RED WINE TYPES

Some of the most popular red wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel.  Grenache grapes are often used as a blending additive when wine making from other grapes and are one of the most planted red wines in the world, especially in Spain and France. Other red wines that are not as well-known but deserve mention are Barbera, Malbec, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Nebbiolo and Gamay. Syrah and Shiraz wines are made from the same grape, but are developed using uniquely different grape processing techniques. The modern era has brought an increasing popularity for red organic wine, produced with no fertilizers or chemicals.

RED WINE STORAGE REQUIREMENTS

The best rule of thumb for red wine storage is to store them at a temperature between 50 and 60 degrees F.  When temperatures approach 90 degrees F., red wine can easily be damaged.  Imagine it is August in the Arizona Desert; you stop to buy your red wine for dinner and leave it in the trunk of your car while you  continue to shop for several hours. Your red wine will be damaged. You will not be able to undo the damage if you rush home and stick the red wine bottle in the freezer. That action of moving your wine from one temperature extreme to another will also cause damage to it.  Alexander J. Pandell has written an excellent article on How Temperature Affects the Aging of Wine that is worth reading.

Red wines are best stored in a wine fridge, bottles properly racked in a horizontal position and with the temperature precisely regulated. The horizontal position will insure that the cork won’t crack or leak from drying out. Relative humidity should be around 70 percent. Leaking corks can cause premature oxidation of the wine.  Disturbance of the bottles should be minimized to the best of your ability, particularly if you intend to age them awhile.  Look for slide out shelving in your wine cooler appliance to make access to your bottles easier and to minimize movement of the other stored bottles.  Your storage appliance should be placed out of direct sunlight to maximize your wine cooler’s ability to hold a constant temperature.

RED WINE SERVING TEMPERATURES

Most red wines should be served at room temperature, which means an average of 60 to 65 degrees F.  If the red wine is served too warm, the taste will be dominated by the alcohol and if it is served to cold, it will definitely be less flavorful.  Red sweet and sparkling wines should be served much colder than room temperature, about 45 degrees F. Lighter reds like Pinot Noir and Zinfandel should be served around 60 degrees F. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, full bodied red wines, are best when served at 65 degrees F. Use the serving guidelines, but good wine tasting often comes down to personal preference in balancing flavor and alcohol taste. It is best to experiment on your own when serving your favorite red to find your personal temperature niche.

The more you refine your red wine storage and serving parameters, the more you will appreciate the quality of your taste experience.  As popular as wine is becoming as an addition to our lives, I still recommend to everyone to buy the wine you like best, store and serve it the proper temperatures and enjoy it any time you want to.  Wine refrigerators are designed today to address all the critical conditions needed to keep make your red wine storage easy and keep your bottles ready to enjoy.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, May 2011

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers

Preparation Work Detail

When December rolled around, my wife started preparations immediately.  First, we had to do spring cleaning in December, which included walls, furnace registers, base boards, floors, etc.  The next step was the obligatory decorations that needed to be scattered around the house, including an ornate light display for the outside that had me untangling and hanging lights for days.  I was sent to the Party Store to rent tables, chairs and huge serving platters for the food.  My final assignment was to get “The Birds” and the wine to go with it.  I was beginning to wish we had entertained at Thanksgiving.

Ask The Right Questions

Before I left to do the shopping, my wife told me, “Make sure you talk to someone at the wine store so you get the right wine to compliment the turkey”.  I said, “Why didn’t you ask everyone to bring their own wine, instead of us risking that we wouldn’t buy their favorite?”  My wife raised her voice at least one octave and replied, “We are doing the entertainment so it is our responsibility not theirs and besides I want everything to be just perfect”.  I love my wife dearly and I have learned when it is best to just say, “Yes Dear”.  Before I left, I hopped on the computer and did my research so I could portray to the wine store clerk how knowledgeable I was about pairing turkey with wine.  I didn’t want to embarrass myself at the wine store.  Some sites that I found interesting are Chiff.com, Thatsthespirit.com and an article by Collen Graham found at: http://cocktails.about.com/od/foodbeveragepairing/f/turkey_pairing.htm.

Red Wine or White?

The general consensus from the web research was for a lighter red (not over burdened with tannins) or several white wines that tended to be fruity and slightly sweeter.  Another caution, that seems well advised, is during dinner stick with wines lower in alcohol content.  Northhamptonwines.com stated, “Save the 15 percent alcohol ‘in your face Zins’ for after dinner when it is OK for folks to go to sleep.” 

The top choices I found for red wine lovers were Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz and Red Zinfandel.   White wine enthusiasts might enjoy a Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Beaujolais Nouveau or White Burgundy.  If some of your guests have a sweet-tooth, then try White Zinfandel or Cranberry Wine.  Save the desert wines for after the main meal when it is time to devour the pumpkin and pecan pie.

Not A Wine Drinker, Try This.

Not everyone is a wine drinker.  I also ran across some advice for people for pairing turkey with beer and cocktails.  The consensus was that a beer should be complex but not over bearing.  A good choice might be pale ale from one of the smaller breweries.  Another website suggested that for the cocktail drinkers, gin cocktails like an English Rose, Park Avenue or Verbena Martini would work.

I went to the wine store and made my selections with an air of “I know what I am doing”.  When I arrived home my wife said, “What wine did you decide on?”   I smiled and told her, “One of each, a total of 12 bottles”.   She exclaimed, “We won’t be able to serve all that wine at dinner!”  I responded, “I wouldn’t think of doing that.  I am going to raffle off any that we don’t serve.”  My wife grabbed her forehead and walked away stating, “What I am I going to do with you.”  I let her have the final word and started preparing the raffle tickets.

I always maintain that there are a lot of people that will tell you what wine to pair with what food.  In the end, as I always say, buy the wine you like, store wine properly in a wine refrigerator, serve it at the proper temperature and enjoy it immensely.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers

One of Lisa’s Golden Rules involve serving your wine at the proper temperature.  Check out my post article that has wine serving temperatures discussed.  She also empahized the proper use of wine stemware.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, August 2010.

Biggest Wine Country

Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay

Visit Texas Hills Area

Many of us have danced the Texas Two-step.  I found another Texas tradition, the Texas Two-sip.  The Texas Two-sip is a challenging, blind taste test of a collection of in state and out of state wines.  The goal is to use your taste buds to find the best.  There are special rules and forms to fill out, but no specific rules on what food you can eat.  Sounds like a party to me.  The only caution I have is I did not find out the rule when you get to take your blindfold off.  Be careful where you step.

When I was in the military traveling home on leave, I had car trouble in Fredericksburg.  The people took me in, fed me and housed me, while the resident mechanic repaired my heap.  When I was getting ready to leave, they gave me the gift of a thank you for my service and covered all my bills.  Because of the wine growing there, I now have another reason to take a pause there.  Look out Highway 290 here we come.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, June 2010

For a time our son lived in Anacortes, Washington.  A summer not long ago, my wife and I traveled up Interstate 5 along the west coast to visit him.  The scenery along I-5 was like looking at a collection of mail home postcards.  Once we hit the Oregon State line, another common thread of notoriety was the vast number of wineries and vineyards we saw along the way.  We decided to slow our trip and spend time exploring and learning more about Oregon Wine Country. 

We learned that there are currently over 400 wineries and 875 vineyards in the state.  Planted acreage is over 19,000 acres, which makes the average vineyard about 20 to 25 acres.  Oregon wine growers are mostly small, family-owned operations by people with a deep love for and an enduring responsibility to care for the land.  Many of these small producers make 5,000 cases of wine or less.   What they lack in production they gain in quality by their careful attention to details.  Oregon is currently ranked third in the U.S. with regard to the number of wineries.  Oregon wine sales in 2008 were nearly 1.75 million cases and production today is approaching 2.0 million cases. 

Many of the Oregon wine grapes, especially the cool-zone grown varieties, exhibit high levels of a potent antioxidant derived from grape skins called resveratrol.  Antioxidants have been known to have positive effects on one’s health.  Wine drinking in moderation, according to recent studies, exhibited health benefits of improved heart health and decreased incident of illness.  About 65 percent of the grapes cultivated are of the red varieties, while 35 percent are of the white. 

 The top five wine varieties are cultivated on about 85 percent of the total planted acreage of 19,300 acres.  Pinot noir is the most cultivated variety on nearly 59 percent of the total planted acreage.  Pinot gris is cultivated on about 14 percent of the acreage; Chardonnay on about 5 percent; Reisling on about 4 percent and Cabernet Sauvignon on about 3 percent.  Other wine varieties you could often in counter include Syrah, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Cabernet France, Zinfandel, Sauvignon blanc and Pinot blanc.  With close to 70 different varieties known to be cultivated, it is reasonable to assume you will easily find one to fit your taste. 

If you are considering a tour of Oregon Wine Country, plan to go in October or November.  During this time of year, you will be able to experience a collaboration of wine makers, cheese makers, brew masters, chefs, growers and producers.  The annual celebration is called Oregon Bounty, a unique Oregon event.  This unique event could very well provide you with some tips to making your next wine tasting party a favorite with your friends.  Remember to enjoy your wine to the greatest extent by storing it and serving it at just the right temperature. 

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers, April-2010

When choosing wine glasses, WineDoctor.com has four basic rules to consider.  Rule #1 is the glass should be plain and clear.  Rule #2 is that the glass should be of sufficient size to allow pouring a good measure and at the same time allow room for the “swirling” process to release the aromas.  Select a glass that has a stem for holding is Rule #3.  The stem allows holding your wine glass without transferring heat to the bowl of the glass and consequently your wine. The final rule is that good wine glasses have a taper at the top, which is smaller than the bowl of the glass.  This serves to concentrate the aromas towards the nose.

Some glassware companies have designed glassware for every kind of wine one might purchase.  If one were to purchase their complete line of wine glasses for each individual wine, the next project we would undertake is remodeling of our glass storage cabinetry.  Many website wine aficionados state we can get by quite well by selecting four basic designs for our wine glassware collection.  Get different glassware designs to enjoy red, white, sparkling and dessert wines.  The glassware you select should be thin as thick glasses are thought to affect the taste of the wine, making it more difficult to properly lip the glass for sipping.

A red wine glass should have a bowl fuller and rounder and with a larger opening than other wine glasses.  The bowl of the glass should be wider than the opening of the glass.  Red wines have complex aromas and flavors that this shape of glasses enhances when the wine contacts with more air.  A white wine glass should be more “u” shaped, which allows aromas to easily release.  For sparkling wines, get an upright narrow glass also called a “flute” glass.  The narrowness of this glass helps retain the carbonation and capture the flavor.  The dessert wines should be served in a smaller glass to direct the wine to the back of the mouth.  These wines also contain higher alcohol content making a smaller serving wise.  Pour only enough wine to fill the glass to the widest part of the bowl.

Correctly, caring and cleaning your stemware is the last concern for being ready for drinking your favorite vintage.  Some say wash the glasses only using hot water and others say washing with detergent is okay as long as it is unscented (e.g., no lemon added).  If detergent is used, stemware should be thoroughly rinsed.  Once rinsed allow the glasses to drip dry in an inverted position.  After drying, use a soft cloth to polish them and remove residual water spots.  Store them upright in a cupboard ready of use.

After taking a strong chiding from my clan on my hybrid wine stemware, I have since upped my collection.  I can now accommodate up to 30 people with the proper glass for their respective wine choices.  I did not nor will you have to spend a fortune to be prepared.  Now let us enjoy our wine in the best possible stemware and do not forget wine enjoyment starts by correctly storing your wine before use.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers