Wine
| History and art show us that many civilizations
had a love affair with wine. It was used in ceremonies, religion,
parties, as medicine, at events, in the home…it was
everywhere. |
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This is Egyptian hierglyphics for grape vines/vineyard
found on a wine jar stopper from a royal tomb. |
This is a first century Roman
wall painting of an inn of in Pompeii.
This was part of a “comic-strip” series of paintings.
The man on left calls to barmaid Over here (hoc),
while man on right says No, it's mine (non / mia
est). The Barmaid, carrying a cup and wine jug says, The
man who ordered this will get it. Oceanus, come
here and drink. |
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With a population of 1 million, the Romans really
expanded the wine culture. They had thermopoliums
that served warm and chilled wine and food. The wine was often
diluted with water, but also had honey, spices, and herbs added.
Earthen jars were set into the counter and silver ladles were
used for dipping out the wine and food. They look like a bar,
huh? I'd love to host a cocktail party in a historical site like
this!
Many things happened over the hundreds of hundreds
of history with wine that would take hundreds and hundreds of
pages, but just know that the church and French monks are responsible
for reviving it after its last fall.
Today there has also been a recent revival of wine almost to the
point where most people seem intimidated by it. There’s
so much one can learn that it can boggle the mind. Here are the
basics.
Things to Know to Fake it Like A Wine Pro
• Wine is made from fruits. The fruit is grown, harvested,
cleaned, crushed, pressed, fermented (with yeast), and then aged.
Wine is just fruit juice that has had its sugar naturally converted
to alcohol.
• Grape wines are pretty much named by the kind of grape
that is used like chardonnay, cabernet, and merlot. Some other
wines are named by the region in which they are grown like Burgundy
and Bordeaux.
• When you hear people say, Ah, that was a very good
year, it means that the quality of wine is determined by
Mother Nature. The climate, soil, conditions, rain, and lack of
rain determine if it was a good year for that grape. It will also
determine the price of the wine.
• Vintage means the year the grapes were harvested.
• Rosé, White Zinfandel, and Blush wines get their
pink color from the skins being left on for a little bit. The
longer the skins are left on the darker the wine. All wine juice
is clear.
• In most cases, white wine is served chilled and red wine
is not.
| • Red wine glasses have a bigger bowl than white wine
glasses. |
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• When doing basic matching with wine and
food just remember that white goes with light food like fish and
reds go with hearty food like steak.
• Even though wine is made all over the world, France and
California are the top producers.
• Grapes are also used to make Champagne, sherry, port,
Madeira, vermouth, brandy, Cognac, and grappa.
• A Sommelier (sum-ul-YAY) is a trained and knowledgeable
wine professional usually working at a fine restaurant. A Master
Sommelier is certified, which is quite an honor.
The Most Popular Red Wine Grapes
Cabernet Sauvignon (cab-er-NAY soh-vihn-YAWN)
Grenache (gra-NAHSH)
Merlot (mer-LOW)
Pinot Noir (PEE-no NWAR)
Sangiovese (sanj-eo-VAY-zay)
Syrah, also called Shiraz in Australia (see-RAW) (sha-RAWZ, but
in Australia they say sha-RAZZ)
Zinfandel
Gamay (gah-MAY)
The Most Popular White Wine Grapes
Chardonnay (shar-doh-NAY)
Chenin Blanc (SHEN-ihn BLAHN)
Gewürztraminer (ga-virtz-tra-meener)
Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio ( PEE-noh gree / gree-gee-o)
Pinot Blanc (PEE-noh BLAHN)
Riesling (REEZ-ling)
Sauvignon Blanc (soh-vihn-YAWN, BLAHN)
Viognier (vee-on-YAY)
Popular Fruit wines are; Cider and any fruit wine made with any
fruit.
Wine Facts
• There are 20 million known acres of grapes worldwide.
• There are over 10,000 types of grapes existing in the
world.
• There are an average of 600 grapes in a bottle of wine.
• 164 countries import wine from California.
• American wine drinkers consume more wine on Thanksgiving
Day than any other day of the year.
• Wine is bottled many different ways. Cheap corks are made
from bits and pieces if cork and glued together. Expensive corks
are solid pieces of cork and tend to be longer than other corks.
Twin-top corks sandwich cheap cork in between expensive cork so
the wine touches the expensive part of the cork. Synthetic/man-made
corks are great for young wines. Screw caps have a reputation
of being used on cheap wines, but this has changed lately. A substitute
for the screw cap is the crown cap (like a beer bottle).
Champagne
A blind Benedictine monk named Dom Pérignon
(dom-pay-ree-NYON) is credited with inventing Champagne.
The quote that you always hear that he said, Come quickly, I’m
tasting the stars! The thing you should know is that fizzy-type
wines were already around at the time, but his was called Champagne
because the grapes were grown in the Champagne region of France.
But he did stick around and improve it because bottling methods
were needed due to all the accidents that were happening.
• In 1804 Madame Clicquot invented pink Champagne,
the mushroom shaped cork, and invented a way of removing sediment
from bottles called riddling.
• Only three grapes are used to make Champagne
and they are, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier (Mehr-n-YAY), and Chardonnay.
• Champagne takes about one and half years to go through
processing and aging.
The Most popular Champagne brands are; Dom Pérignon,
Mumms (mooms), Moet & Chandon (mow-ET-a Shan-DAWN), Cristal
(kris-TALL, the hip-hop champagne), Perrier- Jouët (PAIR-ee-a
JOO-ette, the pretty flowered bottle with real gold etching),
the Champagne that James Bond drank, Bollinger (bowl-ahn-JAY),
and the Champagne that is used in the most expensive cocktail
at the Trump Towers in NYC, Veuve Clicquot .
The most popular sparkling wines are; Prosecco (praw-SAY-co,
used in a Bellini), Asti Spumante (AH-stee spoo-MAHN-teh) from
Italy, and Korbel (core-BELL) from America.
| The two most common Champagne glasses
are the saucer and the flute. The tall flute
came out in the 1970’s to help keep the bubbles longer.
Two variations on the flute are the tulip and the
trumpet. |
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Popular Champagne drinks are; Mimosa, Champagne
Cocktail, Kir (rhymes with ear), and Kir Royale.
Also, Champagnes come in levels from sweet to dry; Doux, Demi-Sec,
Sec, Extra Dry, Brut, Brut Zero, Ultra Brut and Extra Brut.
Champagne Facts
• Unlike most wines, Champagnes are named after the houses
that produce them.
• If it’s not made in the Champagne region then by
law the bottle must say sparkling wine.
• A good temperature to serve Champagne is at 44° F.
| Champagne corks can pop out at 100 mph. |
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• A 750ml bottle of Champagne has an average
of 5o million bubbles.
• Champagne bottle sizes range from 6 ounces to 508 ounces.
• If a raisin is dropped into a glass of champagne will
bounce up and down between the top and the bottom of the glass.
• It has been reported that Marilyn Monroe once filled up
her tub with 350 bottles of Champagne and took a bath.
Port
Port is made in the Douro Valley, which is in North Portugal,
however other countries make versions of it. It was invented out
of the need to have wine that could survive long sea voyages without
spoiling. It was the first fortified wine by adding brandy to
it then aged. A proper serving is 2 1/2 -3 ounces.
Here are two basic groups of port, wood-aged and bottle-aged.
The most popular wood aged ports found in most bars are tawny
and ruby. Ruby is sweeter then tawny.
Popular port brands are; Sandeman, Lindemans,
and Noval.
Sherry
Most sherry comes from Jerez, in Southwest Spain. It also has
brandy added to fortify and preserve it. There are two types of
sherry; fino (fee-NO, light and dry) and oloroso (O-lo-ROW-so,
dark and full-bodied). A proper serving is 2 1/2-3 ounces.
Sherry is made with the solera system. Basically, wine
is taken from the young sherry casks and blended with the wine
in the older sherry casks and visa versa. They say that the young
wine refreshes the old wine and old wine educates young ones.
Popular sherry brands are; Dry Sack and Harvey’s
Bristol Cream.
Madeira (ma-DEER-uh)
Madeira fortified wine is produced from grapes grown on southern
coast of Madeira Island, which is about 360 miles west of Morocco
in Northern Africa and 540 miles southwest from Portugal. Portugal
has owned it since only 1974.
The first thing you should know about Madeira is that was used
to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Madeira was looked upon as something very magical and special.
To reach the New World, ships had to pass through the tropics
and the heat literally baked the Madeira giving it a soft yet
deep pleasant burnt taste. Soon pipes filled with Madeira were
installed with ship ballasts and sent on tropical voyages. The
heat mixed with the constant rocking made this wine last for years
without spoiling.
Vermouth
Vermouth is a fortified white wine that has a spirit added (usually
brandy) then aromatized with herbs and botanicals like seeds,
plants, flowers, etc. It comes in two types; dry (white) and sweet
(red). Sweet vermouth has caramelized sugar added to make it sweet
and give it its color.
The most popular drinks made with vermouth are
a classic Martini and Manhattan.
Popular brands are; Martini & Rossi (Italy),
Cinzano (Italy), and Noilly Prat (Noy-ee praht, France).
Dubonnet (America) and Lillet (lee-LAY, France) are aperitif wines,
but are often used in the place of vermouth in Martinis. The most
popular Martini that uses Kina Lillet is from Ian Fleming’s
first book, Casino Royale where James Bond asks for a Dry Martini
in a deep Champagne goblet. He says; three measures of Gordon's,
one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well
until it's ice-cold, and then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel.
Got it?
