The Ride Inside

Having been back in the States for about 2 months now(I recently lived in Italy for 1 year) I have finally tasted some food that reminded me of my time in Florence.  Since my return, the style, preparation and quality of food in America has somewhat disappointed me…

There is good news though.  I landed a job at Italian Wine Merchants, where my passion for wine, food and culture can now be put to good use.  Based out of NY, this is truly a one of a kind place.  We are in the service of building lasting relationships with our clients by providing them with exceptional wines, food and most of all friendship. Anyway, that is another story that deserves to be in a book and it actually is.  The owner, Sergio Esposito, wrote a book called “Passion on the Vine” which details his journey from childhood times in Naples to how he made the relationships with producers that drive his business today.

Back to the food.  Here at IWM, we have a chef that prepares the staff a wide array of delicious authentic Italian foods on a daily basis.  Kevin is the man.  He is an extremely talented chef who does wonders with Italian ingredients.  I mean who else can eat braised veal cheeks, risotto, caponata, sautéed fish with chili peppers and olive oil, fresh breads and other Italian delicacies at their work place, for lunch none the less!

I’m basically saying that it is awesome here at IWM.  My passion for wine and food finally has a practical outlet.  For anyone that reads this and for anyone that loves wine, it would be totally worth your while to at least check out the site .

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.

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 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.

This is finally going to be the last post about my harvest experience.  It is going to end with a review of “Il Carbonaione”  Poder Poggio Scalette’s 100% Sangiovese.  Here it is.

2005 Il Carbonaione  13.5%abv

Intense ruby with purple reflections.   Strong fruit aroma, blackberry, plums and cellar dust on the nose, beatifully integrated toasted oak.  Bright wild berry fruits on the palate, with a note of vanilla on the back end. Really really nice, almost like a wildberry pie, also a cellar like quality of wood and wine on the palate. The tannins are smooth, refined and nicely married with the alcohol, once again extremely balanced. Notes of tobacco come through on the second glass with chocolate and coffee.   The finished glass gives back aromas of cedar box.

2006 Il Carbonaione : This wine will not be released until next year.

Basically everything I said in the previous note just pumped up a couple of notches of intensity, especially the tannins.

Francesco can you talk a little about the  differences in wine bought from the store and ones made by the consumer. I’m not really talking about the ones that older generations made in the bath tubs but more those wine making locations that people go and make their wine. I’ve heard that there aren’t preservatives put in the wine you make and that it is less likely to give you a hangover? What other noticeable characteristics and differences could you enlighten me with? Is there such thing as a high class homemade? Are the grapes imported or are they grown in the area you live?

There are many differences between home made wines and the wines you’ll find in a wine shop, but there are also a couple of similarities.

Some winemakers do not grow their own grapes, they simply buy them from a grape producer.  This is not an uncommon practice used in California as well as other parts of the world.  Sometimes the wine makers feel that they should leave the growing to someone who specializes in that area.  They then take these grapes and make their wine.

Usually, grape juice is also bought to make these home made wines.  The juice can be sourced from all over the world. I have seen juice from Nebbiolo grapes(Italy) as well as juice from Cabernet, Merlot and some other varieties.  This juice is then fermented in your wine making location to producewine.    The quality of most of these is very poor.  The only way to make good wine is to grow good grapes.  The juices used are probably not the highest quality and the vessels for aging are not top notch either.  Here’s the equation:

bad grapes + sub-prime facilities + unskilled wine maker = poor wine

I hate to knock these wines because many people take pride in doing this, but I’ve never tasted blockbuster home made wine.  Some are OK, but most dangle in that below average category.  While it may be marginally cheaper to produce such wines, the resulting ratio between quality and price can be very low.  However, I do not denounce the practice.  Making your wine and sharing it with your friends and family is exactly the point.  Dont make your wine with intentions of it being the next Chateau Margaux.  Learning and experiencing part of the wine making process is important in understanding some of the steps involved.  This will also help you to develop an appreciation for what it means to produce quality wine on a large scale.    As for the added preservatives, I’m not sure.  I’ve never made my own wine in this fashion, feel free to chime in if you have.

In my earlier days of “wine-ing” and dining it seemed fashionable, trendy and cool to let wine breathe in a decanter for a couple of hours.  I read about it in virtually every wine periodical and most deemed it a necessary process in order to fully enjoy a wine, whether young or old.  For new wines, decanting and breathing is meant to soften and loosen the aromas in  tightly wound, young, and tannic wines.  In older wines, decanting is a legitimate way to separate the clear wine from the precipitated sediment as well as to let the wine “breathe” from all of those years trapped inside the bottle.

The effects of breathing a wine are very controversial.  Most people will pop the cork 2-4 hours before serving and let the bottle sit on the counter. Now, lets examine this situation.  The surface area of wine that actually comes into the contact with the air is very minimal.  The rate of oxygen being dissolved into a breathing bottle of wine has been estimated to be in the area of 1 milligram per liter.  This trivial amount is not enough to change the wine in any way, shape, or form.  The act of pouring wine into a glass has double the rate of  oxygen absorption!  Clearly, breathing a wine is utterly useless, at least in its bottle.  People still admit that a wine which is left to breathe tastes better than one that hasn’t.  The power of preconceived notions is very powerful and we are all  guilty of this flaw at some point.

The other option would be to pour your beloved wine into a decanter for a couple of hours.  This technique allows a larger area of wine to come into contact with the oxygen in the air.   Now, maybe we can see some changes in the wine. A large majority will admit that something happens in a wine after letting it breathe for some time.   But is this change for good or bad in terms of quality?  “The wine tastes softer, less acidic and less aggressive”, are common reasons offered by many for breathing a wine.

Don't let your wine wear a mask...

For me, I like to taste wine in its unaltered state such as to let the wine give me everything it has to offer.  Its razor sharp acidity, mouth puckering tannins and aggressive mouth feel let you perceive the wine the way it was made.  In this way you can see the true power and intensity of a wine or its spindly flavorless nature.    I prefer to taste white wines at room temperature for this same reason. When tasted at cold temperatures the wine’s faults are masked and the wine is perceived as tasting “better”.   Letting a wine breathe for hours has this same effect.  Delicious flavors and aromas may dissipate in front of your nose, while softening the tannins, acidity, and the overall mouth feel.  All of those complexities of long term bottle age can be “gone with the wind.”  The only legitimate reason for decanting a wine should be to separate the sediment. This is best done right before serving.

If you want to experience a 2005 Bordeaux or a 2004 Barolo, or any young,

Who knew boxing was this old? And they are wearing gloves!

complex and tannic wine you should muster up your courage, put on some protective gear(head gear + mouth guard) and fight back back with some aged cheeses and braised meat dishes.  This is how I like  enjoy those blockbuster wines.  Or you can just wait 15-20 years. It’s your choice…

Me with a photoshopped "winestache"

Finally we get to the meat and potatoes of wine.  Tannins are responsible for giving you that dry and puckering feeling in your mouth. Mostly found in red wine, they exist in whites but are usually imperceptible. They provide the wine with bitter and astringent sensations and also give  wine its color.  Some like this astringent feeling and some don’t.  For me, it depends on how they feel, whether the tannins add or take away from the wine.  Most novice wine drinkers will at first not prefer this feeling, but I can assure you, a red wine with the correct balance of tannins will spark your interest and leave you yearning for more.

Tannins are the “backbone” of a wine.  They provide the wine with structure, balance, body, complexity and longevity.  These compounds are found in the stems, skins and seeds of the grape plant.  The most important ones come from the skins, the others are very harsh and bitter.  During the wine making, the stems are removed before crushing and the grapes are pressed very slowly as to not break the seeds and release the bitter oils.   Another, but less important source of tannins come from the actual wood from where the wine was aged.

The tannic “backbone” is the main reason why some wines will have a lifespan of 2 years and some for over 20.  The quality and balance of tannin can make all of the difference, but be careful.  A wine that seems exceedingly tannic is also not good.  Like I’ve said in other posts, it is not the strength of one particular characteristic that makes a wine, but how all of these components are meshed together.

Tannins are in a class of chemical compounds called polyphenols.  At the heart of the molecule is a phenol molecule, which is a benzene ring with a hydroxyl group attached to it.  In any event, it is a highly reactive molecule.  Bonds are constantly broken and created during a wines life and no one really knows how tannins help a wine age.  There is the notion that the smaller tannin molecules come together to make larger molecules, and they eventually fall out of solution to form the sediment sometimes seen in old wines.    The exact opposite could also happen whereby the tannins get smaller.  In any effect, as a wine ages the tannins get softer, silkier and less perceivable.

Tannins provide me with a level of enjoyment that I cant get from white wines.  Don’t get me wrong I love white wines for their acid,  but sometimes you just need that tannic red wine with a grilled steak. Tannic wines are great with grilled red meats, stews, braises, and older cheeses.  The tannins provide a counter balance to strong flavors of these dishes and are good at wiping the inside of your mouth clean, preparing it for the next round.

A neat little story before we go. There is a reason for everything that exists in our world, including tannins.  Remember that grape vines are wild plants and existed long before humans and WILL continue to exist long after we are gone.  Plants have a myriad of biochemical, physical, and evolutionary processes that have helped them survive for this long.  One of the main goals of the grape vine is to survive and reproduce.  When the fruits of the vine are young they are green, acidic, bitter and very TANNIC.  This is to insure that the berries make it to their full ripeness.  Would you like to eat something that tasted like that?  Well , neither would any animal that also might be hungry.  During the maturation of the berry, they change to a beautiful color, become less tannic, sweeter, and less acidic.  Now they are ready to be consumed by an array of different animals so that they can eat,digest, and scatter the seeds all over the world.

This concludes the series on the physical components of wine. Thanks for reading and staying interested!

This is the last article that covers the “round” and “smooth” qualities of wine. We just went over alcohol and now will get into something that everyone on Earth pretty much loves.   Sugar is pretty much our master when you think about it.  We crave it often several times a day and basically can’t live without it, literally.  That sugar fix is always on our mind, whether it can be quenched through a candy bar or a glass of soda, we ALL love sugar to some degree.  We obey, take orders and receive punishment from it all at the same time.  It is only natural and instinctual that we love sugar so there is no one to blame but ourselves for this yearning.

In our beloved elixir of wine, there exists many types of sugars but the two most prominent are glucose and fructose, with fructose being roughly two times as sweet as glucose.  These sugars play a crucial role in determining the wines dryness and overall balance and contribution to taste.

So what is a sugar and how is it formed?  Sugar is a form of a carbohydrate that is broken down in our bodies into ATP and used as fuel for our bodies. While humans can’t make their own own sugars, plants and other autotrophs can .Once again, we will go back to 8th grade and think about photosynthesis, one of the most miraculous and important chemical reactions ever known to exist.  Here is the equation:

This is the reaction that removed deadly CO2 from our atmosphere and exchanged it with oxygen. About 3,500 million ago, this reaction elolved in tiny microorganisms and ultimately paved the way for the evolution of life as we know it today..  We should all take a moment, bow and give thanks to this wonderful chemical life giving process……OK enough of that.  When sunlight hits the leaves of the grape vine a whole bunch of reactions take place inside and out of the chloroplasts.  Sugars are formed, broken down and used for energy by the plant.  The principal sugar inside a raw grape is sucrose.  During the ripening of the grape, a phase called veraison, the grapes change color from green to red and the sucrose is converted to glucose and fructose.  These are the sugars that are transformed into ethanol during alcoholic fermentation.  Depending on how long the fermentation is allowed to take

not a grape leaf, but it looked cool

place, either almost all or very little of these sugars can be left.  A wine can be fermented to dryness (.02-.05%) or anywhere up to 1.1% for a sweet wine.  For wines this sweet it is very important to have a right balance of acidity so that the wine does not taste flabby and boring.   Over ripe fruits have these same qualities to give you a comparison. We will get to the importance of acidity in the next post.

We are programmed from birth to find things that are nutritious to be very tasty and things that aren’t to taste bad(like grass, the type that you cut with a mower).  Sugar is actually nutritious and is the main source of energy for our brain and other organs.   It is a highly concentrated energy source without containing any fat!We sense sweet things  on the very tip of the tongue  where the receptors are highly concentrated.  There are 2 hydrogren molecules that stick out from a sugar molecule  and bind to the receptors on our tongue giving us a “sweet” taste.  Saccharine and other artificial sweeteners, although not “real” sugars have these two same hydrogens that give us a sweet

a stitching of what a taste bud looks like

sensation.  Bitter sensations, the opposite sensation of sweetness, have these 2 prongs as well.  These prongs are spaced differently and therefore give us a bitter taste.  The spacial differentiation is about 1.5 angstrom.  An angstrom is approximately the length of 2 hydrogen atoms.  If you read the post on water you know how small molecules and atoms are.You can line up 500,000 hydrogen atoms shoulder to shoulder and they still would be able to hide behind a single human hair!  So as you can see, 1.5 angstroms is unbelievably small and is testament to how intricate, precise and minute the levels of our biochemisrty are.  So cheers to that and cheers to sweet wines because they are pretty darn delicious.