Jeff King - Red White & Blush: Wine Tasting, Buying & Serving

Red White & Blush

Wine Tasting, Buying & Serving

Jeff King

Published by FOI Publishing at http://www.foipub.com

Copyright 2012 Jeff King

Copyright 2012 Jeff King. All rights reserved. This publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Jeff King.

Just ask, its the polite thing to do.

Copying any part of this book without the prior written consent of Jeff King is a violation of federal law. If you believe that this material is being copied without permission, please email Info@foipub.com

Introduction

Appreciating and Tasting Wine

Types of Wine

o The Reds

o The Whites

o Sparkling Wines/Champagne

o Dessert Wines

Visiting Wine Country

o Talking Like a Connoisseur

Enjoying Your Wine at Home

o Storing Wine

o Opening Your Bottle

o The Perfect Temperature

o Decanting Wine

o Food and Wine Pairings

o Saving Your Leftovers

o Collecting Wine

Giving Wine As a Gift

Hosting the Perfect Wine Party

Interesting Wine Facts

Wrapping Things Up

Have you ever stared in confusion at the seemingly end less rows of wines at your local store? Or dreaded the moment when the sommelier looks to you, with his eyebrow raised, waiting ? Or have you ever headed off to wine country for a weekend of tasting s , not quite sure what to look for in a wine, or for that matter, in a winery. I have and I live here! I thought, You know what? I would once like to pick up the wine menu and just know what was the right wine to order?

So a few years back I took it upon myself to get to know wine and wineries of Northern California . Now t here are more than 7,500 wineries in the United States and half of them are in California . If I visited a winery a day in California it would take me more than nine years to visit them all . Now I dont have that much time on my hands but for this book I reached out to my friends and family for help. It doesnt hurt that we all happen to live and work in and around Napa and Sonoma California , what some would consider the finest wine country in the world. We set out to find exactly what does it take to become The Wine Expert!

In the coming pages, we will walk you through everything we learned and that you need to know, including what the various wines are like, what to expect when you visit a winery, how to taste wine and finally, how to enjoy it in your own home with family and friend like the true wine expert you will become.

So get ready for a journey. This is step one on the road to knowing Wine!

Cheers,

Jeff King

Average wine consumption in the United States is about 2.5 gallons per person and increasing annually as new people discover the wonders of the drunken grape.

One of the great things about wine is that it is always changing. Even the same style of wine from the same winery can taste different from year to year. There are several reasons for this. First, the weather. The amount of rain and sun as well as the day-to-day temperature can greatly influence the character of the grape. The length of the growing season is also important, as is where the grapes are grown. Once the grapes are harvested, they are under the control of the winemaker. You can think of him as an artist who uses the juice to create a work of art. Sure, theres a bit of science that comes into play, but a wine is as much the product of the winemakers artistry as it is chemistry.

The shape of the glass is very important as well. If you only have room or money for a single type of glass, you can go with a basic tulip-shaped glass. This is a good all-purpose glass for enjoying most wines.

Glassware

If you want to enhance your tastings, then you really want to have several different types of glasses as the shape of the glass can affect the chemical composition of the wine. For example, the width of the bowl allows more wine to be exposed to air, which can change its characteristics. The same is true of the depth, which allows you to control how the wine is swirled in the glass, which affects the aroma or bouquet.

Standard tulip glass. This has an opening that is smaller than the bowl. This allows the bouquet of the wine to become concentrated, displaying the different aromas present in the wine, which can be anything from berries and chocolate to earth and tobacco.

Smaller tulip glass. This is typically used for a white wine. The smaller size allows less air to interact with the wine and will keep your wine chilled longer.

Large burgundy/pinot glass. This is great for the big reds as it offers maximum surface area. It also has a lot of theatrics, so its perfect for formal dinners or holidays.

Flute. This is used for sparkling wines. The narrowness of the glass helps prolong the effervescence of the bubbles and keeps the sparkling wine or champagne chilled longer.

The thickness of the glass is a matter of personal choice. That said, the stem is an important part of the glass. It keeps the heat from your hands from reaching the wine. If you have large hands, you may want to purchase glasses that have a longer stem so you can hold the glass comfortably in your hand without having to hold the bowl.

Heres a breakdown of the different wines and which glass is best for them:

Bordeaux Cabernet Merlot: A large tulip-shaped glass.

Chablis Chardonnay Vognier: A smaller version of the tulip glass.

Burgundy Grand Cru Pinot Syrah Shiraz : A large format tulip glass. The bigger the better.

Champagne Sparkling Wine: A fluted glass.

Port Sherry Moscato Other sweet wines: These are typically tulip-shaped glasses that are narrow and tall. You can also use any glass designed for a white wine.

Taking a Taste

Wine tasting takes practice. Initially you may not notice the finer nuances of a wine. But as you taste more styles or even vintages, youll start to see the difference, not only in taste, but in aroma, color, clarity and finish.

Before we talk about how to taste wine, lets start out by saying that there is no perfect wine out there. What appeals to your palate may not appeal to anyone else. The most important thing to do is find a wine that appeals to your own personal tastes, not one that is highly rated or is trendy.

A great wine, however, will be a delight to all the senses. It will tantalize you on many levels. It can be a feast for the eyes, nose, palate, and in the case of sparkling wines, even the ears.

Thats why its so important to take the time to taste wine the right way. If you dont use some very basic wine tasting techniques, you may overlook a really great wine that just didnt get its moment to shine because you cut a few corners. Theres a reason behind every step, but well get to that in a minute.

Lets start with what you should be looking for. Tasting wine involves five main considerations:

Color & Clarity: This is an indicator of the age of the wine and its quality. As a wine ages its color changes. If you want to do a fun experiment, purchase two wines from the same winery that are a couple years apart. Put a piece of white paper under the glasses and shine a light from above. Youll quickly see that even the same grapes from the same winery can be very different colors, particularly as they age. For example, younger wines are typically a ruby color while older wines are brick. Color and clarity can also tell you some very important things about the wine before you even take a sip. If a wine has a brown tinge to it, it means that it has been over-oxidized it got too much air. If the wine appears cloudy, it may have turned on you and needs to be thrown out.