Wine, Pleasure, Beauty
Wine, happiness, a culture of pleasure. An exploration that roams from a local wine drinking community to a whole world of passion, beauty, and pleasure that awaits us out there. You know, eat, drink, and be merry-type stuff. Let's dive into wine and pleasure, but not take ourselves too seriously. After all, as a friend of mine likes to point out to beer geeks and wine freaks, "we're just talking about 10 minutes of pleasure, that's all."
To connect with me elsewhere, I can be found on Twitter @RonMarks, on Cork'd to share what we're drinking, or for my more personal mindcasting stuff, check out www.ronmarks.tumblr.com, or you can simply ask me a question here
Cheers!
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Showing posts tagged dessert wine
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Wine to Impress
Most of what I have to say about wine drinking involves enjoying wine yourself: tasting it, buying it, learning about it, and making it an enriching part of your life. But what about the opposite situation? What if you need wine to impress in a certain situation?
The simplest answer to this concern is one that, if you can follow it, can and should override everything that is to follow it. If you can find a local wine shop where the owner or staff are super knowledgeable about wine and enjoy taking the time with customers, then build a relationship with them and you will never again need to turn to the internet to guide you. However, not very many of you will be fortunate enough to find a relationship like that, so for you, here’s my very idiosyncratic advice.
The good news is I believe there is one kind of wine that will win you accolades in any situation whatsoever. Think you need a different wine for a dinner party than for a romantic dinner for two? Heck no! You can wow your date, spouse, business associates, or friends with one little bottle.
Bring a bottle of Ice Wine. That’s right. To my knowledge, in the history of the world no one who’s been asked to bring a bottle of wine to a dinner party has come with a bottle of Ice Wine. It’s always some boring red or white wine. Way to blend in with the crowd. But with a bottle of Ice Wine, you will stand out for sure.
What is it? Only the most delicious wine ever invented! It’s made from frozen grapes, it’s really sweet, it’s a dessert wine, and everybody loves it. This is the one wine that you not only get the usual polite thank you before your wine is set aside, but will guarantee you are thought of as a person of exquisite taste, charm, and sophistication.One last thing: Hooray Dessert Wine!
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The Sweetest Thing
If you’ve taken the wine journey with me since the beginning you will recall my recommendation that you bring an Ice Wine to any social gathering you attend. Let’s go a step further this week. Lets familiarize ourselves with dessert wines in general. Here is your crash course to the sweet side of wine. I’ll try to keep it simple and not too nerdy, but understand that we’re only scratching the surface here.
Sherry
Where: Andalucia, Spain
Types: fino (light, dry, 15.5% alcohol), oloroso (rich and full, dry, 18%+ alcohol)
What’s Weird About It: Not aged on its own. Young sherry is added to casks of older wine that are already aging. Wine keeps getting moved a little at a time to casks of older and older Sherry until its ready to be bottled.
The Exciting Part: There are like a dozen styles of dry Sherry, and there are a half dozen styles of sweet Sherry. So there’s lots to explore!
Port
Where: Douro Valley, Portugal
What: The greatest fortified red wine.
What’s Weird Abut It: It was invented by the British, who because of their many wars with France had to drink Portuguese wine, which they fortified so the wines would be stable enough to be shipped by sea.
My Favorite Style: Ruby Port, young, inexpensive, fruity, simple, aged about 3-6 years.
A Step Up: Tawny Port, 10-40 years old (at least), brownish red, expensive.
When: Dessert, with chocolate cake or other dessert, or as a dessert all on its own.
Madeira
Where: Madeira. It’s a subtropical island in the Atlantic Ocean near Africa.
What’s Unique About It: The world’s longest-lived wine: this stuff just doesn’t go bad.
Types: Four styles, two dry and two sweet.
What Else: Starts as a white wine, but ends up amber in color, and is know for having the longest finish of any wine.
Sauternes
Where: Graves (Bordeaux, France) and Germany primarily
What Absolutely EVERYONE Who Has Had It Calls It: Liquid Gold. Because it is.
What: Noble rot (the fungus botrytis) concentrates the liquid and sugar in the grapes before fermentation.
Cost: Expensive. $300 for a good one from Chateau d’Yquem, the most famous.
Serve: Cold, but not icy.
When: Best after dinner, as dessert, rather than before on its own. This stuff is RICH!
There you have it. The basics on dessert wine. Now go, indulge your sweet tooth, pour one tonight. Cheers!
