Saturday, March 29, 2014

Blog Premise



As noted in my earlier post (prior to this), this is the introduction column I lead with at the other website, edited for content and updated with some new commentary at the end.

DW

Introduction (or apologies in advance for the information overload)

The premise:  In these hallowed pages, we will discover together, or rather I will discover and then write about it and you will have it available to read about later, worthy wines. I shall endeavor to spotlight a new wine every-other-weekly (twice per month). This will enable you to try some fascinating and perhaps undersung wines and potentially build your own wine list that won’t bust your budget.

The criteria:  All wines appearing here must be below $20, whether by regular price or on SPA at the Utah liquor stores. Through great, mighty, fearless and exhaustive (sorta) research, I’ve determined that Utah is either slightly higher or similar to pricing in most cities, excluding anything in North Dakota, as that state is largely insane. So, if you happen to be in North Dakota, my apologies and condolences, but for everyone else, you should be safe considering any of these wines here to be had somewhere at a liquor outlet (or grocery store shelf, if you happen to be in one of the “cool” states – you know who you are) for under a $20 bill. These wines must also specifically NOT result in me getting a consequential headache the following day from consuming them. Many any otherwise acceptable wine has been rejected for that effect.

The usage:  We don’t, as a general rule, indulge in wine with our food, so the usage here is restricted mainly to hanging out and sipping while watching movies or chatting or whatever (hence the name of this column), unless specified otherwise (you’ll see what I mean along the way). That is not to say that several or perhaps all of these wines wouldn’t be good companions with food; indeed, many, if not most, would. However, that is not the primary purpose of this column and you won’t find things such as pairings with food or cheeses for instance. My wife tends to favor heavier reds, such as the  dense cabs, especially those with a high cherry taste while I prefer somewhat lighter ones such as Syrahs, Bordeauxs, Malbecs or Blends. We tend also to keep a bottle of a white on hand for cooking (usually a Chardonnay) and those will probably wind up here as well (though they will not be subject to the classification schedule listed in “The Format” section below). I have personally researched and bought hundreds of bottles for testing and there are perhaps upwards of 50 and counting on the actual wine list I keep.

The brief (but necessary) educational bit:  Some of the terminology is important, some is not. Terms like Varietal and most of those listed in the preceding paragraph refers to grape types or names. Sometimes they may refer to regions (especially with French wines). A handy reference to flavoring can be found here and I commend it wholeheartedly to you: http://winefolly.com/review/different-types-of-wine/

The aim:  Wine can be a tricky business and too often I hear someone say that they find the entire world too baffling, with ratings points and things like “nose” and “mouth feel” constantly showing up in blurbs with no actual meaning behind them for the lay person, who just wants a bottle of something decent without a lot of wine snobbery rigmarole. They may want it just to be able to crack open and enjoy or to use in cooking. Too often, the people wind up mired in which year is a good vintage from which vineyard and is this one that has to be stored and matured or can it be cracked open and enjoyed right then like a beer. I’m no wine expert, subscribe to no wine rags at all and this series, if nothing else, will cut through all of that (unless some aspect of the wine is so pronounced it bears mentioning). I’m generally looking for very specific characteristics and when I find it, it will often be a wine that is that so-called diamond-in-the-rough hidden gem that you can rest comfortably purchasing.

The process:  White grape wines, if they are to be drunk, are always chilled. This includes all of the bubbly variations, including Champagne, Prosecco,  Moscatos, Rieslings and Astis. Also chilled are wines such as Ports and Lambruscos, though it is unlikely too many, if any, of those will be showing up here. Mead is also chilled, though I may one day bring myself to tempt fate and possibly wreck the batch by mulling it.  Sake is generally heated up to at least lukewarm temperature before consuming. I largely use this strictly as a cough medicine, unless I’m at a Japanese restaurant and won’t be driving later. The process for Reds is a bit different. I dislike those served at room temperature (or outright cold) and prefer just a bare bit of chill, say when it’s not cold outright, but right at that temperature before it hits room temperature. I feel like that’s the sweet spot for Reds in general, so there will be nothing like worrying about specific temperatures depending on the varietal or any of that business.

The methodology:  All of the Reds are targeted for the same temperature as described above. This generally means chilling them in the fridge and letting them sit at room temperature for a bit until they come back to the right temperature. I use this process rather than the inverse because it tends to me to be more accurate in getting the level I want. After that, I generally pour them into white wine glasses (this is more for handling convenience than anything else) and let them sit, depending on if I use an aerator gadget, anywhere from 15 – 30 minutes before consuming. By keeping the process identical, this keeps the testing consistent. I am also not afraid to buy based on a wine having an attractive label, nor should you be either. Even the mistakes I consider worthwhile for educational purposes. I'm not saying I'm right or wrong for the chill, just saying that is what I do.

The format:  In my personal wine list, I have it broken down by varietal/region, country of origin and if it meets my criteria to be a Standard. This is important to develop this sort of benchmark list, because we typically have wine nights on Fridays and Saturdays (and any day preceding a holiday). Usually one of those days will be testing and the other day will be enjoying a past favorite, as there is little point in having a wine list of trusted names if you’re not able to drop the pressure of testing and just savor and enjoy the wine itself. Thus, the format of this will be the name of the wine, the type of grape and vineyard (if not in the name of the wine), country of origin (using the country designators the Olympics use or the two digit state code if domestics) and where it falls in one of 3 categories:  Standard (highest level, tried and true, always consistent, never fails, would buy whether on SPA or not), Mixed (worthy of being on the list, but a step down, may or may not buy if not on SPA) or SPA-Only, which is probably self-explanatory, but is notable enough to be on the list, but would not buy if off SPA. All of this information may also be scattered across the entire article, but it will all be there.

The disclaimer:  Unlike several wine sites where the bottles come free for the purposes of reviews, we pay 100% for everything you see here in this column. In this way, you can be assured there is no undue influence in what you see here, just pure, unfiltered commentary on some wines that we have found delectable enough to be not only on our own personal wine list, but that we purchase regularly, which is perhaps the greatest endorsement of all.

The antithesis:  What this column will not be is a booze column.  The design of this is not to tell you which bottles to get to sit back and slug to get plowed, though several of these would also work well in that setting and I may or may not mention it if some of them do. If I don’t specifically say they do, assume they don’t, but if you’re into that, go here: http://wineallthetime.tumblr.com/ and enjoy. In point of fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go there anyway. Back to the point, though I could tell you about the various joys and wonders of bourbon (and email me if you have questions or want recommendations) and have in the past been known to sit down with a beer mug of it and enjoy the eve, that will not be showing up here, either. The preceding sentence also applies to beer and even though barley wine may have an element of its name that seems fitting, it is frankly just a high strength beer and not a true wine and thus does not belong. This is also not a wine-testing blog, so the only wines that appear here will be those that have passed the stringent criteria, though I may reference some of the other wines by a particular vineyard in the course of this.

The conclusion:  If it ever becomes necessary, I will consider doing Q & A posts, so if you have any questions, do leave a comment.

As always, cheers to you!

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