Wine Gift Ideas

Even though Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us, it is still a while before Christmas. Are you looking for some gift ideas for the oenophile on your nice list? Or are you the oenophile on your nice list? Let me share some of my favorite wine things. Hopefully they will inspire more ideas, whether you are going for the style, the sparkle, the splurge, or something else.

The Style

Be it going to a restaurant or to a party, every wine lover needs a good tote to carry that special bottle for the occasion. I have owned and lost several single-bottle wine totes over the years. Then my friend gifted me with this stylish two-bottle insulated wine cooler bag made by Legacy. I love the the elegant design of earth-toned cotton canvas and faux leather as well as the luxurious feel to it.

Legacy Two-Bottle Wine Tote

This tote must be bound to me by some magic spell because I have not lost it. Truthfully, it could simply be the fact that it is bigger compared to the single-bottle collapsible totes I used to own. I often carry my water bottle in the second compartment so that I can stay hydrated at any time. You will find many cute wine totes in the market. Select the size and style that fit your favorite oenophile and your budget.

The Sparkle

I love the sparkle of wine glasses and own a modest collection. For dessert wine or just little taste, I have small Waterford Lismore lookalikes and straight narrow bowl stemwares. For Champagne and other bubblies, there are flutes, coupes, and tulip wine glasses. Last but not least, I own stem and stemless glasses of various sizes for red, white, and rosé.

My wine glass collection

Does the shape or size of the wine glass matter? I think it does to some extent. For example, stemware lets you to hold the glass in a way that does not impart body heat to the wine. The bigger bowl in red wine glasses allows the wine to swirl and breathe, and the narrower rim directs the aroma to your nose as you sip the wine. As for sparkling wine, you get to admire the strings of bubbles traveling the length of the flute or spreading out in tiny bursts on the surface of a coupe. Pick something from the vast selection and enhance your oenophile’s wine sipping experience.

The Splurge

If you are going for the splurge, the Coravin wine preservation system is an excellent gift for the serious wine collector… if he or she doesn’t own one already. Coravin allows you to extract wine from the bottle without removing the cork. A hollow needle is inserted into the cork and pumps argon into the bottle to draw out the wine. The inert gas then displaces the space left behind. Unlike oxygen that will oxidize and age the wine, argon is non-reactive. The cork then reseals from the needle hole naturally.

My Coravin preservation system

With a three-figure price tag, Coravin is a great accessory for that respectable cellar. A wine connoisseur is often curious about how a special bottle of wine will evolve over time. You can buy several bottles of the same wine and open a bottle every year or you can just buy one bottle and taste it via Coravin over a few years. Or perhaps your wine connoisseur fancies a glass from a particular wine but not the entire bottle. Coravin is perfect for that too. 

My Verdict: Whether you are gifting a casual wine lover or a serious wine connoisseur, I hope this list of my favorite wine things will generate more ideas. But more precious than all these is the gift of friendship and the joy of sharing a treasured bottle together. Cheers to you and yours this holiday season!

Upcycle that Wine!

Do you have a bottle of wine that doesn’t meet your expectation? In my case (pun intended), I have a dozen from my own vintage with high volatile acidity (VA). As you contemplate drinking or draining the wine, may I suggest you upcycle it! Here are a few of my tried and true tricks with upcycling sub-par wine:

1. Cook With It

You hear celebrity chefs telling you to only cook with wine that you will drink. That makes sense if you enjoy drinking the same wine as you are cooking. Personally I keep my cooking wine and drinking wine separated. In fact, I almost always cook with wine that I don’t want to drink. In my experience, cooking with a sub-par wine does not detract from the dish. I'm convinced that no one can tell the difference. 

Bolognese by Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash

The trick is to add it to dishes where wine is used to enhance the flavor but is not the star of the show. Some of my favorites are bolognese, Coq au Vin, and braised briskets/short ribs/fill in the blank meat. I would not, however, use it to make wine poached pears.

2. Whip Up Some Sangria

Originated from Spain and Portugal, sangria is a cocktail of wine and chopped or sliced fruit, oftentimes topped with a liquor. Sangria is especially popular in the summer as it takes advantage of the fruit in season. The flavors of sangria vary widely, ranging from dry to sweet and depending on the fruit of choice. But you can always count on it to be refreshing.

Sangria by Frank Zhang on Unsplash

Sangria can be made with red wine or white wine; the latter is known as Sangria Blanca. In either version, load a flask up with citrus fruit (oranges and lemons), stone fruit (peaches and nectarines), or even berries, apples or pineapples. Pour a bottle of your favorite sub-par wine in and add some liquor. Most people use brandy. I have used Grand Marnier, rum, fruit schnapps or even port. Sweeten it with sugar or syrup to your taste. Top the flask with ice, stir, and refrigerate for a couple of hours for the flavors to meld together before serving.

3. Mull Some Glühwein

As fall turns into winter, nothing warms the body and the soul like a comforting mug of Glühwein or German mulled wine. In fact, I have just made a couple batches of Glühwein for Halloween. Mulled wine is made by steeping spices in a blend of wine, oranges, and sugar over very low heat so as not to burn the alcohol away. Mulling spices may consist of cloves, star anise, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, mace, or allspice. They are highly aromatic, comforting, and warm.

Glühwein by Hannah Pemberton on Unsplash

While Glühwein is considered German, different versions of mulled wine, known by different names, can be found all over Europe in the winter. If you like an extra punch, add a shot of liquor to your mulled wine. Popular choices include rum, brandy, vodka, and whiskey.

My Verdict: These are three fool-proof ways that I have personally used to upcycle my sub-par wine. One caveat - I would not use wine with cork taint for Sangria and Glühwein. I may cook with it in small amounts. How would you upcycle your wine?

Somm Blinders - Blind Tasting for the Rest of Us

If you are a wine geek, you are probably familiar with the 2012 documentary, Somm. The film follows four individuals as they prepped for the Master Sommelier exam. You were likely awed by the candidates’ impeccable ability to blind taste a wine and guess correctly its vintage, variety, appellation, and sub-region. While you aspire to have that kind of palate, you secretly wonder if you could even tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, or even Diet Coke.

The good people behind the documentary have since produced sequels, started a streaming service, and even come up with a blind tasting game for the rest of us. The Somm Blinders is a fun card game that anyone who enjoys wine can play. You may even learn a few things along the way. I’m going to share a few tips on how to get the most out of the game.

How to Play

The Somm Blinders now consists of three decks - the original, the red, and the white. Each deck has a list of wines to be included in the blind tasting. Most of the cards in the deck are about that wine (such as its flavor profile, country of origin, and vintage). Each card is also assigned a number of points.

Somm Blinders Original Deck

For each bottle round, you will blind taste a wine on the list. But first, every player gets five cards. At each turn, you will pick a new card and then discard one so that you will always have five cards in your hand. As you taste the wine, your goal is to match the cards to the wine. The bottle round ends when someone calls the wine correctly. Each player then gets the total points of the cards that match the wine. For the player who calls the right wine, five extra points will be given.

Not All Rules Are Meant to be Broken 

The game came with quite a bit of rules. Like many drinking games, part of the fun comes from breaking the rules. But to get the most out of the game, I’d suggest that you not break the following rules.

1. Include only wines that are on the list

Do not go rogue, and I don’t mean French red. Do not pick a bottle of wine that is not on the list. The cards are set up to describe the wines on the list and will not work as well if you decide to pick something else.

Five wines from the original deck

2. Use only “typical” wines 

Here’s a wine term for you - typicity or typicality. According to Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine, this refers to the wine’s quality of being typical of its type, geographical provenance, and even its vintage. An often sited example is Chardonnay from California versus one from Chablis. 

Oaked and unoaked Chardonnay

First, the grapes may taste different based on the soil and climate from which they grow; in other words, different terroirs. The winemaking method also differs. Chablis is not typically oaked (with the exception of the Grand Cru) and tends to produce a lean and clean Chardonnay with high acidity. California Chardonnay is often oaked, which produces a richer, buttery wine with spice notes. Watch James Beard Award-winning author and wine communicator, Madeline Puckette of Wine Folly, blind taste both wines.

How do you pick a bottle that is “typical” of the grape variety and region? Ask your wine merchant or wine steward from where you purchase your wine. If there is none around, read the label and go for at least a mid price range bottle. I would avoid bottom shelf wine as they are highly unreliable in terms of typicity or typicality. (That is a blog post in itself for another day.)

3. Swirl, smell, sip, and spit

While spitting is optional, this is a friendly reminder to play the game responsibly. Depending on how many bottles you are blind tasting and how you are getting home after the game, spitting may be the smartest thing you do. Even if you don’t win the game this time (who is really keeping a straight score anyways), you will likely live to play another day.

Blind tasting

My Verdict: I have played Somm Blinders with both serious wine nerds and social wine drinkers. Everyone had a great time! We even made up other rules just to keep things interesting. It presents a level playing field so no one has to worry about how much or how little wine knowledge they bring to the game. I currently own the original deck but will definitely be adding to that. Cheers, and let’s have some fun!

Wine Flaw - Excessive Volatile Acidity

Ugh! My 2021 vintage has high volatile acidity (VA). It smells of pressed sugarcane juice and nail varnish. While I have made wine with high VA in the past, they were all within the threshold to be bottled and enjoyed. But the prospect for this vintage is dim. Hopefully, the addition of sulfites (sometimes referred to as SO2) will salvage some of it. 

Wait? Is sulfite the good guy now? What about VA? Let’s delve a little into the wine science. 

Nail varnish by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

What is VA?

VA is the measure of the volatile or gaseous acids in wine. The gaseous state of the acids is also the reason why VA can often be detected by smell. The aroma compounds that contribute to high VA in wine are primarily acetic acid (commonly known as vinegar) and secondarily ethyl acetate (associated with the smell of nail varnish). Oftentimes, the presence of VA is noticeable by the smell of nail varnish rather than that of vinegar. 

A certain amount of VA is acceptable and sometimes desirable to add to the character of a wine. Some sweet wines, such as Amarone della Valpolicella and Sauternes, and even dry ones, like Barolo, often accumulate a high level of VA. If you see the descriptor “lifted” in tasting notes or wine reviews, that’s what it means. However, when the level of VA results in an overpowering and off-putting aroma, it becomes unpleasant and can result in wine spoilage.

Acetic acid by CA Creative on Unsplash

VA is created by the activities of acetobacter. Acetobacter is a genus of acetic acid bacteria. It is widespread in nature and is responsible for creating vinegar, intentionally or otherwise. In winemaking, acetobacter can be found in bruised grapes, annoying fruit flies, winemaking equipment or anywhere in the cellar. Good sanitation practices, such as constant wiping down and cleaning with Star San, an acid-based sanitizer, is effective in limiting the presence of acetobacter.

SO2 versus VA

The reality is that it is nearly impossible to keep acetobacter out of the wine. The next layer of defense is to make the wine less conducive for bacterial activity. Acetobacter are aerobic organisms, which means they require oxygen to create havoc in the wine. Sulfite, an antioxidant, is often used to inhibit the microbial activity and growth. Yes, the much maligned sulfites are needed if you don’t want your wine to turn into vinegar.

Side note - How do natural wineries even make wine without adding sulfites? Maybe that is why natural wines often taste “interesting” and unpredictable!

Barrel tasting by Mauro Lima on Unsplash

Thankfully, modern science has crafted a formula to calculate the amount of sulfites needed for wine protection based on a number of parameters - such as pH and alcohol content. This hobby winemaker is just keeping up with it. 

Geek alert - As a rule of thumb, I have always targeted 50 ppm of FSO2 (parts per million of free sulfur dioxide) in the absence of a lab test. When sulfites are added to the wine, some will bind to the chemicals in the wine and some will dissipate. FSO2 refers to the remaining sulfur dioxide that is “free” or available to protect the wine. 

FSO2 need by pH level (Credits: enobytes.com)

As a hobby winemaker, I don’t perform multiple tests on my wine, unlike a commercial winery that would test throughout fermentation and aging. Instead, I tend to do a single broad spectrum test closer to bottling. Well, that did not work very well when the final test results indicated that the wine was not stable nor stabilizing.

My wine pH was >4.0, a first for me. Based on the chart above, I would have needed more than twice the regular SO2 dose to protect the wine. Even though I was dosing to achieve 50ppm FSO2, the test results showed that my FSO2 level was only at 4ppm. No wonder my wine is suffering from high VA. Recovery from high VA this late in the game is incredibly challenging. So lessons learned!

My Verdict: Rules of thumb are great until they don’t work. Learning from my own mistakes, albeit painful, sticks better. The good thing about winemaking is that if one vintage fails, you get to do it all over again the next year. You bet I’m going to do things differently, like doing focused tests on the wine and paying more attention to pH. I plan to kick VA in the butt for this next vintage. Wish me luck!

My Go-To “Grocery Store” Wines

Summer! It’s time for road trips, hikes, and picnics. For such moments, you want a wine that is made for easy drinking and maybe fits into a CamelBak®. Here are my three go-to “grocery store” wines that are widely available and eager to please - a white, a pink, and a bubbly.

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region is an easy choice for the summer. Kim Crawford ensures consistency of quality for US$10-$18. Pale yellow in the glass, the Sauvignon Blanc has the distinct Marlborough perfume of green apple and fresh herbs. On the palate, it is vibrant with plenty of acidity, tropical fruit, and a tinge of grassy field. Kim Crawford pairs really well with fresh oysters and seafood. It also works with corn dogs and coleslaw.

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Fun Facts: Founded by the namesake winemaker and his wife, Kim Crawford Wines started in 1996 as a “virtual” winery. The couple ran the business from their home and used leased facilities to keep operating costs low. In 1998, the wines were exported to the United States and were highly successful. By 2003, Vincor International, a Canadian company, bought the the winery for US$8.6 million plus an incremental amount based on the growth in profit for the next five years. In 2008, Vincor was purchased by global beverage giant, Constellation Brands. Since then, Kim Crawford has been part of the Constellation wine portfolio, which ensures its availability throughout the country.

AIX Rosé

If your favorite wine color is pink, I recommend a nice Provençal rosé. And if you’d like a label that you can remember, it doesn’t get easier than AIX. From Maison Saint Aix, AIX Rosé is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault. Salmon pink in color, the rosé is aromatic with floral and herbal notes. On the palate, it is dry, medium-bodied, and zesty with tropical fruit and briny minerality. AIX Rosé pairs well with poached lobster and roast chicken. Or enjoy it with ham sandwiches and potato salad. You can find AIX Rosé in the range of US$16-19 at major grocery stores.

AIX Rosé

Fun Facts: Despite being named after the celebrated appellation of Coteaux d’Aix en Provence, AIX is a young winery owned by a Dutchman. Looking for a life change in his mid-forties, owner and winemaker Eric Kruger left his advertising career and moved to France with his family. He eventually decided to follow his passion in wine, something he nurtured since his high school days working in a wine shop. The first vintage of AIX was produced in 2009 and won the Medaille d’Or in Paris. Leveraging his marketing expertise, Kruger was able to catapult AIX into the US market, and we can now find it in our grocery stores. 

Flama D’Or Brut Cava

Perhaps you are looking for a little sparkler this summer without breaking the bank. At US$6-9, the Flama D’Or Brut Cava is an excellent deal. Cava is Spain’s affordable answer to Champagne. It is made in the traditional or Champagne method. This means that the second fermentation of the wine takes place in the bottle (as opposed to a tank like a Prosecco). Flama D’Or is made with three Spanish grapes - Macabeo, Xarel.lo, and Parellada. Straw yellow in color, persistent bubbles from the wine help deliver floral and fruity aroma. On the palate, it is vibrant, fizzy, and citrusy. Flama D’Or Brut Cava is perfect with tapas. It is also yummy with fried chicken or creamy mac and cheese.

Flama D’Or Brut Cava

Fun Facts: Flama D’Or Brut Cava is made by Castell D’Or, founded by a group of 13 Catalan cooperative wineries in 2006. These wineries span the areas of El Penedès, La Conca de Barberà, Priorat, Tarragona and Montsant. In Spain, cooperativism dates back to the second half of the 19th century. The member wineries of Castell D’Or pull together their generations of winemaking knowledge to create a wide range of cavas and a few still wines. Besides being found in grocery stores, Flama D’Or Brut Cava has also gained popularity in restaurants for being food-friendly at a great price point.

With several weeks of summer left, I hope you find a “grocery store” wine that beats the heat and also the inflation. And if you happen to try any of the three, let me know what you think. Enjoy!

The Pinot Gris You Never Knew

Pinot Gris is often thought of as the grape next door - commonplace, approachable, and pleasant. Originating from France, Pinot Gris is mostly used to make a dry white wine that is zesty with notes of stone fruit. The grape is also known as Pinot Grigio in Italy, where the style of wine made tends to be lighter and livelier with higher acidity. Either expression of the white wine makes for easy sipping in the summer but not something that wows the palate.

Grayish-pink Pinot Gris by Reinhold Möller

It’s Not Really White

What you may not know is that Pinot Gris is not even a white grape. In fact, it is a mutation of Pinot Noir, where one of the two cell layers responsible for berry color is missing anthocyanins. It is crazy to think that both grapes are genetically identical except that the skin of Pinot Gris is grayish-pink (“gris” is gray in French) while the skin of Pinot Noir is deep dark red (“noir” is black in French).

Anthocyanins by Bruna Branco on Unsplash

Anthocyanins are color pigments found in many blue, red, and purple fruits and vegetables. Although anthocyanins by themselves are odorless and nearly flavorless, they do interact with aroma substances during the vinification process to enhance the flavor of the completed wine. Because of its lower level of anthocyanins, Pinot Gris is seldom made into a red wine. 

You Say Rosato

In recent years, I have seen more Pinot Gris being made into rosé (or rosato in Italy). That was actually how I found out that Pinot Gris is not a white grape. SMAK, a woman-owned winery in Walla Walla that makes rosés exclusively, has a summer blush that is 100% Pinot Gris. Depending on the vintage, the color ranges from light copper to pink hue. But it is always crisp, with notes of peaches and melons as well as delicious minerality. I have since tasted other pink Pinot Gris and generally prefer it to the dry white expression.

SMAK Summer Rosé

I Say Ramato

Last year, I had a taste of the 2020 Holocene Pinot Gris that blew my mind away. It had a beautiful deep orange-red hue and the aroma was a juxtaposition of smoke, cigar, and stone fruit all at once. On the palate, it was vibrant yet smoky and complex with notes of whiskey.

Is this a red, pink or orange wine? As I savored the wine, I knew this much - that was not a white wine! I would have pegged it as an orange wine except that it was not made with white grapes. Holocene website describes their Pinot Gris as a “great balance between a ramato-style orange wine and a rosé.” 

2020 Holocene Pinot Gris

So what exactly is ramato? Wine scholar Lynn Gowdy of Savor the Harvest described it best when she wrote “(o)range wines are made from white grapes, rosé from red grapes, and ramato only from Pinot Grigio.” Ramato style of Pinot Grigio originated from the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region of Italy. It was the traditional way of making Pinot Grigio till the 1960s when white Pinot Grigio was popularized and exported.

Because Pinot Gris (or Grigio) is technically a red grape, one could argue that ramato is closer to a rosé or rosato than a traditional orange wine. However, the length of skin contact for a ramato sits somewhere between that of a pink wine and an orange wine. Depending on the winemaker’s style, maceration may last from 24 hours to two weeks and hence the wine develops the kind of complexity that is more commonly found in an orange wine than a pink wine.

My Verdict: Why limit yourself to dry white Pinot Gris? In my opinion, Pinot Gris blush and ramato are far more interesting and delicious. Give it a try this summer and prepare to be wowed. The grape next door does not always have to be plain. 

Savennières, the Cerebral Chenin Blanc

For most Americans, Chenin Blanc is a nice nondescript sipper. We may have an opinion on Chardonnay (oak or steel), Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough or Sancerre), and Pinot Gris versus Pinot Grigio. But very few have much to say about Chenin Blanc. In parts of France and in South Africa, however, Chenin Blanc is the talk of the wine town.

2018 Château Pierre-Bise Savennières 

Recently, I broke out a bottle of the 2018 Clos le Grand Beaupréau Savennières from Château Pierre-Bise. Savennières (pronounced sah-ven-yair) is a captivating but underrated wine made from Chenin Blanc. Medium to deep straw in color, the wine started off lightly aromatic. But when it opened up in the glass, I got a tinge of botrytized sweetness, honey, toffee, pear, and quince, all of which balanced with an abundance of acidity. The wine had a full mouthfeel and a very pleasant finish. 

For this month’s post, let’s delve into Savennières, the wine that some wine critics call the cerebral Chenin Blanc.

Where in the World is Savennières?

Lovers of Old World or generally European wines are familiar with the practice of labeling wine by the region names rather than grape varieties. Savennières is an area within the Anjou wine region located in western Loire Valley (the orange area below). Anjou is also believed to be the place of origin for Chenin Blanc, where it is also known as pineau de la loire. 

Savennières is within Anjou wine region in the Loire Valley

In the Loire Valley, Chenin Blanc is made in a broad range of styles - from sweet to dry, from sparkling to still. In addition to its versatility, the grape also has a lot of natural acidity and holds enough sugar to give the wine a burst of crisp tartness that is rounded and smooth. 

Savennières vs. Vouvray

While Vouvray tends to take the center stage for Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley, Savennières offers a compelling alternate expression of the grape. Savennières is often more interesting and engaging while Vouvray is deemed friendlier and more approachable. While I have yet to taste the two wines side by side, my limited palate memory certainly favors Savennières over Vouvray in general.

Vineyard at Château Pierre-Bise

Both Savennières and Vouvray vineyards are situated in similar latitude with comparable climate. One difference between them is the soil. The soil in Vouvray is mostly clay and limestone while Savennières has hills of schist. Andrew Jefford did a “terroir tasting” for Decanter a few years ago, specifically focusing on wine grown on limestone versus schist. The results were consistent with the flavor profiles of Vouvray and Savennières. Wines grown on limestone are fresher, more vibrant and more ready to enjoy while wines grown on schist are weightier, more intense, and need more time to open up. 

Another difference between the two wines lies in the winemaking approach. Savennières often goes through malolactic fermentation while Vouvray does not, resulting in a buttery and fuller mouthfeel in the former. Savennières also tends to be more oxidative and has a higher alcohol content, giving it a different character from Vouvray.

My Verdict: If Chenin Blanc has not struck your fancy in the past, you may want to try Savennières. You can often find good bottles in the $20-40 price range at your local wine shop. Savennières does take time to open up, sometimes up to 48 hours. I prefer to let it sit in the glass and sip it over a couple of hours to observe its transformation. I hope you give Savennières a go. I would love to hear what you think.