? Some tasters say sulfites have an detectably harsh smell like a freshly struck match.

The fact is Sulfur dioxide (AKA sulphur dioxide or SO2) is a chemical compound that's actually a kind of miracle chemical that occurs naturally. At the end of the winemaking process, most winemakers add more SO2 as they bottle the wine, and the reasons they do are:

• it's an antibacterial agent to keep your wine from turning to vinegar
• it's a yeast inhibitor to prevent re-fermenting in the bottle
• it's an antioxidant to keep wine fresh and untainted

With winemaking becoming more and more advanced, fewer and fewer sulfites are necessary. Dry red wines have hardly any—anti-oxidants come from their skins and stems during fermentation. Those that need SO2's protection most are sweet dessert wines more susceptible to Botrytis cinerea (the noble rot), such as Auslese Rieslings and Sauternes.

Get quality dessert wine glasses at SimplyLoveWine.com

Today, there are many organic winemakers, and they generally avoid adding artificial chemicals, pesticides or sulfites. However, they may be present naturally, necessitating that forbidding warning. And if you try making beer or wine as a hobby, you likely add Sulfur dioxide in the form of Campden tablets.

The "Warning: Contains Sulfites" laws are designed to help protect the small percentage of people who are sensitive to sulfur and should not be confused with the myth that sulfites in wine can give you a "wine headache." Histamines and tannins in wine are more likely connected to the headache effect (and don't forget alcohol). So unless you're party of the 0.4%, don't let the warning scare you. Take solace, because SO2 is very important in keeping any winery sanitary, as well as preventing spoilage before you pop that cork.

The Bible of Wine Grape Varieties

Get more info at Amazon.com

Book Review

You're a grown-up now, serious about your wine. You enjoy knowing what wines you like and what you don't. You wanna get serious about grapes? This past October saw the publishing of the bible of wine growing grapes, and it's written by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Dr. José Vouillamoz:
Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours. Eric Asimov (New York Times) called it "a masterly work that I know I will return to again and again."

First, let's establish that this book is not child's play. We are talking about a massive, slip-cased tome spanning almost 1,300 pages, and that's not including the charts and illustrations of ampelography (grapevine botany).

This book is a wildly comprehensive guide with individual entries for 1,368 varieties of grapes used in commercial winemaking. Each grape is first described by where it's grown and what its wine tastes like. And as you leaf through this journal, you'll get each grape's complete family history, as well as the grape's real name and pseudonyms (for example, Grenache is fully explored under its Spanish name Garnacha). Along the way you'll pick up a plethora of grape knowledge, such as the fact that Korinthiaki (kohr-een-qyah-kee) is a Greek grape that finds its way into California wines during small vintages, and one you've likely enjoyed countless times (it's a California raisin).

Using cutting-edge DNA analysis, painstaking design and illustration, this volume is indispensable for wine lovers and educators. But with a price tag just north of $100, it's appeal sits with true wine connoisseurs. If you do take the plunge, and I recommend it, don't expect to make it through cover to cover—it's not setup to be a page-turner. But it's a book you'll display proudly in your library and pass along to your children and grandchildren, once they're grown-ups of course.

N.B. if grape botany isn't your cup of tea, consider these other recommended recent releases:

Divine Vintage: Following the Wine Trail from Genesis to the Modern Age by Joel Butler
or

Inventing Wine: A New History of One of the World's Most Ancient Pleasures by Paul Lukacs