Mole's Wine Page
"It’s a naïve domestic Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you’ll be amused by its presumption." –James Thurber
This page is not intended for wine connoisseurs, but rather is from one relative beginner to other relative beginners. Enjoyment of wines does not require great expertise, however several pointers may help amateurs such as myself to derive more enjoyment from the grape.
First of all, wine enjoyment is very personal, so the only way to approach it is to try a variety of wines from a variety of places. In general wine is by far best enjoyed with food and the combination of good food with an appropriate wine can be an extremely enjoyable experience. There is also increasing evidence that wine drinking is beneficial to one’s health. However, this is only in moderation. One or two glasses of wine a day is almost certainly beneficial to most people, however greater than four a day is almost certainly quite harmful to most people. Wine seems to be beneficial for clearing out cholesterol, but is harmful to the liver, kidneys and brain. Consequently, moderation is the key.
A note about wine storage:
Wine should be stored horizontally or pointed downward so that the liquid is in contact with the cork. This prevents the cork from drying out and air from getting in to oxidize the wine. Long term storage should be at around 13 degrees C (55 degrees F). Red wines, due to their tannin content benefit from age while white wines do not age as well.
Wine Glasses:
There is actually a logic to what kind of glass you serve a wine in. Red wine is generally served in a wide glass to allow for better breathing. This similar to the logic behind a brandy snifter’s shape, which allows a better appreciation of the brandy’s aroma. White wine is generally served in narrower glasses, for no particular reason, as far as I can tell. Sparkling wines such as Champagne are generally served in very tall, narrow glasses for purely visual reasons—the bubbles rising up the long glass are attractive.
Vintage:
Vintage years matter more for European wines than for Californian wines due to the greater yearly climate fluctuations in Europe. Vintage can matter in a Californian wine (there are, after all, drought years and El Nino years) but there is greater consistency of quality from year to year.
Wine and Food: (also see my Wine/Food Combination Page)
The old adage that white wine goes with chicken and fish while red wines go with red meat really is not strictly true. I tend to prefer a red wine over a white whatever the food is. However, some wines are stronger flavored than others and so would overpower delicate flavors. Conversely, a delicately flavored wine would be insipid next to strong flavored food like venison or most tomato sauces. So very strongly flavored wines like a Chianti, Zinfandel, Burgundy or Cabernet, are best with things like lamb, game, beef and strongly flavored tomato sauces (such as are generally served in Italian cooking). Medium flavored wines like a strong white or a Merlot, will go with beef, salmon and chicken in a strong flavored sauce. And light wines like a Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio, go best with light cream sauces and lightly flavored fish and chicken. Overall, though, the best advice is to just try different combinations and to PAY ATTENTION to how different foods go with different wines. For more hints about what goes with what foods, see my Food/Wine combination page.
Let it Breathe:
A word about "breathing." Almost all red wines, no matter what the quality, benefit from breathing. A fine wine generally should breath about half and hour. A mediocre wine may benefit from even more breathing, though no amount of breathing will save a bad wine. Breathing essentially allows the flavor to mellow due to oxidation. Of course excessive oxidation leads to vinegar. White wines do not need to breathe. Of course the other difference between a red and a white is that reds are served around room temperature or slightly chilled while whites are served chilled. This means that whites may be more refreshing on a hot day than a red would be. But a wine should never be overly chilled, or the flavor and aroma will be dulled. Even a white is better if allowed to warm slightly if it has been in the refrigerator
In a Restaurant:
When you order wine at a restaurant, it is generally advisable to avoid the "house wines." These are generally inferior quality and probably have been open for too long. It is better to find a bottle that suits your tastes. There are exceptions, though, and I have encountered very nice "house wines."
The Cork:
Why does the waiter give you the cork before serving the wine? It is not simply ritual. You can get some idea of the quality of the wine from the appearance and smell of the cork. The bottom of the cork should be soaked in wine, indicating that the wine was properly stored with the wine in contact with the cork. The cork should also smell more of wine that of cork. If it smells of cork, it is probably an indication that the wine, too, will be "corky" and will taste bad.
I hope all this helps you enjoy your wine experience. For more detailed info, check out my Wine/Food combination page and my Wine Varieties Page. For some notes on the history of wine, see my Wine History Page.
Read my Personal ideas about what wine and food go together.
Read a brief description of some wine varieties.
Read about the History of Wine
Back to my Food Page
Back to Mole's Homepage
Email: michad03@mcrcr.med.nyu.edu
