It’s a common belief with wines - an older bottle is better than a younger bottle. But, is that always so? If you’ve read some of my past blogs, you’d know that one of my favorite lines is “One of the first things to understand about aging wines is ...
Last time we looked specifically at how oak affects the flavor of wine. There we learned that oak can be used in the fermentation process and/or the aging process to add various flavors to the wine. But before you take a first sip of wine, swirl your...
* Wine Enthusiast Magazine, February 2018 * Last time we looked at the factors that make a wine more capable of bottle aging. And, somewhat surprisingly, there are very few wines that actually hold up well in the bottle, even with proper storage....
We’ve now worked our way through how a wine gets its flavor - from the grape, the skins, seeds and stems, fermentation, barrel aging and last time we touched on bottle aging. There we learned that most wines are not meant for long-term bottle aging. ...
As we continue exploring wine flavors and where they come from, let’s take a step back to last time. As was noted, barrel aging can impart many wonderful flavors to wine. Additionally, barrel aging imparts tannin. And, tannin is very important to a ...
Last time we learned that aging wine in barrels can impart flavors ranging from none, in older ‘neutral’ barrels, to subtle hints of vanilla, or bolder flavors of chocolate and smokiness, depending on the barrels age and the degree to which its insid...
We’ve been exploring where wine gets it flavor from starting with the star of show, the juice of the grapes, then learning how the grape skins, seeds and stems can affect the finished flavor and we also looked at how the fermentation process can af...
Last time we addressed some general guidelines on how long wines can age, noting that rosé should be consumed immediately after bottling while still bright, fruity and fresh, most white wines are typically best within a couple of years of bottling, a...
Last time I mentioned buying a rosé that turned out to be more than three years old, that may not have been properly stored, had turned a brown-orange color and had nutty flavors that a fresh, fruity rosé should not have. And, several years ago I di...
Have you ever opened a bottle of wine, poured a glass, taken a sip, and then asked yourself “Has this wine gone bad?” Sometimes a defective wine is hard to establish, but other times there is no question that the bottle has gone bad. Last week I we...
Ever heard of Beaujolais Nouveau? Well, its name literally mean ‘new Beaujolais’ and it really is ‘new.’ On the third Thursday of each November, France releases Beaujolais Nouveau wine to the world. The ‘new’ part of this wine is due to the fact ...
Last time we discussed how all the fruit flavors get into wine. We discussed that wines don’t actually contain fruit other than grapes, but the grapes, the soil they are grown in, the fermentation process, and the aging process can impart other fruit...
Last time we took a quick run through how wine is made. And you may have noticed that there are only two ingredients in wine: grapes and yeast. Yet, white wines can be described as having flavors that include lemon, lime, grapefruit, apple, peach, p...