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This Month's Wine Notes …
by Sharon Rosenbaum, Senior Wine Buyer
Sauvignon Blanc
This month we feature three different Sauvignon Blanc wines, all very different and unique in style. Sauvignon Blanc, pronounced so-veen-yon blahn is among the most unmistakable grapes of the world with its charming aromas and its fresh taste.
Fume Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc are different names covering the same wine. The latter is the more classic and the actual name of the grape, while the former is a recent innovation of Robert Mondavi. The famous Napa Valley vintner invented the name Fume Blanc 35 years ago and all California has claimed it as their own. Worldwide, there are about 175,000 acres of the grape with France far and away the leade. California comes in fifth with about 15,000 acres.
The name Sauvignon "sauvage" in French - means wild. It is an apt name. First it attacks the palate with a higher that usual acidity which makes it a great aperitif - the first wine of the meal. Second, when it grows in colder climes of the world, it can yield VERY vegetal flavors. However, in California's warmer climates it shows more of its fruity side, reminding many of melons or quince. Colors range from light straw to yellow-gold. The great majority of Califonria wineries now offer a Suavignon blanc or Fume'Blanc in their line. As in Bordeaux, it is often blended with Semillon and aged in small oak barrels. Pair with light to medium- bodied fish, seafood, all poultry, ripe fruit and goat cheeses.
Wine Q & A's
How Do Red Wines Get Their Color?
Have you ever squeezed a red grape? Most of them drip a clear juice (a
few--the "tincture" grapes--bleed red juice). But if you put those squeezed
red grapes in a bowl and let them sit for a few hours, mashing them with a
pestle occasionally, you will notice that the juice slowly becomes pink and
then red. The water in the juice acts as a color solvent.
Similarly, when you make red wine, you leave the pigment-rich skins in
with the soaking juice. If you leave the juice in there for the duration of
the fermentation and then do a "cuvaison" of a few weeks or so (leaving the
mix poach, essentially), you will wind up with a whole lot of color. But
you'll also get the flavor and bitter tannins that come from those skins. If,
however, you don't want all those tannins (they are, aside from
bitter-tasting, also natural preservatives for red wines that need some
ageing), leave the skins in there just until you get an appreciable amount of
color. This takes anywhere from a few hours with some grape varieties to
half a day. The French use the phrase "rosé d'une nuit"--"rosé of 1 night ('s
skin contact)" to describe these pink-tinged wines. Eh, voila: rouge!
How Is Wine Affected by Temperature: Cold and Hot?
Almost everything is affected by temperature. Inorganic things, like metals
or glass, become brittle or cracked when frozen or become liquid when heated.
Animals, too, are temperature sensitive: ever seen a penguin in the Sahara?
No, wines are not living things; but they also change with temperature.
In the bottle, a wine will develop more quickly if stored at room temperature
(65-75 Fahrenheit, depending if you're English or American). It will also
most certainly degrade if stored at higher temperatures. First, they lose
whatever fruit they started out with and then they break down and become
watery. Even higher temperatures will cause the wine to expand and push the
cork. Not good.
Conversely, cooler temperatures, like those of the actual storage cellars in
Bordeaux or Burgundy--50 to 60 Fahrenheit--seem to allow wines to develop at
an "even keel". so to speak.
On the palate, too cold a wine can numb both the flavor and your senses.
Wines that are sweet usually benefit from the most chilling as it keeps them
from cloying Classic red wines on the other hand, rich in bitter tannins,
will taste even more bitter if chilled. (which is why low-tannin nouveaux and
Lambruscos can be chilled).
What's The Differences Between Grapes That You Eat and Grapes That You Drink?
Of the 850,000 acres of grapes that grow in California a little more than
half are considered "wine" grapes; that is, they are grown specifically for
winemaking. The rest are called "table" or "raisin" grapes. In the case of
the former, these grapes are either grown for use as fresh table fruit or for
their juice. Raisin grapes--almost exclusively from the Thompson seedless
variety--are picked and then dried and packaged (unless some of them escape
to sing Marvin Gaye-inspired commercials). In real economic life, anywhere
from 20 to 40% of the table and raisin grapes are actually crushed for
winemaking (mainly for "wine with natural flavors", "coolers", "jug" wines
and inexpensive sparklers).
Who decides? Grapes are classified by how much aroma and flavor they
intrinsically have. Most varieties don't have any flavor or odor beyond the
simple grapey and sweet characteristics. Others, like Chardonnay, have some
distinctiveness and can be manipulated by the grapegrower and winemaker to
show more (see the commentary on Chardonnay, above). A very few others, such
as the Muscats, Gewürztraminer, Viognier, and White Riesling, have very high
aromatics. They usually have more than enough character to stand on their own
(no oak ageing, no malolactic, etc.).
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