Today on Serious Grape: Thanksgiving Wine Etiquette

The holidays are upon us. Tomorrow, I go to the airport to pick up our first Thanksgiving guests. It's a high joy, high stress time of year. (photo by sarah)

There's no reason to let wine slip from the joy category to the stress category.

Today on Serious Grape, my weekly wine column on Serious Eats, I give hosts and guests a brief guide of what to do and what not to do when it comes to serving and gifting wine.

Basically, my advice is simple. If you are a host, keep it low-key. If you are a guest, try not to burden your hosts with sudden changes and demands like showing up with a half case of wine that needs to be chilled and announcing cheerfully that you thought this would go great with dinner.

The most important thing to remember? Enjoy yourself, and relax. It's a holiday, remember?

Tuscan Reds and the Benefits of Age

Italian red wines come in all shapes and sizes. They come big and bold, and they come in more manageable styles that are a bit shy. They come juicy and ready to drink RIGHT NOW. And they come needing some time in a cool, dark place to settle down and show their best.

But when it comes to Italian reds, I find that I like the ones that I've let sit in the cellar. And that goes double for the wines of Tuscany, which I'm focusing on in November and December. As as you can imagine, I'm not really talking about laying down expensive Brunellos and Super Tuscans here. I'm talking about pretty standard stuff, like Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, or even simple Chiantis.

Why do I let my Tuscans reds sit a bit longer than I would other wines? Something indescribable seems to happen to Sangiovese--the dominant red wine grape from the region--once it's been in the bottle a bit. It's aromas become what I describe as "heady" in that they go straight to the part of your brain that registers pleasure and you think, "wow, that smells so good." The flavors take on more and more spice, tobacco, and black tea nuances and the fruit steps back into the background.

I recently opened a bottle of 2004 Icario Rubi della Pietrose that I bought back in the middle of December 2007 from domaine547. It cost $17.99, and unfortunately they sold out of the wine about 8 months ago. You can still find it for around $20, but most shops are now stocking the 2005 vintage for between $17 and $23.

Drinking this wine reminded me of why I like to cellar these bottles--even for the short term of a year or two. I loved the traditional style of this blend of 70% Sangiovese, 20% Teroldego, and 10% Merlot. Thanks to that extra year in the bottle, it had pronounced aromas of violets, tar, and leather. These were followed up with well-developed, soft sour cherry, black tea, and meaty flavors, and there was a nice flowery aftertaste to connect the ending to the violet aromas at the beginning. This was a great bargain, and much better than many a Chianti at this price point. Excellent QPR.

A wine like this goes well with almost everything--including roast chicken, burgers and steaks, and of course pasta. We had it with a delicious saffron and sausage sauced pasta that cooks from start to finish in under an hour and which makes the whole house smell delicious. (Plus, you can sip your wine during the 40 minutes the sauce is cooking down.) The aromatic saffon in the sauce was nicely complemented by the floral notes in the wine, and the meaty cherry flavors went well with the sausage and tomatoes.

Sometimes we think that only the expensive stuff deserves time in the cellar. I'm going to be pulling some other bottles out of my closets and storage cupboards to see if how a little bit of age benefits other red wines that I bought a while back and have been meaning to drink. How about you? Which wines under $20 do you think benefit most from a year or two in the cellar?

"Market Corrections" and Fine Wine

After months of booming business in the fine wine trade, it looks like the wine markets are beginning to feel the effects of the world-wide financial crisis. (photo "at auction" by kflaim)

In late September, two of England's oldest and most distinguished fine wine operations--Berry Brothers and Rudd and Christie's--reported that they were on track to report record profits. The reason why was in part linked to high-rollers and investors looking for alternative places to park their assets to ride out the ups and downs of the stock markets. Christie's sold almost $3,000,000 in Burgundy and old Claret at auction in the space of a few days during this fall. That's a lot of fine wine.

Yesterday, however, Reuters reported that over recent weeks the prices of fine wines have been plunging. Many coveted labels saw 10-20% decreases, and wines that had been the darlings of Russian and Chinese investors were hardest hit.

What does this mean for GWU$20 drinkers? I think we might see these "market corrections" filtering down into wine stores near us in the next six months. Nothing will change immediately, but as the days go by and consumers continue to worry about their finances, demand for the pricier wines is going to soften and merchants are going to find themselves with stock on the shelves that they want to move. I'd keep my eyes out for $50+ wines dropping the most, with smaller decreases in the $20-$50 wines and very little difference in price among the wines you and I drink most.

However, if you've had your eye on some more expensive bottlings, you might be able to get good deals on them in 2009. Isn't it a good thing that you don't pay too much for wine in the normal course of things? You may actually be able to afford a little splurge come spring.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #51: Baked Goods

Today is the 51st Wine Blogging Wednesday. Today's theme was picked by the #1 Wine Dude Joe Roberts. He asked us to drink something "baked." What Joe meant by this was he wanted us to pick a wine that had been deliberately heated and oxidized (otherwise known as Madeirized after the classic Madeira wines from Portugal).

Wisely, Joe realized that these might be hard to locate. So he gave us the option of tasting Port or Sherry instead.

Because life is fairly nuts right now with relatives stopping by and the semester winding to a close, I decided to write today about rare sherries. I had the opportunity to taste some when I was a guest of Osborne in May, and one of the reasons I wanted to highlight them today is because they are not only great wines, they represent excellent QPR if you are looking for a single dessert wine that you can have on hand during the holidays and serve over several weeks without them going off or tasting stale.

The reason why this is possible is because they have been fortified with Brandy. This means that if you stopper them up and keep them in a cool dark place you can drink them over weeks, and in some cases months. It also means that they pack a serious punch, so tiny glasses are in order.

N.V. Osborne Rare Sherry Pedro Ximénez Viejo ($100)
Quite simply, this is the best wine I have ever tasted. It opened to a thick blackish brown. At first, I tasted coffee, dark chocolate, and burnt sugar. As it opened, there was an increasing lift of candied lemon and orange peel, some molasses, and even coconut oil. Every time you took a sip, it tasted different--but every sip was delicious.

N.V. Osborne Rare Sherry Solera BC 200 (sorry--couldn't find this anywhere!)
This sherry was drawn from the famous “ABC” solera. The “A” barrels were sold to the Tsar of Russia, leaving 200 “BC” barrels. If you can get your hands on some (lucky you!) you will smell aromas and taste flavors of citrus, toffee, and a little black tea and a brandied cherry aftertaste. This wine was complex, fine, and unforgettable.

N.V. Osborne Rare India Oloroso ($78-$90)
The wine in this bottling is an average of 35-50 years old. This wine was all about caramel aromas and flavors. I tasted not only caramels but sea salt, toast, and burnt sugar. Another fantastic wine.

N.V. Osborne Rare Sherry Palo Cortado Solera PAP ($100)
A stunning sweet wine, with candied orange and toffee aromas. The flavors were a bit less sweet than the aromas suggested, turning to orange marmalade and brown sugar. Dessert in a glass.

N.V. Osborne Sherry 1827 Sweet Sherry ($11-$24)
A budget-friendly and more widely available version of the rare wine listed first, this is nothing like what you would expect. It is coffee-colored, with molasses and cherry cola aromas and flavors. It's so syrupy that I believe the people who told me that they serve it over vanilla ice cream in place of chocolate syrup. Sounds like a perfect dessert to me!

For those of you who think I've lost my mind to label a $100 wine "excellent QPR," fear not. I haven't lost my mind. For $100, you get the perfect ending to every holiday meal from late November all the way through late December. And if you are looking for a special gift for a wine-loving friend? This is it. Those of you on tighter budgets (like me) can get their hands on that 1827 Sweet Sherry and a pint of Häagen-Dazs and check "desserts" off your to-do list.

Thanks to Joe for a great theme, and one that brought back many happy memories of my time in Spain this spring. As usual, I'll have the roundup and the theme for next month's WBW for you when they're available.

The Wines of Tuscany

Tuscany is probably the Italian wine region that is best known among American drinkers. Hundreds of raffia-covered fiascos (you know what I'm talking about--the bottles that you use for candle holders when the wine is all gone) have entered hundreds of homes all over the country. (picture by dottorpeni)

But there's more to Tuscan wine than just Chianti. For the last two months of 2008 I'll be focusing on the wines from this region. Why two months? There's just too much good wine to spend only one month exploring.

Tuscany is a region that is known for more than wine, of course. Home to the great poet Dante, its also the region where Pisa's "leaning tower" is located. Pisa is not the only town in the region with stunning architecture, as any visitor to Florence, San Gimignano, or Siena knows. Rolling hills, groves of olive trees, fields of sunflowers and vines, and old houses dot the landscape as well, making Tuscany a feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds. (photo by vigour)

And the grapes of Tuscany are just as diverse as the countryside where they're planted. There's Sangiovese, of course, but there's also rarer indigenous varieties like Toroldega, Vernaccia, and Canaiolo. And Tuscan vineyards have their fare share of international grapes in them like Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, and Cabernet Sauvignon, too. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are often blended with Sangiovese in the powerful red wines known as Super Tuscans that earn high scores from the wine magazines and command high prices in the wine shops. (photo by rayced)

Great wine demands great food, and as anyone who has been to Tuscany knows--these people can cook. Whether you're looking for a simple pasta dish with sauce made from butter and sage, a hearty soup thickened with bread and beans, grilled beef cooked to perfection as they do in Florence, or the small cookies made for dunking in your coffee or wine called cantucci, you can find a dish to suit you from among the region's traditional recipes. These dishes are perfect for winter temperatures and feeding large crowds at the holidays. Many of them are also either quick to prepare, or cook at low temperatures in the pot or oven so they are ideal for entertaining.

With so much to love about Tuscan food and wine, it seemed like the right moment to slow down and enjoy the end of the this year's wine journey through Italy. Those of you who have been following the series know that there are still regions I've not yet reached. So we'll pick up where we left off in January 2009 and continue to drink the wines from the remaining regions of Italy all through next year. (photo by davidanthonyporter)

I'll be back periodically over the next several weeks with tasting notes and food pairings for Tuscan wines. Yes, Chianti will be among them. So, too, will be Tuscan whites and a wine made with indigenous varieties. And the Tuscan wine theme will spill over into Serious Grape on Fridays as well, where I'll talk about Super Tuscans and compare the different levels of Chianti from the regular bottles to Chianti Classico and reserve wines. As always, I hope you will join in and share your Tuscan wine recommendations and experiences.