Learning wine | One sip of wine at the time

All of us wine lovers know what it means to take one sip at the time and how the wine is evolving in the glass and keeps on changing its aromas et cetera.  That is, if you have the right glassware to start with.  But I will talk about that another day.  Back to the sipping of wine, the ongoing change of a wine in the glass is not what I want to share with you today neither, although I could go on and on with that subject.  Trust me!

Anyways, I want to talk about the people that start out buying a wine cooler or are having a glass of white zinfandel and actually liking it.  I know a few people who drink beautiful big reds today, but about 5-7 years ago, wouldn’t have none of it.  No, I am not making this up.  They proudly arrived to evening gatherings with their little 6 packs of wine coolers in the hand, enjoyed drinking them, even calling that actually wine!  But before I lose your interest in reading further, let me switch gears here.

Bucket List - Do you have one for wine?

I have been living in the US now for quite some time, but it wasn't until earlier this year when the word "bucket list" first crossed my path.  It was the movie with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.  By the way - good movie.  Anyways, after watching that movie, I thought to myself, what a great idea. 

And while I could certainly fill my "want to" see and /or do bucket with ease, I took that a bit further and put some thought to what wines would I want to have tried!?

Of course, your first growth Bordeaux and grand cru burgundy’s, come quickly to mind but what other kind of wines are a must have.  As example, is Screaming Eagle really that good, that you would want to add that to your bucket list?  What if you could only pick 5-10 wines, what would those be?

And which vintage of those wines?  See, creating a wine bucket list is not as easy as it may sound at first.

I am still working on mine, but what would your bucket list of wine look like?

Cabernet - King of California?

Cabernet Sauvignon has been enjoying being the number one, the so called King of California, for a long time.  And who else could it or should it be anyways?  After all, it was Cabernet that put California or more specific, Napa Valley, on the map in the first place when it won multiple medals at the 1988 World fair in Paris and later in 1976 won awards at the blind tasting against some of France’s finest wines. 

But with today’s offerings of different grapes, such as big powerful Syrah’s, bold Zinfandel’s and many others that are being grown all throughout California, is Cabernet still King?  Based on various articles, certainly so.  I say, no! 

Wine Label - How to read them: Bordeaux

Wine Label - How to read a Bordeaux wine label


Wine Label: Courtesy of Chateau Margaux
First Growth Bordeaux





Wine Label - How to read them: California

Wine Label - How to read a wine label

Wine Label - How to read a wine label
Label: Courtesy of Talbott Kali Hart
Great Chardonnay from Monterey County





Wine labels – Do you know how to read them?

It is a pretty straight forward when you look at a new world wine label.  As example, either it says Merlot or Chardonnay on the label, and therefore lets you know what you are about to buy and drink.  On an old world label, that is a bit more tricky and leaves people wondering what a certain wine might be.  My goal is to shed some light on this subject, so that on your next trip to the wine store, you don’t have to sneak passed the French or Italian sections.  Location plays the major role in old world wine labels.  In Burgundy they use mainly two grapes, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  Therefore when you are dealing with a French white wine from the Burgundy region, you most likely are enjoying a Chardonnay.

New world wines – What does that mean?

Have you ever read an article about wine (maybe even one of mine) and wondered what exactly they are referring to when talking about old world or new world wines?  No, us wine geeks haven’t found new land, but we call it “new world wine” as wine making in the US or Australia as example, is relatively new in comparison to Greece or Italy.   Therefore most of Europe and some other Mediterranean regions make up what is called the old world wines.  Some of these countries include France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Greece.  For a complete listing, visit the Wikipedia link below.  All other wine producing countries therefore “new world wines”!

Old World Wines

Wine legs | Wine Tears

Have you ever been to a wine tasting?  If so, you properly saw people swirl the wine glass and then hold the glass sideways against a white background.  If not, sorry to break the bad news to you, but haven’t really been to a wine tasting.  Anyways, there actually is a real reason as to why we look at the legs of a wine.  It offers a clear hint about the wine; however it DOES NOT tell you