Category: Guest Column

The WineLines post sent earlier this morning contained some errors in content. Please disregard the previous post and enjoy this version of WineLines.

How do you choose a bottle of wine when you’re in a wine store or  supermarket? The type of grape or vintage year? The “expert” ratings? The price? The country or region? The producer or Chateau name? The store’s promotional tag? Well, perhaps one or more of these are included in your criteria but you might be surprised to learn that the design element on that wine bottle influences most buyers and maybe even, at times, the more knowledgeable wine drinker.

So what information is provided on a wine bottle label? Let’s start with the legal/regulatory requirements and for purpose of this article, I’ll only address United States rules. The “Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau” (TTB) regulates most of the information required on labels, even including the type, size, font and to some degree the placement of this information.

How do you choose a bottle of wine when you’re in a wine store or  supermarket? The type of grape or vintage year? The “expert” ratings? The price? The country or region? The producer or Chateau name? The store’s promotional tag? Well, perhaps one or more of these are included in your criteria but you might be surprised to learn that the design element on that wine bottle influences most buyers and maybe even, at times, the more knowledgeable wine drinker.

So what information is provided on a wine bottle label? Let’s start with the legal/regulatory requirements and for purpose of this article, I’ll only address United States rules. The “Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau” (TTB) regulates most of the information required on labels, even including the type, size, font and to some degree the placement of this information.

But first, some of the basics. Many holiday meals involve a healthy serving of turkey. “Why turkey?” you may ask. It turns out that goose was the favorite holiday meat for quite a long time – it was relatively cheap and abundant and, according to some, tasted good. Turkey, in addition to being sleep-inducing right before football games, was considered less pedestrian than goose and apparently favored by King Henry VIII, who mandated the big switch. Head-chopping may have entered into Henry’s decision making, but we’ll leave that for another time.

One of the great joys of the holiday season (in addition to, you know, family and friends) is that we are afforded lots of new opportunities to drink wine. With seasonal parties and family gatherings, it’s always important to be an informed consumer, and especially important to be an informed wine provider if you are hosting an event.

With that in mind, my colleagues (Jim and Guy) and I decided it would be helpful to offer some recommendations, including some of our favorites for your consideration.

But first, some of the basics. Many holiday meals involve a healthy serving of turkey. “Why turkey?” you may ask. It turns out that goose was the favorite holiday meat for quite a long time – it was relatively cheap and abundant and, according to some, tasted good. Turkey, in addition to being sleep-inducing right before football games, was considered less pedestrian than goose and apparently favored by King Henry VIII, who mandated the big switch. Head-chopping may have entered into Henry’s decision making, but we’ll leave that for another time.

So what wine did Miles Standish and friends have at the first Thanksgiving?

There’s no record of a sommelier on the Mayflower, nor is there is any record of the menu and wine pairings. It’s thought that the first Thanksgiving menu featured native game, namely venison and wildfowl, as well as codfish and bass, accompanied by corn porridge or cornbread.

Good wine pairings for venison are Grenache, Zinfandel or Oregon Pinot Noir – flavors of dark fruit with low tannins. However, our Thanksgiving meals nowadays mostly feature commercially raised turkey and/or ham. Turkey is easy to pair since it’s a very mild flavor, but ham is more of a challenge, pairing best with white wines with higher acidity, such as Riesling. So, for a roast turkey, go for a light red wine, such as Pinot Noir, Beaujolais or Chianti, or a white such as Chardonnay, preferably from France. Champagne is also an excellent option, if you like it. Pairing wine with cranberry is near impossible.

Let’s begin with size. It was only in 1979 that the U.S. adopted the metric system for wine and liquor bottles, which conformed to European practices, so that the standard wine bottle became 750 ml (about 5 glasses of wine). Wine bottles range from very small to enormous.

A split or piccolo is equivalent to 187.5 ml (one glass of wine), a half or demi is a 375 ml half bottle (2.5 glasses of wine), with the giants, historically named for biblical kings, like Nebuchadnezzar and Melchizedek/Midas, which hold, respectively, 15 liters (20 standard bottles), and 30 liters (40 standard bottles). I don’t think I could even lift one of these giants. Other than a magnum (two bottles) or perhaps a Jeroboam/Double Magnum (four bottles), the other large formats are usually for display or collectors who just like to say they have them.

Now consider shapes. Standard bottles today vary primarily based upon European wine producing regional history and the tradition of making wine with certain types of grapes. It’s not based on any wine being better or worse based on bottle shape.

No matter how limited your knowledge of wine may be, it’s still easy to impress your family, friends and clients.

Let’s say you’re hosting a dinner at a nice restaurant for some of your best friends.  Just follow these easy steps to impress them, never mind their eye-rolling as they watch you.

First, ask to see the wine list as soon as you are seated, and to have the sommelier sent over right away.  Ask if the sommelier has any favorites on the list; when he or she suggests an expensive 1999 Burgundy, chuckle a wry chuckle and say, “That’s a charming choice, but I was hoping you might have a 2016 Pomerol.”  It doesn’t matter whether the restaurant has that particular wine, you’ve made your point.

Let out a reluctant sigh when the sommelier says they don’t have the 2016 Pomerol, and settle on the Burgundy.  When the sommelier presents the bottle to you, inspect the label carefully to be sure the sommelier hasn’t tried to trick you with a lesser vintage.  Then ask, “At what temperature do you keep the wine?”  If the answer is greater than 54 degrees, ask for a bucket of ice to “knock it down” a bit before it is decanted. 

When you pick up a bottle of wine at a store, the rating is frequently prominently displayed as a number, i.e. 91 points, from James Suckling. What does this really mean?

Wine ratings of this type are uniquely American (more on that in another article). I walked into a winery one day (it happens!) to find them shipping two cases to a wine magazine for a rating. So, only the wineries who are willing to give their product away get a rating. Make your own judgement on the ethics of that. Contrast that with Consumer Reports which refuses to accept donated items.

Back to wine ratings. The scale is nominally 0-100, but in practice, the only wines that you’re likely to see have scores in the 85-100 range and 85 might not be very drinkable. Vinegar might qualify for a score of 50 which makes little sense.

My wife and I were in France about to enjoy a relaxing, romantic dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant. A good bottle of wine would be part of this perfect evening and after reviewing the extensive wine list, I asked to speak with the sommelier. We selected a wonderful bottle of white Burgundy to begin our evening and it soon arrived and was dutifully presented by our sommelier. But wait, OMG, it has a screw cap!

Times change, science advances and after a few decades of testing, debating and testing again, the question of corks vs. screw caps continues.

Thirty or even twenty years ago, the thought was that primarily white wines, meant to be drunk young, might be more readily accepted with a screwcap, especially the ‘cheaper ones’. After all, most weren’t meant to be aged in a cellar.

So, a fair question to ask is: Who are these three guys and what makes them think they know anything about wine?

And our answer is: we enjoy wine, we have collectively, drunk wine in all 50 United States and 65 foreign countries, and we like sharing our experiences.

We do not profess to be experts in any sense, except to the degree that lots of wine drinking makes us knowledgeable about wine in the same way that hitting lots of golf balls makes one better at golf. You know, 10,000 hours and all.

In the coming months we’ll discuss such vital issues as: Do corks really matter? What do you say to the sommelier when your wine sucks? And does wine really taste better out of a $100 tulip-shaped Riedel glass than a red Solo cup?

Get ready to learn about wine!

Beginning on Friday June 14, Tidelines will launch a once-a-month column called WineLines, devoted to information about wine. The column will be published on the second Friday of the month for the next twelve months and will entertain and educate readers on a variety of topics related to wine.

Have you ever wondered exactly what wine ratings are all about? Or puzzled over the merits of a cork versus a screw cap? And what’s up with all the talk about legs and body and nose when it comes to drinking wine? You’ll be able to find out about these topics and more over the coming months.

Three guest writers, Guy Gimson, Bill Good and Jim Wolitarsky, will be sharing their insights and wine knowledge with Tidelines readers throughout the coming year. Pop a cork, pour a glass and get ready to enjoy WineLines!

Cheers!

–Tidelines Editors

(Image credit: Pixabay.com and Vinepair.com)