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2 Reasons to Decant Your Wine
November 29, 2010 by David
Filed under Wine Words
Most of the time when you decant, it’s for red wine but there’s nothing wrong with decanting white. Reason #1: Because the wine is young. If you splash it into a decanter or pitcher for an hour or so before serving it will make it more expressive – the wine “opens up” and starts talking! Reason #2: Because the wine is old. Wine forms sediment with age, which is kind of gritty. If you have a nice old bottle, stand it up for a good 1/2 day to get the sediment settled. Then, right at serving time, decant the clear wine off of the sediment. You’ll need good light to do this or, for old-time’s sake, use a candle. Cheers! More on wine service at home
Goosecross: Pumping Over the Cap
We continue with winemaking at Goosecross Cellars in the Napa Valley, two minutes at at time. The “cap” has risen, we’ve added the yeast, and now it’s time to begin “pump overs”. The cap refers to the layer of skins that rise to the top during red-wine fermentation. Enjoy!
2006 Napa Valley AmerItal Red
October 19, 2009 by David
Filed under AmerItal, Blog, Winemaker Notes
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Sleek, silky and food friendly – what more do you need? But what the heck is it?
The “Ital” part is the grape varieties – in this case an unconventional, but delicious blend of Tuscany’s earthy Sangiovese and Piemonte’s fruit-driven Barbera. These low tannin, high acid varieties account for the above descriptors – the wine goes down easy!
The “Amer” part means we put our own Goosecross spin those venerable, ancient varieties. Geoff, our Winemaker, was feeling like kicking up his heels a little when he came up with this one, but when he’s right, he’s right! Medium bodied, enjoy the ripe strawberry, black cherry, rich mocha and spice with those nice, earthy undertones.
AmerItal Red and food: Grilled Ahi, chicken, tri-tip – you name it! The high acidity makes this one easy-going partner for too many choices to mention. It has quite an affinity for red sauce, so keep it in mind on pasta or pizza night! It will stand up nicely to a wide range of cheeses, especially the medium hard to hard ones. Feel like some comfort food? Colleen’s recipe for Italian Beef Brisket and a glass of AmerItal will warm you from the inside. Buon Appetito!
Q: Which Wines need to Breathe?
Question from Jack: Which wines need to breathe?
Reply: Hi, Jack! Thanks for writing! I suppose any well-made wine can benefit from getting a little air before serving, except sparkling wine and very old wine, but young reds seem to benefit the most.
I’m going to suggest that you go a step beyond pulling the cork to let the wine “breathe”. If you take a look, you’ll see that there’s very little opportunity for air exchange through that skinny little bottle neck. You have some much better options.
Try pouring the wine into a decanter an hour or so (unless it’s old) before dinner. Moving the wine from one container to another exposes it to air and the time, just sitting, is beneficial too. For young, tannic reds go ahead and splash the wine into the decanter.
If you have a nice, old red - call me – 
and then stand it up for several hours to get the sediment to the bottom. Decant it off the sediment at serving time and down the hatch! Older reds shouldn’t be decanted too early because, if the wine is tired, the extra air might just push it over the hill.
If you forget to decant, pour the wine into the glasses on your dinner table a little ahead of time. That small amount will change quite rapidly in the glass while you’re in the other room munching on hors d’oeuvres. If you’re really brave, another way to catch up is to suggest that your guests swirl the wine. The swirling releases aromatic compounds and makes the wine more fragrant. Beware red wine, white table cloths and inexperienced swirlers!
I hope that helps! If you’d like more information on wine service, you might enjoy this article. Cheers!
