Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Five Ways to Expand Your Wine Horizons



Look to new (to you) growing regions for exciting new wine frontiers
We have all experienced major growing regions around the world: California, Australia and Italy to name a few.  Try a wine that pushes those boundaries a bit.  Riesling from Alsace is bright and crisp, perfect for early fall sipping.  The Finger Lakes region of New York is growing into a powerhouse region for Eiswein and other dense, perfumed dessert wines.  Right here in South Dakota, hybrid grapes are sticking through our tough winters to create everything from delicate whites to dense port-style reds.  It doesn’t have to be a new growing area to be new to you! 

Explore new grape varietals and interesting blends
Single varietal wines made from classic varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc.) can be tough to produce and expensive to procure.  Try a blend or a grape varietal that is new to your repertoire.  Blends are a great choice for easy sipping as the grapes can help each other to create a well-balanced wine.  Maybe the Cabernet crop suffered with too much sun.  Instead of making a flabby wine, the producer can blend in some cool climate Merlot and add some much needed acidity.  The same applies for lesser known grape varietals.  Grapes have been developed to survive in tough climates without needing “perfect” weather to make great wine.  Try a hybrid grape wine that can shine even in the toughest circumstances.

Find a buddy at your favorite wine store or winery
Do you have a wine retailer that you enjoy talking to and trust for suggestions?  This relationship can be a great asset to expanding your palate.  Make sure your wine store contact knows the flavors you like, knows what kind of food you like to eat and knows your price point.  This is a perfect example of a Gen5 Wine Club perk.  Our staff is always here to answer questions about Prairie Berry wines and beyond! 

Consider your food
What kind of food do you like to cook at home or order when you go out?  Do you head straight for traditional Italian flavors like tomato and basil?  Look for an Italian wine you HAVEN’T tried.  Skip the Chianti and try a Montepulciano from the same region.  Let the food you love guide you to different wine pairings for a completely new experience!

Find flavors you love
Learn how to describe the flavors and sensations you like in wine.  Do you enjoy sipping a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc on a hot summer day?  Understanding and being able to describe what you like is 90% of the battle.  Once you know some general styles that tickle your taste buds, you can find new wines to try.  If you enjoy that bright, fruity white to cool you down, why not try an Albarino from Spain or Brianna from South Dakota?  Your description will help guide restaurant servers, tasting room associates and wine retailers wherever you visit and will help open doors to new tasting experiences!  

Friday, August 12, 2011

Common Sense Wine Tasting

Several senses--well, all of them really--come into play when you’re tasting wine. Okay, so you don’t actually taste with your ears, but the sound of the wine hitting the glass, the clink of a glass during a toast--these are part of the experience. The color and clarity of the wine are important and the temperature of the wine can make a difference. So, there are three of the five senses that you’ve used before you’ve even tasted the wine. But the big two are taste and smell.

The condition of your mouth can greatly affect how you taste wine. If you’ve eaten cheese, spicy foods or nearly anything else with a moderately strong flavor (including gum), there’s a strong possibility it will skew your perception of the taste of the wine. Fats and oils can coat the tongue, rendering your tastebuds ineffective at detecting the subtle flavor nuances that are so enjoyable in a glass of wine. Get around this by avoiding food until after the tasting or eating a few mild crackers or a piece of bread between the food and the wine. In our tasting room we encourage guests to have a few oyster crackers before switching wines, and also suggest they wait until after the tasting to have lunch. Rinsing your mouth with plain water can also help. Of course, the right food paired with the right wine can bring out the best of both elements, but if you're tasting wine just to taste the wine, it's best for the wine to be solo.

And now, the nose.  Since a great deal of tasting is actually smelling, keeping your nose in tip-top shape is as important as cleaning your mouth. But cleaning your nose? Yeah. Gross. We’ll assume you know how to clean your nose. We won’t go there. But keep in mind that your nose’s ability to pick up the intricacies of a wine bouquet can be hampered by distracting aromas. If you know you are going to be tasting wine, skip the perfume and move away from the man with the aftershave aura. Other scents, like coffee and barbecue smoke, can be equally effective at keeping your nose from focusing on the wine. In some cases, if there’s nothing you can do about a strong aroma, you may want to postpone your tasting and try again sometime when you can focus on the wine.