Interesting Wine Info Archives - Page 15 of 22 - Wine Blog from The International Wine of the Month Club

Champagne Isn’t Just for Thanksgiving and Holidays

November 21, 2014 by Don Lahey

Most Americans relegate Champagne and other fine sparkling wines to special occasions, like Thanksgiving dinner, weddings, late-night holiday parties, New Year’s Eve celebrations, and other such events. Frankly, Champagne deserves better.

Europe vs. United States Champagne Drinking

European wine drinkers discovered the many pleasures of Champagne long ago and consume far more Champagne than Americans. As the original and finest sparkling wine from the ancient province of Champagne, France, this wonderful wine still enjoys a reputation as the “Belle of the Ball” or a wine of conviviality and good cheer. But, this delectable drink also pairs beautifully with many types of foods, and deserves a new reputation as a wine for all seasons and occasions.

To get a taste of what I’m talking about, prepare a meal around a good bottle of Champagne and see why French and Italians consume so much more of this magical wine than Americans. Why not discover the pleasure of Champagne and pour a glass of Champagne on a cold, rainy day as well as a warm, sunny day, or serve it at a mid-week meal as well as at a party? Isn’t every day meant to be celebrated in some fashion? Why limit the pleasure of good bubbly to a few occasions or just one time of year?

Champagne makes glad the heart as it cleanses the palate and enlivens the soul. For these reasons, and more, I enjoy Champagne at Thanksgiving and any other holiday where a good meal is to be had. I especially enjoy it as an aperitif, or as an accompaniment to a fun-filled evening with tasty morsels.

Winston Churchill is reputed to have remarked, “In the time left to us between the disaster and the catastrophe, there is time for a glass of Champagne.” So, what are we waiting for? Make mine Brut Champagne with some amazing foods, like the food pairing ideas I’ve listed below!

Champagne Food Pairing Suggestions

Smoked Salmon with Capers, Cucumber, and Cream Cheese
Caviar
Crab Dip
Lobster
Salmon with Fennel in a Light Cream Sauce
Sautéed Scallops
Shrimp and Grits
Stuffed Mushrooms, Hors d’Oeuvres, Canapés
Chicken or Shrimp Satay with a Peanut Sauce
Suprême de Volailles aux Champignons (aka Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Cream)
Vegetarian Spring Rolls
Muenster, Neufchâtel, Port Salut and many other types of cheese

Learn more about how our international wine clubs work and why wines from The International Wine of the Month Club™ are a great choice for Thanksgiving and the holidays.

Don

Why Serve Wine at Thanksgiving

November 7, 2014 by Don Lahey

For me, Thanksgiving remains a day to be truly thankful – a day to remember that faith, family, friends, health, and abundance should never be taken for granted. I, for one, am grateful that I don’t have to drink a wine I don’t like, but that’s just a perk behind my position. Hopefully, parades, football, and the specter of Black Friday shopping haven’t totally obliterated the meaning of Thanksgiving, but there is one great aspect to enjoying the day’s feasting: drinking amazing wines that pair perfectly with the meal.

Thanksgiving is a day to reacquaint myself with gratitude for all that is good in life, and that includes gratitude for fine wine. Gratitude may be the least appreciated of all virtues, but at least in America we have a day set aside to remind us to practice gratitude and give thanks.

Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday to spend time with those we care about the most, but more importantly, this holiday is a day to share the finest wines with family, friends, and whoever else shows up for dinner or simply to say hello.

So, what are the best wines to serve at Thanksgiving? I’ll be answering that question in my next blog post. Until then, think about what wines you might like to include with your Thanksgiving dinner, and read up a little on our Food and Wine Pairing Guide to get an idea of how to pair your favorite holiday dishes with fine wines!

Don

Too Hot, Too Cold, or Just Right: The Temperatures for Serving Wine

November 1, 2014 by Don Lahey

A lot of wine enthusiasts wonder what temperature their wine should be when they open a bottle. The traditional, age-old response to the question is to serve white wines cold and red wines at room temperature. But, in this case, not only is traditional wisdom out of synch with the human palate according to recent university studies – it’s also vague and misleading.

First and foremost, what is room temperature?

Room temperature varies from season to season and from location to location. In addition, traditional wine temperature recommendations don’t take modern heating and air conditioning into account, which greatly alter the temperature of a room. Moreover, when the conventional wisdom of serving red wine at room temperature came into vogue in England and France centuries ago, room temperature was 55°- 65° F, at the most. Consequently, the idea of serving wine at room temperature is useless to most of us today.

What is the best temperature for red wines?

Not surprisingly, university studies confirm that the vast majority of wine drinkers garner the most flavor and pleasure from red wines when consumed between 55°-65° F, which is decidedly cooler than room temperature in most American homes. Read more about chilling red wine here.

What is the best temperature for white wines?

Conversely, recent studies also indicate that wine drinkers report the greatest pleasure and taste from white wines consumed between 45°-55° F, which means we may be cheating ourselves by nearly freezing white wines before rapidly consuming them.

The Final Verdict

So, what’s a wine drinker to do? Drink wine at the temperature that suits your palate, of course. You may want to experiment with some of your favorite red wines by cooling them down for 15-20 minutes in the refrigerator and allowing white wines to sit in a glass for 15 minutes before guzzling them. Personally, I think most of us consume red wines too warm and white wines too cold. However, each of us has to determine his or her pleasure quotient. So, why not experiment a bit, and see what suits you?

Red? White? How about one of each?! Get two international wines from award-winning vineyards when you join The International Wine of the Month Club!

How to Host a Successful Wine Tasting Party

September 26, 2014 by Don Lahey

Looking back at my past 40 years as a wine enthusiast, I can safely say that I’ve seen my fair share of wine tasting parties. A common theme I’ve noticed over the years is that many of the hosts of these parties tend to overthink them, and put too much of the focus on the details. The format of the party, the wine glasses used, the way the host collects feedback; all of these things should be secondary aspects of the party. The true ingredients of a successful wine tasting party are simple: good wine and good people.

What supplies & tools you’ll need for your Wine Tasting Party:

½ a bottle of wine per guest is ideal – supply your own or have everyone bring a bottle or two
Clean, clear wine glasses – I prefer Riedel
A couple of wine openers and a corkscrew as backup
A bucket or spittoon to dump out the excess wine
Simple wine tasting sheets so that guests can jot down comments
A camera to photograph the wine labels
Optional: Bottled water
Optional: Food pairings like cheese and crackers, chocolate, fruit, etc.
Optional: Decanter for red wine
Optional: Ice bucket for white wine

Step 1: Invite the Right Guests

Choosing an eclectic group of people for your wine tasting party will help your party run itself, especially by the time everyone is on their third or fourth wine. The key here is to invite people with varying tastes and degrees of experience with wine. That way, newbies can comfortably learn about wine from more experienced enthusiasts, and the more experienced enthusiasts can happily banter about the wine selections.

Step 2: Decide on a Theme

Although choosing a theme isn’t required, it can definitely help your guests pick the right type of wine for their palate. I’d recommend going with wines by region or appellation. Some other common themes are new world vs. old world wines and blind tastings. A note about blind tasting, however – although much can be learned through blind tastings, especially among seasoned wine drinkers, I have never found blind tastings contribute much fun to a wine party. Instead, they usually make people defensive and competitive. Therefore, I would skip the blind tasting in favor of a more fun activity.

Step 3: Serve, Taste & Enjoy

The best way to educate the palate, enjoy wine and preserve an air of mystery is to serve premium wines from wineries, varietals and places that your guests will not likely have tasted or seen before. This way, the tasting party can be both fun and mysterious without making guests apprehensive. If you are unfamiliar with such wines, consult a reputable and knowledgeable retailer for suggestions, or better yet, contact the International Wine of the Month Club for some of our most popular recent selections! Lastly: It is wise to try some of your provider’s selections ahead of time, and then serve the wines you choose from lightest to heaviest, saving the sweetest wines for last.

A Final Note

With a little research and planning, hosting your own wine party can be a fun opportunity for you, your friends and your family to try good wines with good company. Some of the key things to remember:

A fun, outgoing group of people will make the party all the more enjoyable
A wine tasting party theme can help your guests narrow down their wine selections and help you increase the educational value of your party
If you’re still a beginner with wine, consulting a knowledgeable retailer will help you pick only interesting, premium selections that fit within your theme

Wine tasting parties are still parties: remember to have fun!

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Salud!
Don

Don’s September Collector Series Top Pick

September 23, 2014 by Don Lahey

This month’s Top Pick belongs to a relative newcomer. Despite my fondness for William Fevre’s Champs Royaux Chablis, shipped this month with a cool green jacket, and my longstanding love for Castello di Monsanto’s exceptional Chianti Classico, I have to go with Valle Secreto’s 2011 Private Syrah, Cabernet, Carmenère as this month’s Top Pick. For starters, it’s hard not to marvel at this wine’s soaring full-blown aromatics and rich polished flavors. Reminiscent of classified Bordeaux, this highly allocated production of 2011 Valle Secreto Private offers up a staggering bouquet of blackberry, cassis, wood smoke and dark chocolate, all of which are framed by subtle hints of oak. Better still, deep, complex flavors reminiscent of the wine’s voluminous bouquet emerge in the center of this wine, bolstered by ripe tannins that add energy and lift as well as a balance to this tasty offering. I love this wine’s larger than life, in your face personality, so this month’s Top Pick it is. Enjoy!

Salud!
Don

How to recycle wine corks?

September 12, 2014 by Don Lahey

As someone who has spent his entire career in wine, popping hundred of corks a week, I figured out a long ago that wine corks readily serve more than one purpose. Why throw away a good wine cork? Here are a few suggestions for recycling wine corks. With a little imagination I am sure you can come up with more.

Cork floats. Attach a wine cork to a key chain. Keys don’t float as many bathers and boaters have come to find out the hard way, unless they are attached to a cork.

Make a cork wreath and decorate the wreath with the appropriate holiday regalia: bows flowers, fruit, holly etc.

Make cork figures and ornaments using small finishing nails to keep the corks together. Angels, rocking horses, and just about any figure you want can easily be made from corks. Glue the desired regalia onto the figure and another holiday gift is ready present.

Wine corks make great buffers between walls and the metal parts of furniture, especially screws and sharp protrusions. Just screw or push the cork onto the protrusion and stop worrying about scuffs and gouges to your walls.

Create a dart board with your old corks but cutting the corks in half and using the smooth flat insides as the board’s surface.

And after you have exhausted all other recycling efforts, what’s wrong with putting some of the wine corks from your favorite wines on display in a clear glass bowl or vase? The corks will serve as a reminder of the most memorable wines and can be reused to stop an open bottle or container. And if nothing else, the wine cork vase will in time become a conversation piece to regale visiting wine geeks. Better still, you can have some fun with the snooping wine snob by planting a few choice corks.

Salud!
Don

Cabernet Day 2014!

August 28, 2014 by Kristina Manning

Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles California, that is what I will have in my glass tonight. Just can’t wait to dive into that silky smooth, beautifully balanced Cab, from Daou Vineyards & Winery. I visited the winery last April with around 100 wine bloggers for an event hosted by Daou, with wines poured by members of the Paso Robles Cab Collective.

The setting was stunning: on top of the Adelaida Mountains during sunset with a beautiful glow of orange and red, overlooking a canyon of vineyards. Eighteen of the PRCC representatives poured from two or three of their collection of wines for us. Every wine was delightful and full of favor and it was apparent that these wine makers are very passionate about their wines.

Paso Robles wine makers are serious about their Cabernet and Bordeaux wines by forming this group; The Paso Robles Cabernet and Bordeaux Collective (PRCC) a grass-roots organization which strives to promote the full potential of the Paso Robles AVA in producing superior quality, age-worthy, balanced and classic Cabernet and red Bordeaux varietals to consumers and media worldwide. The PRCC seeks to improve awareness regarding the distinctive attributes of Paso Robles Cabernet and red Bordeaux varietals through events, education and initiatives that confirm the appellations’ growing reputation for producing luscious well-rounded red Bordeaux varietals that compete with like-varietals on a global stage.

Cheers!
Kristina

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