Wine Storage Tips - The Right Way
May 22, 2008
Any wine storage tips? I bought a case of what hopefully will turn in a great batch and I want to make sure my investment is safe. Do you know what I could do for proper wine preservation? Thanks a whole lot! - Dana in Meridian, MS
Here are wine storage tips for all the lovers of wine who are keen on keeping a few bottles around for that special moment. Follow these easy guidelines for wine preservation and it won’t let you down.
Now, make sure you store your wine horizontally. Allow the wine lay on it’s on side which lets the cork keep in moisture while at the same time serves a dual purpose of letting the sediment to settle down at the bottom of the bottle.
For wine preservation, its absolutely important to keep your wine out of direct sunlight. If a bottle is exposed to light, the end result could lead to a loss of the aromas and flavors. As for other wine storage tips, one of the key things to understand about wine is that you need to keep the temperature in between 55 to 65ºF. If the temperature of the wine fluctuates or if it is stored at a higher temperature, the wine will age much faster.
Wide fluctuations in temperature will make the cork to expand and contract. This will let air into the bottle and the wine will become oxidized under these conditions. Another thing to keep in mind is the proper humidity levels. For wine preservation, having too high a level of humidity can lead to the over all deterioration of the wine labels whereas a low level of humidity can make the cork shrink which again will oxidize the wine or even worse lead to a condition called corked wine.
So there you go, easy huh? If you follow these simple wine storage tips you can make sure that your investment is kept safe and secure so when you are ready to enjoy that perfect bottle you aren’t faced with any surprises. Cheers!!
Crusted Wine - Why?
April 14, 2008
Why is crusted wine called as such? - Meg in Portsmouth, VA
Crusted port wine is a type of ruby port. It is also an inexpensive version of vintage port, and in turn receives it’s curious name from being unfiltered. This leads to a very interesting natural sediment that builds up over time from grape skins, twigs and seeds, hence the “crusted” in crusted wine. Appetizing no?
Definitely and absolutely, crusted port wine should be decanted. If not, you might take a sip and end up snacking on something that isn’t quite edible. However, what’s good about crusted wines is that you can enjoy them at a much younger age vs. a good vintage port, some of which can take decades to mature, where they can be fully appreciated.
Keep in mind that when you see the date on the bottle, this is alluding to the bottling date and not the actual year in which the grapes were grown. Cheers!!
Late Bottled Vintage
April 11, 2008
What is meant by saying a bottle is late bottled vintage? - Chandra in Seattle, WA
Late Bottled Vintage is the term given to wines that are left longer in a barrel than what had been planned for, due to a lack of demand. This practice has led to 2 distinct wines. From these 2 types, both of them are bottled between 4 to 6 years after the vintage. The key difference between them is that one is fined and filtered before it is bottled and the other one is not.
Basically, when a wine is filtered like this it can be consumed without having to be decanted first. Now as for the unfiltered wines, these definitely have to be decanted. Some wine lovers feel that the filtering process takes away from the character of the wine. One of the reasons this practice made sense was that late bottled vintage is similar to drinking a vintage port without having to wait 10 plus years before enjoying the bottle.
Kinda like getting your cake and eating it too so to speak and not having to feel all that wine guilt just because you want to indulge. But then again sometimes its good to be cautious. A lot of late bottled vintage wines are worthy of your time but a few, due to the filtering process and how they were crafted can be likened to drinking a shadow and will leave you with an unsatisfied craving for more. Cheers!!
Decanting Large Format Wine Bottles
April 7, 2008
Hey hello… for decanting large-format bottles of wine, should you use more than one decanter? Alley in Davenport, IL
Correct, if you are decanting a large format bottle, be prepared with several wine decanters. The process of decanting should be continuous. Keep in mind that once start, don’t stop until you are finished because this process will stir up the sediment in the wine. Also, you will definitely need help from someone to keep changing the decanters for you.
If it’s a very large format bottle you’ll probably need a two helpers to hold the bottle steady while the decanting the bottle. Many of these large format bottles are named after biblical kings. Sometimes however, the same name may be used to refer to different size bottles in different regions.
For the curious winos out there that love wine trivia. Here is a cool little chart that gives you the name of large format bottles along with their size.
| Bottle Equivalent | Bordeaux Wine Bottle Sizes | Burgundy & Champagne Bottle Sizes |
| Two (1.5L) | Magnum | Magnum |
| Three (2.25L) | Marie-Jeanne | N/A |
| Four (3.0L) | Double Magnum | Jeroboam |
| Six (4.5L) | Jeroboam | Rehoboam |
| Eight (6.0L) | Imperiale | Methusaleh |
| Twelve (9.0L) | N/A | Salmanazar |
| Sixteen (12.0L) | N/A | Balthazar |
| Twenty (15.0L) | N/A | Nebuchadnezzar |
Cooking with Wine
April 3, 2008
Hi Wine Virgin, I’m planning a dinner and I’ll be cooking with wine. Does the type of wine varietal and quality really matter that much or can I choose something off the shelf and go with it? - Marlene in Burbank, CA
Marlene, simply put, when cooking with wine… it will definitely have an impact on the taste, along with your guests willingness to make the leap of faith and eat what you prepare. When selecting a wine to cook with, unless a recipe calls for it, use a dry wine and not a sweet one.
More often than not, white wine goes with fish, chicken and pork dishes. Where cooking with red wine fits nicely with beef. However, don’t be afraid to experiment. Cooking with white wine provides a wide range of opportunities to go after and doesn’t limit you.
When planning to cook with wine, it’s important to know beforehand what items you want to have a heightened flavor. Say for instance, adding a young wine with high acidity to a dish that is a bit on the mellow side to balance it out. Typically, I add a splash of wine to the meal that I know I will drink with the dinner itself. But this isn’t necessary. Also, since you’re cooking the wine, the wine varietal isn’t a big deal.
Select a good wine to cook with but not a wine that you wouldn’t want to drink and don’t use a wine that you would want to enjoy just by itself either. Definitely, do not use one that has been sitting in the fridge for a while and out of wine guilt, you feel like putting it to use.
Hey, I understand with being a lush myself how hard it can be to pour unused wine down the drain but still… don’t use an old oxidized bottle to prepare a meal with. Believe me, you will see that polite but “I really don’t want to eat this” look on their faces as the end up picking it over like a two year old brat.
Malolactic Fermentation
March 31, 2008
Can you tell me what malolactic fermentation is and what does it do? - Don in Gulfport, MS
Malolactic fermentation is a process where the tart malic acid is converted to a softer tasting lactic acid. Think of malic acid like the taste of green apples which is then converted into lactic acids, an example being the creamy, soft acids in milk. This process can occur at any time during or after the normal wine fermentation process.
It is generally thought to enhance the body and flavor and in turn produces soft and fuller wines. Many wine makers also feel that better a integration of the fruit and oak character is achieved if malolactic fermentation occurs during the time the wine is in barrel.
Yet, not all wines will benefit from this with Riesling being a perfect example. The best wines that get the most out of this process are full bodied dry whites and medium to full bodied dry reds. With these types of wines, malolactic fermentation is sometimes encouraged. The simple and practical reason being is that this process can spontaneously happen even after the wine has been bottled.
So Don, being curious as all wine virgins should be helps you to learn little bits of wine trivia here and there, making you appreciate how incredibly complex and time consuming creating a stable wine really is. Cheers!!
Wine Aroma Wheel
March 12, 2008
Will you please tell me what a wine aroma wheel is and possibly where I can get one? Thank you! - Fiona in Tuscon, AZ
The wine scientists at the University of California at Davis many years ago developed this tool as an aid to wine virgins and experts as well. They then organized and categorized these smells and left out all that was not perfectly clear. From there they ended up with a list of 12 major categories of wine smells, subdivided into 29 subcategories and in 94 specific terms. This makes it much easier to arrive at a standardized format for classifying this information.
The wheel is an incredibly useful tool to learn about wines and enhance one’s ability to describe the complexity of wine flavor. The wide variety of wine that this world has to offer allows for thousands of scents in an almost infinite combination. It’s called an aroma wheel because it is a circular table, with relatively similar smells placed close together around its circumference. The wine aroma wheel is made of three tiers. This provides very general terms located in the center which then proceeds to the most specific terms in the outer tier.
These terms are not the only ones that can be used to describe wines but are those that you will most often find. Whether you are a beginner or a wine connoisseur, the use of the wheel during wine tasting will facilitate the description of the flavors you perceive. More importantly, you will be able to recognize and remember specific details about wines and will develop confidence in your ability by practicing with the aroma wheel if a wine really worth your time and expense.
Fiona, look online for to order a proper wine aroma wheel or you might be able to find one that you can download to check it out and get an idea of the various aromas and flavors. Cheers!!
Wine Longevity
March 7, 2008
Hi, what different types of wine have good wine longevity? - Miriam in Farmington, NM
With all the talk about different types of wine that are specifically made for aging, most of the world’s wines are meant for immediate use. The rare ones that are crafted for this type of wine longevity require specialized storage at a constant 55F. This is way too cold for constant air conditioning and yet too warm for a refrigerator.
Can you imagine the electric bill after 25 + years? We have to recognize that wines of more than 100 years old, or even 50 in the vast majority of cases, are still going to be anything other than a fascinating piece of curiosity and that these are bought by people to be part of their collection.
However, an affordable wine which does have great wine longevity is Madeira. This strong wine was purposely made to survive while even improving during long ocean voyages to markets around the world. Madeira ranges from dry to very sweet and it will last for quite a long time, even under poor storage conditions.
Believe it or not, Madeira remains very affordable for an age worthy wine. They usually start from $20 to $50 for a recently produced bottle sold here in the states.
Here are a few types that offer the best wine longevity: Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhones from France, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Italian reds, dessert wines like Port, Sauternes and Rieslings.
So go buy a few bottles and put them away for that occasion when something from your past can greet you in the pleasure of good company.
A Dry Wine or a Sweet Wine?
March 6, 2008
How do you tell if you have a sweet wine or a dry wine by looking at the label? - June in Grand Junction, CO
Actually, except for dessert wines, almost all table wines are “dry” which simply means un-sweet. Some dry wines can have a more fruity taste than others and this may be considered as a slight sweetness. The list of either a dry wine or a sweet wine can be found below.
Note that there are many exceptions to what is listed so be advised that this isn’t an exact rule of thumb. However, this offers a broad summary of popular wine grapes and types and will give you a general idea of what’s in the bottle.
Sweet - Dessert wines, Port, Sauternes, Cream Sherry. Lightly Sweet - German whites, Riesling, Chenin Blanc, White Zinfandel. Dry Whites - Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and many Italian whites. Dry Reds - Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot, Zinfandel, Beaujolais.
As a former virgin myself, my best advice to you June is to get out there and try as many different things as possible because you never know what you might end up liking. Cheers!!
Something Leesy
March 4, 2008
Would you please tell me what leesy means? - Martha in Crandon, WI
Leesy is a term referring to when a wine maker lets the wine sit on the lees for a longer period than normal during the wine fermentation process. As a primer, for those newly christened virgins out there, wine lees are a sediment consisting of dead yeast cells and other solid matter such as grape pulp etc.
Some wines are aged for a time on the wine lees which is a process known as sur lie and from there gives way to the term “leesy”. This produces a distinctive yeasty aroma and can actually give the wine extra flavor and body. Eventually the lees must be removed by racking the wine. As the sediment collects at the bottom of the container the wine is siphoned or poured off into a clean container before it is finally bottled.
If the wine sits too long on the lees if can ruin the flavor and aroma but most importantly, leaving it sit too long without racking will allow the formation of hydrogen-sulfide gas, this basically yields a smell like rotten eggs and after that you may as well just throw it out.
When you sit down after a long day to enjoy a glass of your favorite wine, stop to think about all the time and effort that has been invested in creating this wonderful elixir and really let your mouth savor all the aromas and flavor that high quality wines bring.