How to Read a Wine List

March 7, 2014 by Don Lahey

Even the most ardent, self-proclaimed wine geek can become bewildered when faced with a restaurant wine list. So many wines, so little time, and what does it all mean, as half of the selections are in another language?

Step 1: Download the online wine list

If possible, download the wine list ahead of time, as many restaurant wine lists now appear online. Besides, choosing the wine before the meal makes perfect sense to wine lovers and beginners alike. In addition, you won’t be easily coerced to spend more than you had intended if you have one or more wines in mind before sitting at table.

Step 2: Categorize each wine

Next, learn to categorize: White Wines (may also appear as Blanc, Blanc de Blancs, Blanco, or Bianco); Red Wines (often masquerade as Rouge, Rosso, Rojo, and Tinto); Sparkling Wines (more often than not hide under the names Cava, Champagne and Prosecco-based upon their country of origin); and of course Rosé Wine, which can run the gamut from a light sweet blush wine like White Zinfandel to a bone dry, thirst quenching French Rosé that can make you think you’re sipping heaven at a table in the South of France.

Step 3: Make the grape varietal connection

Next, try to make the varietal connection. New World wines most often bear the name of the predominant grape varietal on the label, while most Old World wines bear the generic name of their appellation or region of origin. If you can make the varietal connection between Old World and New World, you can break much of the code that makes restaurant wine lists so intimidating. This is especially true for wines from France, Italy and Spain, the world’s three largest producers of wine.

Stay tuned for more on how to crack the code and navigate restaurant wine lists. In the meantime, don’t forget to consider a restaurant’s by the glass selections, which are typically more exciting than what is offered by the carafe (a full liter of wine that more often than not flows from a much larger box).

For more information on grape varietals, visit our Wine Grape Varietals page.

Salute!
Don

photo credit: Wombatunderground1 via photopin cc

Should You Be Chilling Your Red Wine?

February 27, 2014 by Don Lahey

The answer to the question is an unequivocal yes, and no. The traditional adage says to serve white wines cold and red wines at room temperature, but traditional wisdom appears out of synch with recent studies that indicate the temperature range most of us prefer to drink red wines is much cooler than room temperature in most contemporary American homes and restaurants. But first and foremost, what is room temperature? Room temperature varies from season to season and locale to locale. In addition, the term doesn’t take into account modern heating and air conditioning, which greatly alter the temperature of a room. Moreover, when the conventional wisdom of serving red wine at room temperature came into vague in England and France centuries ago, room temperature was 55°- 62° F most of the year, if you were lucky.

Not surprisingly, university studies confirm that the vast majority of wine drinkers garner the most flavor and pleasure from red wines consumed between 55°- 65° F, which is decidedly cooler than room temperature in most American homes. Consequently, the term room temperature is useless to most of us today with central heating and air conditioning. If one wants to enjoy a good bottle of red wine in July in Arizona or Southern California, room temperature will hardly make the grade, so why not put the bottle of red wine in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to bring it down below 65° F. And there’s no law that says you can’t chill red wine further, if you prefer it that way. One wine drinker’s loss of flavor is another’s perfect potion, so as you like it.

Salute!
Don

Don’t forget that you can order your favorite wines at www.WineMonthClub.com

The Best Wines to Serve with Italian Food

January 30, 2014 by Don Lahey

What the best wines to serve with Italian food are all depends upon what Italian food we’re talking about. There is no one authentic Italian cuisine, only a myriad of regional cuisines and specialty dishes that slide down easily with a seemingly endless array of local wines. To accompany the artfully prepared risottos and complex sauces of Northern Italy’s Piedmont, the region’s “Three B’s” (Barolo, Barbaresco, and Barbera) immediately come to mind. Producers such as Seghesio, Silvio Grasso, and Querciola provide memorable accompaniments to Piedmont’s celebrated cuisine. And if fish or fowl make their appearance at a Piedmontese table, the region’s elegant dry white wines offer incomparable quality and value, especially Malaibale di Canale’s Roero Arneis and Massone’s crystalline Gavi. And to accompany Florentine Steak or one of Tuscany’s signature bean dishes, there is no better wine to serve than Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Richer than Chianti Classico and fresher and more food friendly than Brunello di Montalcino it’s hard to beat Vino Nobile at table, especially if the wine happens to be an elegant Vino Nobile from Caterina Dei. Moving south, how could anyone pass up a bottle of Greco or Fiano di Avellino from Caggiano or Colli di Lapio while sojourning along the Amalfi Coast to enjoy with some of the world’s most spectacular seafood? The hinterlands of this spellbinding coast also harbor the ancient Aglianico varietal that pairs perfectly with the region’s lamb and hearty stews. Vesevo and Molettieri are two producers to count on for exceptional Aglianico. We shouldn’t overlook Sicily and the far south as sources of affordable treasures either. Cellaro’s Nero d’Avola pairs splendidly with pizza, pasta, and the heady tomato and garlic laden dishes of Italy’s Deep South. And these wines just begin the conversation.

Prost!
Don

photo credit: lennox_mcdough via photopin cc

Is it Shiraz or Syrah?

December 23, 2013 by Don Lahey

Whether the label says Shiraz or Syrah I’m up for the adventure because either name refers to the same exquisite grape variety. In the world of grape varieties one often finds multiple names for the same grape, and so it is with Shiraz, or should I say Syrah? But regardless of the name on the bottle, Syrah reigns as one of the planet’s greatest red grape varietals.

Syrah has been grown for centuries in the Rhône Valley of France, where it is responsible entirely or in part for many of the greatest wines of France (Hermitage, Côte Rôtie, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape specifically). However, the exact origins of the deep purple grape of tremendous flavor known as Syrah remains a question to debate. Nonetheless, historians do seem to agree on several points. First, Syrah was brought to Europe from the Middle East, yet when and by whom still remain mysteries. The other point that enjoys widespread consensus is that the name Shiraz, from the Persian city of that name, is the likely origin of the grape variety’s name. In any case, Syrah or should we now say Shiraz flourishes today not only in the south of France but in other Mediterranean climates. It fares particularly well in Australia, California, Chile and South Africa, where it is frequently called by its original name – Shiraz. But no matter the name, Shiraz remains one of the world’s finest grapes and earns a place in my glass, but only long enough for me to smile and empty the glass.

Saluté!
Don

Spain: Where Wine, Food and Weather Won’t Disappoint

December 5, 2013 by Don Lahey

Cibeles square at Christmas, Madrid, Spain

A trip to any wine country should bring joy to all the senses and not just the thirsty palate. A wine trip to Spain will do all that and more, especially if the thirsty oenophile begins in Barcelona, heads west to Montsant and Priorato, and then continues the quest westward along the Duero River to partake of the world’s finest Tempranillo wines in Ribera del Duero. And surely there will be time for short detours to Rioja and Rueda to taste more great wine. One can do all of this in Spain in a week or ten days, without having to rack up a thousand miles along the way. Think excellent bubbly in the form of delicate Cava from Catalonia and the environs of Barcelona, big mouth filling reds from Montsant and Priorato, velvety sophisticated reds from Ribera del Duero and Rioja, and crisp, satisfying, thirst quenching white wines from Rueda. And Spain’s best kept secret may be its food.

There’s a lot more to Spanish cuisine than paella. Some of the most splendid meals I have had in Europe came on a recent trip to Spain. Admittedly, France and Italy enjoy well-deserved reputations for their food and wine, but they can’t quite match Spain for the predictability of the weather and the consistency with which Spain turns out tasty well made wines at prices most of us can afford. Today, Spain is in the midst of “A Golden Age.” In short, Spanish wines have never been better than they are today. Enjoy!

Saluté!
Don

Don’s November Premier Series Top Picks

November 14, 2013 by Don Lahey

This month’s Premier Series Top Pick highlights the appealing attributes of the Syrah varietal and provides further evidence of the wonderful work Chile continues to do with all kinds of French varietals. Is there anywhere else on earth where so many fine wines are being produced at such affordable prices? After numerous visits to the world’s longest, thinnest country, I find it’s hard to beat Chile for quality, value and variety. And these qualities can all be found in the 2010 Valle Secreto First Edition.

Valle Secreto’s First Edition Syrah garners Top Pick this month because it captures the very essence of Syrah with its striking color, beautiful black fruit aromas that leap from the glass, and seductive deep down flavors that change and unfold and please now, but promise even more. Intense, but not overbearing, Valle Secreto’s First Edition Syrah can best be summed up in a quote from one of our panel members, “This wine kicks me in all the right places, do you think I could have some more?” Warm, supple, and full of flavor this wine truly rocks.

Saluté!
Don

Soave Revisited: Not Your Grandfather’s White Wine

November 1, 2013 by Don Lahey

For decades the name Soave was nearly synonymous with white wine from Italy, much like the word Chablis doubled as a catch word for any white wine made in America. And to make matters worse, a hand full of Italian producers monopolized the market for Soave – a beautiful, personality filled white wine from northern Italy of charm and grace in its pure form. Unfortunately, these industrialized giants homogenized the Soave they produced, reducing it to the lowest common denominator. The result was oceans of eviscerated, innocuous white wine, whose only attribute was that it was squeaky clean, so clean in fact that it was grossly devoid of character and flavor.

Fortunately, a number of small grower/producers survived and others have joined them to restore Soave to its proper place among the top echelon of Italian white wines. Some of my favorite Soave producers are Gini and Tamellini, though Anselmi (who prefers not to use the name Soave in protest to past and present abuses), Inama and a number of other artisan producers make world class Soave as well. What I enjoy most is the delicacy and purity of authentic, carefully crafted Soave. No other white wine appears as ethereal as genuine Soave, yet real Soave is capable of captivating the mind as well as the palate, which is something your Grandfather’s Soave could never do.

Saluté!
Don

« Newer Entries

Older Entries »