Archive for November, 2009

Pairing Food with Sparkling Wines

{ November 30, 2009 @ 2:53 pm } · { 1, champagne, Wine and Food }
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Bubblies should not always be used a the end of dinner for celebration.  There is a wide range of foods that sweet, semi-sweet, and fully dry sparklers can be paired with.  Their high levels of acidity and carbonation lend themselves well to a vast range of food stuffs.  Lets start with the sweet sparklers like Asti Spumante.

The grape used to make Asti is called Moscato.  This grape has naturally high levels of sugar, a low complexity and high aromatics.  These sparklers are great to either start a dinner or to finish.  Their sweetness and low level of alcohol make them a good aperitif.  They generally dont go too well with savory meaty foods but you can find a nice compliment with some salads.  A salad of mixed greens, sliced fruit, crumbled blue cheese and some sort of berry vinaigrette would go perfect.  For dessert, you would have to go on the light side.  An apple or pear tart, fresh fruit salads, and some cakes would work well.  The sweet apple and pare flavors of the wine would accompany the fruits very nicely and the bubbles would do a good job at cleansing your palate.

Next we have dry sparklers like Prosecco.  This sparkling wine is made from the Prosecco grape in the Veneto region of Italy.  They can be fully dry, but some may have a tiny bit of residual swetness.  We’ll stick to the dry ones for now.  These wines are very fresh, crisp, low in alcohol, fruity and sometimes even display a slight mineral character which makse them excellent as aperitifs.  Because of the low alcohol and low level of complexity you want to keep the the foods simple and stay away from red meets.  Prosecco can also go well with fried foods(veggies,squid and other fish) because of the carbonation and high acidity. Food recommendations:

Toasted bread topped with tomatoes

Fish tartar

Smoked  salmon, cream cheese, onions and cucumber on toasted bread

Delicately prepared filets of fish(sole, trout, bass) basically white flaky fish

Pastas with light sauces

sauteed veggies

A variety of light chicken dishes

Now we are going to get into the good stuff: Champagne, Franciacorta, Cava, and Cremant.  These are all sparkling wines made from the Champenois Methods.  These sparklers are fuller in body and more complex due to the aging criteria.  Click here and here to read about these wines and how they are made. One of my favorite Champagne pairings is with sushi.  Aim to buy a Blanc de Blancs because these are made with 100% Chardonnay which means that they are lighter in body and more elegant.  The delicate crispness and bready character pair excellent with the rice and raw fish.  The smoked eel sushi is one of my favorite combinations.  Be careful with the use of soy sauce and wasabi because these flavoring tend to over power the wine AND THE SUSHI.

Some people forget what an actual shrimp looks like...

Creamy risottos prepared with Parmesan cheese  are superb.  Any type of crustacean(shrimp, lobster, crab, etc) are perfect with Champagne.  Mollusk(clams, oysters, scallops, muscles) and crustacean pasta dishes present a wide range of great pairings. Battered and fried oysters with a touch of lemon aiole is great way to start a meal.   Why not pair Champagne with cheese too?  Fresh brie and goat cheeses work well because they are not too strong in flavor.  The carbonation cleans your mouth from the creamy brie and the tangyness of goat cheese matches the sharp acidity in the wine.   most types of chicken dishes work well with these types of sparkling wines as well.  Don’t be afraid to try veal and pork either.  Once again, try to avoid red meats.

As you can see, there is an infinite amount of possibilities when pairing food with sparkling wines.  This is where you want to let your imagination run loose.The point I want to get a across is that bubbly should not only be popped for celebration purposes.  There are so many food pairing opportunities out there that are waiting to be discovered.   The key to enjoying food and wine is to try new wines with new foods.  When you find that perfect combination, I can assure you that you will never forget that moment.

Im Back and Certified

{ November 29, 2009 @ 9:43 pm } · { 1 }
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For those of you who don’t know I was recently in Torquay, England taking the sommelier examinations with the Court of Master Sommeliers.  Two days were spent in a classroom and the last day consisted of the 2 tests, the intro. and the certified.  I was well prepared and passed them both and received the certificate and pin of the Certified Sommelier.  There were 21 of us and 4 people did not make it, but no biggie, they can take it again in a coupe of months.  The 20 or so people a the test were from all over Europe working in fine restaurants throughout the world. Their knowledge was absolutely top notch and they really made me feel pretty small in the world of wine. Most are practicing sommeliers with large amount of experience in the business.  Having the opportunity to meet and converse with these people was just as valuable as the actual test.  Making connections and learning from each other was the best part of the trip.  Everyone seemed to have their own specialty.  While mine was Italian wines specifically Tuscany, some were Bordeaux experts, Spanish experts and so on.  We each filled in each others gaps, in preparation for the exams.

Where do you go to find Sommeliers?  The bar of course.  The first night I was there none of us had met yet.  I decided to go down to the bar and have a drink by myself.  Sure enough some guys started showing up.  They all ordered and spent some time looking at the wine list.  So I put two and two together, they had to be wine guys.  And sure enough they were.

So once again I apologize for the lack of posts recently, but next week I will be back on top of things starting off with, How to Enjoy Champagne with Food.

Upcoming Test

{ November 20, 2009 @ 10:02 pm } · { 1 }
{ Comments (3) }

I would like to let you guys know that I am leaving for England on Saturday to take the Introductory Sommelier test with the Court of Master Sommeliers.  If I score above a 75% on the intro test, I will be eligible to participate in the certified somm. exam, on the same day.  I have been reviewing the past week to ensure that this will happen.  If all goes well, I will be coming back a certified somm. , so please excuse my lack of posts for this week.

The Science of Bubbles

{ November 15, 2009 @ 5:17 pm } · { champagne, Wine Science }
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Grape-ShotThis post might get a little geeky, so readers beware…

If you remember from the last post, I talked about the second fermentation that occurs in the bottle for the Methode Champenois.  It is in this fermentation where the magic happens and where carbonation is produced.

I hope we all know the equation for alcoholic fermentation by now: sugar+yeast—–>alcohol + CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2).  CO2 is  linear molecule looking something like this :  O=C=O.   2 carbon dioxide molecules are produced for every molecule of sugar during fermentation.  The CO2 molecules float to the top(because gas is less dense than liquid) and get trapped between the liquid and the enclosure.  Eventually enough CO2 will cause the pressure to increase in this space.   As the pressure increases, so does the solubility of the CO2. The concentration of molecules increases and more wind up back into solution(more and more are coming into contact with the surface of the liquid).  The molecules are essentially forced back into the liquid because this will best relieve the pressure that has been applied to the system.  Henry’s Law states that: The solubility of a gas in a liquid is directly proportional to the pressure of that gas above the surface of the solution;  the higher the pressure higher the solubility.

When CO2 is forced back into solution some of it does not remain as CO2, it is  changed to carbonic acid by attaching itself to a water molecule.  The molecular formula is H2O + CO2 <—> H2CO3.  Carbonic acid is important because it gives champagne a noteworthy “zing”.

champagnecelebrationThe pressure inside a champagne bottle is very large, and is roughly equal to pressure in a tire of an 18 wheeler.  For this reason the bottles are made of thick glass and have a large bell or punt at the base(that indentation on the underside of the bottle).  CO2 does not like to be trapped inside a bottle its like a prison for those little guys.  When the pressure is released by popping the cork, the CO2 rushes to the top.  This is known as effervescence and the smell of the erupting CO2 can be quite beautiful.

When you pour champagne in a glass you will notice some strings of bubbles streaming from one or several parts of the glass.  This stream of bubbles is called the  perlage.  Some people think that the more or less you have of these streams of bubbles the better your champagne is.  Well that is totally false.  The streams of bubbles occur because of small defects on the surface of the glass.  These defects trap the tiny carbon dioxide molecules and the gas bubble begins to grow until it expels gas.  This process repeats itself until you have a stream of bubbles.  So essentially, the more streams you see, the cheaper your glass is.  The most important thing to look for in bubbles is the size.  In this case, the smaller the better.  Smaller bubbles make the wine feel creamier and more elegant on your palate.  Take for example club soda, these bubbles are large and aggressive compared to those of fine champagne.  I don’t know about you but after all this champagne talk, I am gettin pretty thirsty.

The Cost of Champagne

{ November 14, 2009 @ 4:27 pm } · { champagne }
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Rose_Champagne_BubblesMost Champagne that we know is pretty expensive.  Its hard to shell out 80-100 bucks for a bottle bubbles when you can buy 3-5 bottles of still wines for the same price.  I am not going to try and rationalize the cost of a 500-1000 bottle of Champagne, but I want you guys to get a better feeling of how champagne is made so that you can understand where your money is going.

First I want to talk about the region of Champagne.  This is the most northerly wine producing region in France and really pushes the envelope for the cultivation of grapes.  It almost gets too cold to the point where the grapes can not ripen. It often rains, limited the amount of sunshine and warmth that reach the vines. Late Spring frosts are a killer and are the most dangerous.  The weather is unforgiving, and the decrease in yields sometimes adds the cost of a bottle of Champagne.Verzenay_moulin

So here are the steps for the Methode Champenois:

Step 1 : The grapes are harvested like any other wine, pressed and fermented in large stainless steel or glass vats.  Some producers use 225 liter barriques such as Krug, Bollinger and Vilmart for this fermentation.

Step 2:  5-6 months later the wine is ready for blending.  Non-vintage champagne is a blend of about 40-50 wines from as many as 10 different years.  This part is crucial because this it what gives the champagne their consistency in taste year after year.  The blending technician is very skilled and knows exactly the percentages of which wines to blend depending on the current years organoleptic qualities.

Step 3:  After the wines are blended in a vat, a liquer de tirage is added to the wine.  This blend is a carefully mixed quantity of mostly liquid sugar and yeast.  The sugar and the yeast are what allow the second fermentation to take place in the bottle.

Step 4: After the addition of the liquer de tirage, the wine is bottled and capped.  If too much sugar was added in the liquer, the bottle can explode, champagne caveand if not enough, their will be no carbonation.  Remember the equation for fermentation is : sugar + yeast—->ethanol + CO2.  After the bottling they are laid on their sides in chalk caves  so the 2nd fermentation can take place.  During this period the yeast die in a process called autolysis.  The dead yeast cells sink to the bottom imparting yeasty, bread-like aromas to the wine as well as complexity. The bottles must be left in this position for at least 15 months for non-vintage and 3 years for vintage champagne.

Undegorgierter_Champagner

Her you can see some of the dead yeast cells

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5:  So what do you do with all these dead yeast cells?  Their is a long andChampagne-Remuer sometimes laborious process called remuage.  This is when the dead yeast cells are coaxed into the neck of the bottle.  Back before the use of machinery, a man called a remuer, would turn and angle every

bottle of champagne a little downward every day into a vertical position.  A top remuer can riddle 40,000 bottles per day.  Some houses still use a remuer but they are very costly and time consuming.   Most houses now use a girasol.  This a piece of machinery  holds about 500 bottles and replicates the remuage process.

Step 6:  Now that the bottles are in a vertical position some 12 to 20 weeks later it is time to remove all that sediment that has accumulated in the neck.  One method called a la volee, uses the pressure inside of bottle to force the sediment out after the enclosure has been removed.  The other and more common method is called a la glace.  In this method the neck of the bottle is dipped into a freezing brine solution.  This freezes the sediment and when the enclosure is removed the ice shoots out.  This process is called degorgement for obvious reasons.

Dosage_Champagner

Machinery to add the dosage

Step 7: To replace some of the wine that has been lost during the last step, a measured amount of sweetened wine is added to the bottle.  This mixture is called the liqueur d’expedition and is what gives the wine some residual sugar and house flavor. Next the champagne is topped with the mushroom cork a wire cage and is ready for shipment or storage.

As you can see it is not easy to produce champagne.  I forgot to mention that the caves where the champagne is stored are carved from the chalk soils that run 20 feet into the ground.  The chalk provides the perfect storage temperature for the wine.  By capturing heat during the day and radiating it during the cold nights, the internal temperature remains constant.  I hope this has helped you to appreciate champagne in a different light.

Next: The science of bubbles…

A Little Diddly on Champagne

{ November 11, 2009 @ 8:19 pm } · { 1 }
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ladycorkI think that a lot of people love Champagne but don’t really know what they are talking about when they say the name.  Most of the sweet stuff that we pour after dinner is not Champagne, but a cheaper alternative that has nothing to do with Champagne at all.  The grapes are different, the region of production is different, and the vinification is different.

When I say Champagne I am talking about the sparkling wines that come from the wine producing region in France called Champagne.  These wines are not made with Champagne grapes as some might believe, but are made with two black varieties and 1 white variety.  The reds are called Pinot Noir and Pinot Muneir.  When a Champagne is made with only black grapes is called Blanc de Noirs.  The white variety is Chardonnay and when a Champagne is made with only this varietal the wine is called Blanc de Blancs. There are also blends between red and white varietals and Rose Champagne exist as well.

Another common misconception is that Dom Pierre Perignon was the inventor of Champagne.  This is totally false.  He did however help to improve the quality of sparkling and still wines by  selecting only the best grapes, developing pruning techniques and finding the optimumDom-perignon conditions for harvesting.  He actually tried to STOP the second fermentation that takes place in bottle!  This is totally ironic because this second fermentation in the bottle is the basis of the Methode Champenois.( I will discuss this method in the next post.) Good thing he did not succeed.

All Champagne are sparkling wines, but not all sparkling wines are Champagne.  Sparkling wine that is produced in Champagne with the Methode Champenois is called Champagne.  Other Methode Champenois sparkling wines produced outside of Champagne are called Cremant in France.  Examples include Cremant de Loire, Cremant de Burgogne, and Cremat de Alsace.  In Italy there is sparkling wine produced with the Methode Champenois and it is called Franciacorta.  These wines coincidentally are made with Chardonnay, Pinot Muneir and Pinot Noir.  Another famous Methode Champenois wine is from Spain in teh area of Penedes.  This sparkling wine is called Cava and is produced with Spanish  and French varietals.  Parellada, Xarel-lo and Macabeo being the Spanish and Chardonnay of course the French.  These wines are cheaper alternatives to to Champagne and can give you a better bang for your buck in some cases.  Methode Champenois sparkling wines are also produced in America and Australia.

Next up: What is the Methode Champenois(Champagne Method) and why is Champagne so  expensive?

Are You Right or Left “Nosed”?

{ November 10, 2009 @ 10:22 pm } · { Rants and Raves }
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handAfter about 4 years of sniffing wine I can now easily judge which is my stronger nostril.    I am a right-handed person and so is my nose.  I don’t know if there link between these, but I found it to be pretty interesting.  I’ve asked my fellow wine friends this same question and their handedness also coordinates with their “nostrilness” if you will.

Being a wine nerd, I am little prone to watching the way people hold, swirl and taste their wine.  One thing that I cant help to notice is the direction of swirl.  I am counterclockwise swirler and I hold the glass in my right hand.  One of my buddies is right handed, has a right hand nose, but swirls his wine clockwise, which I found quite amusing.

Canine-nose

I am in the midst of personal research project, mainly for fun, about this “handedness”.  Here is a simple list of questions that would greatly help out my little project.  When I get enough responses I will let you guys know the results.

It’s Really Just a Journal

{ November 6, 2009 @ 8:58 pm } · { Rants and Raves }
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journalIt just a occurred to me a couple of days ago what a “blog” really is.  When you think about it, it is nothing more than a glorified journal. The word journal comes from Latin diurnalis, daily, then the French changed it a little to get “journal”.    I always thought it was the dorkiest thing to write in a journal as a kid.  “Dear Diary, class was great today, and I also talked to a girl named Sarah.”  I could imagine that many journals started off like that.  I wanted no part in a journal and I wanted no part in writing.  But my, how the tables have turned.

Now, I find myself writing in an electronic journal like WordPress, 3-5 times a week and loving every second of it.  Who would have thought that writing would be so rewarding?  By no means am I a professional writer.  If you have previous posts you probably figured that out my now.  Writing is just like anything else, the more you practice the better you get.  I always tell people that you don’t have to be a professional writer to write about things you are passionate about.  For me this passion is wine, food, science and bonsai.(bonsai is a separate issue that eventually plan on blogging)

So anyway, I will be going to a wine festival in Merano, Italy(northern Italy) this weekend. I plan on hitting the German and French booths first, ending with some Italian.  I drink Italian, mostly Tuscan wine everyday, and I just need a change of scene.  I am lalso loking forward to some northern wines as well.  Northern Italian wines, white and red, are extremely under rated and delicious.  Do your wallet and your palate a favor, go out and get some northern Italian juice and I don’t mean Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio.  Find some names you havent heard of before like Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, Gavi  Soave(the real Soave), Romandolo, Piccolit, and Blanc de Morgex.  Reds from here can be good if you like vegetable driven reds.

 

 

 

A Product of Your Environment

{ November 4, 2009 @ 8:29 pm } · { Grapes and Styles, soils }
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Hi Francesco,
I have a project that I have to submit for my class, and I’d like your opinion on one of the questions: Why is a Pinot Noir from Australia so different in style from a Burgundy Pinot Noir? I know the basic reasons for this (mostly due to the difficult/delicate nature of growing the grape itself), but would like to know what you think.

Thanks,
Joe

Thank you Joe for the question, Its been a while since Ive did one of these.  Pinot is a difficult grape to grow perfectly.  It is prone to extreme weathers, has thin skin which makes the berries vulnerable to all sorts of diseases, and it also has problems in the cellar during fermentation and these are just a few.

But these types of situations exist no matter where  Pinot is grown, be it Burgundy or Australia.  The main difference here is the terroir.  Grapes are products of their environment, just like you and I.  The soil, sun, rain, air circulation,  and exposure all help to determine their character, including the wine maker.  When one or more of these factors are changed the product is different, hence you have differences between Burgundian Pinot Noir,Australian, New Zealand, and American etc.

Lets talk a little specifically about the terroirs of Burgundy and Australia.

The risk of growing Pinot in Burgundy is very high compared to other places, but the reward is worth it.   The climate is continental and usually experiences cold winters which can damage or even kill young vines.  Burgundy  is northerly enough that the grapes just make it to full ripeness and there is constantly a threat of hail and under ripe fruit.  The long and cool growing season allows the berries to produce all of those complexities and nuances that we all love;  patience is a virtue.  In some years, there is too much rain and too much cold which can hurt production and quality.  Pinot does not live and easy life, but this why some say the best wines in world come from Burgundy.  Check this post out about Bad Soil, Good Grapes to get a better idea.

Pinot_noir_-_Bourgogne_(Santenay)

Burgundian Pinot Noir

The soil is extremely varied in Burgundy.  There is limestone, marl, sand and gravel that exist through out the region and within single vineyards.  Pinot tends to be planted on soils richer and marl and Chardonnay planted on limestone.  These soils provide drainage and warmth which help the grapes to ripen.  The bottom line is that these conditions allow the Pinot Noir grape to flourish and produce their best wines.  The wines are aromatically complex and elegant.  The color is light ruby and the flavors are more earth driven than fruit forward.  The wine delicately caresses your mouth with a good intensity backed by a symphony of nuances.

Pinor_Noir_vines,_Clos_de_Bèze,_Burgundy

Here's a look at another vineyard in Burgundy. The trees in the background are important in blocking strong and cold winds that can damge teh vines. you can also get a good look at the soil in this one.

Now let’s take a look at Australia.  The problem with Australia is that the climate is way too hot in most places. Yarra Valley and Geelong have particularly cooler climates and this is where the better Pinots are being produced.  Most Pinots from Australia are over extracted and fruit bomby due to the heat.  The grapes are picked in an over ripe state resulting in jammy fruitiness with a high alcohol content that takes away from the elegant nature of the grape.  The use of oak is sometimes overdone as well.

There are poor examples of each in both regions.  Some Australian Pinot is better than some Burgundian Pinot.  The producer and vintage are vitally important, especially for Pinot.  Where conditions prevail for the grape, the better the resulting wine. When buying, look for regions that have a known reputation for producing quality grapes.

The Bottling Truck and Galestro Rock

{ November 3, 2009 @ 7:19 pm } · { 1 }
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The video speaks for itself.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Galestro is a little different than a bottling truck, its is actually the famous type of soil found in Tuscany.  Schist rocks are characterized by their foliation which means that the rock can easily be broken up into layers.  Galestro retains heat well and warms the vines at night.  Soils rich in Galestro are also very well drained.  Because Galestro is agriculturally a poor soil, the roots of the vines need to traverse deeper into the ground in search of water, minerals and nutrients. Here is video of me playing with some Galestro at the Loacker estate in Montalcino.  I felt like Hurcules crushing rock with my bare hand.

A Visit to Montalcino: Loacker Corte Pavone

{ November 2, 2009 @ 9:19 pm } · { Wineries }
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Untitled 0 00 49-25

A nice view of Montalcino

One of the best parts about the wine school I go to in Florence are the field trips that we go on to see different wineries and producers. Here is the website if anyone is interested. Seeing and speaking with the producers has taught me so much about wine, that you can not find in text books.

Corte Pavone is an Estate owned by Austrian born Rainer Loacker.  He also owns estates in Sudtirol(Alto-Adige) and in Maremma in Tuscany.  Here, at Corte Pavone, he utilizes biodynamic principales to grow his grapes for Brunello di Montalino, Rosso di Montalcino, and an IGT wine.

Mr. Loaker is a great man and I would never discredit him.  His Brunellos and Rossos are fantastic wines, but I do however find his philosophy contradictory.  I’ve explained in a previous post how I feel about biodynamic wines.  To me, if you believe in astrology and horoscopes than you can make biodynamic wines.  He believes is certain “types” of days. For instance, there are fruit days, pruning days, green days, harvesting days etc. He also believes that there are little gnomes who live in the woods and somehow they have an effect on the production of wine.  I was quite fascinated, but at the same had a hard time believing in gnomes.   Producers like him look to the moon and starts to determine when to prune, harvest and bottle.  He only uses yeasts naturally present on the grape for fermentation, he wants to be as natural as possible.

Mr. Loacker  uses an interesting way of cleaning his cellar.  He floods the cellar a tiny bit with water loaded with specific microorganisms that disinfect the floor.  This process eliminates the use of chemical cleaning agents that he believes would contaminate the wine.

Here is where the irony comes into play.  After his philosophical speech, we went down into the cellar. So now I’m thinking this place is going to be “hippie-like”.  It seemed as though he was against the use of technology in his speech, but I was totally wrong.  This cellar looked like a NASA laboratory.  The pumps and vats were brand new and state of the art.  The fermentation tanks had an electronically timed cap mixer that punched the cap down every 3-4 hours.The cap is the “head” that forms during fermentation that contains the skins and pulp.  There was also a micro-oxygenator that he uses to sustain the wine and life of the yeasts.  Here’s a description of what this thing does:

“The aim in micro-oxygenation is to bleed oxygen in at just the right rate–which may vary from 0.25 to 100 milliliters per-liter per month–without overexposing the wine to it. Costs, according to Smith, run about two thousand dollars per wine tank. The purpose is to bring about desirable changes in wine texture and aroma that cannot be obtained by traditional aging techniques. The goals of micro-oxygenation include the restructuring of tannins and mouthfeel, color stability, aroma integration, decreased sulfide and reductive aromas, and increased longevity potential. What it does not do is promote early release or premature aging of wine.”

Untitled 0 00 18-01

You can the micro-oxygenator in te back left. Its that blue thing that looks like an oxygen tank. You can also see the the stainless steel poled on top of the vats. These are the cap breakers.

It just seems a little weird to me that a person can believe in gnomes and look to the stars for advice, yet he uses equipment that is found in a  NASA laboratory(of course I am speaking sarcastically)…I will quote something that my friend said to me after the trip,”I believe in terroir, not religion.”  I mean, that sums it right there for me. What are some of your thoughts and feelings on this?

Ever see a bottling truck in action?  Check back tomorrow for the video!

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