Why We Drink Wine...

Hello Wine Lovers!

Today rather than review a wine I thought I would talk about a few of the reasons people drink wine. Read along and see if you can relate.

Wine can be traced all the way back to 5000B.C. by the Egyptians, so it has been around for a while. How has something survived all this time? We simply cannot stop finding reasons! We drink wine to celebrate and we drink wine when we are having a tough go. To share with friends and family, to close the deal or to celebrate the deal. We drink wine to educate our palates and to broaden our horizons. We drink it to add to our enjoyment of food, to bring out the flavors of food or to enhance food. We drink wine to relax and to reward ourselves for a hard days work or accomplishment. We drink wine to have fun, to embellish a picnic, to share with our neighbors. We drink wine for our health, after all "60 Minutes" showed us all why the French are so happy and healthy. We drink wine to discover, to taste and to remember. Wine is romance, wine is a living breathing thing that changes in the bottle and in our glass. It grows and matures just like we do, it is constantly changing and sharing it's personality with the world.

After it is all said and done, we drink wine for the pure enjoyment of our taste buds.

The next time you open up a bottle of wine I want you to take your time and really discover what is in your glass. Swirl it and look at the color. Smell the bouquet in your glass. Smell again and take a small taste, let it dance on your tongue and cheeks, swirl it in your mouth, close your eyes and think about what it reminds you of. Feel the tannins, taste the fruit and feel the love that went into that bottle of wine.

Don't be intimidated... you either like it or you don't.

Have Fun!

Cheers!

J

Classic Cabernet from Chile

Hello Wine Lovers!

We certainly are in full swing with the hot weather here in beautiful Chicago! So far it has been a pretty summer! Which leads me to the wine for today's entry...Montes "Classic Series" Cabernet Sauvignon. For around $8.99 a bottle this will not break the bank and give you plenty of punch for the money!

This wine is ruby-red in color with a nose of cinnamon and caramel and flavors of dark fruit berries and a touch of oak, but not over the top, just enough. This wine is from the Colchagua Valley in Chile.

This producer makes a number of level of wines from the Alpha M series all the way to a late harvest dessert wine. Prices reflect the same range, anywhere from $8-10 a bottle all the way up to over $100 a bottle. They really got serious in 1987 and started to raise the quality of their wines, which in turn put pressure on all of Chile to raise their levels of quality. Chile has always been know for it's great values but not necessarily for high quality, award winning wines. I realize this is a broad statement, but generally speaking this was the case. Now we all enjoy not only values but quality wines with every bit of finesse that our friends from France produce! Go to your favorite wine shop and pick this up and a few other Chilean wines and I am quite sure you will not be disappointed!

Cheers!

J

Sauvignon Blanc, The Summer Wine

Hello Wine Drinkers!

Here we are in the middle of summer, the weather is nice and hot, the Tour is in full swing (you know the one in France with bicycles) and the World Cup is coming to an end. What better time to open up a summer sipper, a nice crisp, acidic, clean and fresh Sauvignon Blanc. Today's choice is Joel Gott, for around $7.99 a bottle this is another real bargain!

Let's talk a little about Joel Gott and his wines. He started in 1996 when he bought grapes from his longtime neighbor Joe Dillian and made his first wine with then girlfriend Sarah, a Napa Valley winemaker. Their first wine was a Dillain Ranch Zinfandel, which has received great reviews and marked Joel's and Sarah's marriage. They went on to make a beautiful un-oaked Chardonnay, a Cabernet, a Riesling and numerous blends. Their wines are fresh, crisp, elegant and show the regions where they are from well. Whenever you see a Joel Gott wine I feel you will enjoy the wine as well as not break the bank!

Cheers!

J

Summer Rioja

Hello Fellow Winos!

It is that time of the week again, you know what I'm talking about. The day you had plans of grandeur in the garden, pruning, weeding, cutting the grass... and then the rains come! So much for that! So I'll write my blog!

Today's pick is a 2005 LAN Rioja Crianza and for about $9.99 a bottle you will be blown away with the finesse and complexity of this wine. You will find coffee notes and cherry and vanilla tones as well. It has enough tannins to make it interesting but not too much to make it rough. I would highly recommend you buy this wine for the summer, it will go well with grilled meats, chicken, burgers and the summer sun!

You may ask "What is Crianza?" What is Rioja?" Well, I'm just the guy to ask... Lets start with Rioja. This is a prominent wine growing region in Spain located south of the Cantabrian Mountains which help protect the area from the fierce winds that northern Spain are known for. They produce a red and a white wine, Tinto and Blanco. The primary grapes for Tinto (red) are Tempranillo and Garnacha and the primary grape for the Blanco wines is Viura. There are a few more but so obscure not worth confusing any more than you already are. The soil is clay based with high concentrations of iron and chalk. There is so much iron in the soil it is red in color. On to Crianza...

There are four classifications of Rioja wines. Rioja, Crianza, Reserva and Grand Reserva. Rioja is the youngest spending less than a year in oak. Crianza are aged at least two years one of which is in oak. Reserva is aged at least three years one of which is in oak. Grand Reserva is aged two years in oak and three years in the bottle before released. Of course the older the more expensive.

I hope this shed a little light on the subject for you and Spanish wines, but the most important thing I want you to get from this is to buy Spanish wines as they are typically a great value!

Cheers!

J

California Killer Cabernet

Hello Wine Lovers!

I hope all of you Fathers out there had a great day on Sunday! I know I did... a special thanks to my Family and friends who always make things special for me!

I am going to talk about two things today, a great bottle of Cabernet and a wine aerator. First lets talk about the wine! Jade Mountain Cabernet. This beauty is a blend of Cabernet from 3 counties in California, 55% Napa, 41% Sonoma and 4% Lake counties. It is aged in both American and French oak and is an extremely elegant and polished for a wine at this price point... $10.99! You will get a nose full of violets and dark berries with a touch of vanilla with a little chocolate on your palate. It has a long finish with enough structure to handle food. This wine is far better than the price tag!

Next I want to talk about the Vinturi Wine Aerator. I must admit I was not a believer until I experienced it myself. Last week some dear friends had us over for a little dinner party. The gracious host served a couple of really good Zinfandels. I made a comment that one of them was tight and he got up and retrieved his Vinturi Wine Aerator and proceeded to quickly pour the wine through this little device and presto... better wine! I then asked him to pour two glasses, one with the aerator and one without. Much to my surprise, there was a big difference! I suggest any wine drinker out there should purchase one of these little numbers! I found them on Amazon.com for about $20-25. It basically works by exposing more of the volume of the wine to air and oxygen thus opening up the bouquet and pulling more flavors and even smooths out the wine. A small investment to enjoy your wine even more!

Cheers!

J

Hot Weather Wine

Hello Wine Lovers!

Today I am writing about the perfect wine for hot weather on your patio, rose. Specifically today, Domaine du Tariquet Rose for a cool $7.99 a bottle. This wine has enough character to match well with spicy foods and enough finesse to sip alone. You will find fresh raspberries and floral notes in your glass and a slight spice on your palate. Lets talk about rose wine from Southern France.

A rosé (From French: rosé, ‘pinkish’) has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.

Red-skinned grapes are crushed and the skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for a short period, typically two or three days. The grapes are then pressed, and the skins are discarded rather than left in contact throughout fermentation (as with red wine making). The skins contain much of the strongly flavored tannin and other compounds, thereby leaving the taste more similar to a white wine. The longer that the skins are left in contact with the juice, the more intense the color of the final wine. It is hot in Southern France and these wines are made to pair with summer food and weather. Many confuse rose with sweet wines, there is nothing sweet about this wine. Ice down a bottle, fire up the grill, sit on your patio and enjoy!

Cheers!
J

Pinot Noir from Chile

Hello Wine Lovers!

You are not going to believe the wine today... a nice little approachable Pinot Noir from Chile for $8.99! Yes you see it correctly, a Pinot Noir for less than $20 that you can actually drink and talk about it!

How may of you saw the movie Sideways? If you haven't and you like wine, (why else would you be reading this blog) you should rent the movie, make a casual dinner, open up a bottle of Pinot Noir and watch Miles take you through wine country. The reason I mention the movie is since the movie came out (it was released in 2004) Pinot Noir prices have gone through the roof! It is amazing how a single movie from Hollywood can impact an entire culture of wine! Prices went through the roof, you couldn't find a room in Santa Barbara to save your life, and the once quiet little wine region became a spectacle!

Back to the wine... Quinaty is the producer and they are located between Casablanca and the Leyda Valleys in Chile. This is the coolest wine region of Chile and is primarily known for its white wines. This is a state of the art winery with exceptional values and true to the region wines. You will find fresh berries on the nose and a touch of cherry in the mouth with a nice elegant finish. The style of this wine reminds me of a Pinot from France, soft, structured, yet very balanced.

This is a classic example of the grape varietal and I highly recommend you go out and buy this today!

Cheers!

J