We will be tasting wines from small family vineyards where the owners actually pick each grape by hand, instead of by machine. These are the wines that they themselves make and drink everyday and take great pride in.

The wines we will be tasting range from a lightly sweet, delicate, frizzy Moscato d’Asti to a wonderful Super Tuscan.

Come join us for this free tasting and a little fun (lagniappe).

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Water was a dubious proposition at that time in history. Epidemics of cholera and dysentery were rampart in Europe and America until well past the middle of the 19th. century. Wine, whiskey, ale and port might get you inebriated, but they inoculated you to a degree from the ravages of cholera and dysentery.

Pinot noir grapes at Chehalem Ridgecrest Vineyard, Newberg, Oregon

The Pinot Noir grape is the most difficult of all the classic grapes to make into wine. It is so sensitive to where it is grown that flavor generalizations are difficult to make. The vines mutate easily in the vineyard and are highly sensitive to climate changes and variations in soil composition. The grape itself, is very unstable during the process of turning it into wine; making it a riskier, and more expensive, undertaking. This is all part of Pinot Noir’s allure; what makes it so fascinating, sought after, and expensive.

Needing a long, cool growing season, the most compelling Pinot Noirs come from climates that are cool, edging into moderate. The Burgundy region of France is the historic home of Pinot Noir. In fact, it is thought to have grown in France for over 2000 years. Pinot Noir is what all the great and revered red wines of Burgundy are all about.

The moderate climates, like most of California, produce a Pinot Noir that is less acidic, making it taste tart and more juicy. It is typically aged in oak, but the amount of oakiness is matched to the intensity of its fruit.

Food Pairing: A fantastic pairing is grilled salmon and Pinot Noir. The rich fattiness and light char of a grilled salmon could have no better partner than an earthy Pinot Noir with its relatively high acidity and low tannin. The low tannin amount doesn’t interfere with the flavors of the fish. The earthiness of Pinot Noir makes it a great pairing for earthy foods such as mushrooms,potatoes and leeks. And, of course, Beef Burgundy!

Wine Bottle Cork Cage

Instead of throwing your wine corks in a drawer or into the trash, make a keepsake of them with this unique decorative accessory. A metal cork cage looks great on a bar or counter top, and what fun it is to fill it up.

The wine bottle cork cage pictured has a hinged bottom and is 13″ tall so you could even put a real bottle in it as an extra special gift.

Most basic “unoaked” wines come from cooler climates and have a straight forward fruity aroma of apple, melon or tangerine. The “oaked” wines will smell predominately of new oak; caramel,butter or vanilla.

The Chardonnays from cooler climates have delicate and soft flavors with a bit of refreshing tartness.The fruit taste is crisp and refreshing; like biting into a Golden Delicious apple. The Burgundy region of France is the best known cool climate region for Chardonnay. All of the great French white Burgundies are Chardonnays. Chablis is a Chardonnay. Chardonnay is  also one of the few grapes used in producing Champagne.

California, having a moderate climate produces a Chardonnay with a juicy, fruity style with a creamy, nutty roundness. The fruit flavors of these wines are more tangerine, peach and melon.

Chardonnays from warm climates, like Australia, taste more ripe, luscious and exotic. Their fruit flavors are ripe pineapple, mangos and peaches.

An “oaky” Chardonnay will pair well with corn in all its different forms, from popcorn to polenta.  It also pairs well, because of the rich, buttery flavor, with lobster and crab, creamy chowders and bisques ( like lobster bisque). Smoked cheeses are another very good pairing. The “unoaked” Chardonnays go well with lighter fare such as shrimp cocktail.

ranga ranga is the classic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. It’s very “zingy” with the taste of citrus fruits, lemon grass, hints of wild herbs and a touch of minerality. This wine pairs nicely with shrimp, scallops, fish, rich cheeses and spicy Asian foods.

Arona has become my favorite Sauvignon Blanc. It features bold aromas of gooseberries and pineapple with ruby red grapefruit. Arona, which means “colorful” has a unique richness about it with a surprisingly long finish. Have this with crab cakes and you are almpst in heaven. 

3 Brooms is this vineyard’s reserve wine from their finest low yeilding grapes. It has the taste of ripe passion fruit, gooseberry and the zest of sweet limes, with a touch of minerality in a wine of depth and elegance.  3 Brooms pairs well with chicken, fish and seafood.

Sauvignon is from the French word “sauvage” meaning wild, and blanc is the word for white. Sauvignon Blanc lives up to its name with wild, exuberant flavors. We have a Sauvignon Blanc in the store named “ranga ranga” that feels like a firecracker zinging all over your mouth.

Cooler climates, such as New Zealand and the Loire Valley of France, produce a wine with a bracingly fresh and clean palette of “green” flavors: herbs, limes, Granny Smith apples and green vegetables. The New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are terrific and usually have a hint of mango or passion fruit in the background. Sancerre (Sahn-SAIR) and Pouilly-Fume (Poo-EE-Foo-MAY) are Sauvignon Blancs from France’s Loire Valley, and are more tangy and tart because the growing area is further north.

More moderate climates, like California and the Bordeaux region of France, make a fuller-bodied style that are less herbaceous and more succulent with citrus fruit, peaches and melons in their flavors while still maintaining their vibrant acidity which gives them such an affinity for food. Bordeaux usually blends the Semillon (Sem-ee-YOHN) grape with the Sauvignon Blanc giving it a creamy scent and juicy texture.

Sauvignon Blancs pair wonderfully with a wide variety of foods; fish, sea food, crab cakes, Mexican dishes, vegetarian meals, any kind of salad you can think of, and sushi. Once, in Atlanta on a buying trip for my shop, I found a restaurant with a great New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and mouthwatering crab cakes.  (This is making me hungry.) I couldn’t get enough of this combination… so I ordered it three days in a row. It was just so good.

When we are having a Lagniappe wine tasting, my customers seem to enjoy Rieslings the most. These wines are intensely flavorful, clean and crisp, and can be anywhere from dry to extremely sweet. Light and low in alcohol, Rieslings are a good choice to start your exploration into the world of wines. But, they are not the “starter” wine that some have said of them. People are beginning to realize what awesome wines Rieslings can be.

Riesling Grapes photo by Greg Hirson

The Riesling grape grows best in the cooler climates such as Germany, northern Austria, Alsace, France, upstate New York and Washington. Rieslings from a warmer climate such as California are usually softer and slightly fuller.

Their orchard fruit flavors from apple to pear to peach and their vibrant acidity make them very versatile to pair with foods. The Alsace Rieslings are mostly dry with complex, fuller flavors than German Rieslings. German Rieslings are usually very elegant.

If you are picking out a German Riesling, here are some descriptive words that will help you determine their style:

Kabinett (kah-bih-NEHT):  most elegant, usually dry, a light-bodied wine and the most food friendly. The grapes are picked during a normal harvest.

Spatlese (SHPAYT-lay-zuh): literally, late harvest. They have a greater intensity and strength, but don’t taste overly sweet because of their high acidity.

Auslese (OWS-lay-zuh): select harvest made from very ripe grapes harvested in select bunches; another step up in richness and intensity.

Food pairing…

Rieslings are the most versatile white wine to pair with food because their flavors are clean and pure while being high in acid. The Germans drink them with just about everything; from sausages to wiener schnitzel to pork roast. An off-dry Riesling goes well with Mexican salsa. Rieslings are great with Asian foods, vegetable dishes and salads.

The world is full of interesting wines – something for every taste and any occasion. Over the “quiet season” ahead, I will be building a wine reference here, writing a collection of general and specific articles to help you learn more about specialties in our Wine Gallery and wines in general. I am also pleased to be contributing the forthcoming articles as a regular columnist in Door County Chefs Magazine.

Some Basic Wine Considerations:

The lighter bodied and crisp wines grow in the cooler climates such as Oregon and Germany. The fuller bodied wines grow in the warmer areas.

The more important grapes can be divided by color and include:

Whites:

Riesling – light, crisp, can be dry to sweet
Sauvignon Blanc - medium-bodied, herbaceous and dry
Chardonnay – full-bodied, can be creamy, nutty and smoky

Reds:

Pinot noir – delicate red, acidic, soft and jammy
Cabernet Sauvignon – blackcurrant, tannic, medium-bodied
Syrah or Shiraz - rich, full – bodied, fruity

Then there’s pinot gris, chenin blanc, gewurztraminer, merlot, malbec, zinfandel, and pinotage to name just a few more… There are so many wines to try, so many experiences waiting to be uncorked.

People have been making and drinking wine for thousands of years. We even read about wine in The Bible. And who can forget Bacchus, the Roman god of wine in classical mythology? Did you know that one of the main reasons the English colonized Virginia was to grow grapes and make wine? They were at war with France and really wanted to be able to import wine from their own colony. Each family was given grape vine stock and ordered to plant them and produce wine. Most of the vines failed to grow and what they did manage to produce was terrible. Fortunately, wine making all across America has vastly improved in the past couple hundred years.

Wine Pairing:

There is a little painting here in the Wine Gallery by Erin Smith that always brings forth a few smiles.

It says, “The pairing of wine and food is not complicated… I find Chardonnay complements leftover peanut butter and jelly triangles just as well as it does macaroni and cheese.”

Wine has a real affinity for food. The right match between a wine and food makes each one become so much more. The “rules” are only guidelines to help you find a great combination.

Basically, you don’t want one to overpower the other, so go with lighter wines with lighter foods and heavier wines with heavier foods. The Germans drink their Rieslings with just about anything, and Italian cooks will usually  grab a village wine from the neighborhood to go with their creations.

Don’t let wine scare you! Just jump in with both feet. Wine exists for your enjoyment. It’s a wonderful world to explore. Where else would doing your “extensive research” be so much fun?