Earlier this year you recommended a 2005 French rose wine, and it was wonderful. If I purchase a case – some for the rest of the year and some for next spring/summer – will it keep? If so, please recommend the best method of storage.
It will definitely keep, and having a rose to enjoy throughout the year is a great idea. Although roses are seen by many as strictly spring and summer patio fare, they are enjoyable year-round. Roses pair well with poached salmon, light meats and even the Thanksgiving turkey.
As to your second question, I recommend buying a good rose in a screw-cap bottle and storing it in the refrigerator. Although refrigerator storage usually is not a good idea, it doesn’t seem to affect screw-cap wines, and the cool temperature will preserve the youthful exuberance that makes roses so enjoyable. Best of all, unlike cork-finished wines, screw-cap wines can be stored upright, which saves precious refrigerator space.
We are planning a party with six couples, with each couple bringing two bottles of the same type of wine along with food appropriate to that wine. There will be a table with descriptions of the wines, and everyone will be invited to guess which wine is which. Could you advise us on which wines to select and on foods to go with them?
Add an intriguing twist by specifying that each couple bring one wine from the New World (e.g., the United States, Australia) and one from France, but both made from the same variety of grape. That will allow you to experience the amazing impact of terroir (soil and climate) and winemaking style, even when the same grape variety is used to make the wine.
Most New World wines are labeled by the grape variety, while most French wines are labeled by the appellation of origin. The appellation controllee specifies the predominant grape varieties that were used, which accomplishes much the same purpose as direct varietal labeling, so finding appropriate French wines shouldn’t be a problem if you keep that in mind.
I would recommend these six grape-varietal New World wines and their appropriate French counterparts:
* Chardonnay: Virginia or California; Pouilly Fuisse, Burgundy.
* Sauvignon blanc: New Zealand; Sancerre, Loire Valley.
* Pinot noir: Oregon or New Zealand; red Burgundy, Cote d’Or.
* Cabernet sauvignon: Napa Valley; Haut Medoc, Bordeaux.
* Merlot: Sonoma, California; Pomerol or Lalande de Pomerol, Bordeaux.
* Shiraz/syrah: Australia (shiraz is the Australian name for syrah); Crozes-Hermitage, Rhone Valley.
Good wine goes with good food without a lot of fuss, so I would merely advise guests to choose simple dishes with a sauce of the same color as the wine (white wine with white sauce, red wine with red sauce).
Why do wine commentators view the efficient and descriptive word “dry” as if it were the plague but wallow in a flowery mud pit of similes and metaphors that would be thrown out of a freshman English class? Nearly every wine article I read in The Post seems like it was lifted from a self-indulgent rhapsody in the movie “Sideways.” I enjoy reading about wine and beer, but when descriptions seem to purposely exclude the simple and straightforward words “dry” and “sweet,” it drives me crazy. I estimate that more than 75 percent of the wines I’m offered are not dry or dry enough – disregarding their seductive hints of various fruits, spices, vegetables, pheromones, forest products and industrial chemicals.
About 99 percent of the wines I write about are dry. Regrettably, that makes distinguishing among them more complicated than you seem to believe. If the terms “dry” and “sweet” added something useful to the tasting notes, I would use them, but that is rarely the case.
Regarding your comment that wines are not dry enough, I dislike even a hint of sweetness in table reds and am only slightly more forgiving with respect to supposedly dry table whites, such as chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. So if you are having a problem finding wines among those I have recommended, we must be talking about something other than dry versus sweet. Perhaps you prefer wines with greater acidity, which provides a crisper aftertaste – sometimes called a “dry finish.”
In that case, you might wish to explore dolcetto and barbera, which have good fruit and excellent acidity. Most dolcettos and barberas come from the Piedmont region of Italy, but excellent examples are now being made in California. You might also prefer older wines. As wine ages, the youthful fruit recedes in favor of a nuanced mellowness that you might prefer. Mature wines at reasonable prices are hard to come by in today’s market. The best affordable mature wines are Rioja reservas and crianzas, which are matured at the winery before release. Excellent ones I have recommended recently include those from Vina Salceda, Conde de Valdemar, Rioja Vega, Marques de Caceres and Vina Mayor Crianza (from Ribera del Duero).
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