Birthday Wine

Today is my birthday, and I face the same problem I do every year: Which bottles to pop open and celebrate with. I was born in 1977, which means I always have the option of opening a bottle of Port from that legendary vintage. Right about now, the 77s are at their peak, and drinking exactly the way I prefer: Delicate, subtle, complex, and astoundingly long on the finish.

But that’s dessert, with a nice side of cheese. For the rest of the evening--or, let’s be honest here: It’s my birthday, and I plan on starting with lunchtime wine pairings--I’m still not certain what to treat myself to today. Definitely some Champagne--and if there’s ever a day to justify Krug, this is it. Plus, it’ll go brilliantly with whatever I have for lunch.

Then I’ll likely move onto a big California cabernet--it’s raining outside, it’s chilly, and few things are better for the soul on a day like this than a glass or three of dramatic Cali cab. After that, who knows. There are some older bottles in the cellar, but most of them aren’t quite ready. I think my best bet is to pop open a bottle from each of the wine regions I’ve visited in the past year--some Sherry, a bubbly or a pinot from Patagonia, some San Juan malbec followed by a bigger bottle from Mendoza.

Big decisions. Any suggestions?

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Sherry: A Primer and Cocktail Recipes

Camper English, creator of the Alcademics blog and one of the country’s most respected cocktail and spirits writers (and one of the journalists on the trip to Jerez I took last September), recently published a fantastic story on Sherry in The Los Angeles Times Magazine. Not only does the article provide an excellent primer on the region itself as well as the various styles of Sherry that come from there, but he also includes a number of cocktail recipes that take advantage of both the range of Sherry’s flavors and their uncanny ability to lift any cocktail they appear in to a higher level of complexity than it otherwise would have achieved. Click here for the full article.

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Restaurant Wine Strategies

Now that Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror--turkey’s sliced and frozen and packed away for a month’s worth of sandwiches, the kitchen no longer looks like FEMA needs to condemn it, and the sale-mad crowds have begun their annual search for bargains--most of us would probably love a night out. At a restaurant. Eating food and drinking wine that doesn’t require our own planning and clean-up.

Which is why the short piece that Alan Richman wrote this past September in GQ, on tips for ordering wine in restaurants, is so timely, even nearly three months after it initially ran. Because now that the holiday season is fully upon us, and now that the cold weather and early-setting sun and free-spending nature of the next month or so provides us with all the reason we really need to splurge on a bottle or three of wine at dinner, some strategies will prove helpful.

Richman recommends some standard pieces of advice here, like always having the confidence to tell the sommelier when you think the wine may not be up to snuff, or not sniffing the cork when it’s presented to you, or not slurping loud enough for the people three tables away to hear you. But there are some less-commonly heard ones too. And to his words of wisdom, I’d also add five of my own:

Try wines from out of the way regions that you’ve never heard of before; discovery equals joy.

Start off with something to whet your appetite, like a bone-dry Fino Sherry.

Don’t get roped into the great-vintage hype; ask for an off-vintage wine from a favorite region and see how it shows.

Scan the wine list for half-bottles and order several different ones; mixing and matching wines and dishes throughout a meal is a lot of fun and a great education.

End the meal with a digestif: Grappa, amaro...anything to settle your stomach after eating a lot of food. (If you do this, have someone else drive home.)

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Wine Origins, Sherry, and Thanksgiving

The Center for Wine Origins, the organization that works to "protect and promote unique wines from unique locations," and works closely with the wines of both Champagne and Portugal, recently featured us on their blog. Click here for the column I wrote about the trip I took to Jerez this past September. It's a region that fits perfectly into the Center for Wine Origins' goals: Real Sherry can only come from this part of Spain, and is unlike anything else in the world. They are fighting for something that maters deeply, especially as the wine world grows and shifts from one center of gravity to another. Check out their site--it's a great education.

Also, a reminder to check back frequently next week, as we'll be featuring wines all week--in addition to our usual coverage of wine news and happenings--that will work well with Thanksgiving dinner.

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Sherry: Shifting the Paradigm

Sometimes, when you visit a great producer, you have the chance to taste a wine that you’d otherwise never come across. And while it’s frustrating to know that the delicious wine in your glass is generally unattainable outside the confines of where you find yourself sipping it, there’s a great deal to be gained in terms of understanding the potential of the wines of that particular region and producer.

Yesterday morning, for example, I had the chance to taste the Moscatel Ambrosia from Bodega Sanchez Romate, a Sherry that, though it’s made in minute quantities, changed what I thought I knew about the range of flavors in the world of Sherry...and, for that matter, in the world of wine.

This one flat-out sang with aromas and flavors of everything from garam masala to cumin, coriander, chile peppers, and blueberry pie filling. And though that combination may sound unusual, this was a stunning wine, spicy and fruity and wildly expressive, and a spectacular example of how exciting Sherry can be...and is.

Sometimes, you just have to leave your comfort zone to find a wine that completely changes what you thought you knew.

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Sherry and Food Pairing

One of the best parts of traveling to a wine region you’ve never visited before is having the opportunity to taste the wines in the context in which they’ve always been enjoyed: With the local foods.

But while I knew that I’d gain an appreciation for Sherry in all its many styles, I didn’t expect to be as blown away as I have been by its astounding facility at the table.

From the simplest seafood to the spiciest dishes to the ingredients that bully most other wines into submission (artichokes, asparagus, etc.), Sherry makes easy work of seemingly everything. Every meal here, in fact, has been accompanied by Finos, Manzanillas, Amontillados, Olorosos, and more, and has provided an amazing in situ demonstration of how much I’ve been missing by not pairing more meals with Sherry.

The photo above is from the lunch we had yesterday at Bodegas Osborne, and included Iberico ham, lomo, green olives, fried potatoes, marcona almonds, and pâté, and from the Manzanilla to the Amontillado to the spectacular Oloroso, every Sherry worked brilliantly with at least two--and often more--of the dishes.

I’ll report back if we find a dish that Sherry can’t handle, but I’m not holding my breath: Like Champagne, it’s a flat-out winner with food. Which has made for spectacular eating and drinking this week.

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First Day in Jerez

Yesterday was my first day in Spain for the weeklong tasting tour of Jerez, sponsored by the Sherry Council, that I wrote about last week. And, as expected, it has been full of eye-opening, palate-awakening moments that have, even just 24 hours into the trip, changed my perception of Sherry itself and the ways in which it can--and brilliantly does--enhance a meal.

Today was a day of two ends of the Sherry spectrum, and included visits to both Harveys (one of the largest producers) and Tradicion (one of the smallest). I'll be posting my tasting notes and more details in the coming days, but for now I thought that a short video, shot at Harveys, would provide a nice sense of Jerez itself. Check it out below:

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Off to Spain on a Sherry-Tasting Expedition

Tomorrow evening, I'll be flying to Southern Spain for a tasting trip sponsored by the Sherry Council. A handful of us from around the United States will be touring and tasting throughout Jerez, visiting a wide range of Sherry producers, studying the different styles of Sherry, and learning about its technical details as well as experiencing its ability to pair with food.

Make sure to keep checking back here, as I will be blogging throughout my time in Spain: Just like last year's trips to Bordeaux, Champagne, and Eastern Austria, I'll be posting tasting notes, photos, videos, and more, sharing my impressions of a fascinating (and important) part of the wine world, and working to make this a learning experience for readers of this blog and customers of WineChateau.com.

So make sure to check back starting on Monday afternoon--it promises to be a fantastic, educational, and thoroughly delicious week.

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