Back in the day, before I gave up a high flying career for becoming a domestic martyr (and vicariously living my life through gossip blogs) I was a wines and spirits buyer for a major uk retailer. Have forgotten everything I ever learned in that time. Used to get taken to some fancy London restaurants though and got some major foreign trips. Not entirely sure that domestic martyrdom was the better lifestyle choice.
Wine is not a museum piece. Wine is meant to be drunk. Treat it like a condiment to a meal. Don’t get hung up on what it goes with to make a perfect meal. Most of the time, aim for “good enough.” There’s only a handful of truly heavenly transcendent pooped-from-unicorn wine/food pairings. Pizza goes with any type of wine.
Match the weight of the food to the weight of the wine. Light wines (up to 11% Alcohol By Volume—it’s on the label) go with light foods. Medium-bodied wines (11.5-13% ABV) go with medium-weight foods (most things). Heavy wines (13.5% up) go with things you cook the hell out of. Thanksgiving, ham, coq au vin, grilling, braising, BBQ.
Wine can be divided into New World and Old World. Old World is Europe. New World is everywhere Europe colonized; the US, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand.
In France, they are proud of their real estate and how that grows grapes. This is called terroir—the sense of place, the dirt, the sunlight, rainfall. It’s kind of woo-woo, but their wines will be more about how the grape grows in that piece of dirt as opposed to the grape itself. It’s why France doesn’t put the names of grapes on their wine labels. Chablis is a place, not a grape. Same with Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne. You’ll taste less fruity stuff and more stuff like spice, leather, tobacco, leaves—these kinds of terms are positive.
In the New World, it’s all about the grape, which is how we get the terms like “jammy and fruit forward.”
If you have red wine left over in the bottle, refrigerate it. Yes you can do this. It will last longer. Oxygen gets in the bottle and “rusts” the wine so that it’ll taste flat after a few days. In fact, you really can’t keep red wine opened more than 72 hours or it’ll taste like shit. White wine, you could get probably 4-5 days more from an open bottle.
If you can’t taste anything in a wine—red or white—it’s probably too cold. Let it warm up. Conversely, if all you taste is dryness and alcohol, refrigerate it for 15-20 minutes and that might deaden some of that stuff.
Don’t keep it on top of your fridge to store it. Vibrations are bad.
Does Mad Dog Orange Jubilee count as wine? If so that is the last wine I had, about 5 years ago. My buddy brought it to pass around. I still got a full Mad Dog hangover, from only drinking 1/4 of the bottle. Stuff is terrible.
For some reason, this response killed me. Lol!! Very funny. I think its because im reading through all the frou frou comments about wine, and you bust in with the mad dog. Hehehe... veddy nice
I love my dry whites. I live about a 45 minute drive away from the Hunter Valley vineyards and they are renowned for their Semillon. You can lay a Semillon down for 10-15 years & it brings out the honey & oak flavours in the wine. If you get the chance to drink the aged Semillon from Waverly Vineyard, do so. Best Semillon I have ever had.
wine makes me drunk and hungover immediately after 2 glasses....cant drink that stuff, even the good wine. I am psyched to see My Bloody Valentine tonight! I remember being shocked when original enty posted their reunion on January 1st reveal day.
I spent quite a bit of time working my way through Australian reds like cabernet sauvignons and shirazes and the occasional blend. Now I'm doing Canadian wines the same way, but much much more slowly, what with all the domestic martyrdom.
Cant stand wine snobs, with their stupid talk about a fruity bouquet and vigorous flavor, blah blah blah. Does it taste good? Good, then drink it and stfu!
Hah, donkey urine is about right but we get it a lot here, especially around Christmas, as an alternative to champers. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
There is a tonic wine sold in scotland called Buckfast. Its made by local monks, it is 15% and has loads of caffeine. Helps the locals to stay classy, Lohan should be the poster child!
I havea built in wine cellar in my home. I can be a wine snob but only when it comes to taste. I like my wines smooth...not a fan of blush wines but like everything else.
"Dry" actually refers to the lack of sweetness in a wine. Puckering could be acidity or tannins (tannins make your mouth feel dry, like when you have black tea that's steeped too long)
We are airline employees so very fortunate to be able to fly around and go to wineries...best was in Chile...but I'll still drink cheap chardonnay anytime, I'm not picky
Buying high-priced wine is a scam. Except for Boone's Farm or a bottle of ripple, most wines aren't going to be better because they cost 50, 100 and up.
Check out Garagiste.com. I'm not an oenophile --Uh, meaning I don't know nuffing about no wine, but this site covers the world and attempts to find good and great wines at reasonable prices. It uses laymen friendly talk while citing acknowledged wine expert blogs.
DISCLAIMER: I'm a customer and have no interest in this seller/purveyor.
Rimmerman, the founder and explorer, also posts wine friendly condiments and other delicious local products from time to time.
Honestly, I had to draw the line at the 'Roi du Moutarde du France' when his 4 oz. tubes of exquisite mustard were offered at $12-15 a tube [!], but I've bought some lovely honey, marinara sauces and spices that I've never seen anywhere else.
Cool story.
ReplyDeleteI hate wine!
ReplyDeleteWhite wine gives me nightmare's, red wine is gross and moscatto turns me into a housewife drunk after only one glass. Lol
ReplyDeleteI like whine better
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, before I gave up a high flying career for becoming a domestic martyr (and vicariously living my life through gossip blogs) I was a wines and spirits buyer for a major uk retailer. Have forgotten everything I ever learned in that time. Used to get taken to some fancy London restaurants though and got some major foreign trips. Not entirely sure that domestic martyrdom was the better lifestyle choice.
ReplyDeleteRed wine is sweet and very tasty. Champagne is also very tasty. Done.
ReplyDeleteHarry Knuckles is a dumbass. Done.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a wine enthusiast, though I did recently discover Prosecco which is wonderful. It's very dry, the ONLY way I can drink wine.
ReplyDeleteProsecco is great! Much more pleasant than cava.
Deletei like my wine in a box.
ReplyDeleteI like my dick in a box.
DeleteOmg I just spit
DeleteFortified reds? Yes. Champagne? Yes. Sweet white wines? Yes. Anything else to do with wines? Not for me.
ReplyDeleteI've had two alcohol related blackouts in my life and cheap, nasty white wine was to blame for one of them. Never again.
Warecat, I heard that's what REM was going to call their greatest hits CD set.
ReplyDeleteOff the top of my head:
ReplyDeleteWine is not a museum piece. Wine is meant to be drunk. Treat it like a condiment to a meal. Don’t get hung up on what it goes with to make a perfect meal. Most of the time, aim for “good enough.” There’s only a handful of truly heavenly transcendent pooped-from-unicorn wine/food pairings. Pizza goes with any type of wine.
Match the weight of the food to the weight of the wine. Light wines (up to 11% Alcohol By Volume—it’s on the label) go with light foods. Medium-bodied wines (11.5-13% ABV) go with medium-weight foods (most things). Heavy wines (13.5% up) go with things you cook the hell out of. Thanksgiving, ham, coq au vin, grilling, braising, BBQ.
Wine can be divided into New World and Old World. Old World is Europe. New World is everywhere Europe colonized; the US, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand.
In France, they are proud of their real estate and how that grows grapes. This is called terroir—the sense of place, the dirt, the sunlight, rainfall. It’s kind of woo-woo, but their wines will be more about how the grape grows in that piece of dirt as opposed to the grape itself. It’s why France doesn’t put the names of grapes on their wine labels. Chablis is a place, not a grape. Same with Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne. You’ll taste less fruity stuff and more stuff like spice, leather, tobacco, leaves—these kinds of terms are positive.
In the New World, it’s all about the grape, which is how we get the terms like “jammy and fruit forward.”
If you have red wine left over in the bottle, refrigerate it. Yes you can do this. It will last longer. Oxygen gets in the bottle and “rusts” the wine so that it’ll taste flat after a few days. In fact, you really can’t keep red wine opened more than 72 hours or it’ll taste like shit. White wine, you could get probably 4-5 days more from an open bottle.
If you can’t taste anything in a wine—red or white—it’s probably too cold. Let it warm up. Conversely, if all you taste is dryness and alcohol, refrigerate it for 15-20 minutes and that might deaden some of that stuff.
Don’t keep it on top of your fridge to store it. Vibrations are bad.
Interesting. Thanks.
DeleteWhat is this Leftover Wine you speak of?
Delete@GatorGirl: I've only heard of it. Never experienced it myself.
DeleteOff topic...
ReplyDelete"Remember, remember
The fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."
Trader Joe's, $29/case (mix/match if you want), 10:04 am, get the right wine glasses.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI wish TJ's had a delivery service like Amazon Fresh. I want my never-ending supply of inexpensive wine and plantain chips.
DeleteOT the OT: Happy 100th Birthday to Vivien Leigh!
She's one of my faves @V.
DeleteMine too @Renoblondee. FYI - TCM is playing her movies all day long.
DeleteI've fallen for Rose Regale lately. Some kind of sparking sweet wine and by far, a fav at $13.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDon't love wine, but I can drink Shiraz and the like. Tried Moscato recently and it about turned my mouth inside out.
ReplyDeleteDoes Mad Dog Orange Jubilee count as wine? If so that is the last wine I had, about 5 years ago. My buddy brought it to pass around. I still got a full Mad Dog hangover, from only drinking 1/4 of the bottle. Stuff is terrible.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, this response killed me. Lol!! Very funny. I think its because im reading through all the frou frou comments about wine, and you bust in with the mad dog. Hehehe... veddy nice
DeleteFavorite white wines: Rousanne, Viognier, Rhone-style blends.
ReplyDeleteFavorite reds: syrah, malbec, and a blend called the Creator.
I drink local: mainly washington wines (coveniently, I live a stones throw from about 250 tasting rooms).
V, Are you in walla walla?! That's where I am, but Damn the wines here are so much more expensive than where I used to live in cali!
DeleteI love my dry whites. I live about a 45 minute drive away from the Hunter Valley vineyards and they are renowned for their Semillon. You can lay a Semillon down for 10-15 years & it brings out the honey & oak flavours in the wine. If you get the chance to drink the aged Semillon from Waverly Vineyard, do so. Best Semillon I have ever had.
ReplyDeletewine makes me drunk and hungover immediately after 2 glasses....cant drink that stuff, even the good wine. I am psyched to see My Bloody Valentine tonight! I remember being shocked when original enty posted their reunion on January 1st reveal day.
ReplyDeleteVery jealous Derek. Have fun :)
DeleteI spent quite a bit of time working my way through Australian reds like cabernet sauvignons and shirazes and the occasional blend. Now I'm doing Canadian wines the same way, but much much more slowly, what with all the domestic martyrdom.
ReplyDeleteCant stand wine snobs, with their stupid talk about a fruity bouquet and vigorous flavor, blah blah blah. Does it taste good? Good, then drink it and stfu!
ReplyDeleteIs it today wine's day?
ReplyDeleteWest End Girl said...
Prosecco is great! Much more pleasant than cava.
Everything is more pleasant than that champagne-wannabe donkey urine called cava.
Red wine fits great with maldon-salted steaks. I like strong taste ones.
Hah, donkey urine is about right but we get it a lot here, especially around Christmas, as an alternative to champers. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
DeleteThere is a tonic wine sold in scotland called Buckfast. Its made by local monks, it is 15% and has loads of caffeine. Helps the locals to stay classy, Lohan should be the poster child!
ReplyDeleteIt's actually not made in Scotland, it's down in Devon I believe, but Scots drink the most. It's caffeinated and cheap whilst still being drinkable.
DeleteI never knew it was Devon! Never seen it anywhere but Scotland. Learn something new every day!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI havea built in wine cellar in my home. I can be a wine snob but only when it comes to taste. I like my wines smooth...not a fan of blush wines but like everything else.
ReplyDeleteI love white wines from the northfork of Long Island. Anything from Osprey Dominuon or Duck Walk vineyards
ReplyDeleteHow can a liquid be dry?
ReplyDeleteIts the taste. If you tried a 'wet' wine, you would taste the difference. Dry wines are the only way to go imo
DeleteIf your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth and you swallow your nose from puckering, you are drinking a dry wine.
Delete@TalksTooMuch. Thanks, that's the first explanation that's made sense.
Delete"Dry" actually refers to the lack of sweetness in a wine. Puckering could be acidity or tannins (tannins make your mouth feel dry, like when you have black tea that's steeped too long)
DeleteWe are airline employees so very fortunate to be able to fly around and go to wineries...best was in Chile...but I'll still drink cheap chardonnay anytime, I'm not picky
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up @V. She was absolutely incandescent.
ReplyDeleteWasn't she? Without question one of the greats.
DeleteThe woman could play a southern belle like no other!
Buying high-priced wine is a scam. Except for Boone's Farm or a bottle of ripple, most wines aren't going to be better because they cost 50, 100 and up.
ReplyDeleteI'm with auntliddy.
ReplyDeleteI put Pelingrino in my wine. Seems wrong but I like it.
ReplyDeleteI've done that. A spritzer...great in the summertime!
DeleteCheck out Garagiste.com. I'm not an oenophile --Uh, meaning I don't know nuffing about no wine, but this site covers the world and attempts to find good and great wines at reasonable prices. It uses laymen friendly talk while citing acknowledged wine expert blogs.
ReplyDeleteDISCLAIMER: I'm a customer and have no interest in this seller/purveyor.
Rimmerman, the founder and explorer, also posts wine friendly condiments and other delicious local products from time to time.
Honestly, I had to draw the line at the 'Roi du Moutarde du France' when his 4 oz. tubes of exquisite mustard were offered at $12-15 a tube [!], but I've bought some lovely honey, marinara sauces and spices that I've never seen anywhere else.
Bon appetit!