hmclain

Count me in! What should a foodie and wine-know who doesn't cook bring?

I'm 80% sure I can attend. I'll bring wine and an appetizer. Thanks for the gentle e-mail reminder!

I can't seem to find a topic on this, so here goes: any of our wine connoisseurs (or even sommeliers) have any advice on how to learn about wine. In my own case, I married well (in any number of ways, including wine): my father-in-law is very into burgundy, keeping us well stocked with the burgundy he collects throughout the year and on his annual visits to Burgundy. But with considerable embarrassment, I'll admit to knowing little about what I'm drinking other than that it costs more than I'd normally spend of my own money on wine. I've asked my father-in-law to teach me, but well, he's my father-in-law so he tends to grunt and toss me a couple of books. I've tried to make sense of those books, but they seem to do little more than point out who the various producers are and how many acres of grapes they have.

So, how can I become a better wine consumer? I know the answer is probably to just taste, taste, and taste some more. But what am I tasting for? I can tell good wine (burgundy at home) from bad wine (crapola at work), but I feel like there must be more to it than that. To be clear, I'm not just talking about burgundy, but rather in general, any advice on how to get started in understanding wine better? I've heard mixed things about various classes around town. Perhaps we could have a virtual class at dr? Any advice and thoughts would be appreciated.

You are welcome to e-mail me privately at heidi@toyourtastekit.com If you would like to learn about my product, the To Your Taste! Wine Party Kit. I've been working for over four years on this product that is designed to help wine consumers, especially wine novices, what they don't know that they don't know about wine.

Thanks! I joined the group, and now I just have to find out where they meet...

I've been told by several wine-knows that the longest-running wine-tasting group meets every Tuesday at a church somewhere near the German Embassy. I'd like to attend, but I can't find any further information about these tastings. Can anybody help me with this? Thanks!

You liked the Castle Rock Pinot Noir because it probably has up to 20% Syrah in it. This is a trick California producers are using 1-to get more people like you who think Pinot Noir is too light to drink it and 2-to be able to produce and sell more "Pinot Noir." There is a shortage of good Pinot Noir fruit in California (the only thing about Sideways that I don't like is that it made good Pinot Noir more expensive and harder to get), so some producers add Syrah to stretch their production.

According to Jean Lenoir of Le Nez du Vin, "soapiness" is a flaw that can occur in wine and fortified wine. "Some fatty acids produced by yeast during vinifcation ca turn up in the wine as salts: these are called "soaps." Caprylic acid salt (decanoic acid), is a good indicator of the soapy taste that can sometimes be perceived in wines, especially white wines, as soon as they are casked." I had a bottle of Martel Cognac VSOP a long time ago that tasted soapy to me. To this day I can't drink Martel.

There is a problem with most wine consumers and many wine professionals. They don't know about all the different flaws that can occur in a bottle of wine, and they certainly don't know how to recognize the various flaws. To remedy this, I'm developing a wine party kit that includes a game to help learn how to detect a flawed bottle of wine. Contact me directly if you'd like to learn more.