Sparkling Wine Production in 5 Steps

We told you how to open it, but we didn’t tell you what it is! The thing about sparkling wine, from a winemaker’s perspective, is that it’s a lot of trouble! You have to go to all the trouble of making wine, and then make it bubble. Here it is, in a nutshell.

1. So, you make the wine – usually from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier (a mutation of Pinot Noir). Blending them is common. The wine is quite tart, by tradition.

2. The wine is bottled. But, before it’s sealed, yeast and sugar are added, setting off a completely new fermentation. Since fermentation produces carbon dioxide gas and the bottle is sealed up, the wine absorbs the gas. MAJOR PRESSURE in that little bottle!

3. The better ones are aged on the dead yeast cells for months or years, which is what gives the wine that yeasty, toasty, brioche-like character – Ahhh….

4. The dead yeast is removed from the bottle, since it makes the wine hazy – this is quite a process!

5. Before the final seal, a little sweet wine is added to offset the tartness – it’s called a dosage.

The wine you buy is in the same bottle in which it fermented! Isn’t that amazing?! To be called Champagne, it should come from the Champagne region of France.

Reduced to the bare essentials, this all sounds rather dry (or should I say Brut?). But it’s a truly fascinating process!

This is called the Traditional Method. I should add that they’ve found easier, more efficient production methods for the el cheapo stuff.  Read more

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Where Does Cork Come From?

Cork is the bark of cork-oak tree and the largest supplier of wine cork is Portugal. Those more fortunate than me tell me of the lovely cork forests there. Environmentalists are doing what they can to urge us to stick with natural cork as the seal of choice because it’s a renewable resource and the forests are habitat to endangered species.

The tree has to be about 40 years old before the cork is suitable for wine. If it’s harvested properly, the tree doesn’t die. The bark grows back and the tree can be harvested every nine years. The bark is seasoned and treated for impurities before they finally punch those cute little corks out of it, clean them up and stamp our name on them. Then, they report for duty! More on corks

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How To Open a Bottle of Champagne

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Fun Fact by Nancy Hawks Miller, Goosecross: How To Open a Bottle of Champagne

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5 Tips for Selecting Cooking Wine

Left over wine? Great idea – maybe. Wine you opened and didn’t like? Hmmm… Commercially available cooking wine? Nooooo…. When  I’m cooking with wine, I think of the wine as another ingredient, just like the fresh herbs I pick or the cut of meat that I buy. So, the question is what flavor do you want to bring to the dish you’re preparing?

1: Does that left over wine still taste good? If so, go for it! Whatever it tastes like is what it brings to the dish so if it smell like vinegar or fingernail polish remover, think twice!

2: That wine you didn’t like? Only you know. If it was just too ordinary for your taste, it will probably make an OK addition, since it’s going to be cooked and intermingled with other flavors. If it tasted weird, or harsh – or sharp – the cooking will concentrate it so you be the judge!

3: Commercial cooking wine: Ugh. This is usually el cheapo wine, to which they add salt. Can’t see a point in it.

4. If you have a wine in mind to serve with the dish, it’s probably a great choice to cook with, too. It helps make a happy marriage!

5. Do you want to add brightness to the dish (like adding lemon)? A crisp white! For depth – a medium to full bodied red. Bon appétit!

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3 Great Things About Madeira

This is another wine that warms us from within and tastes so good this time of year! Madeira is as perverse as it is delicious. It involves two of the biggest “don’ts” in a winemaking textbook!

1. Allowing the wine to oxidize is a real no-no because the wine will spoil. Well, oxidation is what gives Madeira it’s delightfully nutty character.

2. Heating the wine is verboten, but baking the Madeira makes it so deliciously caramelized!

So, the three great things?

#1: It’s delicious

#2: It ranges from dry to sweet so it can carry you through a whole meal!

#3: Since it’s already “spoiled”, you can keep an open bottle around forever and the wine is no worse for the wear! Cheers! More about Madeira

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Oenotri Restaurant in Napa

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Fun Fact by Diane De Filipi, Let’s Go Cook Italian: Oenotri Restaurant in Napa

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Barrel Aging: It’s Not Just for Oak Flavor!

In fact, it wasn’t until around the 1960s that oak flavor became important! Some time after that we began to see the first references to “new French oak”. And, of course, now there’s so much focus on oak flavor these days that it’s easy to forget the main reason we still use barrels: Aging! The color, aroma and flavor of the wine changes due to very slow aeration inside the barrel. New Cabernet looks a lot like Welches Grape Juice and smells pretty grapey too. With time in the barrel the primary fruit aromas evolve into something a bit more subtle and complex. An initially clumsy mouth feel gains finesse.

In California, we aged and stored most of the wine in redwood or concrete tanks until stainless steel and small cooperage came into the picture. Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma is credited as the first California winery to use French oak to age their wine in the 1950s. They were followed by Heitz Cellars in the 60s and, as they say, the rest is history! More about oak aging

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You Can’t Buy Wine Grapes at the Supermarket

Well, I’ve seen them at Whole Foods, here in Napa, but I expect it’s quite unusual. Wine grapes and the grapes we eat aren’t the same species. You can find wine made of native American, Concord grapes, but it has a tiny market niche. The vast majority of us seem to prefer wine that’s made from the old-fashioned European varieties that have been around for centuries!

And, that also explains why the wines are so hard to pronounce! We name our wines for the grapes, most of the time, which means you end up speaking French, Italian, Spanish and German when it’s time to order!

The wine species is called Vitis vinifera and is thought to be native to the area south of the Black Sea, in what is now Georgia and Armenia. Eventually, it traveled west where the varieties mutated and new varieties were created by spontaneous crossing and intentional hybridization. More on wine grapes

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Santa Wants a Glass of Port!

What keeps the gleam in his eye as he travels around the world in the freezing cold? I’m guessing it’s not a glass of milk! Absolutely, put out those cookies, because he needs plenty of sugar and carbs to keep going. But, if you pair them with Port you’ll help him keep warm and happy!

It’s so comforting on a cold night, isn’t it? There’s actually a reason! Most table wine is around 10 – 14% alcohol. Port is between 18 and 21%! And, that extra alcohol warms you from the inside very nicely! It also gives the wine a little more heft so you don’t drink too much!

So, if you really want to be on Santa’s “nice” list, whether it’s Ruby Port, Aged Tawny or Vintage Port, leave him a nice little glass to go with those cookies!  More about Port wine

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C Casa Taqueria in Napa

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Fun Fact by Sherry Page, Culinary Getaways: C Casa Taqueria in Napa

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