A "Great Wine" Book

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One of my favorite books/reference guides on wine tasting is Great Wine Made Simple by Master Sommelier, Andrea Immer. She breaks down wine tasting into basic steps that anyone can follow. I use this book on a regular basis to learn about new wines, and to also test my skills on some of my favorites. This book is a great introduction to the world of wine!

You can find it on amazon for $15, (http://www.amazon.com/Great-Wine-Made-Simple-ebook/dp/B00486UEYO). There is also an ebook version available as well for $15.

Cooking with Wine

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My cousin asked me what dry wines she can cook with, so I thought I would share my answer with all of you.

 

Dry basically means that the wine is not very fruit forward and doesn't have a lot of sugar in it. If you get a wine that is too sweet, buttery, or creamy, it can take a away from the flavors of the food. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, you want the wine to "compliment" the food, not overpower it.

 

For those of us on a strict budget, the best thing to use is the cooking wines from the grocery store. Yes, you do not get the full flavors and alcohol that "regular" wines have, but it gets the job done!

If you are looking for a good dry white wine to cook with, go with a wine that has not been aged in oak such as a Sauvingnon Blanc or a steel barrel aged Chardonnay. For a red, you will want to do a Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec. Those two wines are usually very dry and do not have a lot of sweet fruit flavors in them.

Wine with Sweet Foods

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Desserts, or foods that are very sweet, can only be paired with wines that can stand up to that sweetness. The wine must be sweeter than the food, or else the wine will lose all of its flavors. On the other hand, if the wine overpowers the food, then serve the wine by itself.  (Example, vanilla ice cream would probably be best served alone). My favorite pairing is a bittersweet dark chocolate bar with a Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins from the wine help balance out the bitterness of the chocolate, while the fruit flavors of the wine help bring out the sweetness of the chocolate.

A great tasting activity is to get a piece of white, milk, and dark chocolate, and try a few wines with each. Write down what you love and hate about each pairing. Who knows, maybe your new favorite pairing will be a Ruby Port with milk chocolate covered almonds.

A Fantastic Super Tuscan

My husband is a huge fan of Italian wines, so it was no surprise that I came home to find him pouring a bottle of red from Tuscany yesterday.

Photo Courtesy of www.argonautliquor.com

Marchesi Torrigiani - Torre Di Ciardo (2006) $16: This Estate Bottled wine comes from the Tuscany region of Italy. It can be called a "Super Tuscan" because the informing, or main grape in the wine is a Sangiovese, (75%). The other two grapes in this wine are Canaiolo and Merlot. It has a beautiful dark red color to it, and an earthy and berry bouquet. It tastes of spice and blackberries, with a hint of vanilla. It does have soft tannins, but the finish is smooth. (http://www.marchesitorrigiani.it/torre_di_ciardo.html).

We had this wine with parmesan chicken, and pasta with a robust marinara sauce, (of course!).

A Great App for Taking Notes on Wine

The Wine Spectator App was a big hit, so I thought I would share another app with you. 

Photo Courtesy of http://winenotesapp.com/

Wine Notes is an awesome app that allows you to take notes on wines you find, keep track of the wines, and even share the wines you find with other fellow wine lovers. http://winenotesapp.com/

Wine Notes doesn't let you forget a single fact about the wine. Each note is separated into different categories, allowing you to search for a wine you noted based on one category alone (i.e. flavors, or producers).

Let me know what you think!

Also, I'd love to hear from you on what you want to know more about! Please email me, or hit me up on one of the social networking sites. 

Virginia is for (Wine) Lovers

Photo Courtesy of www.virginiawine.org

Virginia is home to many great wineries. I have had the pleasure of visiting these wineries as my in-laws live right in the heart of Virginia wine county. While I believe that their wines cannot rival  the wines of California, I do think that in a few years time, we will see some fabulous wines coming out of Virginia. If you happen to live in the state or are traveling there sometime soon, a great website to check out is http://www.virginiawine.org/wineries. This website lists all the wineries in Virginia! I've highlighted a couple of my favorite wines from my travels:


Horton Vineyards Stonecastle Red (2008) $12: This is a light bodied and balanced red wine. It has a deep purple red color, and smells of raspberries. It has dark fruit tastes, with a soft, tannic finish. (http://hortonwine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=53). This wine would go great with dark chocolate and red meats.



King Family Vineyards Cabernet Franc (2010) $22.95: Cabernet Francs are a great, earthy wine. This has berry fruit and spice notes on the bouquet. It was aged in oak, so it has that vanilla flavor and tannic feel in the mouth. (http://www.kingfamilyvineyards.com/Admin/ProductDisplay3.php). This wine would go well with grilled meats and vegetables.

A Cool Wine App for the Tech Geeks

Photo courtesy of www.winespectator.com

I absolutely love my wine apps for my phone. Instead of carrying around a notepad all the time or getting on Google to look up a wine fact, I can just go to an app to make a note about a wine.

 One of the apps I want to introduce you to is the Wine Spectator Vintage Chart. Have you ever bought a bottle of wine, opened it, drank it, then realized that it tasted completely wrong? Well, Wine Spectator has compiled a chart of wine vintages to tell you which ones are ready to drink now, and which ones you should hold on to for a while. They also give you a description of the wine based on the year and region. This is a fabulous app!

http://apps.winespectator.com/vintagechart.php