Posts Tagged ‘Wine Tasting’

Yesterday, I wrote about sharing a couple of bottles of Zinfandel that I had made three years ago over a Leonard Cohen concert broadcast on television. A few weeks ago, I was at the local LCBO (for those readers who do not live in Ontario, that would be the Liquor Control Board of Ontario store) where I found a “staff pick” – bottles of Cline Zinfandel. I knew that I would be opening up one of my bottles of Zinfandel (that cost me about $4.00) and wondered how it would stack up against this one that cost $14.00.

Well, the $14.00 bottle definitely was better than mine. The most noticeable difference was that the Cline had more “mouth feel” whereas mine in comparison was flatter. The aromas from the Cline were also stronger, and there were very nice vanilla notes that my Zinfandel did not have, probably due to no oaking. On the other hand, the colour of mine was exactly the same as the Cline Zinfandel, and the anise and blackcherry were a bit stronger.

All in all, I wasn’t disappointed in mine at all. I knew it hadn’t been fermented with the skins, had little exposure to any oaking, and when I was younger, I had drunk far worse stuff that cost me $4.00. I can’t afford to regularly buy $14.00+ bottles of wine, and my Zinfandel had the same gentle intoxicating effect I’m sure, as the $14.00 Cline.

But I think I am going to experiment more with oak in some of my wines that I plan to age awhile.

One reason many people do not learn to truly appreciate wine is because of the appearance of “wine snobbery” that exists in the world of wine. It’s unfortunate as wine can be appreciated in many different ways. When I drink a glass of wine, I don’t always stick my nose into the glass and then stick my nose into the air and with flourishes of my hands, try to come up with grandiose words to describe what I’ve just sensed. Although, it can be fun and interesting to learn how to detect various aromas in wine – but it’s not necessary in order to enjoy it.

Another attitude that sometimes comes across as “wine snobbery” is that which suggests only some types of wine should be eaten with some types of food. While I agree that the right choice of wine will compliment dinner, I also know that sometimes, I can enjoy any type of wine with whatever food I happen to be eating. Interestingly, I came across an essay in the most recent issue (Mar/April 09) of Silver and Gold magazine by Michael Pinkus, entitled “You’re Having What With That?! The ‘myth’ of wine & food pairing.” Mr. Pinkus who is the Founder of Ontario Wine Review suggests that pairing wines with foods originated with pairing regional food with regional wine. But here in North America, we don’t have the same very distinct regional dishes that the Old World, where wine with dinner first originated, has. Pinkus writes in his article,

“However, we still haven’t fully developed “regional cuisine”, beyond what’s local. We’ve become accustomed to a culinary canvas of steak and frites, Kraft Dinner and hamburgers – and what in the world goes with that? For that I will give you my standard answer: Whatever the heck you want!”

Michael Pinkus suggests that we try anything with any wine, and experiment for ourselves. I say that is good advice!