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Archive for August, 2010
Quiz
24
Aug
Viognier’s voyage beyond the Rhône
20
Aug
VIOGNIER isn’t a grape variety with immediate appeal. Indeed, it wasn’t long ago that its presence was limited to the odd row of vines planted amid the fruit trees of Condrieu, the northern Rhône village that is perhaps its most famous appellation. There, growers such as André Perret produce plump and fat examples bursting with flavors of ripe apricots, peaches and summer flowers.
But scarcity isn’t the only factor in its limited appeal. Its taste profile, while on the one hand able to offer excitement and intrigue for the connoisseur wishing to broaden his palate, can on the other hand provide something of a shock for the uninitiated used to the familiar flavors of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Pale-gold colored in the glass, it provides a chewy, mouth-filling texture low in acidity, combined with a heady, floral aroma. The nose, often exhibiting notes of apricots, peaches, honeysuckle, blossom and rose petals, can deceive as being that of a sweet wine. Yet Viognier is dry and once swallowed, leaves the palate refreshed with a long, savory, mineral aftertaste.
In Condrieu, the Viogniers enjoy a long aging potential and I have always thought they provide a useful, and, in the case of growers such as Paul Jaboulet, good-value addition to a cellar. Outside of Condrieu, they don’t tend to age as well and, as a rule of thumb, it’s advisable to drink them when young, before their distinctive aroma loses some of its punch.
The grape, as well as being an acquired taste, also is quite tricky to grow, winemakers say. It needs plenty of sun and is also susceptible to the fungal disease powdery mildew that can destroy the aroma compounds in grapes and leave them smelling slightly of mould.
Despite this, the grape variety has been undergoing something of a resurgence in recent years. I was reminded of this during a recent lunch with Chris Bonsall, current chairman of The International Wine and Food Society, the august institution founded in 1933 by the great gourmet and historian André Simon. Mr. Bonsall informed me that he had recently been enjoying Australian Viognier. His recommendation was Haan Prestige Viognier 2005 from Tanunda in South Australia. Moreover, he added that the grape variety was experiencing something of a revival in Australia, where the wines didn’t have the aging potential of Condrieu but more than made up for it in fruit and character. Intrigued, I made a note to unearth some Australian Viognier, only to find out that it wasn’t just Australia that is planting Viognier. A quick search led me to examples in South Africa, the Mendoza valley in Argentina and throughout Chile. In California, Bob Lindquist at Qupé blends it with Chardonnay to some effect. I have also tasted it blended with Riesling, which gives it a zesty kick. So I organized a mini tasting to see how it compares with those grown in the northern Rhône.
What immediately struck me was the overwhelming distinctiveness of these wines. Rather like Riesling or, indeed, Muscat they provide a unique taste. Undoubtedly summer wines, given the floral notes I have described earlier, they are perhaps best paired with lighter salads, cold, lightly flavored seafood or dishes with an Asian influence. My personal favorite would be Viognier paired with lightly flavored curries, sushi and certain cheeses such as warmed Camembert spread on a hunk of bread.
One Viognier that stood out for its immediate, fruit-forward appeal was Anakena’s Viognier from the Rapel Valley in Chile. Anakena is a relative newcomer to the international wine scene. The winery is the brainchild of Chilean entrepreneur Felipe Ibáñez and former Wines of Chile President Jorge Gutiérrez. Its first vintage was in 2001 after the vines were planted in 1999. I visited the winery, which sits in the foothills of the Andes in 2005 and found it to be winemaking on a very modern scale. Not only was it kitted out with everything one would expect in a brand new winery such as stainless fermentation tanks, but back then winemaker Gonzalo Pérez also was analyzing soil types and climatic readings obtained from satellites. They used this information to decide which vines were best matched to which soil types. It seemed a long way from the villages of the northern Rhône, where white grape varieties such as Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Rolle have been cultivated for centuries.
By: Will Lyons [The Wall Street Journal 08/06/10]
Faulty Wine or Nose
17
Aug
Finding fault with a wine is a snob’s dream. I remember one incident a few years ago, when a friend of mine, who had recently entered the wine trade, obviously wanted to impress his female dining companion and make his mark as a man who knew a thing or two about wine. It was the second bottle of an Italian red we had ordered and although, I have to admit, it did smell a little earthy, it was by no means corked. Undeterred, my friend insisted on calling over the sommelier.
Much theatrical posturing ensued in which the sommelier flamboyantly sniffed the cork before pouring himself a tasting measure of the wine in question and, after tasting, confidently declared to the table: “This is not corked.” I had to agree but took no pleasure in watching my friend’s expression crumple. I can’t remember whether he actually brought himself to drink the aforementioned bottle, but I do recall enjoying the wine very much.
The problem with identifying wine faults such as cork taint, oxidation, sediment and tartrate crystals or brettanomyces (a subject I will return to later) is that more often than not there is no fault with the wine at all. It just doesn’t taste quite how the drinker expected it to. Take our “earthy” Italian wine. If one is used to a softer, approachable, supple form of wine such as an Australian Merlot instead of the bitter, tannic and dry flavor of an Italian grape variety such as Nebbiolo, then naturally the Italian wine can come as a bit of a shock to the palate.
Similarly, when a wine is served with small pieces of cork floating inside the glass, it isn’t actually corked, it is just that the cork has crumbled and fallen into the glass. These may seem basic rules to some but I wager right now there is someone beckoning the sommelier over, arguing that there are small bits floating on his wine and he will under no circumstances drink “corked wine.”
So how does one identify corked wine? Firstly, it is worth pointing out that in the U.K. this is becoming less of a problem as more wine producers are reverting to screwcaps. Unfortunately for those wines bottled with a cork, there are still corks that are contaminated with TCA, a chemical compound 2,4,6-trichloroanisole that gives the wine an unmistakable pungent, mouldy odor.
By far a more common fault, in my experience, is the wine that has been ruined through oxidation. This is when a small amount of air has seeped in through the cork, leaving the wine smelling “sherried” or without any discernible fruit characteristics. Rarer these days, but still prevalent in some wines, is the occurrence of opening a bottle to find it is “off,” displaying a foul-smelling nose. When I worked in the wine trade a few years back, I learned that this was because of the wine being contaminated by bacteria left over in the winery.
Sediment collected at the bottom of a wine glass can be unpleasant to drink but is entirely natural and expected in wines that are aged. Decanting the wine should avoid this experience. Small tartrate crystals that appear in white wine are also nothing to worry about; they form naturally in the winemaking process.
One fault beloved of wine snobs is that of “brett,” or brettanomyces, to give it its full name. Hugely controversial, brett is a yeast that imparts a distinctive flavor to a wine, best described in my experience as a sort of smoky bacon flavor. It is found predominantly in red Bordeaux, and for many the taste actually improves the wine, adding complexity and character. Those who don’t like the taste, and there are many, often say that it is a result of bad winemaking.
But as Master of Wine Anthony Barne says: “It is a taste that is almost endemic in older clarets and one we all came to know and love as part of the taste of red Bordeaux.
“If you go back 20 years, it was really the Australians who were perhaps more scientific winemakers then the Bordelais were in general. They had identified brett as what they considered to be a wine fault, and then they were finding it in a lot of clarets and were always looking for an angle as to why Australian wines were superior to French wines. But unless it is really strong, I don’t see it as a huge problem, I must say.”
A view echoed by Simon Staples, sales director at Berry Bros. & Rudd wine merchants, who says, “It’s a fault I rarely come across and if I had to be honest, if you mention it, I don’t think most people know what you are talking about.” Which is precisely why the wine snobs love it so much.
By: Will Lyons [The Wall Street Journal 8/20/10]
Meds and Vino
11
Aug
Q: Do you really have to stop drinking while on antibiotics?
A: It’s best to keep the wine bottle corked while you’re on an antibiotics regimen, says pharmacist Richard Harkness. You can’t predict how your body may react. Alcohol can interfere with the absorption of erythromycin or the efficacy of doxycycline, for example. With certain antibiotics or antifungals–like cefoperazone (Cefobid), ketoconazole (Nizoral), metronidazole (Flagyl), and tinidazole (Tinda_max)–even a sip of alcohol may lead to flushing, nausea, abdominal cramps, headache, low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, and shortness of breath.
Source: Health.msn.com
