blog.Cellarer

This film is the first in a series of eight by Neil Smith, owner of the WineSmith wine shop in Ashburn, Virginia. At the end of the video, you will have the opportunity to click to watch the next one.

Transcript

Neil Smith: Hi, my name is Neil Smith. I am the owner of a wine shop in Ashburn, Virginia called WineSmith. Today, I am going to give you a few points for how to pair wine confidently with food. We are going to cover some basic wine vocabulary to get us started and then I am going to give five simple rules for you to remember that as you plan your meals to pair wine with food. We are matching the weight of the wine with the food, complementing or contrasting wine flavors with the flavors and texture of the food, paying attention to sweetness and acidity in the wines, Dessert Wines and Sparkling Wines and then finally, practicing and experimenting often. But before we begin, it will be helpful to have a few items on hand to get the most out of this video. First is the Sparkling Wine, a dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc and then a full bodied red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon. For food items, something salty like popcorn or salted peanuts, some crackers, two types of cheeses - one soft and creamy like goat’s cheese and something else that’s a little bit harder and firmer like cow’s cheese, some barbeque sauce, plain grilled chicken strips, some cake donuts and some lemon wedges.

So before we begin, let me tell you a little bit about myself. Prior to opening this store one year ago, I spent over a year studying and tasting wines. Since we have opened, I have conducted several classes on wine basics and how to pair wine with food. So with that said, let’s get started on pairing wine with food and I hope you will take away lots of information from the video.

It often happens that you enjoy a wine with friends and a few days later you wish you had noticed its name. Because you would like to buy it but you did not pay attention to the label at the party.

Here is a general solution: don’t bother. You’ll taste other wines.

A winery has decided to take advantage of this recall impulse. Oxford Landing ships its South Australian Shiraz wine with a tear-off tab with all the useful information. When at the party you can peel the tab off the back label: the winery has very much increased its chance of you buying another bottle.

I heard about this idea from Ben Terrett. Here is the original post.

Classification System

Vinho regional (country wine), started in 1992, is the lowest quality level for a Portuguese wine (above vinho de mesa, the basic table wine).

Next up, the IPR (indicação de proveniência regulamentada) wines are those waiting in the queue to be given DOC (denominação de origem controlada) status, the highest of all.

There are now 19 DOC regions - including Madeira, Bairrada, Dão and Douro. Port has its own separate DOC. The term Garrafeira is sometimes still used to indicate a producer’s best wine. It can be used on the label of any quality wine with half a degree more alcohol than the minimum. In addition, reds require at least two years in tank or barrel and another one in bottle; the rare whites need six months each in barrel (or tank) and bottle. Reservas just need the extra half a degree alcohol but the term is increasingly used for premium bottlings.

Often Used Terms On Portugal Wine Labels

Adega - Originally a wine cellar or cave often used now to simply indicate a wine producer
Branco - A white wine.
Bruto - Dry sparkling wine.
Casta - Grape variety.
Casta predominante - Predominant grape variety.
Colheita - The year of vintage.
Engarrafado por - Bottled by.
Engarrafado na Origem or na Quinta - Estate bottled wine.
Engarrafado na Regiao - Bottled in the region of origin but not from any particular property or vineyard.
Carrafa - A wine bottle - meia-garrafa: a half-bottle.
Carrafao - A 5-liter jug of basic quality table wine.
Garrafeira Literally a wine cellar. But this is also a legal term indicating, for a red wine, lengthy aging in bulk (two years) and bottle (one year). White wines must be aged six months in bulk and six months in bottle before release. A garrafeira is a producer’s top wine. Its quality depends on the producer’s standards.
Quinta - A vineyard with a dwelling and vinification facilities. Roughly equivalent to the French term “chateau.”
Produzido por - Produced by.
Reserva - A reserve wine which has met certain legal requirements. The terms especial and partrcular added to this term have no legal definition; they are just embellishments.
Seco - Dry most often seen on white wine labels.
Meio-Seco - Half-dry - usually indicates an off-dry or slightly sweet Vinho Verde or sparkling wine.
Tinto - Red Wine.
Vinho - Wine.
Vinha - Vinevard.
Vinho Espumante - sparkling wine made by one of several natural methods, usually the classic methode champenoise.
Vinho Espumoso - Artificially carbonated sparkling wine.

Please come back in a month for an article on Portugal wine regions and varieties. You will see a notice in your feed reader if you subscribe to the RSS feed.

Most labels have the following information:

1. Name of winery

2. Appellation - Name
of the wine growing region.

3. Name of the vineyard(s)

4. Varietal name - If there is no varietal name, the wine is probably a blend (cuvee).
To be able to call a US wine by the vine grape variety, it must contain at least 75% of wine from that grape. Traditional wines from France, Italy, and Spain, use the place of origin instead of
the varieties.

5. Vintage - The year the grapes were grown. If there is no vintage, it is probably a mixture of wines made in different years.

Labeling laws and requirements will vary between countries.

Some labels have other technical data such as percentage of varietals if it is a blend, residual sugar, percentage alcohol, etc.

“Vieilles vignes”, “Vintner’s Reserve,” “Estate Reserve” or “Select”, etc. - Terms like these have no set (or legal) meaning, although within certain wineries these terms may have specific meaning.

Wine making information

• In the USA, “Cellared and Bottled By” means that the winery bought the wine and bottled it.
• “Made and Bottled By” means that the winery made at least 10% of the wine.
• “Produced and Bottled By” means that the winery made at least 75% of the wine.
• “Estate Bottled” means that the winery not only made 100% of the wine but also grew the grapes on land owned by the winery.
• Contains sulfites.