Tasting Tips

Here are some wine tasting tips I am going to share with you. In addition, always keep water with you in the car. Not only to clear your palate, but to keep you hydrated.

Wine Tasting Tips

• Eat before you come to the tasting. There are many wines to try...the munchies provided are intended to help you try the wines with food and clear your palate.

• Drink water or eat bread to clear your palate.

• Be safe. Limit the amount you drink if you are driving.

• Be courteous to others who wish to taste. After receiving your pour, please step back from the tasting table to do your personal evaluation. Others can then step forward to receive a sample of wine. Step to the side to talk with the winery representative.

• Designate a driver or use public transportation.

Wine & Tuna

Viognier...this is a white wine that is very aromatic. You will experience enticing aromas of orange blossom, white peach, green apple and spice. Full, luscious layers of ripe melon, honeyed pear and tropical fruit intermingle with fresh citrus to refresh the palate. This is a great wine, in my opinion.

With a bottle of Goosecross Viognier in the wine celler, I left my husband home for a weekend to take my daughter to a cheerleading competition. The wonders of technology, my husband texted me a beautiful picture of the Tuna dish he made with the Goosecross Viognier. I was quite impressed. I was so impressed, that I submitted the recipe to Goosecross and they tried it and posted it on their website. I am sharing this recipe with you


Goosecross Cellars is a small winery off the Silverado Trail in Napa. We stumbled upon this winery quite by accident in 1998. Since then, we have been members of their wine club and have visited quite a number of times. (picture of our visit in 2002). They have excellent wine. I can do a vertical tasting of the Aeros Wine going back to 1998. Their Aeros is only produced when the growing season produces the best in quality grapes. It isn't produced every year and to date I believe they have only produced 6 vintages. I have 3 of those vintages.

Ingredients:

2 tuna steaks, about 6 ounces each 4 tablespoons Goosecross Viognier 1 lemon, juiced 4 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon ginger, minced 6 tablespoons scallion, minced Salt & pepper to taste Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Rub the tuna with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cook tuna for 2 minutes on each side and remove from pan. Turn heat down to low and add the remaining ingredients to the pan. Cook 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over tuna and serve with Goosecross Viognier. Paul’s Mixed Vegetables ½ cup broccoli 1 tablespoon olive oil ¼ cup onions, chopped ½ teaspoon garlic, minced 2 tablespoons Viognier ½ cup mushrooms, sliced ½ teaspoon ginger, grated 1/4 cup green bell pepper, sliced 1/4 cup red bell pepper, sliced

Directions:

Steam broccoli for 3 minutes (don’t cook it all the way). Heat olive oil is small skillet and sauté onions and garlic. Add wine, mushrooms, ginger, red and green pepper and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the broccoli and sauté 3 more minutes.

Serves 2

Barrels Barrels and more Barrels

Ever wonder what gives the Pinot Noir the earthy taste. Was the finish on your Chardonnay buttery? One Chardonnay have a more buttery finish than the other. All these taste and aromas come from the Barrel.

Since new barrels impart more flavors to the wine than previously used barrels, the percentage of new barrels used by a winery each year is an important piece of information. It greatly affects the outcome of the wine. They will last three years before losing their primary “new oak” influence and about 5 years until it is virtually neutral as far as its influence.

There are three different kinds of oak barrels. Hungarian, French and American. A smaller barrel will leave a stronger impression. Another factor in the barrels is the degree of toast…light, medium or heavy. The choice of barrel and toast is one of the most important decisions a winemaker can make

There are 5 distinct flavor categories various kinds of oak contribute to a bottle of wine

• EARTHY: Ash, Mushroom, Shoe Box, Wet Cardboard, Musty, Leather.
• HERBACEOUS: Weedy, Dill, Mown Hay, Menthol, Grass, Tobacco.
• WOODY: Planky, Cedar, Sawdust, Pencil Shavings, Sappy, Green, Pine, Tar, Resin.
• ASTRINGENT: Harsh, Chewy, Bitter, Angular, Tannic, Drying.
• SPICY: Clove, Cinnamon, Coconut, Vanilla.

Within the 5 distinct barrel flavor categories, there are 7 flavors that can result from the toasting of the barrel.

• SWEET: Brown sugar, Bourbon, Cotton Candy, Chocolate, Maple Syrup, Butterscotch, Hot fudge, Caramel, Molasses, Honey, Toffee, Soy.
• CREAMY: Vanilla, Cream soda, Marshmallow, Lactic, Butter.
• YEASTY: Popcorn, Baked Bread, Bread stick, Cookie dough.
• NUTTY: Hazelnut, Walnut, Almond, Peanut butter,Coconut.
• ROASTED: Cedar, Graham cracker, Toasted bread, Coffee, Mocha, Cereal.
• SMOKY: Barbecue, Grilled Meat, Bacon, Sweet smoke, Burnt sugar.
• SPICY: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Clove, Licorice, Anise.

A little cheat sheet:

• French oak tends to have a nutty flavor as well as vanilla
• American oak tends to be woody
• Hungarian oak has hints of Carmel

Now when you are drinking that bottle of wine aged for 4 years in French oak, see if you can identify all the categories and flavors. See if you can guess correctly what type of oak it was aged in.

Shawangunk Wine Trail

This weekend my husband and I had to opportunity to attend the Shawangunk Wine Trail Pasta Primo-Vino. What a fantastic time we had! The Hudson Valley has so many wonderful wineries!! Every winery we went to had a pasta dish paired with their wine. The picture on the left is my husband Paul with Michael Migliore (hat on), Owner/Winemaker at Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery. I believe we were drinking his Ridgewine Red. It was an excellent wine. Of the ten wineries we went to, each winery's wine is crafted in a different style. You will find no two wines alike, even if they are made from the same grape or fruit. Keep an open mind when you think about wine made from fruit. Baldwin Vineyards is known for their Strawberry Wine which is made from 100% strawberries. They have won many awards for the Strawberry Wine. Adair Vineyards has a Peche which is made from 100% local white peaches. Applewood Winery has a dry Blueberry and Apple Wine...yes dry! I was very surprised when I sampled those and I liked them.

If anyone had the opportunity to attend this event, I would love to hear how you enjoyed it. Please post your comments.

The Wine Glass

Tonight I was trying to sign on..I only had one glass of wine, but for some reason I was having difficulty. Finally, stepping away from my computer, let the dog out and walla, it worked...no I don't blame the glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Although it's good...2005 Marlborough(New Zealand) Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Republic Cellars. Nice crisp, citrus fruits but a hit of grassiness. I've had better from this region.

Speaking of Glasses...as I sit here I ponder if I am drinking from the correct wine glass. There are many wine glasses out there, all shapes and sizes. Our household favors Riedel. Yes we even got into the Reidel tumbler series but there was just something about putting you hand around such a wide glass. Some people will tell you that you are heating up the wine as well. Not good. I prefer the stem glassware myself.

Getting back to the Glass...each type of wine has a different glass. You can go nuts, or you can purchase the universal wine glass. I will tell you the shape of the glass, how the air gets to the wine, and how the wine gets to your taste buds can really affect the taste and bouquet and that is all in the design of the glass. There are many different brands of glassware..Riedel, Spiegelau, or you may pick up some beautiful hand painted glasses at a craft fair.

My suggestion to you, is do a taste test...pour some wine into an all purpose wine glass as well as a Riedel or Spiegelau glass made for that wine. Swirl, smell and taste.

You tell me.

A little secret....no matter how much you want to wash those wine glasses after entertaining...wait until the morning....Less Breakage!!!!

Cheers - A toast to Wine

As I sit here and create this blog I am drinking a glass of Syrah. Ballentine Vineyards Estate Grown, Napa Valley Syrah, 2001. It has hints of black cherry with spice on the finish.

I didn't become a wine enthusiast overnight...gosh in college I would gag at drinking the jugs of Gallo wine. Boy have things changed!!!

My first trip to Napa with my husband..we were tasting at some of the best wineries and we didn't even know it...Stags' Leap, Silverado to name a few. If we only knew then what we know now. In any event, wine became a hobby for us. We joined a few wine clubs, purchased a wine cellar and the story begins.