TASTING WINE

Tasting wine is organized by the flavors that different wines often exhibit. If you are looking for information on how to taste wine such as at a wine tasting, Dry, Neutral – The term dry is simply the opposite or absence of sweetness. Some white wines are extremely refreshing when you’re very thirsty. The fact that they are neutral means that they do not exhibit any particular strong quality. The Italians tend to stay away from aromatic, strong flavored white wines. Most Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanco, Verdicchio, Soave, and even Chardonnay (if it is unoaked) from Italy will have this characteristic. The French use a grape variety called Muscadet. They call it Melon de Bourgogne. All of these are an excellent complement to shellfish.
Tangy, Zesty – Wines of this style are typically described as sharp or green. This is due to the higher level of acidity that is only partially balanced out by sweetness. Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand is the pinnacle of this style. Rieslings, when young, can exhibit this quality. Age tends to cause them to mellow out a bit. The Loirre Valley in France produces a zesty Chenin Blanc in Vouvray and Savennieres. These wines are mouthwatering and intense enough that most people either love them or hate them.
Perfumy, Aromatic – While this may not seem that a tasting characteristic, it really is. Aroma plays a huge picture in tasting wine. The best example of this is made from the Gewurztraminer (geh-VAIRTZ-trah-mee-ner) grape. They have very exotic floral, fruity and spicy aromas. The Germans create the most aromatic and intense versions and the Italians try to tone theirs down somewhat. Because of the lack of subtlety, stick with strong tasting, spice foods with these wines. The Viognier grape is also known for its apricot and floral aroma.
Toasty, Butterscotch – These flavors are typically a result of fermenting and or aging the wine in oak barrels. Other associated flavors are nutty, vanilla-like, and sometimes smoky. The classic wine of this style is Chardonnay. Chardonnay is typically dry and very fruity. Try a white Burgundy (white Burgundy is made from the Chardonnay grape) for a great example. It is a rich and full bodied wine. If you are not fond of toasty, butterscotch-like flavors, try a Chardonnay from northern Italy or France’s Chablis. They tend to stay away from using oak.
Sweet, Rich – For the sweet tooth out there, the classic examples are from Germany and the Sauternes district of Bordeaux. When grapes are allowed to stay on the vine for a longer than average amount of time, they will sometimes become infected by a fungus called botrytis. This fungus, sometimes called noble rot, dehydrates the grapes which in turn intensifies the sweetness of the fruit. It also produces a rich, honey-like flavor. This intense sweetness is somewhat balanced by a high degree of acidity. These wines can be very expensive and the German styles are called Trockenbeerenauslese (TRO-ken-BEER-en-OUSE-lay-seh) and Beerenauslese or TBA and BA for short. A less expensive wine gets its sweetness by letting the grapes freeze. When pressing the frozen grapes, the ice separates from the sweet, syrupy juice, leaving a concentrated sweet wine. This wine is called Ice Wine and is also produced in Canada.
Tasting Characteristics of Red Wines
Sweet and Sour – The sweet and sour fruity flavors are common in Italian wines. They prefer to drink wines with their meals as opposed to by itself, so this style works well when accompanied with certain foods such as duck. Many Italian grapes produce that sour, cherry-like flavor. Some examples are, Sangiovese (san-joe-VAY-say), Barbera, Dolcetto (dohl-CHET-oh), and even Chianti (key-AHN-tee). Other places, including California, use these grapes but rarely do they produce the degree of bite that the Italians achieve.
Fruity and Juicy – For those that don’t prefer the mouth drying quality that tannin causes, these wines fit the bill. They are usually fairly light, with an emphasis on fruit flavor and are designed to drink young. No need to age these wines. There can be vibrant blackberry, cherry, plum or maybe black currant flavors. Zinfandel, Merlot, and Tempranillo (tem-pra-NEE-yoh) are a few of the grapes used for this style. California and even Chile produce some fine examples of light, fruity reds. France, though not quite as fruity, has Beaujolais (boh-jhoe-lay). Beaujolais is made from the Gamay grape and is a good wine for those white wine drinkers who haven’t quite acquired the taste for reds. These wines also are good for dinner because they go well with a variety of foods.
Soft, Strawberry – Mellow, strawberry or raspberry-like flavors with more noticeable tannin than the fruity wines above can be found in wines such as Pinot Noir (pee-noh nwahr) and Red Rioja (ree-OH-ha). Pinot Noir is a finicky grape so the quality varies wildly. Try a French red Burgundy (made with Pinot Noir grapes). They make some of the most silky and delicious examples. But again, cheap bottles are drastically worse than good ones. Aging also helps to achieve the mellowness and complex aromas.
Rich, Spicy – Deep fruit flavors, hints of chocolate, black pepper and other spices are common in the Syrah or Shiraz grape. Australian Shiraz sets a benchmark for the style. Sometimes smoky flavors accent the Rhone Valley’s Syrah in France. Often these wines have an earthy or mineral quality. These great tasting wines are better suited to cooler weather because of their rich, almost warming characteristic.
Firm, Blackcurranty – For full flavored richness with the distinct taste of blackcurrant and firm tannins, Cabernet Sauvignon is the perfect choice. Aging makes a big difference in its mellowness and range of flavors. A good quality Cabernet Sauvignon or Cab for short, should exhibit a complex depth of flavors. The aroma sometimes resembles pencil shavings or cigar boxes. Because of the high tannin content, they are sometimes blended with Merlot grapes to soften it up. Even though price and quality varies, the Cabernet Sauvignon grape creates a fairly consistent tasting wine.

CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY

California Wine Country California has approximately 1400 wineries with almost every county represented, even San Francisco! Many great grapes are produced in other regions, like Mendocino, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and the Central Valley. However, almost half of California’s wineries are concentrated in Napa and Sonoma counties, within 100 miles from San Francisco. Nature and history have blessed this region with a variety of soil types, terrains, micro-climates, and the influx of European winemaking talent to develop into a world-class wine-producing industry – not once but twice! Starting in 1857 in Sonoma, the region saw 50 years of growth and profit and a wave of tourist activity unrivaled almost anywhere in the U.S. at the time. The twin perils of the Great 1906 earthquake and Prohibition (of alcohol) from 1919 to 1933 put a majority of winemakers out of business and the industry into a depression from THE Great Depression until the 1970’s. The modern era began in 1976 (see Napa Valley) and the present day can be seen as the Second Golden Age of California Winemaking. There are about 650 wineries located in Napa and Sonoma counties, representing some of the most famous brands in the U.S., and even the world, and so constitute what many people call “THE Wine Country”. You can get great wines farther away from San Francisco, but it takes more time (and money) to get there. Our California Wine Tours give you the biggest bang for your travel bucks by giving you a great California Wine Country Experience in one great day.
Napa Valley Napa Valley was a few years behind its neighbor Sonoma Valley in the 1850’s and when the tourists started coming into the Wine Country in large numbers, they were in Sonoma, largely ignoring Napa Valley, which was just a place with a lot of vines. Both valleys became quiet and relatively empty from 1906 until the 1970’s. The roles became reversed and Napa Valley became a household name (in households where they read Wine Spectator, anyway) after a 1976 Bicentennial Contest between California and French wines, where the upstart Americans shocked everyone by winning 2 First Place ribbons – both from Napa Valley - and 14 out of the top 20 places. That notoriety jump-started a successful promotional campaign that soon overshadowed all other “neighborhoods” in the American wine business, and now the word “Napa” is synonymous with “Wine” in many people’s minds. It’s not that it is NOT true, but it is most certainly not the whole truth about wine in America, or specifically California. Some of the facts are that it is farther away from San Francisco and time spent on the road is time NOT spent tasting wine, the average price of a bottle or a tasting flight is higher, and the average nose behind the counter is also pointed a little higher, if you get my drift. Some of the most famous names in American Wine have their home addresses in the towns along the Napa Valley Highway, and it’s still a great place to go, but there are very few complimentary tasting rooms in Napa Valley, and when pressed for time, Sonoma is closer to San Francisco, and has lots of great wine to taste.
Sonoma County and Valley Sonoma County is one of California's premier wine-making regions, yet it has remained relatively untouched by tourists compared to its more popular neighbor, Napa Valley (only 5-10 miles east). It is said that Sonoma Valley gets its name from the Miwok Native American Indians. The Miwok named it the valley of "many moons" - while walking through the Sonoma Valley and the Mayacamas Mountains, the moon was said to rise seven times.
In the 1850’s, it was Sonoma Valley residents who solved the imported vine disease problem by widely adopting the practice of grafting onto native (resistant) root stock. Hungarian immigrant Agoston Haraszthy basically invented large scale, industrial wine-making, and Sonoma became the epicenter for a huge new wine industry and therefore became a popular tourist destination for locals from San Francisco and visitors from around the world.
Sonoma Valley's currently more famous neighbor, Napa Valley, remained the “outback” for about 50 years. Both valleys became “ghost towns” after the Great Earthquake of 1906, followed by Prohibition (of alcohol!) from 1919 to 1933. You could say the Great Depression continued well into the 1970’s for this part of the world (see Napa Valley). Declared National Historic Landmarks, the downtown Sonoma Plaza and the San Francisco Solano de Sonoma Mission (1823) are at the heart of this renowned wine producing region. Sonoma Valley is located in the much larger Sonoma County, which also includes the equally renowned Healdsburg region, the Alexander Valley, Russian River, and other well-known Appellations.

INTRODUCTION OF WINE

Introduction to Wine
What is wine?
Wine has been made for centuries from just a two simple ingredients: yeast and grape juice. Actually, just about any fruit juice can be used, but by far the majority of all wine is made from the juice of the grape.
How is wine made?
Yeast is the magical ingredient that turns grape juice into wine. Interestingly enough, there is actually wild yeast spores in the air and all that is really needed to make wine is an open container of grape juice and time. The result however, would probably not be the most palatable of beverages.
There are numerous strains of yeasts and the types used to make wine have been cultured just for this purpose. Well anyway, yeast is a living organism that feeds off of sugars in the grape juice in a process called fermentation.
During fermentation, yeast spores will reproduce exponentially until all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed. During this fermentation process, the sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
The yeast will also impart a taste to the finished wine depending on various factors such as the strain of yeast used, the temperature during fermentation and other factors.
Once all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed, the yeast will fall to the bottom of the container. The wine is removed from the container, leaving the yeast, and is trasferred to another container to mature while waiting to be bottled.
Of course, this whole process has been extremely simplified for a general understanding.