The aromas and flavors we experience in wine come not just from grapes, but also from winemaking processes and the vessels in which a specific wine is aged. When vintners wish the nuances of the grapes and nothing else to…
Blog Archives
7 Fascinating Facts About Winegrapes
Great wine cannot be made without great grapes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard winemakers utter those or similar words. I was thinking about that over the weekend, and that led to thinking about winegrapes in general.…
Posted in Wine Cellar Notes
How to Order Wine in a Restaurant
When dining out, there are several rituals associated with
ordering a bottle of wine.
All of them are just that:
rituals. They are not rules. A few could even be perceived as pretty
silly.
Let’s take a look at these rituals, and whether
you’d be well advised to follow them…
Posted in Wine Cellar Notes
Oak and the Ever-Evolving Palate
Everything, it seems, goes in cycles, and so it is with the use of oak barrels in making wine.
Toward the end of the 20th century, wines lovingly referred to by their makers as “big oaky monsters” were all the rage. The more oak flavors one could impart into a wine – whether it was Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon – the better. Many vintners even began to age their bright and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc wines in oak barrels and labeled them “Fumé Blanc.”
The problem, some would assert, is that a good number of vintners overdid it. In a good number of cases, the aromas and flavors imparted by the oak overwhelmed the fruit, earth and other impressions of the wine…
Posted in Wine Cellar Notes
