Pairing Wine with Food

The Wine Guy has to admit that I approach this blog with a certain amount of anxiety. Pairing wine with food has been one of the most written about, most discussed subjects in the world of wine and probably the most abused. It is also the source of the greatest number of questions we in the wine trade ever get asked about wine. There is a perception among most wine consumers that you have to be an expert in wine to approach this subject and attempt to answer “What wine do I serve with….?” The more I learn about wine, the more I’m convinced of these three things:

1) Wine reaches its best levels of enjoyment when paired with food.
2) Proper pairing of wine and food mainly requires good common sense and a confidence in your own ability to decide what tastes best to you.
3) All the advice you get from wine professionals (including myself) should be treated as guidelines and then tempered by your own taste preferences and experiences.

Sounds terribly simple, doesn’t it? Well it is and, then again, as with all things in the world of wine, it is also varied and complex. Let’s begin with a look at why.

Wine has been a beverage associated with food for thousands of years. At first its alcohol content simply made it one of the safest beverages to drink. It also probably countered the effects of some of the microorganisms that developed on food as it waited to be prepared and consumed. In short, it was highly practical. As both winemaking and food preparation evolved, it became apparent that there were endless tastes and flavors available in both beverage and food. There were also endless combinations possible. Obviously some combinations worked better than others and some didn’t work well at all. We also began to discover that just as the wine modified the taste of food, the food modified the taste of the wine. Thus began the long arduous examination of what wine goes well with what food. (So far, the common sense part seems obvious, doesn’t it?) The big variable that enters this equation is you and I are the consumers of both products. Just as each of us who eats a particular food dish has a different taste experience, so does each of us who sips a particular wine. It would follow that our reaction to the combination of those flavors varies as well. What works well for me may not for you and vice-versa.

So where do we begin? Let’s start with some general (and sensible) guidelines that will assist and help you in exploring and discovering your own preferences and favorite combinations. I use the word sensible because there are many guidelines floating out there that perpetuate the myth of “only certain wines go with certain food”. Chief among these is the old “white wine with white meats, red wine with reds meats”. What Bunk! While I don’t count myself, there are many wine consumers who prefer to consume just whites or just reds. While some of us think you’re unnecessarily restricting yourself, there’s nothing wrong with that. Certainly you can (and should be able to) find many different wines that will pair well with any just about any food you choose to enjoy. I’ve found reds that pair well with poultry and whites that were highly enjoyable with a steak. The perpetuated myth of “the perfect wine” with each food dish is just that: a myth.

Here are some guidelines that may serve you well:

Guideline #1: Always choose a wine you would enjoy anyway:
Good chefs will tell you to never cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink. The same credo applies to accompanying your food with a glass of wine. Just because some expert listed a particular wine as his best pairing with a certain food doesn’t mean there aren’t others. If it’s not your kind of wine, move on and look for another pairing.

Guideline #2: Wine can either complement or contrast the flavors of food you pair with:
Both situations can be enjoyable. You must decide which job you want the wine to perform. You may choose either effect at different times. (Variety is, indeed, the spice of life!) Just as you may sometimes choose to accent a dish with spices that add a new flavor to the dish you’re eating or sometimes you may add a spice that brings out the basic underlying flavor of the food, you can do the same with the wine you choose.

Guideline # 3: Watch your alcohol content, particularly with spicier foods:
High alcohol content in wine will sharply accent hot spices in food and vice-versa. Utilize lower alcohol wines with spicier food. If you’re looking for a contrasting wine, choose one with a little more sweetness or fruity characteristics to balance the hot spices.

Guideline #4: Watch your level of tannins with milder dishes:
Bold and flavorful tannins can rapidly overpower very mild dishes. Keep in mind that tannins also come from the wood that wine is aged in as well as the parts of the grapes, so this proviso is not just restricted to reds. It is possible for a heavily oaked chardonnay to make a succulent, baked turkey taste as flavorless as cardboard.

Guideline #5: With a complex meal, you may want to choose a palate cleansing wine:
When there are a lot of different dishes on the table, you may want to choose a wine that will refreshingly rinse the mouth and reset the taste buds for the next course or bite of food. Sparkling wines, for example, fit this purpose very well and also add a sense of festivity.

Note: For the same reason, The Wine Guy usually serves lightly chilled water with his wine when he has guests for dinner. Knowing everyone’s taste buds react differently, I want my guests to have the opportunity to be address the different taste combinations they may experience with the wine and the food that is offered.

Guideline #6: For dessert, make it sweet or make it a finale:
Wines served with dessert should generally be sweeter than the dessert itself; otherwise the sharper characteristics of the wine (acidity, tannins, etc) will be accented and come to the foreground and alter the basic taste of the wine. Optionally, go for a palate cleanser with complimentary flavors.

Guideline #7: It’s O.K. to pair more than one kind of wine with your food:
Set an extra glass or two at your table and open more than one kind of wine. It’s not only fun, it helps address the many different palates around your table when you have guests. And, as you develop your own sense of pairing combinations, it can also add to your variety of enjoyable experiences with the meal. It always amazes me that people will pay exorbitant prices for special wine pairing dinners at restaurants offering multiple wines but remain reluctant to that on their own. You can affordably have a similar, if not better (because it’s based on YOUR taste preferences) at your own table once you learn the basics and follow your taste buds.

Guideline # 8: When seeking advice, let your advisor know what you prefer in wine:
Whether it’s a waiter or sommelier in a restaurant or your steward at the local wine shop, let the person you ask know what kind of wines you prefer. If necessary, also relate how your food is being prepared. Without this information, his recommendation will be based solely on his own experiences and taste preferences. If he is professional, he’ll modify his first instinct based on the information you give him. As a result, you’re more likely to get a wine pairing that you will truly enjoy.

Guideline #9: When in doubt, go to the source for food pairing ideas:
When looking for a pairing for a particular dish or cuisine go that region of the world where that food is famous and look at the most popular wines of the same area. These wines probably developed there (this is most particularly true in the Old World) because for most of the people there, they pair well with the food. As examples: Riojas or Grenachas are good with the traditional tapas of Spain. The pastas and game dishes of central Italy pair well with the Sangiovese and Montepulciano wines found there. Lamb dishes are popular in both Greece and Australia. Naoussa is the best selling red in Greece and Shiraz is the best selling red in Australia and it’s no coincidence that both pair wonderfully with lamb.

O.K. these are some rough guidelines. To see how they apply, let me share with you some of The Wine Guy’s preferred food pairings. Remember these work for me, but may not for you. I offer them as an overview. You may discover different wines under the same guidelines that work as well, if not better, for you.

The Wine Guy’s Go-To pairings:

Pasta with red/meat sauces:
Try Italian Chianti, Montepulciano and Sangiovese blends or Nero d’Avola

Pasta with creamy/vegetable sauces:
Italian Pinot Grigio is a natural choice but I also enjoy a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with these and for a red, try a South American Carmenere

Baked or roasted Poultry-white wine Choices:
French Chardonnays (Pouilly-Fuisse or Macon Villages), Argentine Torrontes

Baked or roasted Poultry-red wine choices:
Spanish Monastrel, French Burgundy or Chilean Pinot Noir

Plainer Shellfish Dishes:
South African Chenin Blanc (especially good with shrimp stir-fry), Greek Assyrtico, French Vouvrey

Saucy or buttered shellfish dishes:
Creamy, buttery California Chardonnay, or Gewürztraminer

Salmon dishes:
Nothing for me quite beats a good Oregon or California Pinot Noir especially if the salmon is grilled.

Whitefish dishes:
Spanish Albarino (my favorite with baked Halibut), French Cotes du Rhone Blanc or any good Viognier

Mexican Food:
Nebbiolo based wines, South American or California Merlots, Spanish Mencia (Bierzo)

Pork dishes:
French Cotes Du Rhone, French or South African Dry Rose or any good Pinot Noir (especially if the dish has a mushroom sauce glaze).

Chocolate Red Layer Cake:
Italian Brachetto, this raspberry flavored sparkler goes great with the chocolate and refreshes at the same time.

Cheeseburger & Fries:
Extra Dry Spanish Cava (Seriously, I am not kidding. I was amazed about 15 years ago when I discovered the Miami Subs chain in south Florida offered a high-end champagne. I was more amazed when I saw how many people ordered it. Finally, I was stunned when I tried sparkling wine with fast food for the first time!) I deliberately put this example in to illustrate that you can really go where your taste buds dictate and will allow you to go when it comes to food pairing.

Finally, two of my pairings that are not wine, but the same principle and guidelines apply:

Spicy Thai dishes & Asian food:
A wonderful pairing with these dishes is Sake’. For the spicier dishes, I trend toward the sweeter and softer on the palate Nigori (or unfiltered) sake.

Roasted Turkey Sandwich with Blue Cheese sauce:
Regular readers will know that this is called a “Dirty Bird” and is featured at my favorite pub & deli in Atlanta. It pairs wonderfully with a Trippel Ale. However, I usually order it with a Canadian La Fin du Monde, an equally marvelous pairing of beer and food.


It’s been a longer blog than usual, so allow me to recap:


A. Each of us brings different taste preferences in both food and wine to the table.

B. Because of that, “the perfect wine” pairing for any food item is different for each of us.

C. Treat advice from experts as a guide to get you started on food pairing and temper that with your own experiences.

D. Always pair with food a wine you would probably enjoy anyway.

E. Taste, taste, taste. Use common sense to guide you in experimenting with new combinations. Then let your taste buds direct you from there.


Finally, wine is wonderful with food. Have a wonderful experience soon!

Acquiring new tastes in wine requires tasting new wines!

Wine is one of the loves of my life and that love is the primary reason I do this blog. My first and greatest love also gets mentioned here frequently and that’s the fetching Mrs. Wine Guy. (pictured above with The Wine Guy last fall in Queretaro Santiago, Mexico) Today I get to relate a story that combines both. It also serves as a reminder to The Wine Guy that no matter how much you know about wine, another person’s own palate is always their best guide to exploring and trying new wines.

The Wine Guy is fortunate enough to be one of those people who loves all kinds of wine. To date, my samplings range in the four figures and I can honestly say that of all those, I can count the wines I would never try again on one hand. While I have my favorites, I love them all! That’s not usually true for the typical wine drinker and it certainly wasn’t true for the fetching Mrs. Wine Guy when she first began to join me in my exploration of wines a few years ago. She was a dedicated and selective white wine drinker. Her preferences were mostly restricted to fruitier, lighter, softer and generally sweeter whites.

In an attempt to open up her horizons and get her to explore the wonderful world of red wines, I arranged for a custom tour of Russian River Valley wineries with knowledgeable tour guide Gene Warren of Healdsburg Area Winery Tours.
(For more on using a winery guide see the archived blog “Learn More Taste More” from July 19, 2009).
I had explained to Gene my desire to get my better half to “come over to the dark side” and enjoy the wonders of red wines along with her beloved whites. We planned a strategy of visiting wineries known for some fuller bodied whites, some great rose’s and, of course, some excellent Pinot Noir.
I assumed that I should “transition” her palate by exposing her to some softer, less bold selections in the new arena I wanted her to adopt. Although we succeeded in getting her to nod favorably to a couple of excellent chardonnays from Miramar Torres and Hartford, our efforts in finding a red wine she could warmly embrace fell flat.

The following day, we were on our own, revisiting some Sonoma wineries and picking up some favorites from a trip the year before. At one stop, I mentioned my desire to sample a Sangiovese (The Wine Guy has always been partial to a good Italian varietal). Mrs. Wine Guy uttered a simple “I’ll pass” but elected to have a sample of my tasting when I expressed my enjoyment of the wine. It took barely a sip for her to demandingly inquire “Why haven’t you told me about this wine before?” The following year, while in Italy, I marveled as she expressed her delight at the sampling of some of the great Tuscan reds she enjoyed, including a wondrously well-aged Brunello in the cellar at Il Greppo, the Biondi-Santi estate outside Montalcino. Today, she has truly “come over to the dark side”. The “then and now” list below of her most favored wines reveals the depth of that transition:


Mrs. Wine Guy’s five favorite “Go-To” wines seven years ago:
Schmidtt-Sohne Piersporter Michelsburg QbA
Husch Vineyard Gewurztraminer
Navarro Vineyards Edelzwicker
Dry Creek Vineyard Chenin Blanc
Casa Rondena Serenade

Mrs. Wine Guy’s five favorite “Go-To” wines today:
Castelli di Querceto Chianti Classico
Loacker Val di Falco Morellino di Scansano
Santa Ema Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre
L.A. Cetto Nebbiolo Reserva Privada

Wow, What a change that’s been! What’s marvelous is that Mrs. Wine Guy now enjoys many different styles of wine. Yes, she still returns to and enjoys some of her whites but she also appreciates many more. Today, we enjoy sharing our exploration of the world of wine in more ways than we ever thought possible. It also taught The Wine Guy some valuable lessons.
Among those are:

1. Never presume to “know” what someone else might enjoy in a new wine based solely on what they prefer today.
2. Recognize that palates can change and adapt to enjoy many different and unique flavors.
3. In wine, as with many other things, variety is the spice of life.

I hope you enjoyed the story. I shared it with my readers to encourage them to take risks and to occasionally try something unique and different as they explore the world of wine. A Master of Wine once told me shortly after my first certification that sooner or later, people would ask me “How do I tell when a wine is truly a great wine?” He suggested answering simply “When the wine tastes great enough to you to make you immediately say: “Wow, what a great wine!”… then it’s a great wine. Keep trying new wines and trust your taste buds. Sooner or later, they will lead you to some wonderful discoveries in the world of wine. And don’t be surprised if those discoveries are never-ending. There are thousands of different wines out there, each with a unique flavor to enjoy. Your possibilities for enjoyable discoveries are almost endless.

Here’s hoping your next great wine discovery is just around the corner!

Cava, Spain's Sparkling Contribution To The World of Wine!

While not entirely inaccurate, referring to Cava as the Spanish Champagne is a somewhat unfair description. This widely distributed sparkling wine shares a common method of production with the renowned French bubbly but it distinguishes itself with the utilization of its native Spanish grapes, Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo. In recent decades, it also occasionally utilizes some additions of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Suribat (a sub-varietal of Malvasia). There may be additions of Grenacha and Monastrell as well.

French Champagne traditionally relies on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as its mainstays and traces its roots to a French monk. Dom Perignon developed the production methods while on assignment from his abbot to discover why bottles of the abbey’s wine frequently exploded in the cellar. For that reason, Dom Perignon is credited with being the founder of sparkling wine despite the fact that an English scientist ((Christopher Merrett) presented a paper on creating a sparkling effect in wine years before the French monk was sent downstairs by his abbot.

There are notes of Cava wine in Spain dating back to the time of Roman and Greek visitations to the Iberian Peninsula. However, those may be a reference to fine still wines that were stored in caves. Modern commercial production of Spanish sparkling Cava is generally accredited to Josep Raventos, a descendant of the Cordorniu and Raventos wine families. Their history in Spanish wine dates to the early 1500’s. Josep, after visiting France, applied the method champenoise to native Spanish grapes and today, Cordineau, along with Freixenet (also formed with the merger of two old Spanish wine families) have alternately laid claim to being the world’s largest producer of sparkling wines. Both have worldwide distribution and followings. Freixenet, through its acquisition of other Spanish producers including Rene Barbier and Segura Viudas probably offers a greater variety of products to choose from.

Spanish Cavas have a similarity in style to Champagne but because of the different mixture of grapes, displays some differences in flavor and structure. Good aficionados of wine will recognize that Cava and Champagne are different and celebrate what each has to offer in much the same manner as they recognize the differences and celebrate the separate offerings of Left Bank and Right Bank Bordeaux. Typically, Cavas are light and crisp in style with a tendency toward nuttiness and some light floral accents. It may well find its depths of flavorful expression in Cava Rose’. Cava also has an affordability factor that has lead to its wide popularity. Not unlike their Champagne cousins, Cavas are fanciful, festive, zesty wines. They make great aperitifs, delightful bases for wine cocktails and are ideal for celebratory toasting.

Here are a few suggestive hints from The Wine Guy if you have a yen to explore the world of
Spanish Cava:

Cordorniu Classico Brut:
This is a traditional blend of the three Spanish grapes Macabeo, Parallada, and Xarel-lo. Look for apple flavoring with hints of almonds in the bouquet.

Jaume Cordorniu Brut:
Here Chardonnay is added to Macabeo and Parellada. The result is the addition of biscuity notes to green apple flavorings. Look for some nuttiness and hints of honey on the finish.

Cordorniu Pinot Noir Rosado Brut:
This is 100% Pinot Noir, a fairly modern addition to Cordorniu’s lineup of products. It has great strawberry and raspberries flavorings in a dry, crisp sparkler.

Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut:
A traditional Cava and Freixenet’s first flagship export. Look for green apples laced with citrusy overtones and a crisp finish.

Freixenet Casa Sala Grand Reserva Brut Nature:
Well-aged and one of the driest Cavas (Brut Nature has no additional sugar included with the dosage utilized to initiate secondary fermentation)

Jaume Serra Cristalino Extra Dry:
Sparkling wine regulars know that Extra Dry is slightly sweeter than Brut (don’t let the name confuse you if you’re new to sparkling wine). This wine layers lemon-lime overtones on green apples and has a lingering finish. The Wine Guy usually suggests an Extra Dry as opposed to a Brut for making Mimosas.

Segura Viudas Brut Reserva:
Aged in the bottle for nearly three years, this wine has a light floral nose, a mineral, yet creamy, undertone to its dried apple flavor and is accented with a spicy finish.

Segura Viudas Reserva Heredad:
Noted for being an estate wine Cava and for only utilizing the first pressing of the grapes, this wine is aged up to four years. It has ripe apple flavoring accented with light citrus, peach and a sense of nuttiness on the lingering finish. It has a unique pewter edged and crested bottle, which makes it a favorite for gift giving. If you only try one Cava, make it this one.

A couple of final hints and notes:

As with all sparkling wine, the sweeter the wine, the cooler it should be served. The order of Cava from dry to sweet goes:

Brut Natural
Extra Brut
Brut
Extra Dry
Seco
Semi-Seco
Dulce

Just as there pretenders to good Champagne, so are there for good Spanish Cava. 95% of Cava comes from the Penedes in Spain’s northwestern Catalunya region. Authentic Spanish Cava can be verified by the four-pointed star printed on the cork bottom.

While some Cavas are aged before release, they are very much meant to be drunk young. Do not hold for extended periods even if refrigerated.

Go ahead…find a Cava, chill it, pop the cork and enjoy the essence of Spain’s sparkling contribution to the world of wine!

Nebbiolo: "A finicky grape that makes fabulous wine"

Wine consumers who have seen the movie “Sideways” may well remember Miles elaborating on the difficulty in growing Pinot Noir and the care needed in making a good Pinot Noir wine. There is, however, another grape that outdoes this popular grape in being “finicky” to grow. It also presents bold challenges in winemaking but it rewards the patient with some of the best aromatic and best aging wines in the world. That grape is nebbiolo.

Nebbiolo is principally grown in the Peidmont region of Italy but is also utilized in Italy’s Lombardy and Valle d’Aosta regions. In some parts of Italy, it also answers to the names Spanna, Picutener and Chiavenessa. There is some debate over whether the Nebbiolo name derives from the Italian word “nebbia” which means fog or the Italian word “nobile” meaning noble. Certainly the presence of fog in the regions where the best example of Nebbiolo wines comes from is a factor in the quality of grapes harvested (not unlike Miles’ beloved Pinot Noir!). There is also a milky clouding to maturing Nebbiolo grapes that could be described as fog-like. The noble connotation would certainly apply to the quality of the wines produced and to its historical regard, particularly by the British prior to the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century. Prior to that, many Brits had turned to Nebbiolo as an alternative to fine Bordeaux as their many conflicts with the French made them seek viable alternatives.

Today, however, Nebbiolo accounts for only single digit percentages of the vineyard grapes in its Piedmont homeland but it does produce some of its finest wines. Nebbiolo d’Alba, Barolo, Babaresco, Gattinara and Ghemme are among the wines that owe their strength and character to this grape. This grape produces lightly colored but bold wines that can be highly tannic (and, sometimes almost bitter in their youth). They are always aromatic, even more so with ageing and the wines can take on a uniquely characteristic reddish-orange hue at the edge as they age. Aromas and flavors that have been identified in these wines include, Roses, violets, tar, wild herbs, red fruits, truffles, tobacco and even rich prunes. The wines are often capable of developing after ageing for more than a decade.

The terroir in the Piedmont is very well suited to this grape, as it grows best in highly calcareous soils. It is a grape that is very early to bud but very late to harvest. Harvest occurs in mid to late October, when the weather is colder, not only challenging the harvest but the length of time required in fermentation as well. (Modern technology has helped address some of that difficulty but most Nebbiolo winemakers moderate the usage of technology controls during fermentation as it tends to weaken some of the stronger characteristics of the grape.) It also susceptible to buds not developing into fruit especially if exposed to a lot of wetness during the bud development stage. Excessive wetness during ripening can also have a negative impact on the quality of the grapes. Add to that a genetic instability that makes it prone to mutation and you’ve got a grape that is very challenging to grow and very challenging to make wine from.

Patience and effort are usually rewarded, however, with some of Italy’s finest red wine. The best Barolos can challenge Brunello di Montalcino for the right to be called the King of Italian wines. They are bold, expressive wines, with long, lingering finishes and rival Brunello in the ability to age and develop when properly cellared. Barollos must be aged a minimum of 1 year in oak and 3 years in total with 57 months required to achieve Riserva status. The lighter Barbaresco requires 9 months on oak with 21 months total aging with 45 months needed for a Riserva. The care and time needed in these wines plus their limited production does add to the cost. While many good examples can be found under $40.00, the cost of the very best of these wines rises rapidly and may reach into the four-figure range.

Italy is the primary source for Nebbiolo and certainly the dominant one in terms of both quantity and quality. Scatterings of Nebbiolo have occurred in Australia, California, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa but with very limited acclaim as to the results. The most productive area for Nebbiolo outside Italy is Baja Norte in Mexico principally under one producer, L.A. Cetto. The Nebbiolo Riserva produced there is also quite singular in having achieved a consistent measure of critical acclaim. Many of my fellow bloggers have referred to it as the best Nebbiolo made outside Italy. I would concur. I also don’t mind its affordability when I can find it.

Here are a few other affordable recommendations from The Wine Guy for wines you may want to try if you’re interested in exploring Nebbiolo.

Michele Chiarlo Barolo Toroniano

Michele Chiarlo Barbaresco

Produttori di Barbaresco Nebbiolo Delle Langhe

Pio Cesare Nebbiolo d’ Alba

Fontanfredda Barbaresco Cuvee

L.A. Cetto Nebbiolo Riserva Privada

All are Italian with the exception of the last which is the Mexican wine I referred to earlier. That one may be hard for many of you to find. The Wine Guy always has a bottle whenever he travels to Mexico and I invariably return with one (Mrs. Wine Guy, who loves Italian wine, will always insist that I do). If you plan to travel to Mexico, it’s worth the effort to try to do the same.

One final tip: Nebbiolo is a very tannic wine when young, so be prepared to be patient and devote the appropriate decanting time to allow the wine to air and soften before consuming. At least an hour or more would be my minimum recommendation on most of the choices above. If you find one you enjoy, and you have storage capabilities, buy some for now and some to cellar. Then, continue to restock the cellar as you pull an older wine that has aged and further developed.

Enjoy!

Torrontes: A cool little white that's about to get hot!

Wine production in Argentina is over 450 years old. Spanish Jesuits established its first commercial vineyard in 1557. Argentina is currently (2006 figures) ranked fourth worldwide in wine production, just ahead of Australia. It is in Argentina where you find the greatest concentration of high altitude vineyards in the world. The bulk of this country’s vineyards lie between 3,000 and 3,500 ft. (In comparison, French vineyards do not exceed 1,800 foot in altitude). Along with its neighbor, Chile, it has no problems associated with phylloxera. The infamous wine insect pest that nearly destroyed the world’s vineyards in the late 1800’s does not exist in Chile and the one variety that does exist in Argentina is so biologically weak as to NOT pose a threat to vineyards. Despite all these advantages, Argentina doesn’t rank in the top twelve countries for wine exports.

A high per capita consumption is one reason for the variance between Argentina’s world rank in wine production and exports. In 1970 Argentina led the world in annual per capita wine consumption at about 90 liters (roughly, a bottle of wine every other day). While its per capita declined to less than half that amount by 2006, it still consumed 90% of the wine it produced and its annual per capita consumption was still about 5 times that of the United States. Another issue impacting the exportation of Argentinean wine in earlier decades was the emphasis on high yields in the vineyards. This was required in order to meet the high domestic consumption demand and resulted in a sacrifice of wine quality.

Over the past few years, this pattern has changed. Argentinean reds, led by its dominant varietal Malbec, have shown a consistent improvement in quality and for the past two years have become a favorite for consumers to explore. Malbecs from Argentina have been extremely hot (in the sense of marketplace popularity…not taste) and are leading to significant growth in Argentinean wine exports. Over the past few years Malbec has become a signature wine for Argentina.

There’s also a white wine from Argentina that has the potential to also become a signature wine and that’s Torrontes. Unlike Malbec, it is not commonly found around the world. There are three varietals in Argentina and growers believe the grape originated in Spain. There is a Torrontes in a small region of Spain today but the name is used there as a synonym for the Granacha Blanco, a different grape. Torrontes is very uniquely Argentinean. Today, this grape is among the top four grown in Argentina and there is twice as much acreage in Torrontes as there is Chardonnay. It is produces the country’s most popular white wine

As a grape Torrontes generally produces wines that are pale gold in color with floral aromas and tropical fruit flavors touched with light overtones of apricot or honey and accented with a slight and subtle citrus acidity. They are dry, crisp, totally refreshing whites. If you live in a climate with hot dry summers (such as The Wine Guy’s home of Arizona), Torrontes could easily become your summertime favorite. Most Torrontes are single varietal and it is there you’ll find some of its best expressions. But it can also be found blended with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc.

Here are a few of the wines that you may want to look for and try if you’re curious about this great white wine from Argentina:

Notro Torrontes: from the Mendoza region, a good basic representation of this wine.

Urban Uco Torrontes: This is the value label of the renowned Fournier family that produces wine in Chile, Spain and Portugal in addition to Argentina. It offers the most citrus acidity of the list presented here.

Zolo Torrontes: From the Famatina Valley, this is one of most consistently high-rated Torrontes to come out of Argentina.

Crios Torrontes: From Cayfayate in Argentina’s Salta region and produced by Susan Balboa, this is probably the most floral and smooth finishing Torrontes on the list.

If you enjoy Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Riesling, or Pinot Grigio, odds are very high that you will also enjoy Torrontes. Make an effort to try this crisp little wine from Argentina and don’t be surprised if it becomes the next South American wine to be highly sought after by consumers.

As my Greek friends would say: Vale krasi!

Petite Sirah: Big Taste From A Little Grape!

Newcomers to the exploration of wine often make the mistake of assuming that Petite Sirah is similar to Syrah. While this little grape is a descendant of that renowned French grape, it is not a Syrah and is very different in taste and style.

A Frenchman, Dr. Francis Durif, first developed this grape by crossing two Rhone Valley natives, Peloursin and Syrah in an attempt to overcome some of the susceptibilities of the Syrah grape. It was (and, in many cases, still is) called Durif after its creator. Petite Sirah (Durif) is a very hearty leafy vine that produces clusters of small grapes (hence the Petite moniker). It is very mildew resistant but subject to gray rot. It notably survived the phylloxera pandemic of the late 1800’s.

It’s small fruit results in a very high skin to flesh ratio. As a result, any lengthy maceration produces a large amount of tannins and fairly high acidity in the wine. Wines produced from this grape are typically dark and inky and have lengthy aging capabilities. The grape, however, never came to favor in its native Rhone Valley, home of smooth, palpable reds based largely on Syrah and Grenache. In fact, Durif or Petite Sirah is virtually extinct today in France and is prohibited, by law, from being utilized in wine production.

That’s not the case in the U.S. and today more than two-thirds of the Petite Sirah produced worldwide comes from California. The grape there has had a lengthy history. It was one of the mainstays for producing sacramental wine, the only commercially produced wine allowed during Prohibition. It, along with Alicante Bouchet, was also utilized by home-brewers and bootleggers.
It was one of the favorite varietals for producing California raisins and, indeed, the hint of raisins, is one of the notes most sippers will identify in the California wines of this varietal. In 1960, Petite Sirah accounted for about 60% of the grapes grown in the Napa Valley. Its production peaked in 1976 and then fell to about 10% of its former levels by 1996. It has, however, had an increase in acreage planted in California every year since.

Petite Sirah’s ability to add color and depth make it useful as a blending grape and it can even sometimes be found in very small amounts as an additive to some California Pinot Noirs. Concannon and Fappianno were among the first California vintners to commercially produce Petite Sirah as a single varietal but today have been joined by scores of other winemakers. Most notable among these, and good sources of Petite Sirah wines for your exploration are Rosenblum and Bogle. The Bogle Petite Sirah has twice earned a “Best Buy” designation from Wine Spectator magazine. All of the above producers were among the developers of a wine advocacy trade group called “P.S. I Love You” and their website is a good source of information despite the fact that it has not been well maintained in the past couple of years.

There are also other good sources for Petite Sirah. Australia has now moved into second place worldwide in Petite Sirah and is utilizing the grape in some of its excellent ports. Australia narrowly surpasses Mexico, the world’s third largest producer. The overwhelming majority of Mexico’s Petite Sirah comes from a single source: L.A. Cetto (L.A. Cetto is also the world’s largest producer of Nebbiolo outside of Italy!). The Wine Guy would encourage you to sample their offering if you can find it.

Look for dark color, deep fruity tastes that include Blueberry, blackberry and plum and just a hint of peppery spice in the typical Petite Sirah. They are usually big, bold, jammy reds with a lot to offer and they pair particularly well with grilled game. One note of caution from The Wine Guy: Petite Sirahs are known for their ability to stain tooth enamel a colorful purple. Be prepared to brush after imbibing! Enjoy your exploration!

Georgia On My Mind

Forgive The Wine Guy for skipping Roger’s Grapevine last week but I took some time to celebrate another milestone (my birthday) with a visit to my son. As I’ve mentioned before, he resides in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood of Atlanta. In what has become almost a ritual, our arrival there was followed with an excursion to two Castleberry Hill mainstays: The Wine Shoe and the Elliot Street Pub & Deli (see blog” The Wine Shoe…because it fits” from 8/26/09).

After exchanging greetings with Wine Shoe proprietor Shannon Wiley and the ever-present Baron, I selected a Domino de Taras Baltos Mencia to enjoy later in the evening. Since first having a Bierzo on the recommendation of Brent Karlich from Postino’s in Phoenix, Az. (see Bierzo, A Great Little Wine from Spain 12/30/09), The Wine Guy has become a great fan of this northwestern Spanish D.O. This dark ruby red beauty lived up to my expectations and it made a wonderful wine to celebrate completion of another year. It was only after my return that I discovered the Baltos has regularly earned very favorable ratings scoring 90 pts in consecutive vintages from Wine Spectator, International Wine Cellar and Wine Advocate and also landing a spot on the WS annual top 100 list. Nora & Shannon Wiley’s knack for always having great selections to choose from is one of the reasons I always try to visit The Wine Shoe when I’m in Atlanta.

The subsequent visit to Elliott street resulted in another of my favorite things: satisfying a growing hunger by pairing a well brewed La Fin du Monde (yes, The Wine Guy also enjoys an occasional good beer!) with the wondrous roasted turkey and bleu cheese sandwich the guys at Elliot Street call “The Dirty Bird”. Good food, good wine, good times with family and getting to wear green (yes, The Wine Guy was born on St. Patrick’s Day!)…it was a good birthday, indeed.
One of my presents was a subsequent excursion hosted by my son to visit wineries in Lumpkin County, North Georgia on Saturday. (see photo of The Wine Guy birthday celebrants at one of the vineyards).

Georgia has an interesting wine history. It’s founder, James Oglethorpe, wanted to build the economy of his colony on the production of fine silk and fine wines. Toward that end, he initiated the planting of many Mulberry trees as well as European wine grapes. Alas, silkworms did not take either to the variety of the selected trees nor the Georgia climate. The imported vines did not fair well either, succumbing to plant disease and insect pests. Georgia’s agricultural mainstays had to be shifted to rice and indigo. They later became cotton, fruit and peanuts. Wine production also managed to redevelop later, but was based largely on the native muscadine grape. In the 1800’s new agriculture techniques, including the utilization of grafting, cloning and hybrids overcame the difficulties Oglethorpe had in growing European varietals in Georgia. In 1890 a large number of Hungarian refugees established multiple vineyards near Bremen and by 1900, Georgia ranked 6th in U.S. wine production. The highly restrictive Georgia Prohibition Act of 1907, however, virtually wiped out all wine production in the state for more than half a century.

The modern Georgia wine industry restarted itself in the 1970’s and 80’s. However, it was almost entirely based on fruit wines and the muscadine grape. Other varietals only gained some commercial inroads after the establishment of the Chateau Elan Resort and Winery in Hazelton in the 1980’s. Today, Georgia remains number one in the production of muscadine wines but there are now over 5-dozen vineyards and wineries producing a broader variety of wines. The Three Sisters Vineyards became Lumpkin County’s first in 1996 and since then a plethora of vineyards and wineries have continued to open in the region. The north Georgia mountain area is becoming renown for wine tourism and will be a wine producing area to watch in the coming decade.

Our Saturday excursion occurred during a Wine Tour weekend event and I heartily recommend taking advantage of the multiple winery tour passes available if you elect to visit the area during such events. They typically offer select tastings of 2-3 wines plus food at multiple wineries and are a great way to get an overall view of what the region has to offer. As we have visited the area before and were only stopping at two select wineries, we opted to do the standard wine tasting. This offered the opportunity to approach the wines I wanted to sample that weren’t on the tour selections. Here’s a recap of The Wine Guy’s favorites from our visit:

Frogtown Cellars:
This family-run winery has a great venue and is located directly adjacent to aforementioned Three Sisters Vineyards. Local native Nettie assisted us in a tasting that covered most of Frogtown’s whites and reds. The whites were fair but tended to be slightly off balance showing a tendency to be either acidic or hot. Their first impressive effort came with a saignee style rose’ blend.

Frogtown Vineaux Rose’:
This is a light, dry, crisp rose’ blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese that has nice well-balanced fruit overtones.

Frogtown Touché:
This is one of this winery's best reds. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Tannat. It has aromatic notes of both red and black fruit with some spicy hints and just a light note of moist tobacco on the nose. There is a nice lingering finish you won’t find in a lot of the fruitier Georgia wines.

Frogtown Shotgun – First Reload:
I’m not sure (wished I had asked) but suspect the First Reload designation comes from the fact that Cabernet Franc and Touriga Nacional of one vintage are blended into a Tannat of a different vintage. In any case, it produces a soft, yet full-flavored wine that expresses great aromas and good dark fruit flavors.

Blackstock Vineyards Winery: (see photo with Justin, Blackstock’s tasting steward)
Just down the road from Frogtown is a winery that is one of The Wine Guy’s favorites in Georgia. (see earlier blog: “A Winery Treat in North Georgia” 7/109) Due to the wine tour activities in another part of the building I didn’t get to visit with winemaker David Harris but enjoyed the service offered by Justin who first got “bit” by the wine bug working in tasting rooms in Florida. Among the best tastes of the day were:

Blackstock Viognier:
Viognier is not uncommon in North Georgia but this is the first I found worthy of remembrance. A bright golden yellow appearance is followed by light floral hints, then good stone fruit and a solid finish.

Blackstone Rocking Chair Rose’:
This is a nice and solid rose’ of Mourvedre. It seems that many rose’s fair well in this region.

Blackstock /Sangiovese Rose’:
Both Frogtown and Blackstock make a Sangiovese and A Sangiovese Rose’. As a long time lover of Italian wines, I just can’t get excited about the type of Sangiovese I find in Georgia but am thusly surprised at the light flavorful goodness of the Sangiovese Rose’s there. Something about the terrior (could it be the Georgia clay??) that seems to make the regular Sangiovese musty on the palate is somehow complimentary to the rose.

Blackstock ACE Family Reserve:
Named for the first initials of the three Harris children, this full-flavored, age-able red wine remains one of Blackstock’s flagship brands.

Blackstock Touriga Dulce:

Touriga Nacional is the Touriga varietal here and if I’m not mistaken David was the first to grow it in Georgia. He does the sweeter version but Frogtown also utilizes the grape in their drier Shotgun blend. It seems to do well in this region.

Georgia wineries wrote the book on fruity Muscadine wines and most of their other varietals tend to follow a more fruit forward style but a good deal of diversity is being shown (and appreciated) in other wines. I like that the growers and winemakers here are turning to such varietals as Touriga and Tannat in order to find grapes that offer a signature taste and style to dry Georgia wines. I hope you have a chance to enjoy them and the opportunity to visit what surely is to become a developing wine region.

Try a Wine Trivia Quiz!

Though retired, The Wine Guy works part-time at wine retailing. It’s fun and keeps me in contact with a lot of elements of the wine-trade, most importantly, the consuming public. I regularly run into customers asking for help in hosting wine parties, tasting events and wine-club gatherings.

One of the most fun-filled activities at such gatherings is conducting a wine trivia quiz. Simply divide your guests into teams, hand out some preprinted quiz sheets and offer a prize (a bottle of wine to share) to the team with the most points. Your quiz should offer both puzzlers and easy to answer questions. It should also stimulate conversation and discussion about wine. Feel free to make up your own, or simply use The Wine Guy’s sample trivia quiz I’ve included as part of today’s blog..

Try taking the test yourself before looking at the answers below….I hope you have fun with it!


1. Which still red wine doesn’t like to be blended with others?
A. Malbec B. Sangiovese C. Pinot Noir D. Tempranillo

2. What wine producing country also is the largest producer of the olive oil?
A. Greece B. France C. Spain D. Italy

3. Which American President built a wine cellar under the White House and bought more than 20,000 bottles of European wine?
A. John Kennedy B. John Quincy Adams C. Thomas Jefferson D. Ronald Reagan

4. The vintage date on a bottle of wine refers to the year:
A. the wine was bottled. B. the grapes were harvested. C. the wine was released.
D. when the wine can be first consumed.

5. Zinfandel came into prominence in California and is often called California’s grape but it originated in Croatia. What European grape varietal is almost genetically identical to Zinfandel?
A. Tempranillo B. Trebbiano C. Primativo D.Negromaro

6. A Standard bottle of wine is 750ml, but wine comes in many sizes of bottles. Which is a correct name for a different size bottle of wine?
A. Magnum B. Jeroboam C. Piccolo D. All of these

7. Who sang and popularized the song “That Little Old Winemaker, Me”?
A. Tom T. Hall B. Dean Martin C. Roger Miller D. Robert Mondavi

8. Which President had wine at the White House poured from napkin-draped bottles in order to hide the fact that he preferred French to American made wines?
A. Lyndon Johnson B. Richard Nixon C. Bill Clinton D. George W. Bush

9. The oldest winery in North America still producing wine today is located:
A. in Florida B. in Mexico C. in Texas D. in Canada

10. Pinotage from South Africa is made from a hybrid grape that resulted from crossing Pinot Noir with:
A. Syrah B. Meritage C. Cinsault D. Grenache

11. Which of the following is NOT a popular wine grape in South America?
A. Torrontes B. Podkum C. Bonarda D. Carmenere

12. What is the most common blending grape utilized for Syrah based wines from the Northern Rhone Valley in France?
A. Grenache B. Viognier C. Mourvedre D. Malbec

13. A “punt” refers to:
A. the headstock from an oak wine barrel. B. the straw basket covering some flasks of Chianti.
C. the indentation in the bottom of some wine bottles D. a kick when you’re fourth and long in football.

14. “Soave” is which of the following:
A. an Italian red wine B. an Italian white wine C. an Italian sparkling wine
D. an Italian wine toasting expression

15. Which grape is considered to be the mostly widely grown grape in the world?
A. Chardonnay B. Merlot C. Grenache D. Cabernet Sauvignon

Always have at least one tiebreaker question that counts only if teams are tied after the quiz is scored. Here’s a great, fun tiebreaker:

Which French appellation has a law that forbids the landing of flying saucers in the region’s vineyards?
A. Bordeaux B. Cotes du Rhone C. Burgundy D. Chateauneuf du Pape

Now for the answers:

1. The answer is C. Pinot Noir. This grape has a lot of expressions in still red wine but doesn’t play (sic blend) well with other red grapes. There is a notable exception….Give extra credit to any team that points out that when peeled to make a white wine, Pinot Noir is often blended with others in making sparkling wines.

2. The answer is D. Spain    They do well at both!  (author's note:  I got called on this one after the quiz had been up almost two years!!! I originally had Greece which at one time actually grew the most olives but even that was incorrect at the time of posting because I was referencing info that was over a decade old at the time...poor research and my bad!)

3. The answer is C. Thomas Jefferson. He grew grapes and made wine on his Virginia estate but he loved the French wines, a hangover (no pun intended) from his days as Ambassador to France from the Continental Congress.

4. The answer is B. when the grapes were harvested. A non-vintage wine will include grapes from multiple harvests. That occurs frequently in ports and sparkling wines but some others, as well.

5. The answer is C. Primativo. It is a virtual genetic twin and has many of the same characteristics. However the terroir and wine making in Italy results in a somewhat different but thoroughly enjoyable wine.

6. The answer is D. All of these. Magnums are 1.5 ltr, Jeroboams range 3 to 4.5 ltr and Piccolo is used in Italy to describe 187.5 ml bottles.

7. The answer is B. Dean Martin. Mrs. Wine Guy has the song on one of her Dean Martin albums.

8. The answer is B. Richard Nixon. Lyndon Johnson was the first President to have only American made wines served at the White House. Nixon didn’t want to publicly overthrow the practice but he loved French wines. He didn’t get the nickname “Tricky Dick” Nixon for nothing, did he?

9. The answer is B. Mexico. The winery is called Casa Madero and production there dates to the late 1590’s. They make a very respectable Merlot and a Merlot-Nebbiolo blend that The Wine Guy enjoys.

10. The answer is C. Cinsault. This grape was called Hermitage in South Africa thus the name Pinotage to the newly created varietal.

11. The answer is B. Podkum. Podkum is a grape varietal developed to grow in the tropical lowlands of Thailand, a country that has a rising wine industry and is one of the leaders in “New Latitude” wines.

12. The answer is B. Viognier. Grenache and Mourvedre are commonly blended in Syrah but mostly in wines from the Southern Rhone Valley (it’s o.k. to throw one or two trick questions). Viognier is one of the few white grapes that behaves well when blended with reds and even the Australians are utilizing it as a blending finisher in their Shirazes.

13. The answer is C. the indentation in the bottom of some bottles of wine. (Also found in the bottom of many decanters) It is thought by some to be a tradition holdover from the days of glass blown bottles and by others to be utilized in trapping sediment. Sommeliers and waiters love it as a great place to put their thumb for one-handed pouring and twisting of a bottle of wine.

14. The answer is B. an Italian white wine. This wine hails from the Veneto region of Italy and Gargangea is the informing grape. It’s dry, crisp, and meant to be drunk very young. It has sometimes been almost lacking in flavor but recent expressions with care to some good blending and moderate use of oak have produced some excellent value priced wines.

15. The answer is C. Grenache. Cabernet Sauvignon is the world’s most consumed varietal but Grenache is grown in more places and appears in the greatest number of wines. It finds its way into a lot of wines as a blending and finishing grape. It finds its best expression as a dominant or single grape in many of the wines from Spain.

Extra Credit Question:
The answer is D. Chateauneuf du Pape. The law was passed in 1954 during the beginning of the UFO craze. To the best of my knowledge, there’s never been an arrest made.


Hope you had fun with the quiz. If you use it at an event at your house, drop a line to rogerthewineguy@gmail.com and let me know how your guests enjoyed it.

Greek Wines - Worthy of A Celebration!

March is here again and it’s always one of The Wine Guy’s favorite months. March marks the beginning of spring, absolutely the best time of the year, especially in the desert southwest. It also marks a couple of important historical events that are significant wine sipping occasions for Mrs. Wine Guy and myself. The first is my birthday and the second is Greek Independence Day (they’re about a week apart).

Enjoying wine on one’s birthday is self-explanatory but the significance of Greek Independence Day as a wine-sipping event may require a little more explanation. It was on the Greek island of Santorini at a small cooperative winery (Santo Wines) near the villages of Megalochori and Pyrgos that The Wine Guy had a simple, unpretentious regional white wine that became one of my most memorable wine tasting events.

The wine was Santo Meltemi (now called Ageri…. see wine label above), a blend of locally grown Assrytiko, Athiri and Aidani. It was a crisp, fresh and aromatic semi-dry white wine that was soft and gentle on the palate with some subtle bursts of robust flavor that provided a great accent to the fruit, cheese and nut plate I shared at the time with Mrs. Wine Guy. It was that simple, yet delightful wine that really became the seed for what later developed into my wondrous exploration into the many facets of enjoying wine. It taught me to always appreciate whatever the particular wine in hand has to offer. That experience led me down the road to learn more, seek certification, to change work into wine related fields and led ultimately to this blog and all I enjoyed about wine today. In short, it was a seminal moment and Greek Independence Day each March becomes a time each year to savor that beginning and reflect upon what the little nation of Greece has to offer in terms of wine exploration.

Greek Independence Day celebrates the raising of the banner of independence by the Bishop of Patras on the Feast of Annunciation in 1821 and the ultimate gaining of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829. While modern Greece is a younger nation than ours (50+ years younger), theirs is an old civilization and in 2007, an archeologist uncovered evidence of wine production dating back almost 6500 years ago. Under the 400 year Ottoman domination, that wine tradition virtually disappeared and its return was marked by cheap wines highly prone to oxidation (with the exception of Greek Retsina). The Greeks have over 300 varieties of indigenous grapes largely unfamiliar to the rest of the wine world and that has also contributed to its lack of discovery and appreciation worldwide. That is slowly changing.

High taxes keep per capita wine consumption in Greece lower than most of Europe (about half that of France and Italy). Roughly 90% of today’s production is limited to regional table wines and exports rank in the single digits of total production. About 2/3rds of their exports are limited to Greek restaurants so even finding the number of good Greek wines that do exist can be a challenge for the consumer.

Here is some information that may help in your exploration:

The most utilized white grape varieties are:
Moschofilero: a gray-skinned white grape that produces wines with floral aromas and stone fruit tastes with spicy hints. It is the most popular white grape varietal. It is the dominant white varietal in the Peloponnese.
Assyrtiko: a white grape that is very terroir driven. It produces crisp, earthy, mineral-toned wines with a moderately high acid content. It is the dominant white varietal in the Cyclades Islands.
Aidani: this very old varietal is predominantly found in the Cyclades. It produces very aromatic juice with medium body, alcohol and acid content is mainly used as a blending and balancing grape.
Athiri: As it name implies, this grape originated in Santorini, although it is commonly found from Macedonia on the mainland to the island of Rhodes where it is a dominantly used varietal. It is thin-skinned and produces a sweet and fruity essence that is low in alcohol content making it suitable on its own or as a blending grape.
Savatiano: Found mostly on the mainland, particularly in the Attica region near Athens, this grape is drought-resistant and produces elegant, well-balanced wines with floral aromas and suggestions of citrus fruits. It is almost always the informing grape in Greek Retsina.

The most utilized red grape varietals are:

Xinamavro: This is the dominant red in Macedonia and produces wines with very rich tannins, complex aromas and flavors that often linger on a velvety finish. The wines produced with this as the informing grape have very good potential for ageing and development. Its name means acid black and it is sometimes referred to as the Greek Malbec because of its appearance. Its flavor profile, however, can be quite different.

Agiorghitiko: If Greece has a noble grape of its own, this is it. Named for St. George, this deep red grape shows aromatic complexity, very balanced acidity and tannins that are quite soft. Its wines are capable, as well, of extraordinary ageing capabilities.

Mauvrodaphne: Its name means, “black laurel” and this dark wonder is found principally in the Peloponnese and on Rhodes. It is utilized in some dry reds but rises to renown when blended with other grapes and utilized as a rich, aromatic dessert wine of the same name.

Here’s a list of some of the producers to look for as you explore Greek wines:

Boutari: This is the oldest family name today in Greek winemaking and their largest exporter. They have extended their vineyards and wineries throughout the country.

Skouras: This Peloponnese producer trained in winemaking in burgundy and it shows in his wines.

Sigalas: This Santorini producer began in 1994 and his white wines are some of the islands best. He is dedicated to organic grape production and also is renown for his dedication to historical restoration on the island. His vineyards and winery are near the peninsular village of Oia, which has great sunsets and wonderful seafood restaurants.

Alpha: two Greek partners in the late 90’s founded this Macedonian producer. They studied winemaking in Bordeaux and are growing some international grape varietals and blending them with the great varietals from Greece. Their Mavrodaphne/Montepulciano blend is truly unique!


Here is a short hit list of some specific recommendations:

Boutari Retsina: Try it once and decide! This wine is principally Savatino blended with Assrytiko and/or Rhoditis and then flavored with pine resin which imparts a sharply unique taste you may love or decide you’ll never want to have again. The tradition behind Retsina dates back to early Greece when wine was stored in earthenware vessels sealed with pine tar to prevent oxidation. The absorption of resin from the seal flavored the wine and also acted as a preservative allowing shipment (Greeks were probably the earliest world-wide exporters of wine). If you’re trying it for the first time, serve it well chilled to start.

Boutari Naoussa: This is today’s oldest continuous produced bottled wine in Greece, dating back to the late 1800’s. A nicely complex wine, it has great aromas and a good body may even yield hints of ripe olives and dried tomatoes. It is one of the world’s best wines to pair with lamb.

Alpha Estate: This is the Macedonian producer’s flagship red wine and is a combination of Syrah, Xinamavro and Merlot aged in American oak. A younger vintage may reveal some wood tannins so a little extra decanting may be order. If you love the depth and complexity of this wine, a few bottles for ageing in the cellar would be in order, as it will definitely improve with age.

Boutari Moschofilero: This is the number seller in Greece. Floral aromas, stone fruit with a semi-dry crispness makes this beauty a good light aperitif or a great wine with light fare such as salads, fruit and seafood.

Skouras Nemea: Soft tannins, an aromatic complexity and some bright fruit led one of my wine friends to dub Nemea as “Pinot Noir on steroids”. Not a very technical description but it may be appropriate. It’s a good wine, friendly with a wide range of food and has a nice finish.


Achaia Clauss Mavrodaphne: A Bavarian once scoured Greece to discover just the right spot to become a wine grower and winemaker. After falling in love with this grape and region he found it in, Achaia Clauss was born. It’s a deep rich, sweet beauty of a dessert wine. If you enjoy this wine also try St. John’s Commanderia which wasn’t on the list (it’s from Cyprus, which technically isn’t Greece) but the grapes are Greek in origin and its almost the twin of a dessert wine made on the island of Rhodes that’s much harder to find.

Finally, you probably won’t find this outside the European Union but if you do email The Wine Guy and let me know where (rogerthewineguy@gmail.com). It’s the wine mentioned in the opening story and I would welcome the opportunity to approach it again.

Santo Ageri: This wine comes from a grower's co-operative winery near the villages of Megacholori and Pyrgos. It is a blend of Santorini’s three principal white grapes: Assrytiko, Athiri and Aidani. It's a semi-dry white wine that’s crisp and refreshing with a unique undertone that comes from the island’s volcanic soil. The name Ageri refers to light breezes. Its name at the time I first tasted it was Meltemi, which refers to the seasonal winds that occur in the Cyclades. These can sometimes be quite gusty and have been known to disrupt both airline and ferry schedules to the island so the name change was probably very appropriate.

As always, I hope you found today's blog informative and hope you get the opportunity to enjoy some wine from Greece.

A look at Lander-Jenkins

One of the best things about being in the wine trade is the opportunity to attend trade shows and trade tasting events. Even though I’m retired, as both a writer and a part-timer at retail, I still get that opportunity occasionally and always enjoy the exploration. Recently, one of my local wholesalers hosted a tasting event for two wines being rolled out to a district retail group covering Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. It didn’t hurt, at all, that the event was being held at one of my favorite sources for pizza in Scottsdale, Arizona. Thanks are due to Craig Cardella, Intermountain Regional Sales Manager from Rutherford Wine Company (pictured above with The Wine Guy) for both the wine AND the pizza tasting opportunity.

The wines were a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Lander-Jenkins Vineyards, St Helena, California (Napa County). This winery is still run by third and fourth generation descendants of Welch immigrants but is now a part of the Rutherford Wine Company. Rutherford’s senior winemaker, Steve Reud, had a hand in the development of these two California appellation wines that are label-branded under the name: "spirit hawk". Both Lander-Jenkins and Rutherford have a long history of sustainable viniculture and the nesting of birds of prey (owls and hawks) are encouraged in their vineyards as a means of rodent control. Steve’s memory of a soaring hawk over one of the company’s vineyards was the inspiration for the wine’s name. These two wines rolled out successfully last June and are now winding their way through the distribution network nationwide and they are due to hit the beverage departments of Cost Plus World Market stores in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada this month. Here’s a review of the two wines I sampled:


Lander-Jenkins spirit hawk California Chardonnay:

Principally sourced from Monterrey county vineyards, this Chardonnay is accented with 3% Muscat Canelli. It is a blend of about 2/3rds stainless steel and 1/3rd French oak aged Chardonnay and comes in at about 13.5% alcohol, which is just on the moderately high side for a lighter style Chardonnay. This golden straw colored wine exhibited healthy legs, delicate aromas and definite notes of peach and apricot (probably from the balancing addition of the Muscat) There was a light creaminess in the mouth with robust acidity and just the lightest touch of oak and some mineral aftertaste on the moderate finish. Food and Wine Magazine named it one of their 12 best California Chardonnays under $15. The Wine Guy found it to be light and enjoyable but found myself wondering if it wasn’t trying to appeal to both ends of the chardonnay spectrum without offending the other. That said, it’s a good value and worth your exploration.

Lander-Jenkins spirit hawk California Cabernet Sauvignon:

This is a 92% Cabernet with the dominant portion coming from Paso Robles vineyards. There are light additions (all 3% or under) of Malbec, Merlot, Zinfandel and Petit Verdot. The alcohol is a respectable 13.5% and aging is for 14 months in French oak. This wine is moderately deep garnet in color. The fruity nose is accented with just a trace of mint. Exhibited tastes were dark fruits, principally blackberry and plum with just a light hint of spice. Tannins were moderate and the oak was subtly present and somewhat subdued. Despite the tendency to fruitiness, there was a nice lingering finish to this wine and it was, overall, an enjoyable Cabernet Sauvignon, especially if your preference is the more medium-bodied expressions of this grape.

As with their rollout last year, Lander-Jenkins introduction in the World Market stores will include an opportunity to mail in and receive some coordinating note stationery that includes imbedded seeds in the paper (a great tie-in and reminder of their commitment to sustainable viniculture). Once the notepad is used, the recipient simply plants the paper and will be rewarded with wildflowers. As gardening is my number two activity behind sipping wine, I can’t wait for the blooms.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay still rank one and two, respectively in U.S. wine consumption. If either is on your shopping list, you may want to try some Lander-Jenkins spirit hawk wine!

Muscat: What A Sweet Grape!

The fetching Mrs. Wine Guy recently suggested that I blog about good wines to enjoy while watching a sunset. While trying to narrow down the hundreds of excellent possible choices for a “Sunset Sippers” treatise, I rediscovered an old love: Muscat wine and wondered why I hadn’t written about this wonderful grape yet. It’s time to do just that!

The Muscat grape is grown for table grapes, raisins and wine. It is one of the oldest cultivated grapes and may well be ancestor of many other known varietals used in viniculture. Its documented history in beverages extends back almost 3,000 years having been discovered in residues found in the beverage vessels of King Midas’s tomb. Its popular strength began to grow in Italy’s Piedmonte where it has been utilized in wines dating back several centuries. There, it is generally thought that crusading knights brought the fist plantings back from Armenia.
Of the white grapes, Muscat has the highest know concentrations of antioxidant flavonoids and it can be capable of great aging and development. Darker varietals are know and utilized as well. You’ll even find a blend of Muscat wine and Mead called Muscadore and it’s even utilized in a beer based on the recipe derived from the beverage residue found in King Midas’s tomb.

There are hundreds of varieties and some form of the ubiquitous Muscat is found in nearly every one of the world’s wine producing regions. Some of the more commonly known are:
Muscat Canelli….the principal grape of the great wines of Italy’s Piedmont region: Asti Spumanti and Moscasto d’Asti
Black and Orange Muscat…utilized heavily in the Muscat wines found in California.
Moscatel…found in dessert and fortified wines from Spain and Portugal and one of the three grape varietals allowed in the production of Sherry.

The characteristic signatures of Muscat wines are floral aromas that can range from delicate white flowers to heavy perfumed roses and fruit flavors that range from melons and stone fruits to raisins. From light aperitifs to brandy type fortified wines in Chile and Greece to aged dessert wines in Australia, the Muscat grape offers a world of refreshing sweetness to explore. Here are just a few of The Wine Guy’s favorites as recommendations for you try as you explore this wonderful grape:

Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d’Asti: this renown Italian producer utilizes single vineyard grapes from vines that average 25 years or more in age to produce this frizzante with a floral nose and a delicate sherbert-like quality.

Sarraco Moscato d’Asti: The Sarraco family has a four-generation history and Paolo Sarraco is known throughout the Piedmont as the “Maestro of Moscato”. The delicate floral aromas and significant peach and pear flavors of this wine DO improve with age and it represents one of the best values ever found in Moscato d’Asti.

Quadry Electra Moscato: Andy and Laurel Quadry first cut their teeth in winemaking in the 1970’s and only began their first forays into producing Moscato in the 1980’s. The 2009 International Wine and Spirit Competition in London named Quadry the best winery in California. Electra is a light and crisp delight with peachy melon tones and flavors.

Quadry Essencia: Another delight from Quadry’s central valley facility in Madera, this moscato is noted for its deeper color and definite hint of orange peel in the bouquet.

Yalumba Museum Reserve Muscat: Yalumba is Australia’s largest and oldest family-owned winery and has made a name for itself producing great Viognier, Shiraz and Port. Their non-vintage Muscat is made from red and pink shoots of several Muscat varieties. Yalumba will blend well-aged old wine with young and then fortify with natural grape spirits to produce what I believe is one of the world’s best values in a dessert wine. It has a deep, tawny amber color, and a classic perfumed aroma of orange peel with a hint of ginger. Its definite raisin quality is accented with a roasted nuttiness and hint of lemon. Robert Parker rated this nicely complex beauty at 97 points in 2007. It’s not to be missed if you’re a lover of good dessert wine.

A special note for readers who also enjoy a good beer now and then:

Dogfish Head Midas Touch: One of the founders of this Maryland based craft brewery is also an archeologist. They utilized Muscat grapes in crafting this beer based on the recipe derived from the aforementioned King Midas tomb residues. It is uniquely refreshing, sweet-yet dry ale with touches of melon-like fruit, honey and saffron. A unique and enjoyable quaff!

And finally, a note of caution for your exploration:

Muscadet wine from France does NOT utilize the Muscat grape. As with all AOC French wine, its name derives from the producing region and not the grapes. The informing grape here is Melon de Bourgogne and it has characteristics that are very different from the Muscat. It’s a worthy subject but for a different kind of wine experience.

As always, your comments and inquiries are always welcome utilizing the comment feature here on Roger’s Grapevine or by emailing the author: rogerthewineguy@gmail.com

Explore the wonders of the Muscat grape and enjoy a little sweetness in life!

"In vinum,ce un Italiano" - A tribute to the Italian influence in all wine.

If you love wine, the next time you spend a few moments with a glass of your favorite wine (it doesn’t matter which kind), pause to say “gracie” to the Italians. Historically, more than any other country, we owe our bountiful and varied enjoyment of the world of wine to this culture. Viniculture didn’t begin there and history has paid tribute to others but this nation is surely the “cradle” of development for the wonderfully diverse world of wine we enjoy today.

Today Italy is the world’s largest producer of wine (it produces nearly 1/5th of the world’s total) and is the home of the most vineyards (roughly a million). Italians have the largest per capita annual consumption (about 59 liters compared to the 7.7 liters in the U.S) and grows the most varietals used in making wine (over 850 of which about 350 are documented at the Italian Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry). Italians have two of the four largest wine-producing regions in the world, produce the greatest number of varieties of wine and show the greatest versatility in winemaking. They produce fine wines that easily age for 50 years and they even utilize leftover must to produce vino cotto (cooked wine). If you look into the history of the world’s significant wine producing regions, you’ll find an Italian influence.

Much of this influence dates back to the time of the Romans who developed and utilized wine as one of their most principal forms of commerce. Viniculture first developed elsewhere but it was the Romans who made it commercially viable. They pioneered the first use of structures such as trellises to enhance growing and harvesting, as well as presses to help efficiently extract the juice. The Celts may have developed the manufacture of wooden barrels but it was the Romans who first applied their usage to the storage and transport of wine. In fact, the Romans were the first to age wine for the purpose of improving flavor and quality. They were the first to recognize that planting certain grapes in specific areas produced better wine and thus were the ones who taught “terroir” to the French. The origins of the wine “toast” is also credited to the Romans who first dipped burnt bread in their wine to reduce its acidity and later developed the habit of a preliminary tasting of the wine prior to a meal to demonstrate it was free of poison. While they may have inherited most of their grapes from the Greeks, it was the Romans that carried vines and planted them throughout the known world. These and many other practices developed in Italy from the third century B.C. up to the dark ages are still seen today throughout every major wine-growing region in the world.

Today many of the new world wine producers can scratch their history and detect a similar migration of Italian influence. While Spanish missionaries first introduced wine making to California, the development of wine as an industry in that state is rife with Italian influence. That history ranges from the first large scale commercial vineyard and winery in Rancho Cucamonga to the development of the wine industry in the Napa, Sonoma and Alexander Valleys. Many of today’s significant producers in Chile and Argentina similarly have Italian backgrounds or connections. As The Wine Guy has mentioned in his previous blogs on Mexico (see the Roger’s Grapevine archives), that nation’s wine industry is also heavily influenced by Italians. Even in the recent development of New Latitude wine producing areas, there is a notable Italian presence. The commitment of two prominent Italian wine makers to develop vineyards and wine production in India was just announced in December 2009.

It really is no wonder that Americans make Italy their number one supplier of imported wine (Italy accounts for roughly 1/3rd of all our imported wine followed by Australia, France, Spain and then all the others). When it comes to wine, it seems that Italians wrote the book, (granted, some chapters are better than others!) and almost everyone else has taken a page from it.

So again, regardless of varietal…. regardless of from whence it came…regardless of the national heritage of your favorite winemaker…the next time you enjoy a truly good glass of wine (and I hope that’s soon) remember to pause and thank the Italians. Salute!

Grenache..A Great Wine to Discover

Despite being one of the world’s most widely planted grapes, Grenache doesn’t get a lot of recognition from the everyday wine drinker. Its common usage as a blending grape to add body and fruitiness to red wine blends may account for that. However, The Wine Guy believes it is deserving of some study and exploration here on Roger’s Grapevine.

Grenache probably is of Spanish origins where it is called Granacha. Records of its cultivation date back 800 years in the Aragon region where it is sometimes also referred to as Tinto Aragones. It traveled across the Pyrenees to Roussilon and from there made its way into the vineyards of Languedoc and the Rhone Valley. It also traveled to the Italian island of Sardinia where it is called Cannonau. Grenache was the dominant red grape varietal planted in Australia until the late 19th century when Shiraz began its popularity with Australian vintners. Today it is growing in usage in many wine-producing areas, most notably California, Washington, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay and South Africa.

This thin-skinned grape is a very early budding vine but takes a lot of time under sun and heat to ripen. The harvesting of Grenache often occurs weeks later than Cabernet Sauvignon. As a result, Grenache has a higher sugar and higher alcohol content. It produces a soft body wine that’s berry flavored with some spice and is low in tannins. As a blending grape it adds some body, some softness and fruitiness to the grapes it is blended with. Those are typically Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault and Mourvedre and more recently, Tempranillo. Its fruity characteristics combined with low acidity and its pale coloring has made it well suited for producing rose’s, principally from Provence in France and Navarra in Spain. It can present some challenges for growers. Its woody vines and tendency to produce higher yields require more intense manual pruning. They also present challenges where mechanical harvesting is highly practiced. Its tight fruit clusters bring some susceptibility to plant diseases. It is, however, drought resistant and tolerates a variety of harsh soil conditions. Different soil characteristics will temper its flavor profile, with some regions enhancing the subtle spice notes of thyme and sage, some accenting the blackberry, raspberry, and cherry fruit notes. In the Priorat region of Spain, the grape takes on an almost licorice quality.

Grenache has three dominant forms, Grenache Noir, Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris. It has also been utilized in crossing to produce some other interesting grape varietals. Alicante Bouschet is a notable example (explore the Roger’s Grapevine archives for more on this wine).

You’ll find a Grenache in a lot of recognizable blends such as France’s Chateauneuf du Pape and Cotes du Rhone, Spain’s Rioja and GSM’s from Australia. Its high sugar content lends itself to the production of fortified wines and it can be found in some Australian Ports and the French port-like Banyuls. The production of Grenache as a single or dominant (85% +) wine is becoming much more common with Spanish, Australian and Californian producers leading the movement.

If you’re looking to explore Grenache, The Wine Guy has a few suggestions of some good examples to try:

From France:

Guigal Chateauneuf du Pape: Chateauneuf du Pape is a classic French blend that can contain varying proportions of up to eighteen different varietals but almost always is dominated by Grenache Noir and Syrah as a red and by Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris as a white. Guigal is a consistently good producer whose wine will typically retail in the $30 range.

Gabriel Meffre La Chasse du Pape: Labeled as a Cotes du Rhone, this wine is very similar to most Chateauneuf du Papes at less cost, this wine retails around $10 in the Prestige and under $20 in the Reserve. It is mostly Grenache and Syrah with a little Cinsault.

Paul Jaboulet Parallelle 45 Cotes du Rhone: An interesting Grenache/Syrah blend that is consistently good and offers some interesting subtle hints of coffee and orange for under $15 per bottle.

From Australia:

Grant Burge Holy Trinity GSM (Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre): A high quality blend from the Barossa Valley with great representations of both fruit and spice characteristics. It retails around $30 and is one of the few dominantly Grenache blends that ages very well.
(The high sugar and low tannin characteristics of Grenache often make it more susceptible to oxidation and thus, most Grenache wines should be drunk fairly young)

R Wines Bitch Grenache: Also from the Barossa Valley, this 100% Grenache is fairly fruit forward. It took the U.S. market by storm about two years ago and its now hard to find 2006 vintage got a couple of 90 point ratings in the trade. It may vary a little from vintage to vintage but it is generally affordably found under $10.

From Spain:

Grenacha is found in numerous Spanish wines in varying degrees and Spain is also one of the largest producers of single variety Grenacha. Do explore a number of these, particularly any from the Priorat region. One standout recommendation would be:

Bodegas Borsao Campo de Borja: A good pure Grenacha that’s fruit forward without losing spice notes. This wine has back-to-back vintages scoring 88 and 89 points and generally retails well under $10.

From California:

Cline Cashmere: A silky blend of Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah that is priced in the $15 range. This is a fabulous sipping wine especially suitable to give to your favorite lady for Valentine’s Day. Long time devotees of this wine will note the addition of a pink ribbon to the label denoting the wine’s support in the fight against breast cancer.

J. Fillipi Pride of Cucamonga Grenache Noir: The Wine Guy got this $10 wine at the winery and I’m not sure it’s available at retail but I included it because I also heartily recommend a visit the winery tasting room in Rancho Cucamonga. The Fillipi family has a four-generation history beginning with ties to the historic Guasti Italian Vineyard Company (see Roger’s Grapevine on 1/14/10). They founded their own winery in 1922. The winery tasting room is worth a visit for their display of area winemaking history as well as the wines. You’ll also want to try their Joseph Fondante Ciello, a port style dessert wine with infused chocolate. Visit them online at www.josephfllipiwinery.com.

Grenache offers wonderful opportunities for your wine exploration. Enjoy a glass soon!

Wine Bars in Mexico

While rare in occurrence, it’s always a thrill for The Wine Guy to hear from a reader. A recent email commented on my frequency of blogs about wine and food in central Mexico. Noting that I had never mentioned Wine Bars, they were curious as to whether that was due to their scarcity or if I just had not frequented any in Mexico.

The Wine Guy has to confess that wine, for me, finds its best expression when paired with food. My favorite wines are those that continue to offer new nuances and discoveries each time I pair them with a different meal. A classic example is Allegrini’s Palazzo Della Torre (see my blog of 8/24/09 entitled “An Old Friend Comes to Dinner”). This wine offers something new each and every time I try it with a different meal! I also enjoy the romance and ambiance of having wine with food. Thus, over 90% of the wine I regularly consume is either with a meal at home or in a restaurant. Other than that, my exploration and trial of new wines usually occurs at trade shows, wineries, at tasting events or with trial samples given to me by importers or distributors. As a result, I’m not a frequent “Wine Bar” patron.

It is also true that wine bars are a little scarcer in Mexico…Mexican annual per capita wine consumption is quite low and consumption for locals is most often with meals and at home. As a result, most quality wine is found at retail or at wineries. The wine bar concept is generally limited to restaurants, resorts and hotels in tourist areas. When found separately, they are usually only found in metropolitan areas frequented by tourists or in communities with significant ex-patriot populations. Having said that, there are still some good ones to be found. By community of location, here are a few I’m familiar with enough to comment on or recommend:

Cabo San Lucas, Baja:
Try the D.O.C. Wine Bar & Restaurant near the Plaza Amelia Wilkes: It has a good selection and is a favorite among locals as well as tourists. The wine list changes frequently due to the logistics of getting product to the tip of the Baja peninsula, but it always has a good selection of domestic Mexican wines as well as a nice selection of imports.

Puerto Vallarta:
Habanero's, Benito Juarez & Constitucion in the Centro Historico, offers a good selection. The food at the co-owned Fernando’s Restaurant earns good reviews as well. More popular due to its rooftop deck view, but not having as great a wine selection, is the Skyview Bar at the Posada Freeman in the Olas district.

Tequisquiapan:

There are three possible choices here in this delightful, often overlooked (by Americans) tourist community in the heart of the state of Queretaro. All are just off the central plaza and jardin. The Freixenet Wine Bar offers over 50 selections but a better bet is to actually go the Frexienet Sala Vie Winery located just 20 minutes up the road. (See Roger’s Grapevine on 12/06/09 for more details on this winery) Service is also slow at the touristy Wine & Cheese Museum site, just off Carrizal and Independencia. It offers a nice exhibit in the patio courtyard with the additional benefit of buying local chesses to pair with your wine. Best bet is the nicely operated Todos A Beber on Manuel Mateus. It’s principally a retail shop with a nice but modest selection and the owner does know his wine. Also, they have some high top tables and offer snack trays if you want to enjoy your selection on premise.

San Miguel de Allende:

The wine bar & bistro in the Fabrica de Aurora attracts most tourists but has changed hands a couple of times and in two visits there, The Wine Guy was very disappointed with the level of both service and wine knowledge from the staff. Try enjoying the wine bars at Dos Casa Resort on Quebrada or at the popular Harry’s New Orleans Cafe on Hidalgo. For a great view, a fair selection, good service (not to mention two for one early afternoon specials) enjoy the rooftop La Azotea Wine Bar on Umaran just off the Jardin. It’s upstairs from the equally enjoyable Campo Viejo Restaurant. Both are among Mrs. Wine Guy’s favorite places to relax after shopping in SMA’s centro (she took the attached photo of The Wine Guy at La Azotea).

Guanajuato:

This beautiful and always lively university city has great restaurants, bars, nightspots and some good wine bars as well! El Abue is often recommended by local B&B’s and was recommended a few years back in the New York Times travel section. It can be hard to spot as it is located at the top of a flight of stairs on a hilly side street just off the Plaza Baratillo (see photo of The Wine Guy in front). It has slipped under its new owners but still offers a nice but ever changing carta de vini (wine list). The list is written on a pair of chalkboards on the wall (see photo…note prices are in pesos NOT U.S. dollars). One of your best wine bar bets in this city is El Chorcho de Baco (the cork of Bacchus) on Plaza San Fernando. While somewhat pricey for Mexico, they have a nice selection including some quality Mexican wines. During the day, their very upscale salads are best enjoyed in the courtyard below the bar that is shared with artisan retailers. On the weekend, come back in the evening and enjoy some live jazz with your wine and food.

If traveling to Mexico (or anywhere else for that matter) and you want to know about wine bars, do a little homework. Fodor’s and Frommer’s are always good sources but keep in mind that they are only accurate for a short period after their last visit. Wine bars and nightspots do seem to change hands frequently in tourist areas, especially Mexico. The Wine Guy likes to review traveler’s reviews on sites such Trip Advisor and I will deliberately review the most recent postings. Compare the most praising and most critical knowing the truth generally lies somewhere in between. If you travel mid week and off-season, be careful (and critical) when ordering wine-by-the-glass. Control over open bottles of wine is not always practiced well in Mexico. Due to high import tariffs, you will find the best wine values in Mexico are generally the better-made Mexican wines or Chilean wines which are imported tariff-free under a trade agreement between the two countries. Spanish, French and Italian selections round out the top of Mexico’s most imported wines. U.S. wines rank a distant fifth and are generally costlier than back home.

I hope this answers my reader's inquiry. Reader’s comments, questions and topic suggestions are always welcome either in the Grapevine comment feature or by email. Just send your emails to thewineguy@gmail.com.

Enjoy your next glass of wine. I always do!