Summer is winding down — although it’s still plenty hot, here in the desert — and I am gladly using up all my white wines and getting back to my favorite reds. The other night I was having fish for dinner and opening my wine cabinet took out one of the few whites left — Menage a’ Trois. I don’t even remember buying it, but their wines are decent everyday wines and (as the name implies) a blend of three wines. The fish came out of the oven, the green beans were done and the rice was pretty well ready — maybe a little on the crunchy side. Fish is not my favorite food, but this was pretty decent. I reached for my wine glass and took a sip. Now I’m guessing this has happened to you at some point. You have your mouth set for something and then you taste something else?… Read More »
Think White
QUICK … name as many white wines as you can think of in the next two minutes. I just joined American Wine Society (AWS) which keeps me in the loop of wine tastings here in Las Vegas with a bunch of really nice people. They also sent me a membership card which entitles me to discounts at … ah, I forget. But here’s something really fun — they have a magazine. I love reading about wine! When I took wine classes, I took the textbooks to bed with me. I highlighted and underlined and put little Post-it arrows on the pages. What fun! Man, who ever knew this stuff? How much of do I remember? Not much. But it was fun reading about it and I do use the books for reference constantly. So last night I took my new AWS magazine to bed and started reading about hybrids in the 21st Century. The first unfamiliar name… Read More »
Wine is not Soda Pop!
Awhile back my friend Valerie told me she was going to have to give up white wine. “Why would you do that?” I asked. Valerie likes white wine, especially Chardonnay, an issue on which we don’t see eye-to-eye. White wine does have a place in the universe, such as on a warm summer evening paired with oysters or crab salad, but overall it is not my beverage of choice. Nevertheless, I try to give it a fair shake. At wine tastings I always try a little. Well, almost always. But when the reds are opened, I take a deep breath and feel a wonderful frisson of excitement. I inhale the delicious aroma of a deep, rich wine, and I am instantly happy. Valerie admitted she would never give up whites entirely, but she explained the reason for approaching them sparingly: “White wine goes down too easily. I can drink half a bottle before I even realize it.” Okay, I will… Read More »
