by Lorri | Feb 2, 2011 | UnCorked
Discovering new, fresh flavors is one of the great pleasures of wine exploration. If you’re looking to diversify your white wine horizons beyond the familiar chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Riesling, here are some selections to start your journey.
ALBARINO
The albarino grape is produced and grown in the northwest corner of Spain in the Rias Baixas region. Albarino is delicate and lively with aromatic characteristics that hint at peach and lime.
THE VALUE
- 2009 Mar tin Codax Albarino, Spain (about $16 retail)
THE SPLURGE
- 2009 Soleira Albarino, Spain (about $25 retail)
GRUNER VELTLINER
Gruner Veltliner is primarily grown in Austria and Eastern Europe. This slightly spicy wine has distinctive notes of white pepper, mineral and grapefruit zest. Most are made in a dry, crisp simple style, but some versions can taste similar to aged French Burgundy.
THE VALUE
- 2009 Michlits Stadlmann Gruner Veltliner, Austria (about $17 retail)
THE SPLURGE
- 2009 Oriel Or tolan Falkenstein Gruner Veltliner, Austria (about $25 retail)
MARSANNE
Marsanne is usually blended with viognier or roussanne to make the white wines of the Northern Rhone Valley. It’s also planted in California and Australia where the wine has a more full-bodied style. Unlike many white wines, marsanne does not have the typical fruity flavors but instead offers a rich taste of nuts, ginger and peach.
THE VALUE
- 2009 Mas Carlot Marsanne/Roussanne, France (about $13 retail)
THE SPLURGE
- 2009 d’Arenberg The Hermit Crab Marsanne/ Viognier, Australia (about $18 retail)
by Lorri | Jan 26, 2011 | UnCorked
Choosing a wine for entertaining can be similar to the daunting task of planning the menu. Just as you wouldn’t serve spicy Indian curry to your elderly aunt (unless you knew it was her favorite), the same goes for serving your rare vintage French wine to your beer-drinking friend. Selecting the right wines to buy for your guests entails only knowing a little more about them.
Vegetarians and vegans. It’s important to commit as much forethought of the wine you serve as the food when it comes to entertaining vegetarian friends. Finding these wines is becoming easier, with many companies clearly stating on labels if the wine is suitable for vegetarians or vegans (vegetarian V, vegan VG).
THE VALUE
- 2009 Bonterra Vineyards Chardonnay, California (about $16 retail)
THE SPLURGE
- NV Laurent Perrier Champagne, France (about $68 retail)
The Neophyte. Entertaining guests who are just learning about wines is not the time to bring out vintage or quirky oddball wines. Choose uncomplicated wines enjoyed by nearly all wine drinkers such as merlot, shiraz, chardonnay or pinot grigio.
THE VALUE
- 2009 Yalumba Y Series Shiraz, Australia (about $12 retail)
THE SPLURGE
- 2008 Robert Mondavi Chardonnay, California (about $20 retail)
Snobs vs. connoisseurs. Believe it or not, the connoisseurs are easier to please than most wine snobs. They usually tend to enjoy wines that are undervalued, unique or even adventurous. If you enjoy the wine you are serving, the connoisseur most likely will relish in your selection.
Wine snobs, on the other hand, can be the most tiresome guests to entertain because they are usually label and brand conscious — and dreadfully suspicious of wines they have not tasted. The best tip is to stay with easily recognizable wines such as Napa cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay, French Chablis, French Chateauneuf-du-Pape, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or Oregon or Burgundy Pinot Noir.
THE VALUE
- 2008 Montinore Estate Pinot Noir, Oregon (about $15 retail)
THE SPLURGE
- 2009 Joseph Drouhin Grand Cru Chablis, France (about $29 retail)
The foodie. Foodies are generally looking for how the food and wine complement each other. When entertaining these guests, use your culinary strength to give the wines an opportunity to stand out. If you make superb Italian pasta, read up on Italian wines, but if French cuisine is your specialty, then French Bordeaux or Burgundies may be the perfect option. An easy tip is to choose wines that are local to the cuisine.
THE VALUE
- 2009 Voga Pinot Grigio, Italy (about $12 retail)
THE SPLURGE
- 2006 Banfi Chianti Classico, Italy (about $18 retail)
by Lorri | Jan 19, 2011 | UnCorked
Last year Margie Roelands joined Arkansas’ small, but growing (some might say elite) list of winemakers, opening The Raimondo Family Winery in Gamaliel, near Mountain Home.
The Raimondo Family Wineries’ roots go back to Palermo, Sicily. When Roelands’ grandfather Marty Raymondo moved to California, he incorporated his family’s traditional Sicilian methods into his own winemaking, producing two barrels a year for enjoyment with family and friends. (The winery name was originally spelled with a “y,” but after they discovered that the family name in Italian uses an “i” the winery name was changed.)
The wines were bottled as “Grandma and Grandpa Raymondo’s Family Wine.” In the late 1980s, Roelands’ uncle Tony Raymondo took over and increased production to nine barrels, turning the family tradition into a boutique business.
On a trip to Sicily, Tony discovered the family crest and Italian spelling of the family name.
In 2005, Tony’s daughter Lisa Garcia and Roelands joined the business, continuing the tradition of producing Old World varieties such as zinfandel, sangiovese, viognier and rousanne.
Roelands’ Arkansas connection began when a family member recommended the state as a place to relocate. After a Fourth of July weekend visit to Mountain Home she and husband Brian fell in love with the picturesque mountains and lakes of the Ozarks, so much so that they bought the Blue Lady Resort, nestled on a bluff overlooking Norfork Lake in Gamaliel. It was after moving to the Natural State that Margie realized her dream of turning the family winery into a commercially operated business, the Raimondo Family Winery.
Roelands’ husband, Brian, and daughters, Jennifer and Amy, are also active in the family business. Brian manages operations at the winery and resort, while the daughters help with bottling, labeling and promotions.
The Raimondo wines are produced and bottled here in Arkansas with grapes from California. Because of labeling laws you’ll see California on the front label and “produced and bottled in Arkansas” on the back. Eventually the winery plans to create wines using local fruit and they are continuously talking to local growers for the possibility of adding a few indigenous varieties to their unique offering of wines.
Raimondo wines are available at The Cellar at Blue Lady Resort in Gamaliel and select retailers throughout Arkansas.
- 2007 Raimondo Family Winery Tempranillo, California/Arkansas (about $16 retail)
- 2008 Raimondo Family Winery Zinfandel Old Vine, California/Arkansas (about $14 retail)
- 2007 Raimondo Family Winery Barbera, California/ Arkansas (about $13 retail)
- 2009 Raimondo Family Winery Viognier, California/Arkansas (about $15 retail)
by Lorri | Jan 12, 2011 | UnCorked
Wine aeration and decanting are two important steps in wine enjoyment, and unfortunately, the terms are sometimes confused as being interchangeable.
Aeration is the exposure of wine to air. Aeration occurs throughout the winemaking process and is controlled from fermentation to bottling.
Decanting is exactly what it sounds like: the process of transferring wine from its bottle to another container. Decanting is most often employed to separate the sediment of an aged wine before drinking it. Many contend aeration is a crucial step in the decanting process, promoting the wine’s developing aromas, flavors and finish.
Professor Emile Peynaud (1912-2004), world-renowned scientist, taster and teacher, argued that oxygen coming in contact with a sound wine does more harm than good. According to his theory, the longer the wine was aerated during decanting the more diffuse its aromas and less marked its sensory attributes. He advised to only decant wines with sediment and only just before serving. This is because the moment wine is fully exposed to air as it is poured, some of its sensory impressions may be lost and pouring just prior to serving gives the taster maximum control.
This theory is easily proven in fragile, fully developed 20-to 30-year-old wines. Many of these wines are so delicate they can only withstand minutes in a glass before giving in to the negative impact of aeration, which is oxidation.
However, there are many wines where aeration during pouring or decanting is desired, such as youthful wines with high tannins or traditionally robust full-bodied wines such as a Barolo. Some wines are so overpowering and tannic when young that an hour or so sitting in a decanter or even a few added swirls in your glass will offer tremendous benefits.
If you have a bottle with sediment, here are instructions for decanting:
Start by placing the bottle upright for at least 24 hours to allow sediment from the sides of the bottle to dislodge. Open the bottle as you would any other wine, being careful to not disturb sediment that has settled on the bottom. Slowly tip the bottle on its side while slowly pouring its contents into the decanter. To see the sediment as it flows, place a candle under the neck of the bottle; it will be a thin, grainy streak at the beginning of the pouring but will become thicker and sludgy at the end. If time is an issue, filter the wine through cheesecloth or, as a last resort, a paper coffee filter.
by Lorri | Jan 5, 2011 | UnCorked
It’s astounding to think there are more than 8,000 known grape varieties planted around the world. But of the 8,000, only about 1,000 are grown for winemaking. The others are used for table grapes or raisins.
With more than 1,000 wine grapes available, we can’t help but ponder why only a few familiar varietals make it onto our retail shelves. While chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon , merlot and pinot noir are considered household names, where are the other 996 choices?
If you tasted eastern Romanian wine not intended for the export market, you would easily understand why international wine drinkers’ demanding palates quickly weed out some grape varieties. But there are many undiscovered stars waiting to be found and savored.
If you’re interested in finding less familiar grape varieties, consider these delightful wines. Who knows, with more wine drinkers willing to explore we could possibly see the chardonnay shelf space threatened by a worldwide range of unique and distinctive wines.
THE VALUES
- 2008 Concha Y Toro Xplorador Carmenere, Chile (about $11 retail)
- 2009 Pine Ridge Winery Viognier/Chenin Blanc, California (about $14 retail)
- 2008 Layer Cake Malbec, Australia (about $22 retail)
THE SPLURGES
- 2005 Alexander Valley Alexander School Primitivo,California (about $52 retail)
- 2007 Abadia San Campio Albarino, Spain (about $26 retail)
- 2008 Bouchaine Pinot Meunier, California (about $50 retail)
- 2008 Jacuzzi Wines Primitivo, California (about $25 retail)
- 2008 Adelsheim Tocai Friulano , Oregon (about $30 retail)
by Lorri | Dec 29, 2010 | UnCorked
New Year’s Eve is the ideal occasion to savor Champagne. Whether it’s because of the intriguing, elegant bubble or the urge to raise a glass at the stroke of midnight, it is unquestionably the drink of celebrations. It has a long history and an extensive list of contributors along the way, Dom Pierre Perignon undeniably the most famous. But a few other discoveries had to come before Perignon could supposedly declare, “Brothers, brothers, come quickly, I am drinking stars.”
Two of the most important developments occurred around the same time – stronger glass for the bottle and an airtight cork for the closure.
Before the 17th century, wine was stored in casks and individuals took their own fragile bottles to local wine merchants to be filled. An oil-soaked rag acted as the cork.
Glass was made using wood-fired furnaces, and out of fear that there would not be enough oak for shipbuilding, King James I (at the urging of Sir Robert Mansell, an admiral of English Royal Navy) ordered glass-makers to stop using wood for heating the furnaces. The wood was replaced by coal, which allowed the furnaces to burn hotter, creating stronger glass for wine bottles. The stronger bottles contained the fizzy wine and didn’t explode as weaker glass did.
Around the same time,cork was discovered and replaced the oil-soaked rag. The English were the first to seal wine bottles using cork imported from Portugal and Spain. Most cork comes from the bark of the Quercus suber or cork oak, a species of oak native to southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa.
Once there was strong enough glass to withstand the pressure of the bubbly and a cork to contain the bubble, voila, the industry was on its way to what we think of as modern-day Champagne.
So whether you are chanting the midnight countdown on New Year’s Eve or quietly celebrating with intimate friends, bubbly is perfect for toasting the beginning of a new year.
THE VALUES
- NV Gruet Brut Sparkling Wine, New Mexico (about $19 retail)
- NV Rosa di Bianco Sparkling Wine, Spain (about $14 retail)
- NV Roederer Anderson Valley Brut Sparkling Wine, California (about $19 retail)
THE SPLURGES
- NV Iron Horse Brut Classic Sparkling Wine, California (about $39 retail)
- NV J Brut Rose Sparkling Wine, California (about $37 retail)
- NV Moet Chandon Imperial Champagne, France (about $50 retail)
- NV Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Champagne, France (about $62 retail)
