The Wine Curmudgeon

Wine terms: Room temperature

Americans drink red wine too warm and white wine too cold. As such, we have a difficult time tasting the wine the way it’s supposed to taste.

How can this be, you ask? Isn’t there one basic, simple wine rule left, and isn’t it that red wine should be served at room temperature and that white wine should be chilled?

Yes, but there is room temperature and there is room temperature.

Wine of the week: Segura Viudas Brut Rose NV

How much did the Wine Curmudgeon like this Segura Viudas? I went back to the store and bought a second bottle the next day.

This is classic cheap wine, as well as pretty good bubbly in its own right. It’s $10 and well made, balanced, bone dry and fruity, with an almost pinot noir berry-like flavor. Which is a neat trick, since it doesn’t have any pinot in it.

Segura Viudas is best known for its more expensive sparkler, the bottle with the pewter fittings (which is even more dry than this). It’s part of the Freixenet cava empire (cava being the term for Spanish sparkling wine), and I don’t know that I’ve had a Freixenet bubbly that didn’t have something to recommend it. Serve this on its own for holiday toasts or with seafood (lobster rolls would be terrific) or roast chicken.

Technorati Tags: sparkling wine,cava,Spanish wine,Segura Viudas,rose

Tuesday tidbits 49: Wine fraud, Aussie wine woes, wine scam?

• Wine fraud: Four British wine dealers who scammed Americans by selling them wines for “investment purposes” that turned out to be quite ordinary have been sentenced to as much as four years in jail. One of the investors spent one-half million dollars, reports Decanter. How many times has the Wine Curmudgeon said this? Wine is made to drink, not to buy and sell like real estate.

• Australian wine woes: The continuing shakeout in the Aussie wine business continues, with too many grapes and not enough water. Says one official: The industry “is in a catastrophic state, partly because of the drought, but the real issue is the oversupply. And that is impacting on everybody in all regions." What does this mean for U.S, consumers? Less cheap Australian wine, as wine producers and grape growers go out of business.

• Another wine scam? An English inventor claims to have devised a machine that can make ordinary wine taste like it’s a fine French or California vintage. The “secret,” besides a cost of more than $600, is ultrasound technology, which supposedly ages the wine in a matter of minutes. Maybe he should call the fellow who paid 500 grand for the cheap wine noted in the first item. What the inventor doesn’t say is that 90 percent of the wine in the world isn’t made to age, so making it “older” isn’t going to make it better. What it looks like he’s doing is aerating the wine; you can accomplish the same thing in a $20 blender.

Technorati Tags: Australian wine,wine fraud,wine aging,wine equipment

Wine drinkers like cheap wine

Yes, I know – one of those dog bites man headlines. But sometimes, in the wine business, not everyone gets the obvious.

Hence the headline, from this story: “"The consumer has definitely changed buying habits," says a buyer for a major American liquor chain. "They are buying wines, which is good for us, but they are being more careful. People don't need another $50 cabernet. What they need is a really good wine at $10."

Note to major American liquor chain: Look here. Sigh. How long has the Wine Curmudgeon been saying this? When can I get quoted as an expert?

Wine review: Loredona Viognier 2006

There is nothing wrong with the Loredona – it’s $10, and has pleasant honey and apricot flavors (though not much of a finish). Plus, it isn’t cloying in the way that some cheap, fruity wines are. It’s fine for porch sipping, as well as pairing with a fall-inspired jambalaya.

But what really made me notice the Loredona was that it’s just another in a line of quite well-made, inexpensive viogniers that I’ve tasted this year. They ranged from technical wines (a French term for grocery store wines ) like Smoking Loon to the various Texas viogniers that I have praised (Brennan, McPherson, Becker). Are winemakers discovering viognier is an interesting alternative to chardonnay, especially on the inexpensive side? I hope so, because these were some of the best cheap wines that I’ve had this year.

Technorati Tags: wine review,cheap wine,$10 wine,California wine,viognier,Loredona

Wine terms: Sweet vs. fruity

This is one of the most perplexing differences to many wine drinkers, experienced or not. They’ll confuse wine that is fruity, like sauvignon blanc or vigonier, with wine that is sweet, like riesling. In fact, there is a significant difference.

Wine of the week: Domain du Tariquet Côtes de Gascogne 2007

The French region of Gascony is famous for two things, foie gras and D'Artagnan, the Fourth Musketeer. The Wine Curmudgeon submits that a third item should be added –- great, cheap wine.

The Tariquet (about $10) is just another in a long line of terrific $10 wines from Gascony. These wines are made with grapes that are little known, like ugni blanc, or have bad reputations, like French colombard. But in the hands of a variety of Gascon winemakers, they become clean, crisp and refreshing, with a bit more fruit than other French white wines. The Tariquet has a lemony, floral aroma and a touch of lemon flavor (maybe even lemon zest), without any unpleasant minerality. This is cheap wine the way it should be. Serve it chilled on its own, or with seafood or something like chicken Caesar salad.

Technorati Tags: wine reviews,French wine,$10 wine,cheap wine,Domain du Tarriquet