"S" is for Selecting Wines from the Wine List

Part Two of Romancing the Grape -- The Wine List

The restaurant wine list can be intimidating. Restaurateurs will tell you that some of their finest vintages never sell because the names of wines can be difficult to pronounce. Gewurztraminer, for example, is one of those wines. Pronounced ‘ge-wurz-tra-meener’, this white is full bodied, is produced both dry and off-dry and offers wonderful aromas and flavours of flowers, spice, and tropical fruit, depending on the terroir in which the grapes are grown.

While it may be ideal to partner to spicy Thai dishesa and East Indian cuisine, Gewurztraminer is often avoided. Many customers would rather refrain from mispronouncing the name and therefore looking bad to their fellow companions than in trying something new.

Don't be shy to ask the wait-person or sommelier how to pronounce the wine. Their job is to both educate you and create your culinary experience.

Add to this that every restaurant has its own individualistic approach to creating the wine list. Lists can be organized and simple, dividing by country, grape variety, style, price and/or region. Other lists look like a novel, listing pages upon pages of vintages.

So how does the average, novice wine lover read the wine list? The answer is by process of elimination and the art of experimentation.

First, are you a foodie who sips wine or a wino who likes to eat? Foodies choose the dish and then find a wine to match. Winos choose the wine and then order a dish accordingly.

What is your budget? I like to hunt for unique and quality wines at reasonable prices. Given that most wines are marked up by 100%, I refrain from drinking these excessively expensive vintage while dining out.

Next, eliminate the house wine. They are often inexpensive, non descript red and white wines, purchased by price rather than quality. They carry the highest mark-up, as well.

No doubt the easiet way to choose is to match a regional wine to a regional food and to stay within your budget.

And then there are those foodies and winos who operate by their emotions above budget and palate. They choose wine according to their mood.

So, there are no hard and fast rules that can be applied to choosing wine from the list for each kind of wine lover.

Most people choose wine to partner to the entree.

If you feel like drinking white wine, then choose a style that will match your dish. All wines fall into various styles. Within each style you'll find an array of grape varieties or 'varietal' wines. The style will dictate the wine's most predominant taste sensations, such as tangy and fruit or fruity and sweet. The taste sensations are key when pairing wine to food.

The terrior in which the grape is grown will determine the wine's flavours on the nose and palate. While two whites may be light and crisp, one can have citrus flavours in the aromas while another might be more floral. Flavours are less important in creating harmony on the palate between the wine and food.

Pair your entree to a wine's taste sensations.

Crisp dry whites (Sauvignon Blanc) work with tangy dishes highlighting ingredients like goat cheese or feta or salty dishes, such as caviar or smoked salmon.

Off dry white wines offset heat and spice and complement foods slightly sweet, such as those featuring sweet potato.

Full-bodied, oaky whites (Chardonnay) harmonize with fatty foods like cream-based or butter-based sauces over pasta.

If you enjoy red wine, then there are three basic styles from which to choose -- light fruity reds like Pinot Noir), reds with forward fruit (like Shiraz) or austere reds(Cabernet Sauvignon).

Light, fruity reds marry well with oily fish like salmon and tuna, as well as chicken or fresh tomato based sauces over pasta.

If you prefer gentle heat and spice choose a red wine with forward fruit as the tannin tends to be soft, thereby not interfering with the heat and spice. This style also complements roasted tomato sauces and can complement chicken, beef or duck.

Heavier reds work best with red meats, salty cured meats like prosciutto and salty, hard cheese like Romano or Parmesan.

Consider experimenting. Ask the server to recommend a wine. Take a chance. Before ordering, request samples of a few wines. This will give you the opportunity to experiment and try the wines before spending your hard earned dollars.
Buy wine by the bottle. If dining with two or more guests, it’s cheaper to order by the bottle than by the glass.

If you’re interested in expanding your knowledge, ask the server if you can try a half glass of two wines (listed at the same price) rather than ordering a full glass of wine.

If you like a certain grape variety, such as chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon, try ones from different wine regions and/or countries. An Ontario chardonnay, considered a wine produced in a cool climatic region, for example, has a completely different taste profile than a chardonnay produced in a warm climate, such as South Africa. Ontario chardonnays are lighter in style with a good backbone of acidity. The acidity cleans the palate between bites, thus making them good food wine.

A South African chardonnay will be heavier in style, more suited for heavier dishes, such as cream based pasta. The more sunshine hours over a growing season and the hotter the temperatures of a region, the greater the sugar level in the grapes. During fermentation sugar is converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide dissapates, leaving alchol in the wine. So warm climates tend to produce wine with higher alcohol. Alcohol creates viscosity or thickness on the palate. It is experienced as mouth feel. Wines with high alcohol can have a heavy or creamy texture, thus making them suitable for fattier dishes.

Don’t shy away from trying new wines because the grape variety is hard to pronounce. Ask the server to pronounce the name for you and have him/her explain the qualities of the wine.

If ordering two glasses of wine, rather than a bottle, try different ones. Save a little wine from your first glass to compare against the new wine in your second glass. This simple act, alone, will aid in expanding your love and understanding of the fermented grape.

There's only one guideline I like to stress and that is to keep an open mind and try a different wine every time you dine out, exploring wine regions from around the world. This is the only way to finally discover the wines that fit into your personal taste profile.

"R" if for Romancing the Grape

Wine service is an important part of the hospitality and restaurant industries, a fact that too few restaurateurs recognize.

On more than one occasion, I have ordered a bottle of wine, only to discover that the server is unskilled in recommending and presenting the wine.

The restaurateur needs to know that, while choosing great wines for the restaurant is a major factor in attracting food and wine lovers, so too is presenting the wine in proper glassware.

Nothing is more disappointing than purchasing a $50 to $80 bottle of wine and having to drink it from glasses that might have been purchased at a dollar store. Don't get me wrong; I love the Dollar Store. But it's not the stop to shop for quality restaurant or home wine glassware. There are plenty of shops that carry inexpensive, durable wine glasses that are the right shape and so enhance the aromas and flavours of your favourite grape varieties.

While a great wine list and quality glasses are aspects to proper service, romancing the grape begins with its presentation at your table. Restaurateurs mark up wines dramatically. Therefore, as customers, we deserve to get a little dog and pony show if we are to pay these exorbitant prices.

Wine should be opened properly and served in the traditional style, with the server standing to the right of the diner. Proper serving techniques are another factor that helps justify the sometimes unreasonable cost of a bottle of wine.

The best way to convince restaurant owners to train their staff in wine service is for us, the consumers, to begin demanding it. Servers should do their homework and taste the wines offered on the wine list. Tasting wine? How can that be considered arduous? The more a server knows about wine, the more confident his/her recommendations, the better the customers' experience and the greater the server's tips. Servers must know more than a wine's colour. They should be able to pronounce and identify the various grape varieties, names of wines and regions. Proper pronunciation, alone, would increase the level of wine service offered to us, the consumers.

So, in the next few blogs I'm going to be covering the topic of proper restaurant wine service.

Topics will include how a wine list should be constructed and how the wines should be presented and opened at your dining table. At the very least, these tips will contribute to your overall enjoyment of wine while dining out.

See you back here next week!

"Q" is for Quick Choices For Fabulous Reds

If you're celebrating Valentine's Day at home, you may want to pick up a couple of bottles of great reds at reasonable prices. Using the CSPC #, this makes shopping "quick" and easy.

Over the past week I’ve had the opportunity to taste a whole array of red wines. Some of these were okay; others, great!

In the Vintage section of the LCBO you’ll find Etim 2007, (CSPC #146019), $14.95, Montsant, Spain. This is a powerful red wine offering lots of black pepper, smoke and cassis in the aromas. In the aromas you’ll also find a mineral quality, the smell of limestone, which can be found in the soil of the vineyards of Montsant in the province of Tarragona (Catalonia), Spain. Dark berries, leather and spice coated in great structure with velvety texture and full body is found on the palate. Decant this wine for an hour or so to take the edge off its tannins. Etim an excellent choice to partner with game birds and meats.

Portugal is worth considering, not only for its Port, but also for its table wines. The principal red grape varieties of the Douro region include Bastardo, Mourisco Tinto, Tinta Amarela, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cao, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Francesca and Touriga Nacional. These varieties are grown in schist and granite soil profiles surrounded by a continental climate featuring hot and dry summers and very cold winters.

Recently, the LCBO released into Vintages a lovely Portuguese wine called Sogrape Reserva Douro 2003 D.O.C., (CSPC # 335208), $17.95. In this wine I found aromas of ripe plums, chocolate and spice. The palate swirls with flavours of red fruit, spices and smoke, embraced by full body, firm tannin and a long finish. I really enjoyed this wine. It’s a fabulous partner for game meats, duck, goose, lamb and roast beef.

This month the LCBO is showcasing its best releases scoring over 90 points with an average cost of between $17.00 and $25.00. I experienced one of the wines last night called Juan Gil Tinto 2006, (CSPC # 1677), $21.95. This baby scored 91 points by Robert Parker (www.erobertparker.com). The Monastrall grape variety is fermented dry to produce a wine with finesse and complexity. The Monastrall grape grown in Spain was believed to be the same variety as France’s Mouvedre. Today, however, experts are still not quite sure. Monastrall does produce big, bold, tannic reds that soften with age, very much like Mouvedre.

The nose of Juan Gil is at first delicate with aromas of violets. Give it time to age in a decanter. The nose opens up offering lots of dark berry flavours. Medium body with dark berries, loads of structure, and a long finish come through on the palate. The wine was aged for a year in both American and French oak. While the wine can take some cellar aging for a few years, it is also highly drinkable now. Marry this wine with heavy dishes, such as roast beef, gourmet burgers, venison, goose and duck. Spaghetti with buffalo used in a meat sauce would taste great alongside a glass of Juan Gil. Pizzas will require pepperoni or other red meats.

"P" is for Partnering Popcorn with Wine

I commissioned a local potter to make a handcrafted popcorn bowl for me. The perfect bowl is long and narrow, more like a pail than a bowl. The narrow bottom fits comfortably on one’s lap. The narrow rim tells people that this is a personal, rather than a community bowl! I hate other peoples’ hands digging through my popcorn. The depth makes room for lots of popped corn.

I pop my kernels in a large pot on the stove. I use corn oil, due to its high smoking point, to pop my corn. I also prefer organic popcorn and sea salt. Organic popcorn seems crunchier to me -- my personal opinion.

Popcorn is a good source of fiber and is low in calories. Sea salt is full of trace minerals that enable our bodies to effectively utilize the water we consume and to utilize the nutrients in our food.

I heat the pot until just before the oil starts to smoke, between 400-460 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil burns and smokes at about 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the oil is heating up, I place a large tea towel around the inside of the lid, holding the four corners on top. When the kernels release their moisture, the steam is trapped by the tea towel. This ensures crunchier popcorn.

I drop a kernel or two into the pot to test the heat. When the kernels pop, I add the remainder, pouring in just enough to coat the bottom. I cover the pot with the tea towel lid and shake to coat all the kernels with oil. After reducing the heat slightly, I continue to shake the pot until the sound of popping dramatically slows down, and then pour the popped corn into a bowl.

The appropriate wine depends on how you like your popcorn. Popcorn with lots of salt and little to no butter requires a crisp, dry white wine with good acidity, such as pinot gris, sauvignon blanc or a dry riesling. The sourness from the acidity offsets the saltiness in the popcorn. Bone-dry sparkling wine is also a good choice, as well.

Popcorn with heavy butter calls for a white or red wine with lots of oily or buttery texture. A big, fat white wine, such as a barrel fermented and/or aged chardonnay with high alcohol is a good match. Reds with forward fruit character with soft acidity and soft tannin work nicely, too. A creamy, fruity shiraz or merlot would be ideal.

Processed cheese topping for popcorn is generally more salty than fatty and so requires a crisp, dry white, such as the ones mentioned above. Organic popcorn sprinkled with sea salt also works nicely with an organic chardonnay with no oak aging.

Sometimes I pour hot butter on my popcorn and then sprinkle it with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and sea salt. Delicious! This Italian style popcorn calls for a big, austere Italian red, such as barbaresco.

Jamaican popcorn seasoning combines a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and pinch of cayenne. An off-dry gewürztraminer or a sparkling wine with some sweetness is perfect. The sweetness offsets the heat and spice.