Tag Archives: lifestyle

A Cloud with a Silver Lining!

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The night before last I became sick with a viral infection in my lungs and yesterday it felt like I was ripping my lungs apart every time I coughed.  I have had the shivers and a small head cold also.  I finally went to the doctor this morning and got a script of antibiotics for the bacterial infection that was in my lungs (in addition to the viral infection).  Needless to say, I have been drained of energy, sleeping most of the time, and certainly have not had a desire to drink wine, nor the energy to write about it.

However, like most passions, I found I was really missing both (1) drinking wine, and (2) writing about it.  While I have had a number of topics about which I wanted to write, I just could not get focused enough to turn out a column.  Last weekend, I cranked out four blog postings of some size and complexity to have available for publication during the week.  This weekend’s efforts are limited to this one post.

But I found myself constantly thinking about wine, and was able to pull up memories of how different wines tasted.  And that is the silver lining in the cloud!  I realized that even if I am at the point health-wise where I do not have the physical ability to ever enjoy wine again, I will always have memories that I can draw upon to continue to savor the experience.  And a great part of enjoying wine, is not just the tasting but sharing the experience with others!

I recently found out from one of my MW (Master of Wine) friends that we start to lose our palate around the age of 65.  This greatly concerned me as I am 59 and have more wine than I can drink in the next six years!  However, he assured me that the loss of capabilities is minute and really of concern more so for wine judges and ‘super tasters.’  For example, James Halliday, the great Australian wine critic is in his mid-70s and still able to perform his avocation at the highest level.

I plan on drinking wine regularly for the next 20 – 30 years (God willing), and hope that my taste buds are up to the task.  However, if they are not, then I am still certain that I will enjoy the experience, but utilizing my memory more than my taste buds!  And it might be a real blessing as I may no longer be able to discern that small, but quite noticeable difference between the 1997 Château D’Yquem (at $300 per half bottle) and the 1998 Château D’Yquem (at $180 per half bottle)!

Wine with Risotto

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One of the things I love about risottos is that (like curries) there are so many different ways to make and flavor risotto.  My wife also has a method for making risotto now using the Thermomix, that produces a great risotto in 20 minutes instead of the hour it was taking before, using more traditional methods.

While this is not a blog on making risotto, I am going to take a minute to cover off making risotto the traditional way versus using the Thermomix as I did not believe risotto made in a Thermomix could be nearly as good, but it is.  It did take her several trials to get it right in terms of exact timing and amount of ingredients to put in and some risottos work better in the Thermomix than others.  However, for the working couple who does not have the time upon returning home from work later in the evening, using the Thermomix to prepare a mid-week risotto meal is a real treat!

You can look to my bride’s blog “DAZ in the Kitchen” to find out more on her risotto recipes and making them the traditional way and with the Thermomix.  Now back to the question of “which wine goes best with which risotto?”

One of the basic principles I try to follow when selecting a wine to go with food is to ensure that the wine and food are “in balance.”

What does this mean?  For me, it means that neither the food nor the wine overpowers the other nor minimizes the other’s role in the meal.  If food is smooth or creamy, then the wine (usually) should be also; if the food is more gritty (like lasagna), then the wine should be more gritty (have more tannins, be unfiltered, etc.) like the 2006 St Peter’s Shiraz I recently had with a good meat lasagna;  if the food is complex with many ingredients, the wine should be complex (usually this means more time in the bottle); if the wine has some sharp tastes (sometimes with fish or seafood for example), then the wine should have a bit of an edge to it also.  There are entire books written on this subject, but hopefully you get the idea.

Risotto becomes creamier in texture as it is cooked and creates a bit of sauce to go with it.  We often make a chicken and mushroom risotto using white chicken meat and button mushrooms.  I have found that a medium-bodied Chardonnay goes well with it.  I would recommend something like the 2009 or 2011 Two Rivers Reserve Chardonnay.  While there are certainly many different Chardonnays in this category that would work, the Two Rivers is simply one of the very best Chardonnays you can get for the money.  I would recommend it over all others for this type of risotto.

But if the risotto is made with a combination of white and dark chicken meat or dark meat only and you are using multiple types of mushrooms, such as portabella and shiitake, or you are mixing in a bit of truffle oil, then I would use a more aged and complex Chardonnay.  Chardonnays in this league would include the Penfold’s Yattarna, the 2000 Waverly Estate Chardonnay, or even a Puligny or Chassagne Montrachet.  But note these wines are three to ten time more expensive than the Two Rivers, which would still go very nicely with a more complex chicken and mushroom risotto!

Last night I tried the 2009 Pepper Tree Pinot Gris with the chicken and mushroom risotto and it did not match as well as the Chardonnays I have had with the dish previously, but I believe it was the particular Pinot Gris.  I think a true Italian Pinot Gris such as the 2010 Jermann (which is a far better Pinot Grigio on its own!) would have matched beautifully as it is a bit smoother, yet much more intense and flavorful than the Pepper Tree.

However, the Pepper Tree, being a bit more bland and metallic, would have gone very nicely with a (non-spicy) pumpkin risotto, which is something I plan to verify the next time we make a pumpkin risotto.

My bride also makes a magnificent prawn and gorgonzola cheese risotto, with both the prawn and cheese bringing out a more metallic and sharper taste than the chicken and mushroom risotto.  Therefore, I match up a nice Riesling with that risotto.  I would recommend the 2009 Hugel Alsace Riesling or any good Riesling from the Clare or Eden Valley in South Australia.  There are so many good Rieslings in the $15 – $30 range that would go well with the prawn and gorgonzola risotto.

The important thing again is “balance”.  Had I matched the Riesling with the chicken and mushroom risotto, the Riesling would have overwhelmed the risotto and had I matched the Chardonnay with the prawn and gorgonzola risotta, the wine would have been overpowered by the food.

When eating and drinking wine, if either the food or wine is dominant, then you have made a poor choice in the matching, but if both are in balance and blending nicely together, then you have made good choice.  And if they are competing back and forth without either one winning, then you have made the perfect choice!

What’s in a glass?

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I love my drinking experiences, regardless if it’s wine, coffee or tea, and the glass makes all the difference.  The wrong glass with a great wine can choke it in terms of diminishing it’s bouquet, or splashing the wine to the wrong place on your tongue.  Why is this important?  For starters, the tongue location differs in terms of being  able to sense sweet, bitter, acidic tastes.  In general:

  • The tip of the tongue detects sweetness
  • The inner sides of the tongue detect sourness and / or acidity
  • The outer sides of the tongue detect saltiness
  • The back of the tongue detects bitterness and / or alcohol

I lifted this from a post in What’s Cooking America on tasting wine, which provides a simple, yet very good overview on the topic.

It was about ten years ago when I walked into a bottle shop to pick up some decent Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.  When checking out, I was approached by one of the bottle shop clerks to ask if I would like to sample some wines from different Riedel glasses.  My immediate reaction was “Leave me alone!  I am spending my money where it is most important – on the wine!”  He was quite confident that I would be able to discern a noticeable difference due to the glass, so I decided to take the challenge, if nothing else, just to prove him wrong!

I tried the Cabernet Sauvignon in the Shiraz glass and the Shiraz in the Cabernet Sauvignon glass and then switched them around.  My cursing was audible as I could definitely smell the difference and the enjoyment factor was enhanced when having the right wine being ‘nosed’ in the right glass.  Then I tasted each combination and was sold.  The reason for the cursing was that I knew I would be shelling about $400 for Riedel glasses (my first set of many!)  But make no mistake, for someone who loves their wine, you can tell the difference and it does enhance the drinking experience.  And aesthetically, the beauty of looking at and holding a perfectly balanced glass adds further to the pleasure!

For a great blog on what Riedel glass to drink with what wine, see the blog Confessions of a Wino by Alastair Bathgate The post provides very useful information on which range to select and what glasses within the range to select.  I agree entirely with  Confessions of a Wino’s assessment that the best style to pick from is the Vinum.  I also agree with his basic selection glass types as being suitable to cover most wines in your cellar.  However, for me, with the amount of great Australian Shiraz I drink, I need to have the Riedel Vinum Shiraz glass also, and I have the Riedel Vintage Port glass for the occasional port when late night reading.  But Alistair is absolutely correct in that you can go overboard if not careful.  Each Riedel glass is between $25 and $40 in the Vinum range and higher for the Sommelier range.

Why does the shape of the glass make a difference?  The first reason is the shape (overall size of the globe and opening at the top) influences the concentration of bouquet as you ‘nose’ the wine.  This is an important initial part of the wine drinking pleasure.  And secondly, the shape and diameter of the globe and the tightness or wideness of the opening determines where the wine is most likely to end up on your tongue and in your mouth.  As mentioned above, this can have a huge impact on the tasting experience and what types of flavors you are experiencing.

I also have a set of the O Riedel glasses which are the same shape globes, but without the stems for easier transport.  I avoided getting these for a long time as I did not find stemless glasses to be aesthetically pleasing.  But after too many bad restaurant experiences (regardless if it was a BYO or not) which did not have proper wine glasses, I felt compelled to bring my own.  I am really glad I do now, but you need to be careful when picking up the Pinot Noir and Montrachet glasses as they are very wide and difficult to hold onto to, especially after a bit to drink!

But it is not just my wine drinking that is influenced by great glassware.  My coffee drinking also benefits from it.  There is one large difference though between wine and coffee for me.  I do not drink wine to get drunk.  I drink wine for the flavor and the manner in which it enhances an eating and social experience. While I also drink coffee for the taste and pleasure, I additionally drink it for the caffeine and ‘perk-me-up!’  Therefore, I can really enjoy my first coffee of the day even if it is in a cardboard or Styrofoam cup!  Yet, if I am making it at home or work (which I usually do 95% of the time), I use glasses made by Nespresso Citiz.

The Nespresso Citiz glasses cost quite a bit.  The “Lungo” glass viewed to the right costs about $18.  The “Expresso” size is a little less and the “Latte” size a little more.  Yet, this is not much for something I use several times most days of the year!

The glasses are double insulated, keeping the coffee hot while protecting my hands from getting warm.  Additionally, the beauty of seeing the coffee parabolically shaped adds significantly to the aesthetic experience.

Bodum makes a line of see-through glassware similar to Citiz, and at about one-third the price, but they are not as nice in terms of balance and feeling when being held, and have a plainer design and etching.  Yet, they still provide a beautiful see-through experience and have double insulation.

My glassware is worth it in terms of enhancing my drinking experiences, and I would not do without!  If you plan to spend money on good wine and good coffee, spend a little extra on good glassware.  It is most definitely worth it!

Overview of Australia’s Wine Regions – Part 4

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Part 4 – Characteristics and Grapes of Australia’s Smaller Wine Regions

In Part 1, we discussed why Australia has become a renown wine producing country, and that all states and territories other than the Northern Territories and Queensland produce high quality wines.   In Part 2, we described where Australia’s prominent wine regions were located.

Discussing, even in simplest terms, each region, takes up some space, so I broke the wine regions up into the four large wine regions which I described in Part 3 (last  post):

  • Hunter Valley – about two hours north of Sydney, New South Wales
  • Barossa Valley – just north of Adelaide, South Australia with close-by regions of Clare and Eden Valley, and with McLaren Vale south of Adelaide
  • Yarra Valley – about an hour north of Melbourne, with close-by regions including Mornington Peninsula and Geelong, south of Melbourne, and Heathcote, Victoria northwest of Melbourne and on the way to Bendigo, Victoria
  • Margaret River – about 4 hours south of Perth, Western Australia

In Part 4 (this post), we will now describe what makes each smaller region so special and what grapes grow best in those regions:

  • Rutherglen – about half-way between Sydney and Melbourne, close to the New South Wales and Victorian border and the cities of Albury and Wodonga
  • Mudgee, NSW – about 4 hours northwest of Sydney, with some wineries relatively close by around Orange
  • Tasmania
  • Riverina – in southwest New South Wales

    Rutherglen:

    Rutherglen is one of the best wine regions in the world for Muscat.  They make a wide variety of great Muscats.  They also are known for their Durif wines.  Durif is a secondary grape, easy to confuse with other red grapes if you have not had it before.  They also make some spectacular Tokays, the Hungarian grape often used as a dessert wine.  See me blog entry on “What an Affogado!” for an overview on how special a Rutherglen Tokay can be!

    I have not been there yet myself, but friends tell me it is a very nice region to visit with a lot of good food events and sightseeing outside of just tasting wine.

    Rutherglen Top Wines:  Durif, Muscat, Tokay

    Mudgee:

    Mudgee is much higher up and inland than a lot of wine regions, making a perfect climate for cold weather grapes.  Robert Oakley has some of his best vineyards in Mudgee.  Mudgee vineyards also ship a lot of grapes to wineries around Australia.

    Some very good Cabernet Sauvignons come from Mudgee and a number of organic wines are made in Mudgee.

    But Mudgee is mostly known for its dessert wines and iced wines.  They have a lot of sweet late harvest and Botrytis Semillon dessert wines.

    While 4 hours outside of Sydney, it can make a nice weekend getaway.

    Mudgee Top Wines:  Cabernet Sauvignon, Botrytis Semillon and other Desert Wines

    Tasmania:

    Tasmania is a significant newer entrant to Australian wine regions.  With its cooler climate, it produces great Pinot Noir wines.

    Tasmania Top Wines:  Pinot Noir

    Riverina:

    Riverina is not known for its great wines, but rather as the largest producer of wines in Australia.  About half of all Australian grapes come from Riverina, and many of them find there way into cask (box) wines.  Decent enough and very cheap, but not the type of thing I like to drink or write about.

    Riverina Top Wines:  Cheap Cask Wines

    This concludes the very short four-part overview of Australia’s wine regions.  I will be following up with several blogs on where and how to buy wines in Australia and also with blogs in more detail on each of the major wine regions, including recommendations on some of the best and best-valued wines on the market.

    Stay tuned and keep drinking smartly and safely!

    Overview of Australia’s Wine Regions – Part 3

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    Part 3 – Characteristics and Grapes of Australia’s Larger Wine Regions

    In Part 1, we discussed some of the reasons why Australia has become a renown wine producing country, and that all states and territories other than the Northern Territories and Queensland produce high quality wines.   In Part 2, we described where Australia’s prominent wine regions were located.

    Discussing, even in simplest terms, each region, takes up some space, so I am breaking the wine regions up into the four large wine regions which I describe in Part 3 (this post):

    • Hunter Valley – about two hours north of Sydney, New South Wales
    • Barossa Valley – just north of Adelaide, South Australia with close-by regions of Clare and Eden Valley, and with McLaren Vale south of Adelaide
    • Yarra Valley – about an hour north of Melbourne, with close-by regions including Mornington Peninsula and Geelong, south of Melbourne, and Heathcote, Victoria northwest of Melbourne and on the way to Bendigo, Victoria
    • Margaret River – about 4 hours south of Perth, Western Australia

    In Part 4 (next post), we will then describe what makes each smaller region so special and what grapes grow best in those regions:

    • Rutherglen – about half-way between Sydney and Melbourne, close to the New South Wales and Victorian border and the cities of Albury and Wodonga
    • Mudgee, NSW – about 4 hours northwest of Sydney, with some wineries relatively close by around Orange
    • Tasmania
    • Riverina – in southwest New South Wales

    Hunter Valley:

    The Hunter Valley is divided into the Lower Hunter and the Upper Hunter.  However, the Upper Hunter only has four cellar doors remaining, and a number of vineyards that produce and sell grapes. The Lower Hunter is where the action is.  There are about 150 wineries in the Lower Hunter.  The Hunter Valley is close to the ocean, but not right on top of it, so it gets some good breezes, decent rainfall (some years far too much rain fall!), and has some great soil conditions.  The best known grapes in  the Hunter Valley are Semillon, Shiraz and Chardonnay.

    Hunter Semillons are un-paralled anywhere in the world.  A multitude of Hunter wineries make great, great Semillons, in three styles which really relate to their age in the bottle and when they are released.  They are:

    • Crisp, new Semillons a year or two in the bottle
    • Semillons stored for 5 years before being released
    • “Museum” Semillons being bottled and stored 10 years before being released

    The Shiraz of The Hunter Valley tends to be more spicy than fruity often described with labels as “peppery”, “smokey”, “leathery”.  Hunter Shiraz’s also tend to contain slightly less alcohol and is more refined than the Shiraz of Barossa Valley, by comparison.  I would consider the Hunter Shiraz’ to compare with “old world” style Hermitage.

    I have recently become a real fan of Hunter Valley Chardonnays and believe both the lighter crisper Chardonnays and the aged Chardonnays of the Hunter are as good as any in Australia now.

    Hunter Valley Top Wines:  Semillon, Shiraz, Chardonnay

    Barossa Valley:

    The Barossa Valley is often labeled as Australia’s “Best Wine Region”, even though I am sure many wine producers from other regions would deny that claim!  However, the Barossa Valley has a lot going for it which justifies that label.  They produce great grapes, have a variety of micro-climates and regions, variety of elevations, and some of the best wine labels in Australia, including Penfolds, Henschke, and Grosset among many others.

    The Barossa is known for big, robust, fruity, Shiraz, often high in alcohol.  It is also know for superb Rieslings, especially in the Clare and Eden Valleys.  As testimonial, I have about 6 Australian Rieslings in my cellar and they all come from around the Barossa Valley.

    McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide is known for making superb Cabernet Sauvignons.  McLaren Vale is close to the sea and gets some nice breezes to help the grapes mature in a consistent manner.

    There are a lot of other grapes that do well across the Barossa Valley, given its variety of micro-climates and great overall growing conditions.

    Barossa Valley Top Wines:  Shiraz, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon

    Yarra Valley:

    The Yarra Valley makes some of Australia’s best sparkling wines.  They are also know for great Shiraz, as is the Heathcote region nearby.

    But what I love most about the Yarra Valley and the surrounding areas of Geelong and the Mornington Penisula are the great Pinot Noir wines that come from this region.  The slightly cooler climate is perfect for growing the Pinot Noir grape.  Everyone is talking about New Zealand Pinot Noirs, but my favorites all come from Victoria.

    Also, for pure enjoyment and if you only have a day to tour a wine country, the Yarra Valley is quicker to get to than The Hunter Valley or Margaret River from the closest big near-by city, so you can pack in more fun in a twelve hour day than with a number of the other regions, which almost demand two, if not three days.

    Yarra Valley Top Wines:  Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Sparkling

    Margaret River:

    For pure elegance, I love the wines from the Margaret River.  Sea breezes and some of the best soil in Australia for growing wine exists in Margaret River.  It is often compared to Napa Valley and some great American wineries have purchased vineyards here.  In fact, this is the Australian wine region most noted for Zinfandel, a popular California grape.

    Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays are the stand-out wines from Margaret River.  A number of premium brands such as Leeuwin Estate, Pierro and Moss Wood come from this region.  While one of the smaller regions compared to the three described above, Margaret River still “punches above the line” with so many premium labels.  Winery per winery, you will get more quality wineries from this region than from any other region.

    Margaret River Top Wines:  Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc

    Each region will be described in more detail, including recommendations of specific wineries and wines in subsequent posts.  But first, onto “Part 4 – Characteristics and Grapes of Australia’s Smaller Wine Regions.”

    Overview of Australia’s Wine Regions – Part 2

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    Part 2 – Australia’s Prominent Wine Regions

    In Part 1, we discussed why Australia has become a renown wine producing country, and that all states and territories other than the Northern Territories and Queensland produce high quality wines.  (Surprisingly, every state in the US, including Alaska, now has a least one winery.  Having grown up in Minnesota, I find this surprising as there is nothing about the growing season in Minnesota or the conditions that would inspire me to drink a Minnesotan wine.  However, my parent’s friends own a winery in Canon Falls, Minnesota, so we will try it out on our next trip there and let you know!)

    Below is a map of the Australian wine growing regions, even though it seems to be missing the recent growth in great Tasmanian wines.  Don’t let this mis-lead you:  there are some great Tasmanian wines, especially Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blancs.

    As you can see, most Australian wine growing regions are located in the southern part of the country.  The northern part is just too hot (and often too dry) to be able to grow grapes of any quality.

    For touring purposes and geographical simplicity, I categorize the major wine regions as follows:

    • Hunter Valley – about two hours north of Sydney, New South Wales
    • Barossa Valley – just north of Adelaide, South Australia with close by regions of Clare and Eden Valley, and with McLaren Vale south of Adelaide
    • Yarra Valley – about an hour north of Melbourne, with close by regions including Mornington Peninsula and Geelong, south of Melbourne, and Heathcote, Victoria northwest of Melbourne and on the way to Bendigo, Victoria
    • Margaret River – about 4 hours south of Perth, Western Australia
    • Rutherglen – about half-way between Sydney and Melbourne, close to the New South Wales and Victorian border and the cities of Albury and Wodonga
    • Mudgee, NSW – about 4 hours northwest of Sydney, with some wineries relatively close by around Orange
    • Tasmania
    • Riverina – in southwest New South Wales

    I have tried to categorize the major regions around the major cities you would fly into and then drive out of to visit the wine regions.  As you can see from the map, there are a number of smaller and well-define regions also that are close by and associated with the better known region names.  But when it comes down to it, the four most prominent regions by name are Hunter Valley, Barossa Valley, Yarra Valley and Margaret River.  Rutherglen, Mudgee and Tasmania are worth visiting and growing in popularity, but less known (and more distant from a major city).  Riverina is a large rural area that produces a lot of grapes, but not great wines in general.

    I have included a link to more detailed maps of the major wine regions for you to review.  Again, they fail to mention Tasmania, but an Internet search of ‘Tasmania and wine’ will provide you with ample information on Tasmania as a popular Australian wine region.

    In Part 3, we will discuss the unique characteristics and grapes that each major region is known for.  Part 4 will similarly do this for the smaller wine regions.

    Worse than Penfolds or not?

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    Yesterday, I wrote with some angst against Penfolds for having on offer a dozen bottles of wine for $168,000 per bottle.  But his may be even more insane.  A vacuum cleaning company trying to sell 100 gold vacuum cleaners for $1 million dollars each!   What is happening in the world today?  I was under the impression things were a bit tough, but I guess not for everyone.

    It is sure nice to know that if I am at the right people’s home and I spill some crumbs from my Ritz crackers while swilling their $168,000 bottle of Penfolds, they can quickly get out their $1 million dollar vacuum cleaner and get rid of the crumbs.  Seriously, if I could afford a $1 million vacuum cleaner, I would probably have a maid or cleaner, and in neither case, want to tempt them with stealing my $1 million vacuum (or my $168,000 bottle of wine)!

    Penfolds, you disgust me!

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    A friend posted this Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) article and I went ballistic.  This really upset me, far more than selling Grange or their other select wines to the Chinese at $1,000 per bottle (and as I understand it, 90% of the total allocation was snapped up by the Chinese, making it close to impossible for long-term lovers of Penfolds premium wines to get any).  Who the hell would pay $168,000 for a bottle of any wine, except some dumb rich Chinese guy recently into buying up good wine to impress his friends?

    Please be certain that I am not ridiculing the Chinese here, as I think their appreciation for fine wine, and their ability to grow fine wine has greatly improved in recent years, and I am excited about their growing presence in the ownership of wineries in the Hunter Valley.  The first Chinese female also recently received her International Masters of Wine (MW) certification.

    But who other than a newly rich Chinese would actually buy this and for what purpose?

    Penfolds is targeting a few ‘dupes’ here who want to look good with their very rich friends in return for $2 million more in revenue.  I am pissed at Penfolds for even releasing this, and am going to dump all of my Penfolds wine.  If you want an inventory of my Pendfolds wine and what I was currently selling it for anyway, let me know and I will knock and 25% off the price if you buy a half dozen or more.  Or if that is not enough, make me an offer as I am ready yo unload.

    You can email me at ‘shipleyaust@yahoo.com.au‘. 

    Penfolds, you disgust me!

    Educating your wine palate and taste buds using potato chips

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    I have a number of friends who will drink any wine with any food and the combination does not seem to matter to them, but then many of them are drinking for the alcohol effect, not the taste.  Any many other friends know and can appreciate the basic and simple rule of ‘white wine with fish, red wine with meat’.  However, there are a number of nuances the make a food eating and wine drinking experience even more pleasurable.  There are certainly wide variances between the taste of different white grapes such as Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and so on.  The same goes for various red grapes.

    Wine tasters believe that the Sauvignon Blanc grape is the easiest to determine in a blind tasting and stands out as being the most different and distinguishable from other grapes.  And it is a classic to go with fish, making it a safe bet for most fish.  However, for a gamy, more solid fish such as swordfish, I find a good Pinot Noir is a perfect match, especially if the swordfish has a bit of light salsa or tomato sauce with it.  Therefore, people may look at what you are eating and drinking and believe you have made the ultimate wine / food matching mistake in pairing a red wine with fish, but I can assure you that this is a most pleasant pairing!

    The sauce (and amount) and the method of cooking (broiled, roasted, BBQ, steamed, etc.) also has a big impact on what wine goes best with a particular food.  Even the difference between different styled wines from the same grape can make a huge difference.  And the aging of the wine changes the wine greatly over time, so it is important to select the wine close to the optimal time for drinking it.  You may find a white wine more acidic when young and more buttery and smooth when older.

    While this may seem like a lot of effort to understand and rightly match food and wine, it really does make a great difference.  Even if you do not understand it, you will usually recognize it and notice the difference in how good the food and wine tasted (even if you cannot describe it).

    However, what I really want to focus on today is much easier to appreciate.  A good first step to educating your palate is to just try different foods and taste them with your eyes closed and focus on what the flavor is telling you.  Try to pick out how dry or sweet the food is, is it acidic?, or bitter and so on.  This makes you more aware of the common taste characteristics of food.

    Tonight I was a bit hungry, but it was a while until dinner, and my wife had an open bag of sour cream and chive potato chips.  I had just poured a glass of a Cabernet Sauvignon.  I grabbed a handful of the sour cream and chive potato chips, ate them and then took a sip of wine.  I thought the flavours would be competing against each other and it would be a horrible match, but it worked far better than I thought.

    Then I poured a glass of a Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon blend (I had both bottles open from a day or two before) and tried it with the sour cream and chives potato chips also.  I would have expected this to be a better combination, but found out that was not the case as the Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon blend was a bit acidic, and did not work well with the sour cream taste.  Then I opened a few more bags of different potato chips and tried them with both wines.

    Why do I suggest potato chips for this?  Because it is a lot cheaper to open a few bags of potato chips than it is to used real honey-glazed ham, chicken, etc.  Of course, you could always go the sliced meat route for another lesson.

    By trying several different wines with several different flavors of potato chips, you can quickly educate your palate and zone in on grape and food flavor combinations you like and don’t like  I will not tell you my findings of the various combinations of grapes to potato chip flavors to let you focus better and really learn more by tasting than reading.  I would also suggest you do this in the company of friends and discuss your findings.  You will be amazed at how quickly you will learn to identify tastes and combinations that work or not.  And talking about it while doing the tasting is a great way to learn (and socialize!).

    When doing this, I would suggest using Kettle or Red Rock brand potato chips as they tend to have more intense flavors than other brands, and also have a wide variety of flavors including sweet chili, peri peri chicken, caramelized onion, honey coated, etc.  These wide contrasts can help you quickly zone in on categories of combinations that work – or don’t!

    Let me know what combinations of flavors and wine grapes work for you!  I am anxious to hear your feedback.

    Is wine better before, during, or after sex?

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    As intriguing as this posting sounds from the title, I could lead you through a lot of advertisements and other more boring things before I finally brought you to the answer, but I will provide it to you immediately – wine is best before sex.  It can be used during all three phases, but for most guys, if we only had wine during sex, we wouldn’t be drinking much at all, and if we were to drink during foreplay, there would not be time to get even one sip in for your typical male.  And seeing a woman drinking wine preparing for or participating in sex, is a very sexy thing indeed!

    Why do I believe wine is best before sex?  First of all, I am passionate about wine and sipping a little bit of a nice wine, like lighting candles, makes me more interested and passionate about having sex.  And after sex, I am usually flushed with contentment (BTW, I am talking about sex with my wife – a loved one, not random sex, paid sex, group sex or anything like that.) and wine would be an overload.  Therefore, I never drink wine immediately after sex.  (Today I had an intervening nap and two hours before I got back to drinking wine!)

    Wine can play an interesting role and use during sex.  First of all, lips soaked in wine from a recent sip can act as a perfume or another special taste co-mingled with your lovers other scents.  Additionally, sprinkling a bit of wine over your lover’s various body parts and lapping it up can be quite sensual.

    One warning though about drinking wine before sex – have only a little to help the mood.  Too much and you may not be able to perform!  A little alcohol can act as a stimulant, but too much becomes a depressive.  And for you older guys, it is not a good idea to combine Viagra and wine as too much of either can give you heartburn.

    And now the other key question – what wine goes best with sex?

    Without question, that would have to be a bubbly, like Champagne.  And make sure to be generous and share some with your partner!  Otherwise, your selfish ways may turn her / him off.  Or some exotic or difficult to find wine.  The wine being special is a reflection of her / him being special.

    As many of you know, I blog a lot about matching wine to food and I have also blogged about matching wine to chocolate.  And soon, I will do the same for cheese.  However, I do not have any useful ideas on matching wine to sex, except to repeat what I said above – bubbly or difficult to find wine for most sexual experiences!