Everyday "house wine"

Thanks to everyone for your replies and opinions.

I'm still searching for the reds and whites to stock as "house wines", and I'm definitely going to seek out some of the bottles you've recommended. This does, however, lead me to another dilemma: a better tasting methodology.

Up to this point I've purchased several random bottles of wines that interested me, uncorking another as soon as I could finish the first bottle (or pour it down the drain if it wasn't worth finishing).

I realize the proper method of tasting is to compare three or more bottles at the same time, and up to this point I was just getting my feet wet. I'm now going to begin tasting two bottles of like wines (varietal, appellation, or winery) at a time (I can't justify opening three bottles at a time as I can't finish that much wine in a week or so, and I have no one to share it with--being the only wine drinker in the house.)

Does anyone have any additional advice or experience in holding personal tastings of this nature? Is there a better way to handle this for someone who is trying to taste a broad range of wines?

-Mike snipped-for-privacy@webwinerack.com

First thing that you need to do is connect with like-minded folk near-by. This could be at a restaurant, wine shop, whatever is allowed in your area of retailers, or it could be a group of friends, who are interested in wine.

Next, convert someone else in your immediate family to wine!

Seminars in your area, or trade-tastings are a good bet. I'll use the Wine Spectator Grand Tastings as an example. For a fee, you can attend the seminars, and the tastings, which are, in fact, "grand" tastings. Don't recall where you are located, but they now do several, NYC, Chicago, Las Vegas, and maybe another. The "trade-tastings" are something that you will need to work to get admission, but talk sweetly to your retailer, as he/she might have extra tickets. Check out the ZAP Website, to see if they hold any of their events near you, or near where you frequently travel. Most are in CA, but I just got notice that they have added New Orleans, and I used to attend the show in Denver, and for the few years that it came to Phoenix. Lots of wine and, other than crowded, great. Zinfandels abound.

Lastly, you might want to pick up Andrea Immers book, "Great Wine Made Simple," which is basically a host of wine-tasting exercises. Kevin Zarhley's "Windows on the World Wine Course" (?) is another good one - I don't have my copy handy, so do check out the title. I hate that my memory is going so quickly. These two books are like class texts for wine tasting, and will give you all sorts of pairing/contrasting ideas. With the quantity of wines opened, you will want to recruit some gullible buddies to help you out, or just do them two at a time.

Most of all, have fun, Hunt

Yes. You can taste several wines at once and keep the unconsumed portions for another time if you do this:

Get yourself some small, glass screwcapped bottles and a funnel to fit them. Sounds like you're not much of a drinker, so look for some airline size 187 ml bottles. You'll want a dozen or so to begin with - possibly more.

When you open a fresh bottle of wine, immediately fill 3 of those little bottles from it. Try to pour the wine into the small bottles without agitating/aerating it. Fill the 3 bottles right to the brim and cap them tightly. The contents of those 3 bottles will remain intact as the original bottle was for months - perhaps longer. Be sure to label the bottles or you'll forget what's in them.

After filling 3 of those small bottles, you'll still have wine in the bottle you just opened. That's what you'll be tasting tonight. Repeat the above process with another bottle of wine or two. Then you'll have 2 or 3 (or more) wines to taste side-by-side tonight, and you will be able to either reproduce that tasting another night or select an entirely different lineup of wines from other bottles, portioned into aliquots in the same fashion.

Tom S

Here in Ontario Canada, I continue to adhere to my resolution to BUY only Ontario wines. Current "House" selections include;

Cave Spring Cellars 2002 Gamay Reserve Cave Spring Cellars 2003 Chardonnay Reserve and/or CSC 2003 Riesling Reserve

Interspersed with various and sundry Ontario selections as the occasion permits or demands, I am one happy camper.

Hey Chuck, you still have some of that good red stuff left hey?!

I'm trying to be a good boy and drink ten others before I open on of my GR. Never know when Cave Springs will have their next GR to offer.

All the best,

Larry Southern Ontario

Here in Missouri I love to quaff Norton/Cynthiana.

Bethelham Valley 2000 (Augusta AVA) at $18 a bottle is as good as any Napa Valley Cab. to me.

Other outstanding Norton producers I regularly drink are; Stone Hill (Herman AVA) $14 at Sam's Dolce Vitae (Augusta) $16 St. James (Ozark Mountain Region AVA) $16 Heinrichaus (Ozark again) $14 Hermanhoff (Herman) $19

Oh, and when in Missouri, stay away from the labruscan 'pancake syrup' :-P

Mark E Sievert

personal

Join or form a tasting group. I joined one ten years ago and we meet every Monday night. There are usually between 8-10 folks every Monday and we all bring a bottle of wine to share. There is no set varietal format or price level but for the most part the wines are usually under $20.00. We taste them blind and everyone brings a small nosh. The wines are tasted in a single blind format and there is no scoring or judging other than a good natured competition to guess which wines are which. We limit this to red wines but the host is responsible for supplying the starter(s) which are always white, rose, or sparklers, and are not tasted blind. Not only do you get to taste a lot of different wines but you make some good friends in the process.

I went wine tasting at some of the local wineries in Missouri once. I even thought the wines might be good when I discovered most winemakers had been educated at UC Davis. Then I tasted them. YUCK! Most of them were way too sweet! When I asked about this, they said that sweet is what their demographic wants. Even the wines that were not sweet were mediocre at best. I am glad to have had the experience, but I'll not be buying the fine wines of Missouri any time soon.

Dimitri

Dear D. Gerasimatos, What year was your visit? I think at last count Missouri has about 40 producers and unfortunately some of the flashiest venues (Summit Lake, Crown Valley) are some of the producers.

Were you able to try some of the nortons I listed previously? If so, I would love to hear appraisal.

Best regards, Mark e Sievert

Woops, that should have read (Summit Lake, Crown Valley) are some of the worst producers.

My visit was in 2004. I bought wine both at wineries and at wine shops in Saint Louis where they seemed obligated to carry local wines. :)

I don't have my notes handy, so I am not sure. I do know that I didn't like anything I had. A few wines were tolerable. The same has been true of my experience with wine from Virginia.

Dimitri

I found some notes. I went to St. James (which you mentioned) and Meramec. I also bought wine from some other wineries at the wine shop, but I am not sure what I had as it was not memorable.

Dimitri

Dimitri, I am in St. James several time a year. Different from most of the German pedigreed wineries in Missouri, St. James, both the town and winery were settled by 19th century Genovese Italians escaping malaria in Arkansas. I can't make this up :-) With many local vineyards, some VERY old, St. James Winery makes a norton that, at least to me, drinks well with pasta and mid-western BBQ.

Meramec Winery is a rather new venture set up just down the block from St.J. so as to catch some of it's traffic. The best thing I can say for it is it adds nothing to the local cultural flavor. I can't even say if they produce their own wine there :-/

Best regards,

Mark

I have to admit that I did not have this wine with food. Perhaps that's my mistake. However, you must admit that they have a very extensive lineup and most of it is bad.

Dimitri

Dimitri,

Yes, I must admit most of it is bad. But as most of the wineries most likely have told you, its the demographic, and hence their big money maker.

I drink the norton, my grandfather drinks the concord. God love him.

Mark E Sievert

Yes, they did say that they were catering to their demographic. That's too bad.

I grow some lovely concord grapes. I have been thinking more of making jam or juice from them, but maybe I'll try a wine some day! ;) (They were already here and growing happily when I bought the place.)

Dimitri

Homegrown concord makes excellent jam and juice. As for wine though, Heinrich Groh of Heinrichaus Winery is the only vintner that has made 'halbtrocken' concord that I'd wash down a pizza with. Everyone else locally makes it 'Mogen-David' style.

My grandfather has a few catawba vines that my lovely wife makes jam from that has intense sweet and sour flavors. Catawba, which grows well in Missouri, makes better jam than wine.

Mark