Monthly Archives: July 2011

If you’re just beginning to explore the wonderful world of wine, you may find yourself confused by the huge variety of wines – reds, whites, bubbly, blends – and the many, many choices within each of those wide categories. We’ll focus on just one of those for this brief introduction – white wines. We’ll provide a short tour of the most well-known varietals (types of grapes), tell you what to expect from each and what distinguishes them from each other.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is absolutely the most popular white wine in America – in fact, it’s claimed to be the only white wine many wine drinkers buy. Chardonnay is quite often the first white wine a new wine explorer will try, largely because it is so “accessible”. Chardonnay is most often on the dry side, meaning that it’s not very sweet, and it typically has flavors of apples, tropical fruit, vanilla, and butter, and varying degrees of oak, depending on the winery where it was produced. “White Burgundy”, from France, is almost always 100% Chardonnay. Many other wine regions throughout the world produce Chardonnay, including Australia and Chile. It’s fairlyeasy to obtain good choices of American Chardonnay available for under $20. Popularand reliable producers include BV, Columbia Crest, and Chateau St. Michelle, among others.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc, sometimes called Fume Blanc, is another very well-known white wine. Sauvignon Blanc is often described as “freshly mown”, meaning that it reminds the taster of freshly mown grass. It is a medium-bodied white wine with fruity aromas like grapefruit, melon, and peach, and is dry and refreshing with medium acidity. Sauvignon Blanc is a particularly nice wine for summer, especially good with seafood and it’s a great match for light snacks and picnics. Babich (New Zealand) offers a very nice Sauvignon Blanc for under 15 dollars.

Pinot Grigio

Pinot Grigio, sometimes called Pinot Gris (the actual grape name), is Italy’s most popular white wine, and is popular around the world, although the Italian Pinot Grigios can be somewhatbland. Pinot Grigios are easy to drink, due to their crisp, light taste. The Pinot Gris offerings from Oregon tend to have more character, having medium body, with more readily noticeable fruit and more acidity. Better bottles have fruity flavors of apple, pear, honeydew and a touch of spice. A couple of very nice Pinot Gris from Oregon, available at between $12-$18, are King Estate and Chateau St. Michelle, among others.

Riesling

Riesling wines are usually considered the most popular German wine, and they are produced in two vastly different styles – dry and sweet. Rieslings are categorized by the ripeness of the grapes when picked. Kabinett indicatesnormally ripe grapes, and is a light to medium-bodied, mostly dry wine. You’ll oftensee the word “trocken” on a bottle of Riesling, which means “dry” in German. “Spatlese” is made from riper grapes, and results in a bit richer, slightlysweeter, wine. “Auslese”, which means late harvest, is made from even more ripe grapes, and is usually verysweet. Rieslings are typically fruity, with apple, peach, and honeysuckle flavors and floral undertones. Rieslings are relatively inexpensive – you can find excellent offerings for under $10. One consistently very goodchoice is Strub Niertsteiner Riesling Kabinett, as isChateau Ste. Michelle Riesling.

Gewurztraminer

Gewurztraminer is another well-knownwhite wine from Germany, while also being produced in France, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. Gewurztraminer is also producedin both dry and sweet styles. Gewurztraminers have a bold, full-bodied taste, considerably more so than most other whites. Typical aromas commonly found inGewurztraminer are lychee nuts and rosewater, and its flavors include honeysuckle, apricot, pear, and honey. A nice, inexpensive Gewurztraminer is available fromTrimbach (France, under $15).

A final note

The best way to determine your preferencesin white wine is to just pick up a coupleof bottles, and give them a try. For each varietal, you’ll want to choose a bottle that’s representative of the style you’re wanting to try. Websites like Wine.com can be very helpfulwith finding solid, yet inexpensive choices. Once you find a varietal and producer you like, you might want to pick up a case to have handy for entertaining, or to just enjoy at home. Most white wines won’t improve with age, so you shouldn’t keep them around for years. You do, however,want to be sure to properly store your wine, so they keepthe wonderful flavors and aromas you anticipate. You might consider investingin aninexpensive wine fridge, to keep all your wines at their best.

White wines are best served chilled, so it’s a good idea to refrigerate them beforehand, then remove themaround 15-20 minutes before serving. Better yet, you may want tobuy an electric wine chiller, which will chill (or warm) a single wine bottleto the optimal temperature automatically – just select the pre-programmedwine varietal, pop in the bottle, and the chiller will automatically cool (or warm) your wine to the right temperature, and keep your wine at the right temperaturethroughout your wine tasting.

A wine club is a great way to learn about wine and to sample different wines that you might not otherwise try. Many people appreciate the gift of a wine club membership around the holidays, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving if the recipient is generous with the wine they receive.

So how do you choose a club? Are all clubs the same and are there important things you should look out for when choosing a membership. There are different things that can help you to choose the right one. Everything from cost to wine style will determine what club you choose.

The Cost Of Wine Club

While cost should not be the only thing that you think about when choosing a wine club it is important. If you are just starting to learn about wine it might be a good idea to start with an inexpensive membership. A wine tasting club that allows you to pay as little as $20 a month can still offer you some very decent wines to try.

More expensive wine clubs will allow you to try more exclusive ranges and will also offer you more bottles of wine each month. So settle on a price range that you are comfortable with and you are on your way to discovering great wines.

Choose Your Wine From Wine Club

There are different types of wine clubs that you can choose from and depending on your preferences you will probably go for a different club than your friends. You can join a wine club that only selects red or white wines. There are some clubs that will only showcase wines from California; others will choose wines from all over the world.

Selection of wines from small vineyards that are not available commercially and are hard to come by otherwise are offered by some clubs. The choice is up to you and many of these memberships are extremely affordable.

Little Details For Choosing The Right Wine From Wine Club

Paying attention to little details can also help you to choose the right wine club. Long duration of membership of its member shows how excellent its customer service is. Be sure to check if shipping costs are included in your monthly membership fee or if it is counted as an extra. You might also have other benefits to joining a particular club so look around and find the right type of wine club for you.

For wine to mature in the appropriate way, you will be required to ensure the right temperature, light condition, humidity and movement.  Whenever you are storing wine for any amount of time, you’ll need to ensure that the wine is in a safe place.  Even though there are a few ways that you can store wine, none are safer or smarter than using a wine rack.

When you choose your wine rack, you should always remember to choose one that will store your wine properly.  There are a several styles to choose from, including those that stack, wall mounts, and side mounts.  You should also pay attention to size as well, as the sizes range from storing a few bottles to storing hundreds.  You’ll also have a lot of varieties and designs to select from, all of which depend on your needs and your space.

Among the best types of wine racks are the horizontal racks.  Contrary to what many may think, vertical racks aren’t a good choice for storing your wine.  Wine that is stored on vertical racks are stored vertically, which means that the cork will dry out and eventually start to shrink, bringing air into the wine and ruining it.  On the other hand, vertical racks can come in handy when storing wine for short periods of time, or wine that is best consumed young.

Tilted racks are another type of rack you should avoid using, as they can dry out the corks or deposit the sediments too close to the cork.  For your wine storing needs, you should always go with a horizontal rack.  Horizontal racks will keep the cork moist, and keep unwanted air from making contact with the wine.  The sediment will fall towards the side of the bottle, preventing spillage when you pop the cork.  Horizontal racks are also very affordable and you can always add more racks to the design with little to no problem.

Generally materials for wine racks are metal and wood.  You can hang them from ceilings, mount them on the wall, or simply place them on the floor.  Metal racks are the strongest, although wood is more flexible.  Wooden racks provide a bit more storage, for the simple fact that you can always add to them.  Wood racks are also visually appealing, durable, and provide plenty of strength.

All in all, a wine rack is a fine investment for anyone who appreciates wine.There are various sizes to choose from, all of which are very affordable.  The small to medium sizes work best for homes, while the large styles are best for commercial settings.  No matter where you keep your wine – you can count on a wine rack to keep your wine stored for years to come.