The White Wine Sangria

Well, the other night we decided to experiment and make a white sangria. We had a half bottle of the Cupcake Angel Food left (which I didn't particularly care for), so I had to do something with it. I poked around on the internet and found a recipe which I doctored to my taste.

I added what was left of the wine, sugar, orange juice, crushed pineapple and ginger ale. It almost tasted like a Mimosa. Over lots of ice. I liked it, though I made it a bit too sweet I think. I would do that again, except maybe not with a wine with so much Chardonnay in it, a little too buttery for my taste. Maybe I'll pick up a bottle of something today.

I actually have some red wine left over from another bottle. Red Sangria coming up!

Alcohol Content?

I was putting together a page for my Booze book on the alcohol content of wine. Well, here's what I got;
a wine with a high alcohol content (14.5% or higher) will tend to be a heavier bodied wine and also drier. The yeast had the opportunity to "eat" more of the sugars.

A wine with a medium alcohol content (11 - 13%) is usually a medium bodied wine.

A low alcohol wine (10%) or less will be lighter bodied and sweeter, more leftover residual sugars.

In some cases, a lower alcohol content wine could mean it was made from under ripe grapes meaning less sugars.

High alcohol content can sometimes indicate a sweet wine as well. Wines over 14% alcohol are either made from grapes left to ripen longer (late harvest wines) or are fortified with a neutral spirit.
Also, a high alcohol content increases the perception of a wine's sweetness.

I think from now on I will include the alcohol content of wines I try, just for giggles. Could make for interesting comparisons.

Cupcake Angel Food

Picked up a bottle of Cupcake Angel Food. It is a white wine blend. I admit, I was drawn to the bottle and the name. I mean, Angel Food? Doesn't that sound yummy? And the description sounds wonderful as well. Looking over the bottle and the website, I tried to find out what grapes were in this blend, all I come up with is it is a proprietary blend with an emphasis on Chardonnay which is what I think I taste the most. It is dry, but a little crisp and has a nice aroma to it. As for the hints of "pears and Granny Smith apples", wellllll, no. I never really taste all those little nuances as I've said before. At first sip I didn't like it too much, but it did grow on me a bit. I don't think I would buy it again though. I could see it pairing well with a salad.
I will have to give other Cupcake wines a try, I do hear they are very good.

Medium Bodied Wines

Well what does that mean?
The way it feels in your mouth, kinda hard to describe to someone what a "mouthfeel" is with a wine. You have to taste the different wines to understand what that means.
Some of the medium bodied wines are the same as the light bodied ones. It can depend on where the wine is from and which winemaker is it by. A Pinot Grigio from Italy might feel heavier than one from California, whereas a Pinot from one area of California might feel heavier than one from another area.

In any case, here is a list of some medium bodied wines.

Chardonnay (Chablis, Mersault, Pouilly Fuisse)
Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris)
Viognier (Condrieu)
Barbera
Cabernet Franc (Anjou)
Grenache (Garnacha, Cotes du Rhone)
Malbec
Merlot
Nebbiolo (Barolo, Barbaresco)
Pinot Noir (Bourgogne)
Sangiovese (Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino)
Temperanillo (Rioja)
Zinfandel (Primitivo)

Red wines go well with red meats, red sauces and mild cheeses and are best served "room" temp.
Whites go well with heavy white sauces, roasted chicken or fowl and aged cheeses. Serve whites slightly chilled for best flavor.

Cheese!

Such a little thing; cheese. But, I will say this, the right cheese can make a wine taste awesome. They can weirdly complement each other. During my wine classes, I tried so many different cheeses with the different wines, I'm just upset that I didn't write down which cheeses they were (tried to rely on my memory. Shouldn't have done that). And, quite honestly, I can't really find any truly gourmet cheese shops around here. I may have to broaden my search. I did learn I like Bleu Cheese with certain red wines. I have a "cheese table" I found clicking around on the internet. Not quite sure where it came from, but it is interesting. I may try some of the combinations it suggests. Assuming, of course, that I can actually find these cheeses at my local store.

White Zinfandel anyone?

White Zinfandel. One of the most popular wines we have. It is the go to for everyone, almost like a regular punch or something. People that don't like wine will drink it just to say they drink wine. Want something not too sweet, not too dry, something right in between? Head for the White Zin. Don't know what someone likes and you want to take a wine for a gift? Try a White Zin.

White Zin is sort of the geeky child in the wine household. Often snubbed by wine aficionados, but it can have its redeeming qualities. On a hot day it can be refreshing if chilled well. There are quite a few different companies out there, so trial and error can bring you to the one you may like. I personally am not too much of a fan, but then I haven't tried all the different ones that are available. We even have a White Zin Chardonnay blend and a new White Zin Moscato blend which I actually do want to try.

White Zinfandel just sometimes seems so run of the mill, it runs out our doors faster than we can put it on the shelves at times. There are so many other choices available, some with much more character. Maybe I will give it another go, one of them might change my mind about it.

Beaujolais Nouveau!

It's here it's here! The new Beaujolais Nouveau! Woohoo!

At least that's how people act.

Beaujolais Nouveau is basically the first release of the grape for any particular year. It's young and has just barely fermented to wine from grape juice.

Well, just for giggles, I bought a bottle. We aren't allowed to put it on the shelves until the third Thursday of November, so I put up the display yesterday. Such a big deal is made about this wine, I had to get one to see what the hubbub was all about. Well, I gotta say, I was completely...

UNimpressed. It had a nice smell, very enticing. Unfortunately for me, the first sip of this drink fell flat for me. It was, well, flat. No structure that I could find and did nothing for me. Too young, too green. I had it slightly chilled, I think it could have been chilled a little more. There are very little tannins and it is very light, which I did like, but really, I don't see what all the hype was about.

I'm thinking maybe if I pair it with some chocolate or a nice piece of cheese it might make it easier to drink for me. Ah well, I tried it. I'll continue to drink it and experiment until the bottle is gone, maybe I can find what it is that everyone rants and raves about.

Pretty bottle though.

Light Bodied Wines?

I think I prefer lighter bodied wines.I haven't quite found a heavier bodied wine that tickles my fancy yet. The body of a wine basically refers to how "heavy" it feels in your mouth.

Some of the more lighter bodied wines out there are Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, White Zinfandel, White Merlot, Rose, Gamay (Beaujolais) and Pinot Noir.
Most whites are lighter bodied. Chardonnay can go either way, light to medium bodied, depending on where it's from. A lighter bodied Chardonnay would most likely be an unoaked one.

I thoroughly enjoyed that Beringer Chenin Blanc, and the German Riesling, the Spatlese, both lighter bodied wines, and I can handle a Pinot Noir. I am definitely going to pick up a Beaujolais one of these days.

Lighter bodied wines go well with fruits, salads, chicken and fish and of course, cheese! There's more to the whole food pairing thing, we'll leave that for another post.

Gluten Free Wine? Really?

Yes really.

Wine is considered a gluten free product. I had gotten this question a few times before and was never quite sure what to say. I did some poking around on the handy dandy internet and found out that wine is considered gluten free and a safe choice for those with gluten sensitivities.

Some winemakers may use a wheat paste to seal the barrels wines are aged in. This paste is washed away before the wine gets into the barrel; they use hot water to wash out the barrels and help the wood expand for a better seal.
Some may use a gluten substance to fine the wine. It adheres to particles to take them out of the finished product. This gluten is being removed with the particles, plus the gluten levels are below 20ppm, which is the threshold to be considered gluten free.

If someone is super sensitive to gluten products and are concerned about it, I would recommend going for unoaked wines as they are aged in stainless steel vats with no oak influences. There are reds and whites available. Even call the winery to inquire whether they use any kind of gluten products in their fining process.

And don't worry about the corks, they do not contain gluten.

It was recommended to contact manufacturers of wines with added coloring or flavors just to be on the safe side.

German Riesling

So I wanted to try a German riesling. I had one in class a while back and actually liked it. It was slightly sweet, apparently German rieslings tend toward the sweeter side. Anyways, I picked up Carl Reh riesling, a Spatlese (which just means a late harvest). Very nice. Not terribly sweet but refreshing. Nice light straw color to it and a pleasant aroma. I can actually say I taste a minerality to it. Still a newbie at the whole "what do I taste" thing, but I do know that I like this one. I will have to try a couple different ones as from what I understand, different areas will give a different taste. This one was from Mosel. Very tasty.

The Cork, or the Screw Cap; which is better?

Does it really make that much of a difference? A cork or a screw cap?
Well, screw caps have a bad reputation and are often associated with cheap wine. But honestly, that is not necessarily the case anymore. Wine snobs turn their nose up when you mention the word. So what.

I mean really; screw caps are easier to open and close, plus, they can't crumble if they get dry, nor can they infect the wine if they get contaminated. It's important to remember, though, to lay a wine in it's side here and there to keep the cork moist so it swells and creates a better seal with less chance of drying out and therefore crumbling into the wine when you try to take it out.

Although they do say that corks are good for the wine because they allow a bit of air in which helps the wine "evolve". I don't know. Sure it's fun to pull a cork out of a bottle, and yes it's basically a renewable resource, but I don't think screw caps are all that bad.

I say to each his own; if you believe a screw cap makes for an inferior wine choice, then so be it, but you may miss out on some excellent choices just because you are eschewing screw caps.
I like the idea of a screw cap just to reseal wine a little better. Either way, I am choosing a wine for the wine, not the way it closes.

And corks make for a cool collection.

Organic Wines?

Another question I get a lot at work is about organic wines. I won't name any of the ones we carry, I'm not endorsing any, but we do have a few. Now, organic is a funny thing. It basically means no chemicals or preservatives are used during the growing period, nor can it have any added sulfites, only naturally occurring ones. This means they should be consumed within a few years, they are not made to hang around.

If preservatives are used in any way, they cannot label themselves as organic, they can only say "made from organic grapes". It's all how you word it, isn't it? These can have added sulfites. More on sulfites at a later time.
I am going to eventually try one, just to see if there is some sort of difference in taste. Doubt it though.

Franklin Hill Vineyard

Well, I decided to walk into Franklin Hill Vineyard's local store. The store is nice, lots of pretty shiny things, expensive things. So I decided I wanted to try a fruity wine. I tasted a raspberry spumante. It was good, but didn't tickle my fancy. I tasted a mango wine. Sweet. So I bought it. Well, not so sure I would again. It's nice and sweet, but reminded me of Arbor Mist or some kind of juice. It was fun to try. Maybe I'll try one of their  regular wines one of these days.

Save That Wine!

A lot of questions I get are for how to store wine after it's been opened. Well, refrigerate it for one whether it's a red or a white. Make sure it is stoppered well. I want to buy one of those vacuum thingies, the little corker things I have aren't that great. They recommend taking out as much air as possible. Some say have a pint bottle on hand (from the occasional foray into cheap vodka) and use that; less air. After 2 or 3 days the wine doesn't taste right anyway, so I always recommend people just cook with it after that.

The Booze book continued

I am actually enjoying putting together this book.
The first page talks about wine preservation and how to properly store wine after it's opened.
The next two pages contain lists of organic wines and unoaked wines we have at the store.
A quick primer on basic wine and food pairing and a page on wine serving temperatures.
The next page has a cheese wheel of good cheeses to pair with wine, and the next page has wines to try if you like a certain type.
Then an article about corks.
I have one page in there about tequilas that talks about the different types.

I think it's a good start and a good springboard for a reference book.

The Booze Resource Book :-)

Yeah, that's what I'll call it.

I'm putting together a book with articles and other important or pertinent information to keep at work. Basically, a lot of the times we are all asked the same things. This way there is a quick reference available. Most of us start and have no clue about anything in the store and either have to call someone or guess. I figure this way we have some basic information at our fingertips. Most of it will be about wine, but I am throwing some other important stuff about different types of spirits in there, just for giggles. More on my booze book later...

Back to blogging!

Well, power was restored this morning. Four and a half days without power or running water. But others have it worse thanks to Sandy.

Anyways, during that time I did try a new wine, Stone Cellars Merlot. I did like it, the first day. After that I didn't care for the taste too much, like it lost its flavor for me. It smelled really good and had a sort of "jammy" (correct word?) mouthfeel. I did like the way it tasted, though I can't pinpoint what I liked about it. But the subsequent days it just tasted very tannic to me and was not enjoyable anymore. But I suppose it was a good wine.

It has been 4 days without power or running water. I hope to get back to blogging soon, I actually enjoy talking about my musings over wine. Be back soon!