Making an Educated Guess

Exciting news! After much career and financial deliberation, I’m now a full-time law student.

This information is relevant for this blog post in particular for two reasons.

First, the elephant in the room: I’ve been M.I.A. from the blogosphere for quite awhile. Apparently, transitioning back to school after working in a full-time, internationally-traveling position is time-consuming. Certain hobbies inevitably take a seat on the sidelines when there are other, greater priorities to focus on – like studying for the LSAT in between work trips to Germany. Or transitioning projects over to colleagues who will be replacing me after I leave.

With all that going on, visiting wineries every other weekend during the summer months to reach my 5-year goal have therefore been put on standby and more often simply bumped from the flight altogether.

Secondly, not having a paycheck really puts a damper on *this* savvy consumer’s weekly wine budget. Correction. My ANNUAL budget. My wine expenditures have scaled back beyond government furlough levels. Now, instead of stopping off at the local wine bar after a rough day at work, it’s Angela, Party of One, dining in and rationing my wine cabinet provisions like it’s 1942. Spending $23.99 on a bottle of wine is just not that likely, now that I’m more accustomed to trolling the streets for back alley deal spots where I can flash my fancy, new student ID for discounts.

Despite both of those excuses, today I’m back, returning to the word press as the proud owner of a $20+ bottle of wine…and not just any bottle of wine—a bottle that I’ve been hunting down for months.

Meet Roots Run Deep’s “Educated Guess” Cabernet Sauvignon. (Their website, in cause you’re curious.)

If only law school exams were this easy…

We’ve only met recently, but I have been searching (or prowling, if you’d like to be specific) for this wine for a few months; a search that started quite randomly when a friend and wine novice made the tongue-in-cheek comment about making an “educated guess” on her wine selection while at dinner one night. Considering my impending start of a mentally taxing period of my life where I’m sure I’ll be making plenty of educated guesses on exams, I’m quite fond of this wine even before having tried it.

My friend and I often joke about finding ourselves in a restaurant or wine store and scratching our heads over selecting the “right” bottle of wine for a meal or the “best” bottle for the price. Sure, good wines can be affordable. Even great wines can be affordable… But what could make a wine both truly great and affordable? As mentioned in their YouTube video, their motto is: “truly great wines can be affordable.” Granted, anything over $10 at this point brings my wallet one step closer to foreclosure, but Roots Run Deep has a unique production process that peaked my curiosity.

The marketing (it’s creative). The science (it’s geeky). The extraction process (it’s innovative). Plus, one of the formulas on the “educated guess” label is from Virginia Tech research (Go Hokies!). Love it. Can’t wait to try it.

‘Tis The Season (for Mulled Wine)

As the holiday season approaches, one of the popular items you’ll find at winery gift shops are the little packages of spices for making mulled wine. In fact, you may have already seen them – the cute little brown sacks all tied off with some twine, complete with a custom bottle cork to help the little packet float in the mulled wine mixture.

 

Quite honestly, you can find them everywhere.

Practically every winery I’ve ever visited sells them, Amazon.com offers them in bulk, and if you’ve visited World Market recently, you’ve probably even seen a more elegantly-wrapped mulling spice bag that just begs to be sniffed all the way to the cash register.

The endless availability of spice bags heralds the holiday season and long-standing tradition for enjoying mulled wine that people have enjoyed around the globe for hundreds of years during the winter season. Mulled wine is essentially simply a red wine served either hot or warm, and recipe variations most commonly include spices like cinnamon, cloves, sugar, and other additions like orange peel, vanilla, ginger, or cardamom.

While in Turkey last year, I tasted some Sıcak Şarap that had hints of lemon, orange, and sugar added. Once, when visiting a friend in Hungary, we enjoyed her host mother’s forralt bor that was spiced with cloves and cinnamon. Since my ancestry is German, I get a particularly giddy each winter at the prospect of entertaining guests with batches of steaming, hot Glühwein, just like you’d find it at the Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) in Germany.

Glühwein and Bratwurst? A Christmas Market dream!

Travel Tip:

If you ever have the opportunity to visit a German Weinachtsmarkt and try a mug of Glühwein, try it “mit Schuss,” which means “with a shot” …of rum (or some other liquor)!

Now that I’ve peaked your interest with that delicious thought, for your holiday cooking pleasure, I’ve included some simple directions for Glühwein below, both in German and English, in case you’d like to impress your friends with your authentic and delicious recipe!

 

Glühwein Rezept

(English recipe below) 

Zutaten (für zwei bis drei Personen)

• eine Flasche trockener Rotwein (750 ml)
• eine Zitrone
• 2 Stangen Zimt
• 3 Esslöffel Zucker
• 3 Gewürznelken
• etwas Kardamom (oder Ingwer)

Zubereitung

Den Rotwein in einem Topf erhitzen (nicht kochen). Die Zitrone in Scheiben schneiden und hinzufügen. Dann Zimt, Nelken, Zucker und etwas Kardamom (nach belieben) dazugeben. Alles etwa 5 Minuten erwärmen – nicht kochen – und etwa eine Stunde ziehen lassen. Vor dem Servieren nochmals erwärmen, durch ein Sieb abgießen, in vorgewärmten Gläsern oder Bechern servieren.

 

German Glühwein (English Instructions)

Ingredients (serves 2-3 persons)

• 1 bottle of dry red wine (750 ml)
• one lemon
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 cloves
• some cardamom (or ginger)

Directions
Heat the red wine in a pot (don’t let it boil). Cut the lemon into slices and add to the wine. Then add the cinnamon, cloves, sugar and a little cardamom (to taste). Heat everything for approximately 5 minutes – again, do not boil, and let the mixture stand for about an hour. Reheat and strain before serving. Serve in pre-warmed glasses or mugs. (Oh, and for a little festivity… make a second batch mit Schuss!

If You Give A Cat A Wine Blog…

If there are two things this world has an abundance of, it’s vineyards and cats.

Last year at Stonefield Cellars I met Noah the Cat, the vineyard’s “Official Greeter” and namesake of Stonefield’s Gato Merlot. Then there’s Red Cat, the fruity, affordable wine from New York that seems to have a high popularity simply because, well, cats are everywhere.  They’re on YouTube playing instruments, taking flight, making their way into space, and even running for political office in Virginia.

I’ve even recently received a request from a friend to change the name of my wine blog to “Wine Katz,” though Congress is not in session for that vote.

Then again, Cindy the Cat’s expert opinion on all things wine-related might just be what this blog needs to gain some prestige and notoriety…

Strangely enough, neither the subject of wine nor cats seem to continue ad nauseam. Despite the heated debates, people still love to carry on about both. While I’m sure some people would shake their heads and emphatically disagree over whether a cat is methodically planning to kill you with its soul-sucking, laser beam eyes or if it’s simply an independent and sophisticated domestic pet, is it any different from the vehement analysis over wine’s flavor and value?  The correlation in subjectivity between both subjects is intriguing.

Subjectivity. The creators of Freakonomics addressed this very issue in one of their recent podcasts: “The Days of Wine and Mouses.” As the episode examines:

When you take a sip of Cabernet, what are you tasting? The grape? The tannins? The oak barrel? Or is it the price?

The researchers offer an interesting and thought-provoking perspective, but instead of rehashing their findings, I’d encourage you to listen to the podcast for yourself. You can download it here.

The only thought I’d add is that perhaps the answer to subjectivity simply lies in the fact that people love to disagree. If variety is the spice of life, then wine and cats alike will continue to be tasty topics of conversation.

Fancy!

Garden Gate Vineyards

Next on the list: Garden Gate Vineyards.

For today’s visit, it’s hot. Incredibly hot. Unbearably humid. If it weren’t for the passenger-side air conditioning continuously blowing in my direction as we drive past tiny, country roads with names like “Friendship Court” and “Country Home Road” to Garden Gate Vineyards, I’d be suggesting we save this visit for another day. After all, it is another vineyard producing Scuppernong and Muscadine wines. After this year’s Salute! NC Wine Festival in Winston Salem (or, as I like to call it: “The Acetone Fest”), I’m over Scuppernog and Muscadines alike.  The thought of reviewing so many vineyards makes me weary and tempts me to move to somewhere like the Finger Lakes, where wines don’t remind me so much of nail polish remover (case in point, refer to a Google search result on Muscadines below).

Look, all I’m saying is, when THIS is what pops up as a top hit in a Google search for information on Muscadine wines, it’s not a good sign for Muscadine wine producers.

Nail polish remover. Ugh.

As my friends and I reluctantly walk in toward the small, wooden building situated next to a newly built arbor and a small plot of grape vines, I’m already having a mental debate with myself about how to objectively review Garden Gate Vineyards when I’m preparing myself to test fate by drinking something that smells like acetone… again.

I take it all in. The outdoor arbor is admittedly cute, and I’m sure I’d enjoy a picnic there (if it weren’t so hot outside, of course).

…and presuming the wines don’t taste like nail polish remover…

We step inside.

…please, let the wines be tolerable…

I look around. Inside the little room is a wine tasting bar to our left. To the right, a display of “Sonya’s Ceramics” and pottery, as advertised by the vineyard’s website, is displayed across a few wooden bookshelves. The winemaker’s wife, Sonya, makes the pottery and bakes the mini-bread loaves for each tasting.  She also crafted the ceramics counter tops at the tasting bar.

…and the ceramics on the ceiling.

At Garden Gate Vineyards, grape vines meet clay pottery.

…which is at least a step up from when grapes met claymation in the early 80’s.

As we each grab seats at the tasting bar, both the winemaker and his wife make their way across the room to cordially greet us. Although the wines are served in medicinal shot glasses, each group of tasters is offered a charming loaf of white bread to accompany the mini-sips of wine.

First sip: the Scarlet Blush – a Merlot blend. So far, so good… Even though we’re starting with the “dry” wines, I’m still expecting a sweeter start. Scarlet Blush surprises on that score.

Next sip: the Raspberry, where I find the sweetness I’m both anticipating and dreading. The dominant trait? Raspberry. Same thing with the Blueberry, the Blackberry, and the Strawberry. It seems as if Garden Gate Vineyards has dominated their wine selection with fruit-forward infusions of berry sweetness and either masked or mastered the tell-tale problems typical of high acetic acid levels.

As we’ve already established, I’m not a Scuppernog or Muscadine type of person, but perhaps the real problem is that I haven’t encountered a winemaker who properly knows how to use the grapes without the high levels of acid reminiscent of acetone.  Garden Gate’s wines, however, exhibit bold, fruity flavors. Not to mention, they don’t use pesticides on their grapes, which is a welcome change to my persnickety, organic preferences!

Overall? Garden Gate Vineyards is an encouragement to my anti-Scuppernog sentiments.  The vineyard may be small and off the beaten path, but the owners put a lot of personalized flavor into the quaint, little plot of land. It’s got a ‘homey’ touch you don’t find everywhere.  Plus, their wines were extremely flavorful… if you like that overpowering, sweet fruitiness that is beyond my taste bud tolerance but within the range of a well-made Scuppernog wine

 

 

 

Must Try:

• Sweet Raspberry – While sporting one of the more commonplace names (compared to “Jitterbug,” “Loopy Lemonaide,” or “Dragonfly Wassail”), the Sweet Raspberry is extremely flavorful.
• Loopy Lemonaide – Yes, it really does taste (and smell) like a Dreamcicle orange popcicle.
• The homemade jelly. Prepped with Muscadine grapes, the jams, like the wines, are very fruit-forward.

 

 

 

How does this winery compare?

Some Wine…Somewhere

Cruising down the interstate with too much work on my plate… I think Blake Shelton’s got it right:

Some foreign car drivin’ dude with the road rage attitude
Pulled up beside me talkin’ on his cell phone
He started yelling at me like I did something wrong
He flipped me the bird an’ then he was gone

Some beach…
Somewhere

I’ve experienced plenty of such situations during my plethora of hours as a Road Warrior. Unlike Blake Shelton, however, who turns his thoughts to some beach (somewhere), a long-standing and irreparable case of ichthyophobia separates me from that particular desire, and so I instead often find myself scanning my GPS’ “Places and Attractions” database in hopes of stumbling across a winery at which I could conveniently pull-over after a particularly obnoxious encounter or a long day’s drive.

Some wine
Somewhere

All possible DUI implications aside, I would be perfectly OK if roadside truck stops and firework emporiums were converted to wineries.

Seriously?

(Calming thoughts. Just think calming thoughts.)

A Small Hiatus

I know, I know. It’s been awhile.

You, casual reader, may not have been wondering why I haven’t posted in awhile, but the thought certainly has crossed my mind — and much more often than the once in a blue moon transit of Venus, if you’ll pardon the geeky head nod to the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view Venus’ final trek across the face of the sun…er, a twice-in-a-lifetime event if you were fortunate enough to catch Venus’ passing back in 2004. If you missed it this year though, you’re really out of luck, because it’s not going to happen again until 2117!

But I digress.

On the subject of my 2012 wine goals, I’m chomping at the bit here. Alas, due to some unrelated (and thankfully) temporary diet restrictions, my winery visits have been notable reduced to null.

I’m not M.I.A., I promise. (But if I were…)

Soon, very soon, we’ll be back in business. Until then, feel free to occupy your time elsewhere.  Perhaps you can even find a way to safely view Venus’ epic transit.

H(App)y New Year!

It’s a new year, and with it came a new phone… an iPhone.  Yes, my BlackBerry finally went the way of Old Yeller, but I’m really not that upset about it, especially now that I’ve discovered one of my new favorate Apps that would have never been possible to use on The BlackBerry That Was.

The App? Wine Notes.

Wine Notes is a free App that lets you track, rate, and share wines. I’m thinking this could be an excessively handy (and addicting) tool for the plethora of wines that I plan to be tasting in the year(s) to come. So far, my only complaint about this app is the growing urge I have to go back and re-trace my steps from previous wine tastings to enter all the wines I’ve ever sipped to truly make my library complete. Tempting. So tempting.  That’s a dilemma I’ll have to deal with later.

In the meantime, the App allows you to scan wine bottle barcodes, take pictures, and fill in information from the wine — everything ranging from the producer, price, alcohol content, color, and acidity / tannin / sweetness of the wine.

...and you, Wine Notes App, shall become my Wikipedia of Wines.

You can sync your description with a Wine Notes online account or email your review to curious friends who perhaps missed out on the wine tasting because they were “washing their hair.” Such an excuse could previously have gone unnoticed, but now thanks to the Wine Notes App, you’ll be able to let them know exactly how much fun they missed — on a scale of 1 to 10. Add in your location, post your review to Twitter, and done.  It’s fantastic.

My personal favorite feature is the flavor section, where you can tap various images to highlight applicable wine tastes.  Oaky wine? CHECK.  Hints of plums? CHECK.

This makes me happy.

I’m admittedly tempted to drink more, just so I have more opportunities to play with this App.  Any takers?

Vino for Veggie Dishes

Wine pairings for me have always been a matter of determining reds or whites based on my food selection and more specifically, my meat selection: steaks, meaty pastas, chicken, or fish.  While I have never been a huge carnivore, when it comes to a home-cooked meal (especially when guests are involved), I still try to incorporate a savory meat option wherever possible.

Up until recently, wine pairings have been easy decisions: red wine goes with red meat and white wine goes with chicken or fish.   But how do I choose a wine when my meal doesn’t include any of those options?  The question presented itself to me earlier this week at my company’s Christmas party as I browsed the pre-selected menu options. The vegetable platter sounded just as appealing, if not more so, than some of the pasta or fish selections I was considering. Trying to make a quick decision before the waitress rounded the table corner to take my drink order, I quickly realized that if I chose the veggie plate, I’d face the tough decision of what type of wine to pair with my main course.

Now what?

Despite my anxiety attack, a question briefly crossed my mind: is it really tougher to decide what to pair with vegetable plates, vegan dishes, or rabbit food platters?

The obvious answer should be ‘no,’ but when the quick mental reference guide pairs “white with white” and “red with red,” dishes of leafy greens or savory ‘shrooms do pose a conundrum.

The solution? Pair wines by food flavor, not  by color.

If there’s anything I’ve learned over these past months, it’s that the flavor of a dish matters more than its color. True, while “red with red” and “white with white” pairing mantra works as a general rule of thumb, wines are meant to enhance the flavor of the food – and vice versa.

With meat dishes, it’s not necessarily just the meat dictating the wine selection.  The spices, flavor accents, and intensity of the meal all contribute to the selection.  For example, a pasta dish with a tomato base will be high in acid, so a spicy red wine would offset the acid.  The same principle applies for vegetarian or vegan dishes.

Below are some examples:

Veggie Dish: Acidic vegetables, ex: tomatoes

Vino Pairing: Spicy or peppery reds, like a Pinot Noir

Why?  For the same reason that a spicy sausage course pairs well with tomatoes or tomato sauces, red wines with peppery or bold, spicy flavors will compliment the dish.  Don’t go too full-bodied, though, as too robust of a wine like a shiraz or cabernet sauvignon is often high in tannins that will overpower the vegetable flavors.

Veggie Dish: Shiitake or Portobello mushrooms

Vino Pairing: Earthy red wines

Why?  Red wines described as “earthy” have a bouquet rich in woody smells, clean soil, and therefore compliment ground truffle dishes.

Veggie Dish: Asparagus, artichokes, peas, or green herbs

Vino Pairing: white wines with dry, herbal, grassy aromas, such as a Sauvignon Blanc

Why?  Green, leafy vegetables are naturally complimented by herbal wines. Also, asparagus and artichokes both contain cynarin, an acid that inhibits certain taste receptors, making food and drinks seem sweeter than they really are, so a dry wine will offset that flavor inhibiting effect.

Veggie Dish: Butter-flavored or olive-oil dipped dishes, such as mushrooms, green beans, or broccoli

Vino Pairing: Chardonnay

Why? Sautéed dishes pair well with oaky, buttery wines, because the “oaky” flavor of wines are a result of new oak barrels that leave a toasty flavor on the wine.

It might seem slightly more difficult to pair vino with veggies, especially when many wine makers mark their bottle labels with pairing suggestions for meat dishes.  However, simply focus on the flavor at hand to make your selection and enjoy!

Pinterest: The Brainstorming-Gift to Holiday Wine Tasting Parties!

Hosting an upcoming wine tasting party and need some ideas?  Regardless of all the hype, I recommend Pinterest to brainstorm some decorating, themes, and activities.

Whether it’s wine cork place cards, Christmas tree decorations, Wine Tasting Score Cards,  decorative uses for old wine bottles, or chalk-painted wine glasses, there are plenty of great ideas to share!

Great DIY chalkboard wine glass idea from Pinterest

Chalkboard wine glasses?  Pay $19.95 per glass at Chalkboard China or learn how to do it yourself (DIY) on via a tagged post on Pinterest from the Always Order Dessert blog site.

More Pinterest.com inspirations

…and just in case you’re wondering if your guests will love your ideas, yes, they will.  Ryan Gosling will, too.

I knew it.