Madame Wine

2009-10-13T20:43:00.001-07:00

What does "Pinot Noir" and "royal marriage" have in common?

http://ping.fm/ND2o8

2009-09-21T22:46:00.001-07:00

Do different wine grapes have different shapes of grape leaves? A picture of Chardonnay & Pinot Noir grape leaves - http://budurl.com/5pds

2009-09-16T18:10:00.001-07:00

Yes, food & drinks are OK after sunset during Ramadan - I used to think it's a 24-hr fast with only water.

Have you seen my new, active blog? www.BlissWineAcademy.Wordpress.com?

Our next Wine Tasting Seminar is on the Loire Valley wines, red, white, sweet & sparkling!

Date: Sunday, Sept 27, 4:00-5:00
Venue: A Historical Bed & Breakfast in San Francisco
Class Fee (including tasting wines): $40
Space Limited. Please call for location address & to register.
The Bliss Wine Academy: 415.431.6030

2009-09-16T18:09:00.001-07:00

What to Drink during Ramadan - http://ping.fm/5Irtq

2009-09-15T10:20:00.001-07:00

What you need to know about the Garden of France,
the Loire Valley wines: http://budurl.com/s5x9

Aromas and Flavors of Zinfandel

2009-09-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

Zinfandel, the blood relative of the Italian grape, Primitivo, is known for the intense fruit, often intense perfumed fruit or floral nose, and spices. If matured in American oak barrels, it would pick up more vanilla and sweet baking spices, both on the nose ("aromas") and in the mouth ("flavors"). Zinfandel in California generally have two popular styles, the jammy profile of condensed fruit, or bright profile of fresh, though could be concentrated fruit.

Got Zin lately? Try one!

Here's to Your Wine Fulfilled Life!

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Food and Wine Pairings: Red Rioja

2009-08-31T18:13:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know it's summer. It doesn't mean you need to stay away from red wines.
In fact, for the red wine afficionados, it just might be possible that they (myself included) could always have a red of some sort.

Let's say you kinda stumbled on a red Rioja - red wine is 85% of the Rioja regional production, and you are kinda hungry.

What dishes go with your Rioja, the spices, the rich tannins and both dark & red fruit, the earthy flavors and decent amount of acidity.

Meat & poultry are good bets, especially if you add all spices, herbs and dried fruit in the cooking. For example, pork with prunes, Moroccan spicy lamb sausage.
Vegetarian ideas? Sure, veggie curries, or a Pakistani garbanzo beans dish.

Another no-brainer food pairing for Rioja, paella with rock shrimps, calamaris and others. What others? Well, I want to leave you some room for imagination and chef's creativity. Let me know what you find out are the "other" good ingredients.

To Your Wine (and food) Fulfilled Life!

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Urban Winery: Passaggio Winery

2009-08-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

Urban Winery: Passaggio Winery

Winemaker: Cynthia Cosco

What makes it unique: Unoaked chardonnay, made in the City of San Francisco. That’s right, not Napa, not Santa Barbara Wine Country. In addition, the high-tech closure called “zork” that is “bar tender friendly”. It is so easy to open that my 8-year-old niece could help open the wine.

Read more about Passaggio’s unoaked chardonnay in San Francisco Chronicle:

http://m.sfgate.com/topic/3786-Food%20&%20Wine/articles/192978523

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Wine Tasting Notes on 2008 Raimat Albariño

2009-08-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

A medium color intensity of lemon gold color, This wine is from Coster del Segre in Cataluña.

Albariño has the aromatic nose almost just like Sauvignon Blanc. However, the high acidity on the palate gives it away. The medium intensity of the citrusy, mineraly, and melon flavors play a perfect role with the high alcohol and decent long finish. The light body means the shrimp cocktails and niçoise salad amongst others are ideal food pairings.

Online Retailers: $11.99

To Your Joyous Life!

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Chardonnay for a Gloomy Day

2009-08-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

Chardonnay is the great white Burgundy. Burgundian heartland, Côte d’Or, offers many styles of Chardonnay that are imitated worldwide, of which, Chablis' rich-mineral and high acidity is the classic style. In the Champagne region, Chardonnay plays an important role. In California, it is the loveliest white wine, displaying tropical fruits of pineapple and banana from warm regions like Santa Barbara, and temperate climate fruits of apple and stone fruits in cooler areas as in parts of Napa.

Wherever you are located, sure you could find a bottle of lovely Chard to enjoy, albeit the weather.

To your wine-fulfilled life!

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Wine Information: Kitty Wines

2009-08-18T07:56:00.001-07:00

Tuscan and Shimmer are two kittys with eyes a'glimmer
while they don't drink wine, I thought it sublime
to offer a post with just a slight twist
for info on Pinot Noir and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, if you desire to know, just read below...

Kitty #1: Shimmer of the Chartreuse royal breed, is agile and graceful, and has a very sweet personality; while a little sensitive - skin irritation one day & red eyes another day.
Like the fickle Pinot Noir she tends to be a little high maintenance. Shimmer’s graceful movement makes you want to get closer to pet her, she entices you and draws you in just like the enticing Pinot Noir. She's playful, but in a subdued way. You always have to make the first move, and she may or may not respond. She teases just like Pinot Noir teases wine makers around the world, only to get them often frustrated with how it all turns out. The wine for Shimmer is definitely Pinot Noir.

Kitty #2: Tuscan of black-and-white fur. His cute black spots around his mouth make you laugh just by looking at his funny face. His innocent facial expression disguises his high energy, always ready to play anytime of the day, and with such great intensity! He drives his playmate Shimmer nuts, like the high alcohol can drive you nuts in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Under his medium-long fur of the noble black-and-white, we find his great sense of humor as he spats at my foot as I walk by. This startles Shimmer as Shimmer wakes up from her nap. His perpetual boyish personality mirrors the late-ripening Sangiovese characteristic of playfulness . His stubbornness is just the harsh tannin of Sangiovese. The wine for Tuscan is Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, made from the Sangiovese grape.

Disclaimer: No cats were forced wine intake thus harmed during this research. The author assumes no responsibility for incidents when cats consumed alcohol by licking wine off the empty bottles in the recycle area in the kitchen.

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Wine Tasting Notes: A Rosé Sparkling Wine from Spain

2009-08-17T16:30:00.001-07:00

Cordon Rosado Brut

A Brut wine means it has between 0 and 15 grams of sugar per liter of the wine. This Cordon Rosado Brut has 15 grams per liter. Therefore, on the palate, it would not a bone dry taste. Attractive bright pink in the flute glass, the medium plus acidity offers the refreshing mid palate. A medium body with pleasant flavors of strawberries, grapefruit and cream. Garnacha grape (Grenache in French) is 50% of the blend, contributes to the strawberry aroma, while Monastrell (Mourvedre in French) of 50% adds the tannin that is ever so slightly here and there – part of the very lovely mouth feel overall from this special rosé sparkling wine.

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Wine Information: Tasting Notes on 2008 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé

2009-08-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

Among the un-mistakenly rosé aromas of peaches, strawberries, and a hint of lavender – after all, this wine hails from the land of lavenders, it also has the enticing riper fruit of figs, dry apricot, and a yeasty or creamy impression.

All of the beautiful, generous aromas translate to matching flavors on the palate, and add to the complexity, further balanced with the medium plus acidity and medium alcohol. Nice mid-palate body that leads to a finish with lingering savory notes while the floral impression still dances on the tip of my nose. If I could only have one rosé this summer, this is it. Oh, but who is there to impose such rule!

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Wine Information: Tasting Notes on 2006 Domaine Tempier Bandol

2009-08-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

A beautiful Mourvèdre blend from the beautiful French region of Provence.

My very first impression was its abundant aromas of roses, raisins, minerals, oak and licorice combined with the deep ruby color core in the glass.

The dried fruit aroma of raisin, and the coffee, smoke, dustiness are all considered “developing” aromas, as opposed to the “youthful” fresh fruit notes. Even though only the 2006 vintage (barely 3-year old), this wine is entering the second phase of its life in the bottle, developing.

The AC (Appellation Controlêe, French wine quality classification) law requires Bandol red wines to have at least 50% Mourvèdre. The percentage of blending grapes varies in different years. The 2006 vintage has 75% Mourvèdre, no more than 3% of the old Carignan (which is being phased out in the region), and 22% Grenache and Cinsault combined.

Its medium plus acidity is harmonized with the medium plus alcohol and good tannin grip. Nicely balanced between its rich flavors, its velvety texture and medium body, this wine makes a lovely “treat” after a long day, or the choice for a spur-of-the-moment celebration of life.

In the land of the non-aging Provence wines, Bandol is an exception. Having spent 18 months in oak barrels, with the Mourvèdre characteristic of good amount of tannins, and plenty acidity, the 2006 Dmn. Tempier Classique could be enjoyed for another 6 to 8 years, provided it’s stored in the ideal environment.

What constitute an ideal wine storage condition? Check back in for future posts and sign up for the FREE weekly wine information to stay tuned!

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Wine Education: What is a Good Wine

2009-08-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

Many people would ask, "Well, what is a good wine? I often just know what I like and don't like." That's totally, completely alright.

That said, our palate would naturally evolve as we taste more wine, just as we have done with food. As a child, you liked any sweet and spicy sauce they put on the BBQ ribs, but at some point, when you got to the college, you'd know your preferred brand of BBQ sauce, and that might evolve as you discover there's a lot more brand options and newer flavors (some you like and some you don't) to choose from.

The same would likely happen with your olfactory's and your palate's experience with wine. Should we say, they just become more "discriminating". It may be the wine classes you took, the wine information you've read, over time, such information about wine that goes into your left brain, your intellectual knowledge on the wine would increase your appreciation of wine. At the same time, it is also the accumulated experience tasting wine for tasting's sake, your senses have been exposed to more wine, different styles and qualities of wine, grape varieties and the effect of winemaking techniques & styles. Such right brain journey of wine would continue to take you to a different level of appreciation of wine, in addition to your left brain experience.

A few years later, when you're asked, "So which wine do you like?" You may even give a 30-minute answer of your thoughts on the wine, and not feeling that you're done yet, because you would have so much to say about the wine...

If you have stories of wine journey to share, please leave a comment!

To your joyous life!

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Wine Tasting Notes: Bodega Pintia 2003, Toro

2009-08-06T00:13:00.000-07:00

As my book writing project comes to the last phase, the related tasks in getting it published is taking more time than I’d planned. Such is my excuse for getting this week's posting out late. My apologies if you had been waiting!

Thank you also for all the support and encouragement on the book, A Crash Course in Wine, coming out in September.

That aside, I needed to share with you my tasting notes from this evening on a Spanish wine, by Bodega Pintia, owned by Vega Silicia. The few subtle yet interesting aromas that deviate from the usual red fruit (and some earthy aromas) would merit its presence at an occasion where the gathering crowd are more enthusiastic about exploring different wines than the usual selection.

Bodega Pintia Toro, 2003

As if walking through the forest after the shower, the lush forest-floor aroma amongst the abundant red fruit makes it more intriguing than other fruit-forward Tintos (Spanish “red”). You would also notice that being an ’03 Tempranillo, it still has the intense dark ruby core. The nice medium-body is rightfully accompanied by medium plus alcohol and medium plus acidity. Vanilla, toasty (from aging in French oak), herbs and hints of dark chocolate all linger through the last sip. The kind of firm tannin that supports the structure would tip the scale if thus far you have not had made the decision about how much you like the wine.

The virtues of this wine probably has as much to do with its reputable owner as with the fact that Toro DO (Spanish Quality Wine Classification, level 3 from the top) is exploding. Their collective effort on quality has been rewarded by the rising price.

Regardless, the elegance and firmer structure, in addition to the aromas leave a very nice impression.

And it is only, $44.99 at an online wine store! There’s a reason I saved the price for the last mention.

Please share your tasting notes in the comment field!

To your joyous life!

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Wine Information: What Not to Do When Wine Tasting

2009-07-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Wine Tasting might as well be called Wine "Smelling"!

It's our olfactory nerves that smell and pick up the aromas of the wine. After all, what our taste buds detect are the texture, tannin and these four things (none of these is the wine aromas): sweet, salty, bitter, sour.

That leads to today's wine tasting tip of not wearing fragrant personal products when you go wine tasting, for examples, colognes, after-shaves, perfumes, fragrant lotions...,etc. These fragrances confuse our olfactory senses when they are trying to do the job of detecting the wine aromas and flavors.

Do yourself, and your wine tasting companions a favor, leave these fragrant products at home when you go wine-tasting! Let your senses be clean, sharp, and focus on the nicely made wine, and all it has to offer!

To your joyous life!

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Wine Information: Summer White from Austria

2009-07-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Even if we continue to have beautiful days in San Francisco for the rest of the summer, we'll *not* run out of the wines to drink for each sunny day! You could just
come to this blog for recommmended wine to enjoy, rain or shine.

Here's another opportunity to venture out of California, for a lovely white that's perfect for the nice weather. Let's turn to the scenic Alpine country of Austria for its national pride, Grüner Veltliner.

Grüner Veltliner offers the aromas and flavors of green grapes, white pepper, honey, and the body varying from light to full. With aging, it shows more mineral notes, adding to the enjoyment of this pale color white wine. It has recently become fairly easy to find in any wine store in big cities, and even specialty or high-end grocery stores.

Please leave a comment to tell us your experience with Grüner Veltliner or other summer whites, or ask a wine question that I could answer in future posts!

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Wine Education: What to Drink for Solar Eclipse

2009-07-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

Was Solar Eclipse a scary experience for you? Some Indian forecasters did predict tragedies, though none happened this time. Thank God!

The "bright" side of the event was, "There's a wine for every occasion!"

The wine for the temporarily darkened world is...Nero d'Avola!

The fashionably dark color in this wine is from the deep color pigments in the grape skin. This indigenous grape of Sicily is named after the town Avola.

In the blend, it offers color, body and aging potential.

As a single varietal wine, it benefits from barrel aging and offers flavors of dark fruit, chocolate and tobacco, minerals and attractive fruit-coated tannin. Such plump expression is a major transformation from the historical “syrupy” version – thanks to the modern technology that improves the winemaking process.

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Wine Information: Cabernet Sauvignon... Anything Else?

2009-07-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

When you think of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Napa Valley comes to mind.
In France, the region with fabulous red wines made from these two grapes is Bordeaux.

However, Bordeaux wine grapes are really more than Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
The other Bordeaux red grapes, or black grapes are Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Carmenère and Petit Verdot. Many Bordeaux red wines are blends of any combination of these grapes, while in the New World, which is plenty happy to explore new frontiers, these grapes are often made into single varietal wines.

Cabernet Sauvignon often plays the main role in Bordeaux wines and is highly tannic. Cabernet Franc, in comparison, is a safety net for the winegrowers against a cool year as it doesn't require as much heat to mature, and it ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Franc's contribution is both the finesse and the complexity, with typical flavors of blackcurrant leaves and raspberries.

Malbec could be found in other French wine regions beyond Bordeaux. While not a grape suited for cool climates, it is appreciated for the additional texture in the Bordeaux blend, and dark fruit aromas and flavors.

Carmenère is almost synonymous with Chilean wines these days. However, its origin is Bordeaux. Also used in the red blends in Bordeaux, Carmenère has both abundant fruit and some savory flavors. Its low acidity leaves an even sweeter impression on your palate.

If you've ever had Petit Verdot, you're likely struck by its inky dark red color in the glass. Although with flavors of violet and exotic spices, good tannin and structure, it's never more than 10 % in the Bordeaux red blends. It's a good thing that Petit Verdot is much more appreciated elsewhere - California, Australia and Chile.

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Wine Review: 2007 Domaine De La Butte (Jacky Blot) Bourgueil "La Pied de la Butte"

2009-07-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

2007 Domaine De La Butte (Jacky Blot) Bourgueil "La Pied de la Butte"

Made from the main red grape in the Loire, Cabernet Franc, this wine is a nice example of the softness yet still with the earthy influence. The effort to up the fruitiness for export’s sake without losing the regional characteristics seems to pay off quite well here.

Ruby red with pinkish rim and medium light intensity is your visual introduction to the wine. It’s easy for your nose to pick up the wood, earthiness, hint of spices and red fruit. Your palate is pleased with the medium acidity, medium body, with flavors of cherries, and meaty, savory impressions. It has a structure although unlike the Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, plenty enough to create a balanced profile of the wine. It finishes with a medium duration finish. A very pleasant wine for a warm summer day, by itself, or accompanying the chilled gazpacho, a vegetarian or grilled tofu pizza, or a chicken burger.

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Wine Information: How to Say These Wine Names

2009-07-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

For many people, what prevents them from going for a foreign wine, an European wine specifically, is the names and the labels. The words are just so unfamiliar. Therefore, time after time, they "stay close to home" & order a domestic wine, or an Australian wine if curious enough. Well, that's missing out those lovely French, German & Italian wines!

Here are the pronunciation of some wine words to get your feet wet so to speak, in entering the broader world of wines!

You'll often hear the French word, "terroir", referring to the natural environment for a vine, and those elements from the nature ideally expressed in the wine to give the wine its "soul". "Terroir" is pronounced as /tεrwar/.

That German wine with floral aromas and hint of spicy flavors called "Gewürztraminer", is pronounced as /guh-voorts-truh-mee-ner/.

On French sparkling wine labels, you'd often the word "Brut", meaning "dry". It
means the sparkling wine has the sugar level of below 15 grams/per liter.

FYI - Only champagnes from the Champagne Region of France (made from the Champagne methods could legally be called "Champagne". Everywhere else, the sparkling wines are named differently and can never be called "champagne".

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Wine and Food Matching: Riesling as a Summer Wine

2009-07-08T16:07:00.001-07:00

A beautiful warm summer day in San Francisco! What wine would you enjoy for such a lovely day?

You think of white? I agree! Well, which white wine? How about Riesling?

Riesling is the grape capable of exemplifies the nice balance between sugar and acidity. Such balance and the high acidity allow it to age gracefully, transforming the already beautiful fruit and floral aromas in youth to the petrol aromas and complexity of a matured wine. Besides the dry wine version, Riesling in Germany, California and Canada are also often chosen to be made into sweet wines. There are three approaches of Riesling sweet wine: late harvest, botrytis/Noble Rot, and ice wine.

Let’s say we go for the non-sweet Riesling. Oh, but the residual sugar even in the non-sweet Riesling would make it not a “dry” wine anyway, strictly speaking, it would probably be an “off dry”, or “medium” sweetness level wine.

Now that we have the wine picked, what about food?

The crisp acidity with green apple, spices and lime aromas and residual sugar in the flavors mean that Riesling could go with food like some spicy Thai dishes with sweet sauce and pickles. Pickles, what? Yes. The sweetness in the wine and the salty taste of the pickles compliment each other. Pork with maple glaze, spicy chicken wings and white chocolate are some other ideas. Want more examples? Leave your comments below. I’ll do my best answering them!

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To Your Joyous Life!

Madame Wine

Wine Information: Getting over the Hump with Bordeaux and Burgundian Wines

2009-07-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

Why are French wines confusing?

The answer is that unlike in the New World where wines are named after grapes, in France – as well Italy & Spain, the wines are named after the wine producing regions and a few even named after the towns or villages.

To get over the hump of learning about French wines, specifically the two regions often seen on the wine list, here is a simplified breakdown of these two wine regions and their grapes.

Red Bordeaux wines are of the blend of these grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Carmenère.

White Bordeaux wines are from Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. These grapes also make up the well-known sweet wine, Sauternes, from Sauternes AC of the Bordeaux region.

Red Burgundian wines are almost all Pinot Noir, with a few Gamay. A sub-region of Burgundy called Beaujolais is known for its young and fruity wine Beaujolais Nouveau, which is made from Gamay.

White Burgundian wines are almost exclusively Chardonnay, with some Aligoté. Chardonnay being a chameleon grape, is made into variable styles of quality wine. Among which, Chablis - named after the town - of the refreshing acidity is much loved by wine enthusiasts. Aligoté is blended into the sparkling wines of Burgundy, and also makes a generic regional dry wine.

This should be a good start – we’ve gotten 2 out of 7 French dry wine regions down now. Feeling more confident in opening that wine list? I hope so.

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Wine Education: What Wines Does Madoff Drink?

2009-06-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

What wines does or did Madoff drink? Not too many of us care to know the answer. We do care, however on how wine is a joy in our life. The more you learn about it, the more you appreciate wine - and life. After all, wine is a beautiful expression of the nature, the people and the culture it came from, and those are the elements of, life.

The financial crisis easily translates to crisis in life. What do you do to find that simply pleasure?

Are you still getting your morning cup of joe from Starbucks or Peet's to get you going for the day? Are you still meeting friends over a glass of wine - or starting to meet friends over a glass fo wine if you're new in the wine world?

If you enjoy wine, I invite you to be just a little more engaged in the "wine moment" next time you hold a glass in your hand. First of all, you want to hold the wine glass on the stem, as opposed to the bowl. This way, the wine is not warmed up by your palm. Next, at the quiet moment that you nor your companion is talking, look down to appreciate the color of the wine.

If it's a white wine, would you say that's a lemon green, or lemon gold, or a pale color?

If it's a red wine, is it a garnet (more orange) or ruby (more pinkish purple), or even bricky (brownish) when you come up a more mature wine, 6, 7 years or older?

What about the aromas - the impression of the wine your nose picks up, and the intensity of the aromas? Did you get more fruit, some floral, some minerality, herbal, or other aromas?

These are just a few of the many elements about wine that would enhance your appreciation of that simple glass called wine.

Try them. You'll soon discover the brave new world of wine opening up to you, slowly, surely and powerfully.

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