Opening & Closing Thoughts part 1

Do you remember the corkscrews of old? They screwed right into the cork just fine, but required a deft hand and considerable strength to yank the stopper out without damaging the cork, bottle, or your guests at the table. I even had one on my first Swiss Army Knife.

Did they really think you could pull a cork with that? Don't get me wrong -- it is a valuable addition to a survival kit and has many real uses beyond cracking open a Barolo while camping.

The corkscews/openers of our modern age have evolved by leaps and bounds. Here a few examples:

The basic "waiter's friend"

Finally! Some engineer/wine drinker got tired of using the non-leverage version and came up with something that almost always works.

Even better is the hinged prong version that stresses the wrist less.

This is my new favorite (thankful to Elizabeth and Bennett for the re-gifting). If you're opening bottles regularly, this is well worth the money. For starters, the base can be suctioned to the counter using the black plate as a pump. The two horizontal bars gently grasp the bottle neck while you perform a simple over and back maneuver with the single bar on the right. Voila! The screw is inserted and removed with little strain or effort. Remove the bottle and then repeat the clasping and over and back to remove the cork from the screw. I love this thing! A nifty foil cutter fits neatly into a small space in the upright.

Next week I'll cover closures.

Opening & Closing Thoughts Part 2

Last week I hurriedly discussed how we can all crack open our favorite wine. (However, I did stay away from the screw top so popular now...especially in Australia.)

So now that we have it opened, what next? We drink it of course! "But wait," someone says. "Don't we need to decant it, let it open-up and breath?" I just happened to open up my latest Wine Spectator to the letter section. There was a good bit of debate over this very question. Some decried the whole debate as so much erudite gobbledygook, while others go into painstaking detail about the ethers, esters and aldehydes coming to life as the hours unfold. I fall somewhere in between.
My take? Letting a good medium to full-bodied red (e.g. Cabs, Zins, Shiraz like the Mollydooker above, Chateauneuf du Pape, etc) breath for an hour or so will greatly enhance the subtle flavors hiding underneath the big fruit. The good news is that they should taste fine straight out of the bottle if you give the glass an obligatory swirl. Even a lighter-bodied Pinot Noir or Cotes du Rhone should benefit from a little time out of the bottle. Experiment with your favorite. This can be done in one or two back-to-back evenings; or, even better, on several different occasions, as long as you take good notes. With other tasters present, open the bottle, pour straightaway into the glass and swirl-sniff-sip and take notes on the aroma and taste. The next chance you get, open up another bottle of the same stuff and decant it for an hour (with a periodic swishing of the contents. Pour, swirl, sniff, sip, notate. See if all the tasters show that the wine has improved, and if so, to what degree. Then decide if it might taste even better with more time.
Ultimately, practicality and patience will dictate the day.

Now imagine the unthinkable -- a bottle doesn't get finished and you want to save what's left for tomorrow or beyond. What do you do?
As I thought about this, I recalled years ago that wine shops sold glass beads to pour into an open bottle. The idea was that the glass beads (essentially just marbles) would displace the fluid enough to allow little space for air, and therefore allow little oxidation to ruin the vino. I haven't noticed these in wine shops lately, so perhaps the vacuum pump sealer has replaced that method.

With a few pumps, the air is drawn out and the remaining wine should be good for another evening. There are many variations on this basic idea, including battery-operated vacuums to spare the tedious effort of hand-pumping. I certainly would recommend this basic under $10 system over using the cork or a basic bottle-topper for overnight storage.

If any of you have a expensive wine habit, and have a spare $300 to help support that habit, buy a Coravin! It is amazing and I've seen it in action and tasted what it can do. tool should change how wine shops sell, how wine sellers like myself sell to wine shops, and how the wine geek at home can have their wine cake and drink it too. The inventor's wife had learned she was pregnant, so he was left to drink alone for a few months. He was already in product design, and had invented some keen medical devices. Putting that knowledge to work, Greg Lambrecht decided to invent this gadget that has a surgical steel needle that inject argon to fill the ullage and then forces the wine to be poured out. The needle is so small that, when removed, allows the cork to simply return to normal. I tasted a Barolo at Table Wine here in Asheville that Josh Spurling had sampled from (it is never technically opened) over two weeks earlier. It was beautiful, and without a hint or trace of oxidation to my palate.

I would love to find one of these in my stocking this year!

In closing (pun intended), I still enjoy the fun short-term stoppers that are found everywhere. Here's my sentimental favorite -- bought on a trip to Venice with my lovely wife.

Ciao!

Power of Suggestion

Power of Suggestion

As I mentioned last week in "Tasting for the Masses," I do work part time at the most-visited winery in these United States -- Biltmore Estate Winery. In that capacity, I'm often asked "what is your favorite wine here?" I'm always quick with my three answers:
1. Whites? Biltmore Chardonnay Sur Lies -- aged 12-14 months in stainless steel on the lees providing a complexity that oak can't.
2. Reds? Biltmore Sangiovese -- the grape of Chianti, but a more luscious interpretation with a richness not unlike Brunello, with hints of oak, dark berries and a lingering chocolate finish.

3. The best Biltmore makes? -- I always direct guests to try the Biltmore Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley 2010. An incredible Cab of epic proportions without overpowering the lucky taster. Full-bodied, velvety fruit with soft tannins that hint at aging potential, but great now!

I'm an "OK" sales person -- never pushy, honest, confident -- yet, it still amazes me what the power of suggestion can do. More people mark those wines on their list as "purchasable" than any of the other 33 wines and sparkling wines in our collection. Yes. They are really good wines, but peoples' tastes vary more than that. Some prefer the elegance of the Pinot Noir, or the funky barnyard-ness of the Cardinal's Crest Bordeaux blend, or even the somewhat middle-of-the-road stability of the Century Red; but, statistics show that our suggestions are taken very seriously. The effect of "you've gotta try this wine" is undeniable, and, to an extent, gratifying.

With that in mind, I want to solicit some suggestions from you folks out there. The marketplace will listen. I will listen. And, I will share this with the blog world. Please send me as much detail as you can: picture of the label, where you had it/bought it, price, varietal(s), vintage, region, appellation, vineyard if applicable. Of course, we also want to hear your tasting notes.
I'll post these in the coming weeks in this post under the heading of " Wining Fans' Faves."
For starters, here is a suggestion from Leah M.:

Woodyard Canyon Nelms Road Merlot 2009. Washington St. ~$22 (retail). Smooth and supple. Fruit-forward, but not in an overwhelming fashion like some Merlot's. Had it at a Seattle restaurant.

 

 

 

 

I hope everyone has a lot of suggestions -- have a great and safe week.

On Tasting for the Masses

I work part-time as a sales associate for the most-visited winery in America, Biltmore Estate Winery  (http://www.biltmore.com/wine/visit-the-winery). In my capacity there, I've had the great opportunity to meet people from all over the world -- both geographically and in their oenological awareness. Yesterday alone, I had folks who had never tasted wine -- ever (i.e. "what's your sweetest wine?) -- and I finished my shift with two people who had the most perceptive noses and taste buds imaginable. The one gentleman correctly identified several obscure grapes in some of our blends.This is not to make comparisons or draw judgments, rather to point out that the greater world of wine tasting needs to meet the needs of those extreme poles and the masses in-between.

Retailers who actually want to sell the wine on their shelves need only ask a question or two to determine what language to speak to the prospective customer.
"What wines do you typically buy for yourself?" Ms. Retailer asked.
"I like a nice Chianti," Dr. Lecter replied.
"Well that sounds nice, but have you ever had a Biltmore Sangiovese?"

Or perhaps the customer tells you "I'm more of a beer drinker, but my wife prefers wine. What would you suggest for me to try?"

The days of the snobby wine sommelier looking down his nose at the unsophisticated diner who didn't know his Bordeaux from a hole in the ground should be a thing of the distant past, as those of us in the wine world look to help the uninitiated explore their own palates, and hopefully broaden the consumers' enjoyment. Smile always, mentor and advise when needed, and thank people for taking the time to stretch their comfort zone a bit.

P.S. I did not want to imply that sweet wines were for the wine neophytes. There are are many nice sweet wines out there: Sauternes, Malvasia, ice wine, etc.