It has come to my attention that there is no list, anywhere, that explains the differnt types of wine tasting or how one should go about correctly doing a wine tasting. So here is my two cents. Now, this is not your standard “when the wine is poured notice the color and how it sticks to the glass” drivel that everyone talks about. This is more of a description of the common types of tasting, how you should approach it, and what you should expect and some rough rules to live by. Let’s start with the most basic:

Wine Tasting: We all know what this is, and it is probably the reason I met most of you in the first place. The purpose of a wine tasting is to sample with the intent on purchasing a bottle. Wine tastings, while fun, require a lot of work on the tasters and the pourers end. All wine servers, myself included, will prejudge you based on your attitude, focus and the questions you ask.  Now, it doesn’t matter if you are a newbie wine drinker experiencing your first tasting or the seasoned sommelier looking for the next hidden gem for your cellar, all servers want to sell you a bottle of wine. We do our best to be engaging and informative and to make sure you have a good time. Pouring wine is also a reactive endeavour, meaning we will generally show you the same respect you show us. If you are drunk, rude, obnoxious or obstinate you can bet your server will be short with you and do their best to get you out of the tastingroom as quickly as possible. On the other hand, if you are inquisitive and friendly your server will be the same, and probably pour you something extra or hang out with you longer (to get away from the other type of tasters).

Wine tasting is not wine drinking. It is a 1 ounce pour of each wine, generally of 5 or 6 different ones so that you can figure which bottle, if any, you would like to go home with. And while it is okay to ask for a repour of something you are seriously considering, do not ask for something more just to get another taste. Servers hate it, and they know the difference between interested wine tasters and those looking for freebies.

Some rules for wine tasting: If you don’t like a wine, pour it out. You don’t have to spit your wine, but there is no point is suffering through some swill just because it is in your glass. Please don’t make obvious jokes. Wine servers see dozens, if not hundreds of people everyday and those corny jokes get old really fast. Bring your ID. Seriously, the number of people who don’t think to bring an ID winetasting is appalling. Its alcohol, expect to be carded. And if you are obviously older than 30, don’t ask why you weren’t carded…it’s because you look older than 30. Tip your server. You tip waitstaff for asking you questions, your server actually provides you with information, and they should be justly rewarded. Be yourself. Don’t pretend to know more, or less, than you actually do. If you have a question, ask it…but don’t ask a question just for the sake of it, or if you have no idea why you are asking it. (The most common: How long was this wine on oak? 99% of people can’t taste the differnce between 18, 24 or 28 months of oak without being told.) Limit your tasting rooms. No matter how good your palate is, it will be shot by the end of your 4th tastingroom. You will have tasted the equivilant of a bottle of wine by that point, and it wil lbe time to move on.

The point of the tasting is to figure out what you like. If you would rather not pay as much attention, would like a little more wine, chat with your friends, or round out an evening after a day of wine tasting, you should probably be doing a….

Wine Flight: Now, this term has been bastardized as wineries have adopted the term to refer to their tasting list. A flight is a set of 3-4 wines, usually themed, with a larger pour amount (we do 2.5 ounces) and it comes to you all at once. Flights are nice if you want to sit back and relax, get a better feel for a wine or, if you want to try some things without the pressure of buying a bottle. Unlike tastings, flights are wine drinking. It is still okay to ask your server questions about the wine, and many people, myself included, prefer filghts as a way of sampling wines to purchase. The greater quantity helps with the aroma and allows for multiple sips to get a better feel for the wine. It also allows for you to taste at your own pace, so that you can savor the wine at the bar in the same fashion you would at home.

Flights are ideal if you still want diversity, but sometimes you just want to relax with a…

Glass of Wine: A standard glass of wine is 5 ounces, but will vary from 4 to 6 depending on the location (we pour 5.5 ounces). This is the best way to enjoy any wine, as you can get the full feel for the wine. A glass of wine will typically cost about 1/4 of the bottle price, so if there are 4 of you ordering the same thing, go for the bottle; same price, more wine.

Carafe of Wine: This is great for two people. A standard carafe is 500ml (a bottle is 750ml) which works out to 3.5 glasses. The advantage in this is that they are cheaper than ordering that many glasses seperately, and it is less wine than in a bottle. Recommended for two people. At Wandering Dog, our carafes cost the same as 2.5 glasses.

Well, that is it for todays lesson…I hoped y’all enjoyed it! Till next week! (Hopefully!)

Cheers!

Charles T. Williams

Director di Vino

Wandering Dog Wine Bar

Okay, so Wine Spectator releases its top 10 wines of the year today and the NUMBER ONE WINE WAS FROM RIGHT HERE ON THE CENTRAL COAST!!!! Let me say that again, just in case you missed it…

THE NUMBER ONE WINE FROM WINE SPECTATOR FOR 2010 WAS FROM THE CENTRAL COAST! SAXUMto be specific, and they get their name in bold because they deserve it. This is no small feat, and I want to applaud the people at  Saxum for something that is rarely bestowed.

However, and no knock to SAXUM (seriously, this is cool that a Central Coast Winery gets this prestige), but couldn’t they have picked a wine the rest of could have enjoyed? The wines from Saxum get so much press that our yearly allocation at the bar, which was decided before the Wine Spectator released its annual rankings, was just 6 bottles. Now, what am I supposed to do? Spectator says the wine should sell for $67 per bottle, which is low no matter who you talk to. We would’ve sold the wine for $70-$80…but now? Well, the wine isn’t available. Seriously. A quick google search of the wine already pegged the wine at $200+ per bottle and all I have to say is… Crap.

I like the Saxum wines, and this ranking only means one thing: For all of those of you that couldn’t get this wine before, you REALLY can’t get this wine now. Good luck if you can get it for three times its original asking price. Or four times… or eight times (really?) the price. Bottom line is this: it is good wine. Everyone on the Central Coast should applaud the wine and be happy for the noteriety the #1 ranking brings to this area.

But really, if you think this is a good thing, you probably believe the BCS is in our best interests too.

Flaws in the system only begin to describe the problem with Wine Spectators list. First, in order to be on the list a winery has to submit their wines. As someone whose background is in statistics (and really, wine ratings are nothing more than stats) the fact that Wine Spectator only rates wines that are given to themis absurd. Think about it. What are you going  to rate higher, the $50 GSM blend that you had to pay for to try, after showing your card and being snubbed of a free tasting, or the $67 GSM that was given to you by a PR proffessional with the caveat that “only X amount of cases were produced…you should be lucky to even try it!”?

You doubt me? How many of y’all love the “unde rthe counter”, the “we opened this by mistake” or “we don’t normally pour this” wine when you go wine tasting? That’s what I thought…now, do you think the ‘professionals’ are any different? And yes, I do have a justification. Our allocation for the SAXUM, JAMES BERRY VINEYARD, #1 WINE FROM WINE SPECTATOR(really, it is  cool that Saxum got it, hence the recap in bold, italics and CAPS) was 6 bottles, and it will probably be the last of the Saxum wines we ever see. Such is life.

But here is a list of wines that WERE NOT SUBMITTED to Wine Spectator (as far as I know) that were not in the running for such a ranking, that are readilly available either at the bar or your local wine shop:

2007 Kenneth~Crawford Grenache, Larner Vineyard~ um, well, my favorite local wine currently available…what else would I choose as number 1?

2007 McPrice Myers~ Does the varietal really matter…hands down,  THE BEST CENTRAL COAST WINEMAKER OF 2010… I hope that isn’t too much of a spoiler…

2008 Clesi~Yeah, I know that we are about the only place to get this wine, but I just tasted throught the lineup this morning and holy crap…

2007-08 Kenneth~Crawford, look, that grenache rocks and if you don’t have any you’re doing your wine cellar a disservice. But the rest, Babcock Pinot especially, some of the best wines ever. Whatever Mark and Joey are doing the best of world are only doing it slightly better…

Well, that’s just what I think.

Cheers!

Charles T. Williams

Thanksgiving is the biggest holiday for my family, and we tend to celebrate in style. This means plenty of wine, and we have gotten it down to a science. Here is preview of what our Turkey Day tends to look like, from a consumption point of view…

The day usually starts around noon, which is when Jody and I make the 5 block trek from our house to my parents. My sister and her entire crew made it down the night before, and it is best to avoid the chaos of have an extra four to seven bodies in the house…not to mention I can skip the Thanksgiving Day Parade, which my mom always pretends to watch while she continues the cooking she started around 7am with my sister. Anytime those two get together in the morning it means one thing: mimosas. We use Prosecco for ours, namely the Bisol “Jeio” ($20) which, combined with a splash of orange juice, is the perfect way to round out the early afternoon.

After the initial pleasantries, I have my yearly tradition of making cinnamon ice cream from scratch, a task that  I enjoy with my mimosa, and of course watching the first of the days football games (which, as long as the Cowboys lose, is always interesting). It is also about this time that the first round of appetizers makes it way out which also indicates it is time to open the next bottle of wine, in this case it will be the 2009 McPrice Myers Viognier, Larner Vineyard ($30). This wine is a little heavier and has great acid and balance, making versatile enough to have all afternoon.

At about 4pm my mom makes her first call for people to sit down in the dining room. Dinner is never ready, no matter what she says, and we pass the next hour or so with a good sipping wine…something like the 2007 Flying Goat Pinot Noir, Rancho Santa Rosa Vineyard ($44). This is a good time to remember the previous year and whatever chaos, and how many bottles were drunk, and the great food and such…especially as the serving plates pass by with their tantalizing aromas.

By 530pm everyone is generally ready for the feast, and the first wine with dinner. While I do not disagree with opening a bottle of rose to have with dinner, I have found something slightly heavier and with more acid does the trick. For this year we are going to have the 2008 Castello di Verdo Basadone ($28)which is a unique Italian wine that has caught our attention this past year. Italian wines, afterall, are meant to go with food and this one should be no exception. Of course, one wine will not cut it at our table of gourmands, and we will then move into something heavier, probably the 2007 Kenneth~Crawford Grenache, Larner Vineyard ($34), which is always one my favorite wines and is simply a pleasure to drink. Honestly, we will probably go through a couple of bottles of this, just to avoid fighting for the last little drops from the bottle! The other great thing about this wine is that it pairs well with any second helping, but also is smooth enough to have on its own while dinner has time to digest as we wait for dessert.

Dessert always consists of the aforementioned cinnamon ice cream and pie. Pumpkin, apple, chocolate, sweet potato and who knows what else will show up but there is only one wine that we have with it: Smith Woodhouses’ 10 year Tawney Port ($38). This hits the spot and rounds out a festive evening with just the right about of caramel and coffee. It also helps to put us to sleep…

So, that is what Thanksgiving is like at our place. How is it at yours?

If you want to try these wines at your holiday feast, click here for CT’s Limited Special of the the Week!

1. 2006 Alto Moncayo Garnacha~Was there ever any doubt? Anyone who came in to the bar over the past year would be most likely to find me sipping a glass or three of the rich, full bodied wine.

2. 2007 McPrice Myers “Hommage to Stephan Larner”~ This wine was almost exclusive to the participants of Larnerfete in June, but those that were lucky enough to sample this Rhone blend always enjoyed it.

3. 2005 Blair Fox Syrah, “The Dare”~Perhaps one of the best Syrah’s I’ve ever tasted had a case production of just 25.

4. 2006 Chapoutier Invitare~This was a wine club selection in September only by fluke circumstance…at least on thing a bad economy helped. The best white wine I have ever had.

5. 2006 Bonaccorsi Syrah, Larner Vineyard~A classic style of syrah that embodies eveything I love about the varietal…strong fruit, a little pepper and just the right amount of earthiness.

6. 2006 Paul Hobbs Malbec “Bramare”~ Jody and I had this for my birthday, and thought it was so good we had it again for out first anniversary.

7. 2007 L’Aventure Cote a Cote~On a field trip to Paso Robles this was the best wine we tried, beating out Booker (barely) and Linne Calado (not even close). Yum.

8. 2007 Kenneth~Crawford Pinot Noir, Babcock Vineyard~The first pinot on this list is as savory as they come. I would bet this would be Jody’s #1 wine of the year…

9. 2007 Herman Story Syrah, White Hawk Vineyard~ This was a Wine Society selection in May and sold out way too quickly.

10. 2005 Paras Nebbiolo~I have since found out that this wine will no longer be made, which is tragic, as it may be the best Nebbiolo I’ve had that is not from Italy.

11. 2004 Luzon “Alma de Luzon”~ A mourvedre based blend that went perfectly with the cool spring weather.

12. 2007 Tyler Pinot Noir, Block 5, Dierberg Vineyad~The only Pinot we brought in from Santa Maria Valley

13. 2006 Plumpjack Merlot~A surprise standout on our trip to Napa Valley…we bought a magnum.

14. 2005 Vinedo de los Vientos Tannat~A wine from Uruguay that you would have to taste to believe.

15. 2007 J Dusi Zinfandel~If Jannelle Dusi keeps making wines like this, Turley may relinquish its crown.

16. 2007 Wandering Dog Brenna~ We actually sold out of this wine before I could grab any bottles for myself!

17. 2005 La Spinetta Barbera~This one too.

18. 2005 Zuccardi Zeta~ Fabulous dark fruit flavors and rich tones of chocolate and coffee…

19. 2007 Kenneth~Crawford Grenache, Larner Vineyard~ I can sum this wine up in one word: Wow!

20. 2006 Wandering Dog Pinot Noir~ Our most popular wine of the year.

21. 2005 Jalama El Capitan~ Caramel, cola and cherries from the first sip to the last.

22. 2007 Rancho Arroyo Grande Zinfandel~I must admit I was a little skeptical about a cool climate Zin, not anymore.

23. 2007 Herman Story Grenache, On the Road~ I love it when people tell me they don’t like Grenache because it is too light…

24. 2006 Kaena Hapa~For awhile, I felt like I was calling Mike Seguion every week to order more…

25. 2007 La Spinetta Moscato~I never like Moscato before, but this wine changed my mind.

26. 2007 McPrice Myers Beautiful Earth~ Spice and fruit, big and bold, delicious.

27. 2007 Flying Goat Pinot Noir, Rancho Santa Rosa Vineyard~ Thank you Norm for releasing this wine early for our wine club!

28. 2007 Paras Grenache~ Who said Mt. Veeder was only for Cabernet?

29. 2006 Chapoutier Les Gratis Blanc~ I only had one bottle of this wine, with crabs, and it may be the best food and wine pairing I have ever had.

30. 2008 Clesi Malvasia Bianca~ Many hot summer afternoons were tamed by this vibrant and crisp wine.

31. 2004 Michele Chiarlo Barolo, Cerequio~ I didn’t know Nebbiolo could taste like this…liquid velvet.

32. 2007 Kaena Hapa Blanc~ This wine was so popular we had people asking for it in Winter!

33. 2006 Montgras Syrah, Antu~ I love syrah, and now I have a whole new region to enjoy it from thanks to this little wine!

34. 2006 Denis Mortet Gevery Chambertin~For those people who think Burgundy is over-rated, you need to try this wine first.

35. NV Philliponnat Brut Royale~ Toasty and fruity…just the way Champagne should be.

36. 2007 Sleight of Hand “The Magician”~ A dry style gewurztraminer that just seemed to disappear from my glass every time I poured it…

37. 2008 Staete Landt Pinot Gris~ Dare I say it, the first wine I have ever really enjoyed from New Zealand.

38. 2002 Alka Carmenere~ Just the perfect amount of funk to make it unique and desirable.

39. 2005 Blair Fox Syrah, Tierra Alta Vineyard~ A classic style of Syrah that makes every bite of food taste better.

40. 2006 Aaron Petite Sirah~ A newcomer to Wandering Dog that we just can’t seem to get enough of.

41. 2006 Clesi Sangiovese~ Whether it is pizza or lasagna, no Italian dinner is complete without a bottle of this.

42. 2006 Nagy2 Pinot Noir~ With only 98 cases produced, and the pedigree of the winemakers, should I be surprised the wine sold out so quickly?

43. 2006 Dragonette Pinot Noir~ A bigger style of pinot with darker fruit flavors.

44. 2007 Eugene Wehreim Riesling Spatlese~ I was on a riesling kick all year, and this was the best of the bunch.

45. NV Bisol Prosecco “Jeio’~ If only I could count the number of weekends that started out with a glass of this…oh wait, i can….52.

46. 2006 L’Ecole No. 41 Apogee~ Jody and I didn’t think L’Ecole would be worth the hype…we were wrong.

47. 2007 Fairview Pinotage~ You could throw this wine in as a ringer in any Rhone style blind tasting

48. 2007 Osseus Sauvignon Blanc~ Crisp and refreshing with a great balance of citrus and tropical fruits.

49. 2006 Clos St. Jean Chateauneuf du Pape~ This wine is so good I never found another to replace it, even though it is my favorite region in France!

50. 2006 Vietti Barbera~ A different style of the varietal that I just can’t get enough of.

And that concludes the Top 50 for 2009! Have any favorites that I missed? Let me know!
Cheers!

Charles T. Williams