American food and beverage trends come and go, some staying longer than others and some have just refuse to go away. But when it comes to wine consumption, it seems like the trend just continues to grow year after year. What’s interesting about wine right now is the age in which it is being consumed. Twenty somethings and young thirty somethings are lining up at winery tasting bars and wine-focused restaurants eager to know more about the flavor profiles of varietals and learn which wines pair well with which foods.  Sites like Winechatr.com and magazines like Wine x magazine and WINO magazine, though great resource for anyone who loves wine, heavily cater to younger wine drinkers. And why not? According to a 2007 survey of consumer trends in the U.S. wine market, conducted by the Wine Market Council, twenty somethings are by far the fastest growing group of wine drinkers.  The surge in wine tasting parties over cocktail parties, weekend wine tastings in Napa’s wine country and the popularity of  events like 20Something- The New Vintage are just a couple of examples of the rise of younger wine drinkers. The survey also showed that 53 percent said they are spending $20 or more on wine more frequently. Is this considered a good thing? Does this rise coincide with the new food movement? Perhaps it’s because there are more wineries year after year and it is becoming just part of the norm to understand wine.  I personally believe chefs that know their wines are better chefs. Learning about wine should be as much of a requirement as learning about food and to that I say earlier the better!

Above wine tattoo photo by Rambleonsylvie

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Categories:	Beverages • Uncategorized • wine	1 Comment
Tags:	20 something wine drinkers • wine • wine trends

For many, learning about wine can seem like a pretty daunting task. Where do I start? What do I need to know? How do I go about getting the right info? Rather than overwhelming yourself with the details it’s better to jump right in and get your hands dirty- or in this case, your mouth.

4 Steps to Knowing What You’re Drinking

1. One Grape at a Time

Blends (wines made using multiple grape varieties) can produce fantastic results. But when you’re just learning it’s best to go one grape at a time. Start by picking up a few different varietal specific wines, containing at least 75% of one grape. Common grapes such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc work the best due to brand diversity and availability. Then simply drink the wine and take notes on what you smell and taste. You’ll eventually begin to discover common flavors and aromas in the wines/varieties you enjoy.

2. Style is Key

Once you’ve got a handle on a few basic grape varieties and the flavors that go with them it’s time to figure out what style of wine you prefer. Wines of the same variety can come in many different styles (eg. acidic, smooth, bold, fruity). Find wines of the same variety but from different producers or regions and give them a try. You’ll eventually have a handful of favorites that will help in narrowing down what style of wine you prefer. Having some favorites is especially handy when your wine merchant or server asks what kind of wine you like.

3. Get Experimental

From your tasting escapades you should now be comfortable with several different grape varieties and have a general idea of the style of wine you prefer. Time to shake things up a bit. Visit your local wine shop and ask the merchant to help you pick out some unique varietals or wines from other regions, based on your stylistic preferences. This is a great way to extend your wine comfort zone and discover some great new wines or wine producing areas. Obscure varietals and regions can also provide quite a cost savings, which we can all appreciate.

4. Visit the Source

Now that you have a solid wine tasting foundation it’s time to take your knowledge on the road. Of the wines you tasted there should have been some from the local area. If not go back to the store and ask about local producers that fit your style. Then once you’ve picked out a few favorites visit those places. Wine is more than a beverage it’s an experience, and to truly understand and appreciate it you need to visit the source. And as I’ve mentioned, reliving these experiences sure beats discussing flavor profiles all day.

Now get out there and drink some wine. We’ll worry about filling in the other details later. Cheers!

* Marcus Pape has worked in media and design for over 10 years with an extensive background in all forms of visual communication. As a proclaimed vinophile Marcus hopes to leverage his abilities to inspire interest in wine, recently launching WineCHATr.com – an online resource for the growing wine community, where both popular wine bloggers and businesses come together to connect and share information on wine.

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Categories:	wine	1 Comment
Tags:	wine

Did I get your attention?  Good.  Just trying to be deliberately provocative.   Maybe it was too many college parties with bulk red wine and bricks of generic cheddar that colored my early wine and cheese days, but I think white wines do so much better than reds with cheese.  Yeah, I’ve had Epoisses with Burgundy IN Burgundy, with atmosphere dripping and charm in abundance, and enjoyed it.  But even with the stinkiest, richest cheeses, I think a dry white, a sparkling wine, or a white with a touch of sweetness just works better with the cheese.  I won’t pick on Pinot Noir too much, but big reds with powerful tannins and heavy oak are just plain awkward with cheese.

I encourage you to pick up a variety of rich, creamy, and/or sharp cheeses that purportedly are good with reds and throw a few whites in the mix.  And don’t be afraid of a little sweetness, like the kind you find in wines like Vouvray or Riesling (which also have good balancing acidity); I feel that the acidity lasers through the richness and the sweetness tempers the strong, earthy flavors of highly aromatic cheeses.

Here’s a slam-dunk, white wine and cheese pairing to get you started, but don’t be afraid to experiment. Bring a white to your next wine and cheese party. Shock the world!

A trio of South American whites were fantastic with a fresh, young, soft goat cheese:

2008 Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes (Argentina)
2008 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc Reserva (Chile)
2007 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc Vision (Chile)

The Torrontes, a floral, aromatic white that reminds me of a lighter version of Viognier, was very good with the cheese but the Sauv Blancs were the star. The high acidity and subtle grassiness of the wines were a perfect compliment to the goat cheese. Stop buying the overly vegetal, stewed green bean-smelling Sauv Blanc from New Zealand; Chile is producing some delicious Sauv Blanc for around ten bucks.

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Categories:	Cheese • wine	3 Comments
Tags:	goat cheese • sauvignon blanc • south america • torrontes • wine

Anyone that knows me knows how obsessed I can be about getting information. Hey, what can I say, I’m a do it yourselfer with an addiction for answers. This is especially true when it comes to wine. There’s just so much to know, that sometimes I have trouble drawing the line between beverage and obsession. Ask my wife, she’ll tell you!

I’m not one to just walk the line, or drink the grape flavored Kool-Aid as they say. I want to know why things are the way they are. If someone tells me that I need to lay a bottle down for a few years before drinking, I want to know why. When a waiter hands me the cork at a restaurant, what’s that all about? These are things I want to know.

So, on a recent trip to Italy, you can imagine how frustrated I was when I realized that I truly knew nothing about the world of wine. Don’t get me wrong; I knew all about the grapes, the growing regions, and how the wine was made, etc. But what I was truly clueless about was the global culture of it all and how differently wine is perceived in other parts of the world.

In Italy, for example, wine is an everyday phenomenon. It’s ingrained in the culture. At local events and festivals they erect portable wine bars. Not because it’s a “wine event”, but because it’s an event. Wine is sold in ice cream shops and coffee bars. It’s everywhere. Grandparents drink it. Young adults drink it. Even kids drink it. There’s no level of knowledge that has to be reached before you’re deemed worthy enough to truly appreciate wine.

This open approach to wine is unlike many “new world” countries (areas outside the traditional wine-growing areas of Europe) with shorter wine histories, where we have a tendency to overanalyze wine instead of just enjoying it. On this point, I’m  as guilty as the next person. Everything I thought I knew about wine came from the bottle or glass, magazines or books. But for many people around the world, including those in Italy, wine is a lifestyle, a cultural constant passed down for generations.

So, I invite you to join me as I start over in order to gain a more global appreciation for fermented grape juice. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and learn about wine from scratch.

* Marcus Pape has worked in media and design for over 10 years with an extensive background in all forms of visual communication. As a proclaimed vinophile Marcus hopes to leverage his abilities to inspire interest in wine, recently launching WineCHATr.com – an online resource for the growing wine community, where both popular wine bloggers and businesses come together to connect and share information on wine.

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Categories:	wine	3 Comments
Tags:	Italian • Italy • new world • old world • wine

Editor’s Note: Foodista is pleased to introduce Jameson Fink as our new wine contributor. Jameson is an accomplished wine steward with much to share. Look forward to “Wine Wednesday” each week for tasting notes, pairings, and more!

As a wine steward at a grocery store, I spend a significant chunk of my day helping people select wines to go with their meal.  I take a lot of pride in making thoughtful suggestions, and I always try to have fun and keep things relaxed.  My goal is to demolish the stereotype of  boorish know-it-all wine snobs with nothing to offer conversationally but their specialized knowledge.  So while I can talk your ear off about matching food and wine for a frighteningly long time, I am often pleasantly surprised how well food and wine work together with just a modicum of effort and a little bit of luck.  Last night’s dinner was a case in point.

We started with some crostini and a fresh herb cream cheese with (because it was not rich enough already) some butter whipped in.  I just happened to bring along a very tart apple left over from last week’s trip to the Farmers Market.  The 2007 Jadot Pouilly-Fuisse, a French Chardonnay, that we began with had touches of buttery richness and texture from moderate oak influence as well as snappy fruit and acidity.  A bite of crostini with cheese, a slice of apple, and a big sip of wine turned out to be the perfect start to the evening, when it was still warm and bright enough to be outside.

For our main course we retreated inside.  I had  some baby eggplant and Walla Walla onion that I had roasted with nothing but salt and olive oil.  I dumped in some tomato sauce, wilted some arugula, finished with Parmesan-Reggiano, and served over penne.  I wasn’t sure how the 2001 Falesco Marciliano (an Italian Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc Blend) was drinking and if it would work with the food; all I knew is that I wanted to drink it.  It turned out great.  With a few years of bottle-age, the Marciliano had taken on some nice secondary, Bordeaux-like qualities.  I’m trying to think of a better way to describe these characteristics than “green” or “vegetal” but I am a bit stumped.  The wine was fantastic with the sweet, rich eggplant and the arugula bite at the end really played well with the bottle-age on the wine.  I was really surprised how well it went considering there was no meat in this dish.

So while there is a time and a place to nerd out over matching food and wine, most of the time it’s just best to enjoy the company, the food, and the wine.  The worst case scenario is that maybe you learn a little bit about what doesn’t work.  (Unless you are having something like Malbec and oysters.  That is truly awful sounding.)  So what are some of your favorite wine pairings?  Or ones you tried that made you wince?

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Categories:	wine	Leave a Comment
Tags:	falesco • jadot • wine

Tonight Barnaby, Sheri, and my husband John and I are joining other friends and Barnaby’s parents for dinner. We are making Donna Brazile’s mama’s gumbo from her book Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in America.  Donna graced us with her presence at an event for the Washington Women Lawyers last week and inspired us personally, politically, and yes – gastronomically. As our contribution, John and I are bringing this corn pudding and two South African wines – Goats in Villages, a Shiraz Pinotage blend from South African winemaker Goats Do Roam, and a Sauvignon Blanc from Porcupine Ridge, another South African bottle from the Cape of Good Hope. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Corn Pudding

Butter: 1 stick
Corn: yellow or white, frozen or fresh, 5 cups (approx 6-8 ears)
Shallots: 1/2 cup (finely minced)
Jalepenos: 1/4 cup (or to taste, seeded; finely minced)
Onion: 2 tablespoons (finely minced)
Milk: 1 cup
Half-and-Half: 1 cup
Yellow Cornmeal or Polenta: 1/2 cup
Ricotta Cheese: 1 cup
Eggs: 5 large or 4 extra-large (I don’t use extra-large eggs, my mom said they come from older chickens – not sure if that’s true, but it’s turned me away from the big ones – if you have thoughts on this, I’d love to hear it.)
Herbs: chives or basil is nice, though you can experiment with the herbs or include a mixture (approx 3 tablespoons or to taste)
Sugar: 1 tablespoon
Salt: Kosher, 1 tablespoon
Pepper: 3/4 teaspoon (I prefer a mixture of black and white, but you may use either or include pink and green peppercorns as well if you like)
Cheese: I like to ad 3/4 cup of finely grated extra-sharp cheddar, though you may also want to try other cheeses (save a little to sprinkle on top)
Optional Ingredients: You may also add finely minced red pepper, replace the shallot with onion, add green onions, the choices are almost limited. Experiment and let me know what you think works well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease an 8 to 10 cup backing dish. I like to use individual ramekins for this recipe, which should make 10-12 individual servings.

Melt butter and add shallots, onion and jalepeno. Do not brown. Simply cook for 4-5 minutes in order to mellow out these flavors and avoid a raw taste in your mixture. If you are using fresh corn or adding red pepper or other vegetables, I recommend adding them to this step as well. Cool a little before adding to the batter to avoid cooking the eggs.

Whisk eggs and milk together with ricotta cheese.

Add corn meal/polenta, salt, pepper, and sugar to the wet ingredients. When thoroughly blended add butter/veg mixture above.

Add cheese and pour into the baking dish of your choice. Sprinkle with a little cheese (optional).

Bake in a water bath. For those of you unfamiliar with using a water bath, simply place baking dish in a larger pan and fill the pan 1/2 up the sides with hot tap water.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top begins to brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm.

I am preparing this dish for a dinner party tonight and prepared the batter in advance to bake at my Barnaby and Sheri’s house. I plan to assemble the ingredients and bake at their house in order to serve warm and fresh. I was concerned that joining the ingredients too early would cause my pudding to be too oniony – so, I prepared my ingredients into 5 main components: (a) dry ingredients; (b) wet ingredients (milks, eggs, ricotta); (c) butter with vegetables (onions, shallot, jalepeno, etc); (d) grated cheese; (e) herbs; (f) corn (fresh or thawed frozen). I plan to assemble at their house and bake. Next time I make this, I might try to make it souffle-style by beating my egg-whites separately and folding them into the ingredients just before baking. I haven’t tried this yet – so when I do, I will let you know – but if you have, please speak up. I’d love to hear how folding in egg-whites would change the result.

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Categories:	Baked Goods • Cheese • Entertaining • Veggies • wine	5 Comments
Tags:	corn • corn pudding • ramekin • side dish • Veggies • wine

We’ve been so busy lately building Foodista (there’s more than just the blog!) that I haven’t had the time (or energy) to whip up, style, and photograph the dishes I love sharing with you. So please bear with me. I promise the results will be worth it!

Fortunately, my good friend Tracy stepped up to the plate and has been my faithful pinch hitter. She has kindly and without complaint created beautiful dinners for us. Let me mention the fact that, by day, she is a busy attorney, president of a women’s bar association, organizer of countless events, mama to a sweet and very active rescued dog, gourmand – the list goes on. And yet, bless her heart, she feeds us. Well. Very well.

The other night she prepared this halibut dish for us that just melted in my mouth. Tender and moist fillets that were more akin to clouds than food, and crisp garden fresh green beans simply dressed with a bit of butter.

Shiver me timbers. It was so simple, yet so delicious.

Here’s what she did. In a sheet pan she spread roughly chopped green onions. She then placed the approximately 2″ thick fillets on top, each with a pat of butter, and liberally drizzled them with dry white wine. The, she sprinkled on paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper. Broil them for about 10-15 minutes (depending on thickness) or until they are done. They came out looking and smelling divine.

What would we ever do without friends?

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Categories:	Fish & Seafood • wine	7 Comments
Tags:	Add new tag • baked • fish • Food • foodista • halibut • wine

You’ve had a long hard day, haven’t you? You’re hungry, you’ve worked your tail off, and the last thing you want to do is slave over dinner. I know the feeling. It’s days like this when all I want to do is veg out in front of the evening news with a nice glass of wine.

Where is that house boy when you need him?

Here’s a dinner for you that’s so easy it’s just silly. Hopefully you already have that bottle of white wine open. If you can also muster up the strength to open a can of tomatoes, crack open a jar of capers and quickly sear some fish, then a great meal is minutes away. And, your family will think you really outdid yourself. No need to be a hero and admit you just whipped it up. Some things are just better left unsaid <wink>.

Tomato Caper Tuna
We always have a few fillets of fish, such as albacore loin, in our freezer. Although just about any type of fish would be wonderful in this dish. There’s no need to measure, this is what I love about one-pot cooking.

Slice fish into 1/4″ medallions. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan on medium-high and quickly sear both sides of the medallions (about 1 minute or less on each side).

Toss in a can of chopped stewed tomatoes and pour in about 1/2 cup of the white wine you have open (then do it Julia-style and take a little swig of that wine yourself – again, it’s been a long day!).

Add a couple of tablespoons of capers and stir. Simmer a couple of minutes until the alcohol in the wine burns off.

Remove from heat and top with the zest of one lemon. Great with rice and a nice green salad.

Now wasn’t that easy!

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Categories:	Canned Goods • Cooking tips • Fish & Seafood • Veggies • wine	2 Comments
Tags:	albacore • capers • easy meals • fish • Food • foodista • tomatoes • tuna • white wine • wine

I have a deep love for cheese. Actually, it borders on an addiction, but (so far) I am able to live my life normally.

Does flying to Argentina for cheese count as normal?

A couple of years ago Barnaby I went to Argentina to visit friends. Really, it was to visit friends, the cheese (and wine, meat, leather!) was just a bonus. After our visit in the glorious Buenos Aires, we rented a car and headed into the pampas. Destination: Tandil, home of the famous Epoca de Quesos (Epoch of Cheese).

The Epoca de Quesos is housed in one of Tandil’s oldest buildings just off of the main square. This charming building was constructed in 1860 and operated as a staging post for travelers, when it took the better part of a month to get to Tandil from Buenos Aires. In the 1920’s it was converted into a general store and then in 1990 became an eatery to showcase the region’s incredibly rich tradition of artisinal cheese and cold-cut production.

The selection of cheeses offered was nothing short of fantastical…herbed, studded with chili peppers, dusted with smoked paprika; fresh-made to aged and ranging from the milk of cows, to goats and sheep. The old wooden shelves were laden with many cheeses I’d never seen or heard of before and the smell! Well, the smell was a bit like old, nasty milk at a vintage dairy. But to a cheese lover, it was perfume.

In addition to their bodacious assortment of traditional cheeses, they offer about 40 different cold cuts – salami, prosciutto, chorizo, mortadella – as well as other delicious snacks; beer and wine; and goodies.

Like the travelers of old, we settled into the back garden after a long dusty drive. They offered a variety of house tasting menus for 30-40 pesos each (about $10 USD). We chose a mix of meats and cheeses, which came on a rustic wooden board with a country bread. Adding to our delight was a wonderful bottle of red wine and an old-fashioned siphon of cold seltzer.

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Categories:	Beverages • Cheese • Latin • Meat & Poultry • Spanish • Travel • wine	3 Comments
Tags:	Argentina • bread • Buenos Aires • Cheese • epoca de quesos • Food • foodista • meat • pampas • queso • salami • sausage • Tandil • wine

As part of our ongoing mission to share interesting facts, knowledge and people from the world of food, I recently interviewed Sam Spencer of Spencer Roloson Winery. Sam is an old friend who built his label from scratch over the past 10 years in California’s Napa Valley. We love his wines and celebrate his success with only one reservation, now we can’t afford as much of it! Still, we are happy members of their Wine Club.

Sam, what is your philosophy of wine making? What do you see as your obligation to your drinker?

I believe in making honest wine that clearly reflects the vineyard and its topography and ultimately the winegrowers hand in a balanced fashion. I feel obligated to make interesting and delicious wines with care for my consumers.

When you think about all the work that goes into making a bottle of wine, how much is in growing the grapes vs. vintaging?

Growing is the hard part and site selection is the single most important decision you will make along the way to putting wine into a bottle. Careful winemaking is important, but the reality is that if you have a great vineyard it can carry many flaws and still produce delicious wine. I have been vary fortunate to develop Madder Lake Vineyard and the La Herradura Vineyard from the ground up. Both are exceptional and offer outstanding wine-grapes and ultimately wine. The decision to develop these sites was based largely on instinct and enthusiasm rather than experience as I was 10 years younger and both were bare land. I guess I was lucky to some degree in picking these spots. Now I am more intimate than ever with these two vineyards and I see they will continue to develop and mature along with my craft and my own maturation as a winemaker/vigneron.

You are known for making wines from varietals not common to California, like Tempranillo, Viognier, and Grenache Blanc. What’s unique about working with these lesser known grapes?

I think the advantage to growing Tempranillo and Grenache Blanc along with Syrah and Grenache Noir is that we are defining the style and benchmarks as we work with these grapes. There is also the downside, as these wines are often misunderstood by the press who drive sales via their scores. But I like it that way, the successes are all ours, as are the failures. You can’t hide behind the masses when you are the only one making Tempranillo.

You recently got onto the wine list at the French Laundry (congrats!), can you tell us how that came about?

We have had our regular bottlings of wine at the French Laundry for several years. That came about naturally as we show our wine to the all of the restaurants in the Valley and beyond. What I think you are referring to is the Premier Auction Lot that the Laundry has purchased from us for two years running. I made a block designated syrah in 2005 from the La Herradura Vineyard called BLOCK ONE that Paul Roberts of the Laundry bought. The 2006 Premier lot is called Le Ferrieur and is a Tete de Cuvee from that vintage. We make a few very special wines each year for charitable events. For the last three years we have participated in the Premier Napa Valley, a barrel auction that is only open to the trade and the press. The wines offered are en primeur/barrel samples of the very best wines made in the valley, special cuvees. The proceeds support the Napa Valley Vintners and our marketing efforts. This is a very different auction than the grand Auction Napa Valley. Basically it is a bake sale for the NVV—albeit a much more lucrative bake sale than most.

Spencer Roloson has gotten a number of 90+ ratings in well known wine magazines, but I’m always fascinated by how wine quality and price are determined. For you what makes a bottle of wine good or great?

Ratings are subjective, but there are better wines than others. Again the vineyard is going to dictate that. The 90+ ratings are key to sell wine in a certain sector of retailers. I don’t like to pitch my wines that way because I think it reduces years of work into a simple score. But who has the time to learn about every vineyard? the scores ease the mind of the consumer who wants to know that that bottle of 90 point wine will go well with their chicken.

Wine is great when the trinity of good food and wine are coupled at the table with good company; when you can decipher the vineyard in the wine, feel its place and taste fruit more than the barrels, with balance, intensity and clarity. That is what I think makes great wine.

So if ratings are subjective, is there truly objective way of evaluating wine? May some sort of chemical analysis?

There are analyses that are evolving daily. They can interpret the architecture of a wine. The new ones go beyond normal wet chemistry, pH-TA-ETOH etc. They offer a look into the building blocks of color, tannin and phenols to give you a snapshot of the developing grapes in the vineyard and the wine in all of its stages from unfermented must to bottle. I use a technology that allows me to interpret very fine gradations in fruit maturity and in wine during the elevage. I use the data to make more informed choices in the field and the winery. It offers me a predictive strategy for each block and resulting wine, giving a slight advantage in a process that only happens once a year.

So where do you come down on the cork vs. screw top debate?

I am particularly fond of cork in spite of its shortcomings. We perform extensive sensory evaluation of our corks to ensure their quality and have seen a marked reduction in TCA taint since we began doing so. I am also a big fan of the glass stoppers that are newly available for closure. Synthetic sucks in every way, screw caps are allright, the glass has a nice feel to it.

I’m always amazed by the limited the selection and high prices of wine in most of the country. How many states is your wine sold in? What challenges have you faced in building your distribution network?

We are in 20 markets and managing that distribution chain is the biggest problem I face. The system as it is with mandated tiers –Producer-Wholesaler-Retailer– is broken and needs a major overhaul. I am always looking for improved ways to sell directly to my consumer, so we can have more of a conversation.

——————————————————

Here’s a nice review of Sam’s Grenache Blanc at Vinography

And a slideshow from a vineyard visit:

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Categories:	Beverages • Interview • wine	2 Comments
Tags:	Food • foodista • French Laundry • Napa • wine • Winemaking • Winery