Category: Wine Tasting Tips

There is a cycle to life from infancy to youth to adulthood to old age.  In information technology, we speak of a systems development life cycle.  The Museum of Modern Art in New York recently presented “Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design”.  Well, there’s a life cycle for wine tasting – at least for wine tasting visits – that enthusiasts ought to think about.  Here are the phases of that cycle.

• Anticipation.  For us, we start looking forward to our next visit to Wine Country almost as soon as we return home from the last one.  Of course, Wine Country is a large place, so we first have to decide where to go next.  We generally try to go to California at least once a year, but that state is a large place with many wine-tasting destinations itself, so we have to choose. 
• Planning.  Once that decision is made, we have to plan our next visit.  If we’re going to a place we’ve been before, do we return to old favorites or try to find new ones?  If we’re heading to somewhere new, we have to study maps and lists of wineries, most of which are just names to us.  In that case, we need to consult the internet for reviews, recommendations and some descriptions of the wines and wineries in the region we are to visit.
• Tasting.  This is the best phase of the life cycle but, alas, the shortest (unless you are a professional wine taster).  So we savor every moment of it.  Everything tastes a little better when we look at a vineyard while we sip, but we think we retain enough objectivity to recognize quality from plonk.  If we’ve done a good enough job in the planning phase, there isn’t any poor wine at all.
• Remembering.  This is the longest phase.  Some people – not us – have good enough taste memory that they can precisely recall what they tasted.  We rely on the bottles we shipped home, the clubs we’ve joined, the wines that we order in restaurants and a general recollection of what we liked and what we didn’t. 
• Sharing.  A corollary to remembering is sharing our memories.  We have some friends who are interested, but we recognize that most people don’t care about the interesting Pinot Noir we tried in some faraway place that they’ll never see.  Of course, sharing is what Power Tasting is all about, so we hope you enjoy our memories.

And so it starts over again, as is the nature of cycles.  Every wine tasting trip is unique, even if we return to the same regions and wineries repeatedly.  Sometimes a wine tasting trip is akin to visiting family and old friends.  There are few surprises but there are always changes, some subtle and some rather more extensive.  As with wine, there are excellent years and less good ones.  (Rarely are there truly bad ones.)  Then there is the excitement of visiting new friends, who over time become old ones.  Yet another cycle.

There are two kinds of places: those you know and those you don’t.  And every place you do know was new to you at one time.  And some of those places you don’t know make wine, some of which you don’t know anything about either.  This was our situation when we set off to visit the Santa Rita Hills, but the same could be said for our first times in any of the world’s winemaking regions.

We had a great time that day, as we have had on numerous other occasions when we have discovered new corners of Wine Country.  There are certain tips that should be considered if you are going wine tasting somewhere you haven’t been before. We have written before about planning for such a trip, but these tips are about maximizing your pleasure while you’re there.

The Santa Rita Hills.  Photo courtesy of Wine Spectator.

• Getting there and coming back are parts of the trip.  Pay some attention to the scenery, the homes, the stores, even the industrial sections.  (Of course, pay more attention to the road, if you’re the driver.)  The places you pass are the places where the wine people live.  Part of the pleasure of visiting Wine Country rather than opening bottles at home is to get a sense of the people who live there, not just tasting the wine.
• Geeting a little lost is okay.  The only way you can have serendipity is if things don’t quite go as planned.  Note that we say, “a little lost”.  You might discover a great little winery just down the wrong lane.  But if you find yourself on the highway with no vineyards in sight, maybe it’s a good idea to turn around.
• Factor in the weather.  In some ways the coldest, nastiest months are the best time to visit someplace you’re already familiar with.  There are no crowds and tasting rooms have lots of space for walk-ins.  If one of those months is when you are discovering a new place is in, say, January, make the most of it.  Snow on the vines can make a pretty sight.  Of course, you’d rather be there when the sun is bright and fruit hangs from the vines, so make every minute count at those times. 
• Open yourself to that particular experience.  There’s no need to compare what you are seeing to what you have seen before.  The Santa Rita Hills, for example, have their own beauty just as does Chianti or the Barossa Valley or St. Emilion or… Enjoying what you see and taste for its own merits will give you more pleasure than thinking that somewhere else is better.
• Think about how you will tell the folks back home about your visit.  Attempting to verbalize what you are seeing, feeling, tasting and doing helps to lock all those things into your memory.  It is certainly the technique we use in writing the articles in Power Tasting.  Try it out when you’re doing something fun in your own neighborhood.  You’ll see how much more vivid it makes every fun thing you do.

If someone were to ask, “Where should I go to taste the best California wines?” most of us Americans would probably point the questioner to the Napa Valley.  But if that question was applied to France, the only reasonable answer is “It depends”. 

Virtually every part of France produces wine.  Burgundy is renowned for wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  In the region around the city of Bordeaux, the grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Semillon.  The Rhône Valley produces Grenache, Syrah, Roussanne and Marsanne grapes.  Which is the best?  Well, it depends on what you like.

The town of Gaillac in Southwest France.  Photo courtesy of Ville de Gaillac.

And we could complicate matters by pointing to Riesling and Gewurztraminer in Alsace, Gaillac (made of Duras and Fer grapes) in the Southwest and Malbec in Cahors (known locally as Côt).  If all of this is confusing, it needn’t be.  Winemaking in France arose from many different histories and ecosystems.  If you’d like to travel around France, just enjoy whatever you find that’s produced locally.

We Americans are used to a lot of these different grapes grown in the same general vicinity.  (Well, maybe not Duras or Fer.)  But the differences are not as deeply rooted in the culture of each location.  So if you’re wine tasting in France, keep a few things in mind.

• There are laws in France requiring certain regions to make wine from certain grapes, and in certain blends, if they want  to be able to claim AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée) status.  So, while you will find some Cabernet Sauvignon in Russian River, you won’t be able to do the same in the Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, for example.
• There are regions where vignerons (French for winemakers) grow the “wrong” grapes.  For example, Château Canet in Minervoix makes Merlot and Malbec (but can’t label them Minervoix, because different grapes are required there).  For another example, Mas de Gourgonier in Les Baux de Provence has a Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah blend, which is fine in Australia but not in France.  If you don’t get hung up on the rules, you can enjoy some interesting alternatives while you are in various parts of France.
• You can take a chance with some grapes you’ve never heard of.  We’ve already mentioned the virtually unknown grapes in Gaillac wine, which is readily available in Toulouse.  There’s Melon grapes in the Jura mountains, Auxerrois in Alsace or Chasselas in the Savoie.  You may never get another chance to taste wines made from these grapes, so if you’re in the area, give them a try. 
• On the other hand, you might find a familiar wine by a different name.  In the 1860s, Francois Durif, a French botanist, had a vineyard growing Peloursin and Syrah.  The two cross-pollinated and he found himself with a different grape entirely.  He made wine from it and named it after himself.  If you happen to find a bottle of Durif, it may seem familiar, because in the US we call it Petite Sirah.

The overall messages are that a) If you travel in France you’ll encounter great wine wherever you go.  b) Enjoy what each region is famous for, but keep your mind (and your mouth) open for new and unexpected experiences.

As reported elsewhere in this issue, there are 25 wine tasting rooms in Santa Barbara.  If you live there or nearby, you can take it easy on a weekend afternoon, stop in one or two of them, have lunch, visit the sights and head home.  But for those of us for whom a visit to Santa Barbara is either a vacation or the extension of some other trip, we don’t have the luxury of trying lots of wineries over an extended period of time.  Whatever wineries we’re going to stop at, we’re going to have to visit over just a few days.

The bar of the tasting room at Happy Canyon Vineyard.

So many wineries, so little time.

Here are a few tips for optimizing your time, in Santa Barbara or any other in-town tasting destination.

• Start with a winery you know.  At the very least, you’ll be assured of finding at least one spot where the wines are familiar to you and, we assume, that you like.  For example, we began our most recent excursion at Au Bon Climat, where we have been before and whose wines we often buy.  And then the big question: We asked our server where else she would recommend in the area.  Her tastes might not be the same as ours (they weren’t) but at least we weren’t picking places at random.
• Leave some time for serendipity.  Now for the contrary advice.  If you are in a region where all or most of the wines are unknown to you, pick one and try it out.  So, for instance, we were at that point in the day when we’d ask ourselves, “One more or call it a day?”  Opting for the first alternative, we passed Longoria on State, which has more of a vibe of a night club than a tasting room.  We enjoyed it greatly and will publish a review in a future issue.
• Too many is too much.  Just because there are ten tasting rooms within three blocks of each other doesn’t mean you have to try them all.  In fact, if you did try ten in a day you’d be a menace to your own health and to those around you.  For goodness sake, don’t get behind the wheel of a car.  Or jaywalk, for that matter.  Even if you’re walking from place to place, set a limit on how many tasting rooms you’ll enter and the stick to your intentions.
• Enjoy the ambience as well as the wine.  Whether you’re relaxing in a well-appointed room, such as at Happy Canyon Vineyard, soaking up the sun on a terrace or partying in the Funk Zone, you don’t have to bolt as much wine as you can as fast as you’re able.  The whole premise of Power Tasting is that the experience of wine tasting can be as important as the wines themselves.
• Take advantage of the rest of what the city or town has to offer.  Yes, you’re there for wine tasting, but have a nice lunch and see the sights.  And don’t soak up so much alcohol during the day that you haven’t got the room for a good bottle of a local wine with your dinner, if you’re staying over.

Tasting wine all by yourself isn’t that much fun.  There’s no one to exult with when you discover an unknown gem.  Or sneer at a loser.  Or just keep you company.  And wine tasting alone at home leads to all kinds of problems.  Still, there are times when you’re traveling alone and you’re in a place where vineyards are nearby.  In some cases, you may be in a place where you are already familiar with the wines, so passing up a tasting trip may be easy to accept.  But if you are in a distant, previously unvisited location you may feel that you simply must take advantage of the occasion.  So if you may be considering a solo wine tasting adventure, here are some things to consider.

Photo courtesy of Waiheke Island Tours

• Try not to go alone.  On a business trip, there may be a client who would go with you.  Or a fellow conventioneer.  Or a relative you’ve been meaning to call anyway.  If you are organizing a meeting, you might add on a wine tasting day, for team-building purposes. Before you leave home, give some thought to who you might meet.  Only when you’ve exhausted all the other possibilities should you think of the logistics of tasting by yourself.
• Take a tour.  We don’t often recommend wine tasting tours.  In general, they go to the wineries that are convenient, that allow large groups or are highly commercial.  Rarely will you encounter the top vineyards in the area you’re visiting.  But they know where they’re going and they do the driving.  If you have no particular knowledge of the region and its wines, everything you taste will be new to you anyway.  Tour companies rarely advertise where they stop, but if they do feature small groups (not a 50-passenger bus) and knowledgeable guides, they’re more likely to provide better quality.
• Take a taxi.  You can ask a driver how much he would charge for an extended ride.  You probably want to have a map and choose a few wineries in advance, so the driver can know where you want to go.  In general, ask for a half-day price.  Even if you plan on being out for a day, it’s best to plan for a shorter trip and ask for more time than the reverse.  Either way, it can be expensive.  But getting behind the wheel yourself in an area unknown to you, with alcohol to be added, may not be any bargain.  You really don’t want to deal with foreign police or worse, be involved in an accident. 
• Limit your consumption.  It’s best not to drink too much, no matter who’s driving.  Don’t embarrass yourself in front of a cabbie or a tour guide.  And if you decide to drive, prudence is a necessity.  So sip sparingly; don’t gulp.  Use the pour buckets.  Only ask to try wines you are more likely to enjoy rather than everything on the list.
• Talk to the people you encounter.  It’s always more fun to share an experience, even if you’re sharing it with strangers.  Engage with the person serving you.  In most places, the servers speak at least some English, as is likely the case with the other passengers on the bus.  And if you want to get to where you want to go, make certain you can talk with the taxi driver.

Sometimes your destination for wine tasting is chosen for you.  If you have a business trip to San Francisco, you may want to add on a day or two of visiting wineries.  You’re most likely to decide to go to Napa Valley or Sonoma County, if only because they are the closest.  Similarly, if you are just looking for a pleasant day in the country – with wine of course – you’ll drive to the winemaking area nearest your home.  So, for example, we New Yorkers head out to Long Island’s North Fork.

But sometimes, your objective is to take a wine tasting trip, without a particular destination in mind.  How do you select the region of Wine Country to visit?

Tuscany in September.

• Is wine tasting the only objective?  If it is, then you want to go to an area that has many vineyards open to the public, where the quality is well known and accommodations are easy to find.  Once again, NapaNoma suggests itself, but so does Bordeaux or Tuscany or the Rioja.  That’s different than a Paris vacation with a day out in Champagne or the Loire Valley.  If everyone in your party loves wine, the first option makes some sense.  But if you have teetotalers or teenagers with you, maybe you should only inflict wine on them for a day.

• Would you prefer a new experience or would you like to re-visit favorite places?  We can never get too much of wineries in some of our favorite valleys, Napa and the Southern Rhône.  We go back as often as we can, given available time and budget.  But California’s Central Coast or the Northern Rhône, where we have not travelled to as frequently, also have their allure.  And we’ve not yet tasted wine in Switzerland’s Dôle or Austria’s Burgenland.  Maybe this upcoming trip is when someday becomes now.

Carneros, on the Napa County side.

• What kind of wine would you like to try for several days in a row?  We appreciate a cold glass of Gewürztraminer on a hot summer day, but we’re not up for a week of it.  So while we have tasted wines in Alsace, it was only briefly.  At the other extreme, maybe the 16% alcoholic wines of Paso Robles are too much for you this time around.  Ah, yes, Pinot Noir would be perfect!  Now you only have to choose among Burgundy, Carneros, Los Olivos and Santa Barbara, to name a few possibilities.

• When do you want to go?  Power Tasting has long recommended that you avoid the most popular destinations on weekends.  But some of the best wineries in certain regions are only open Thursdays through Sundays.  For instance, we have experienced this in Paso Robles and the Santa Rita Hills.  Time of year also matters.  If all you’re interested in is the wines, then there’s no problem making a trip in the depths of winter.  Many California wineries release their wines in February, so that might attract you.  But if you want to see the vines with dense coverage, you need to go in the summer.  And if you want to see the harvest, you have to be in Wine Country between August and October.  (Unless you want to go to the southern hemisphere, when February through April is the right time for you.)

There are a lot of reasons to go wine tasting, ranging from a pleasant day in the country to serious connoisseurship.  In some instances, the reason may be (or at least include) the specific intent to buy a certain wine or type of wine.  Of course, we usually buy a few bottles from many of the wineries we visit on any given trip, but there are also times that we’ve been specifically looking to buy a particular varietal or a blend. 

Sometimes the objective is obvious: If we’re in Burgundy, we’re going to buy wines made from either Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, because that’s what they make.  But for us Americans, we’re used to tasting at wineries where as many as a dozen types of wine are on offer.  If we are intent on filling a hole in our wine collection while we’re out tasting, we could just rely on the luck of the draw.  But we have found that following the tips we give below, we’ve been more successful in finding what we were looking for.

Photo courtesy of Kreglinger Wine Estates.

• Be as specific as possible as to what you’re looking for.  If you start out thinking, “I’d like to buy some white wine”, don’t worry, you’ll find it everywhere.  That’s not the same as looking for a certain style.  Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Chenin Blanc are all whites but with very different flavor profiles.  So before you leave home, consider what you like, what you’re likely to serve it with and how soon you intend to drink it.  If you trying to buy, say, a flowery white with lots of fruit and a hint of sweetness, then you can buy accordingly.
• It’s like going to a wine shop, except it isn’t.  At the store, all you can do is look at bottles and ask the salesperson for advice.  At a winery or a formal tasting, you can try before you buy.  That’s a plus.  But you probably would never go to ten wine shops to buy ten bottles to try at home.  On a wine tasting trip, you are going to taste the type of wine you’re looking for, then another an hour later and two more the next day.  Are you enough of an expert taster that you can remember all of the ones you’ve tasted and choose the best?  And will you want to drive back to the winery you visited yesterday to buy the one you remember you liked best?
• Improve your odds by choosing the right wineries to visit.  As noted, you’re likely to encounter many different grapes and styles, all at the same winery.  A little homework before you set off on your trip will guide you to the places where it’s more probable that you’ll find what you want.  If a particular winery has six single vineyard Zinfandels and, oh yes, a Chardonnay, you have less of a chance if it’s a white wine you’re intent on buying.  Yes, there are exceptions and you should take advantage of them if you encounter them, but don’t bet on it.  

They grow Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux.  They grow Tempranillo in the Rioja.  There’s Chardonnay in Burgundy and Malbec in Argentina.  But let’s keep it domestic.  Napa Valley has Cabernet Sauvignon; Pinot Noir is grown in the area around Santa Barbara; and Zinfandel is the hot grape in Dry Creek Valley.  There are reasons for these grapes in these locations, including terroir, history and farming techniques.

Pinot Noir from Paso Robles.  Photo courtesy of Paso Robles Daily News.

But there are some times in your wine tasting travels when you might encounter grapes growing in places where they aren’t expected.  For example, Pinot Noir usually grows best in a cool, moist climate.  But there are quite a few wines made from that grape that can be found in the hot, dry region around Paso Robles.  And in Champagne, famed for sparkling white wines, you can find Bouzy red wine.

So if in your travels you should come across wines made from grapes that shouldn’t be there, what should you do?

• Does it make sense to try these wines? Well, yes, what do you have to lose?  More to the point, you may have a lot to gain.  Some vineyard managers may take advantage of microclimates on their properties to grow grapes that can take profit from those conditions.  So, for example, many of those Paso Robles Pinot Noirs are grown behind the Templeton Gap, which gets its cool, foggy breezes from the Pacific.  These wines are never going to be confused with Burgundies, but some of them do express their own terroir, so they’re worth tasting on their own merits.
• Why look for the unexpected wines? That’s one of the reasons to go wine tasting in the first place.  If it weren’t for trying these out-of-the-way wines, you could skip wine tasting and stick with your local wine store.  In some cases, they may be the only chance you have to taste these kinds of wine at all in that region.  We recently wrote about the wines made from Croatian grapes at Grgich Hills.  We’ve been to a couple of wineries where we were told that they were the only ones growing Tannat in California.  And I can think of only one where we have tasted Peloursin.
• Is it worth the trip to try these wines? Probably not.  But that’s not the point.  If you’re already tasting the grapes that an area is famous for, trying something unusual is just an addition to your experience, not the basic rationale for an excursion.  There are places in Wine Country where the growers plant every grape they can, in hopes that the casual buyer will seek a specific varietal.  For the most part, most of these wines are not very good, because of both an unfavorable climate and an unfamiliar farmer.  There’s a reason they don’t grow Zinfandel in Canada or Marechal Foch (look it up) in Temecula, California  Or, at least, they shouldn’t.
• Are these wines worth buying? If you like them, then sure, go ahead.  And if you want to share something really unusual with your friends, these offer the chance to do so.  But make sure you explain what makes them unusual.  Don’t be a wine snob.

 

 

One of the pleasures of wine tasting trips is discovering new wineries and the wines they make.  At the same time, if there is a winery in the area that you are visiting that you know you love, it’s a pleasure to return and try their wines again.  If you’re travelling to a sector of Wine Country where you’ve never been before, this distinction is lost; every winery is new to you.  But if you’re already familiar with an area, say Napa Valley or Burgundy, you do have to make some decisions.

If you had an infinite amount of time, you wouldn’t have to choose.  But most of us are visiting Wine Country for a limited period for each trip.  So many wineries, so little time!

Photo courtesy of eto.

Here are a few tips for choosing whether to return to favorite wineries or not.

• Set a theme for your wine tasting trip. If you want to seek out wineries you don’t know, then make reservations accordingly.  The same applies if you just want to go to places where you know you have enjoyed their wines in the past.  Another twist might be to focus on specific grapes, such as Chardonnays or Zinfandels.  If you do, you may choose to return to one or more wineries where you know their Cabernet Sauvignons, but not their Chards or Zins, in order to learn how they do with other grapes.
• Consider the time commitment. In many locales, the days of bellying up to the bar are over.  If you want to sample a winery’s latest releases (even more so, their reserve and library wines) you will do so at a seated tasting.  These are often accompanied by a tour.  These take more time, usually an hour and a half.  Thus, the number of wineries – new finds and old friends – is limited.
• New wineries, or new to you? There aren’t many new wineries opening in Bordeaux, but there are plenty in other regions.  For example, we have been tasting the wines of Long Island’s North Fork for more than 30 years.  These days, whenever we take a tasting trip there, we find numerous recently established wineries or old ones that have changed hands. And there are some wineries that have been there for quite a while, but we never got to them.  It’s easy to specialize in new experiences on Long Island.
• Go back, you might fall in love again. That was the name of one of Power Tasting’s earliest articles, and the advice is worth reinforcing.  Maybe there was a winery where once you didn’t enjoy their wines.  It might prove worthwhile to give them another shot.  Maybe that last time the winery just had a bad year, or your server didn’t know what he was doing, or you were simply in the wrong frame of mind.  Particularly if the winery has a good reputation, it might be worth your while to give them a second chance.

 

 

The tasting notes for one of our favorite Pinot Noirs describe what’s in the bottle as:

“Subtle and nuanced, this wine unfolds with layers of perfumed red berries and sweet baking spice. Delicate hints of cinnamon, clove, and cedar, dance from the glass, a nod to the well-integrated oak. The flavors unfurl with juicy red cherry and pomegranate, alongside hints of orange pekoe tea, hibiscus flower, and pink peppercorn.”

Photo courtesy of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.

We’ve drunk that wine many times, and to be honest, never once gave a thought to baking spice, pomegranate or pink peppercorns.  In fact, we don’t believe we’ve ever thought of pink peppercorn after tasting any wine.

So we suggest that when you’re out winetasting and the server mentions road tar and alfalfa, take it with a bit of…well, salt would be bad idea, but don’t worry if you can’t recognize anything you were told.  Which is not to say that you shouldn’t consider the aromas and tastes that come from your glass.

• Remember, it’s your mouth. You can’t be wrong.  Actually, you can if you’re tasting some of the flavors only found in red wines when you’re sipping a white, or vice-versa.  So if you think you’re tasting, say, dark fruits or tobacco in a Sauvignon Blanc, you either have a cold or you’re really off base.  But if you close your eyes and let smell and taste memories take over, you’ll be correct, on your own terms.
• Listen to others. Of course, other people around you have their own memories.  If you’re tasting cherries and someone else says raspberries, they’re both red fruit, so maybe you’ll get a hint of raspberries, too.  But what if he says he can detect green peppers.  That’s often a sign of underripe grapes and you may not have picked up on that taste, but immediately recognize it when it’s pointed out to you.
• In addition, what you’re tasting is influenced by many factors besides the wine. You will taste different things when you’re pairing a wine with a meal than you do in a tasting room.  Your mood will affect your tasting abilities.  So will your health.  Fatigue, time of day, and the perfume some thoughtless visitor is wearing at the next table all have an effect.
• Not everyone can taste everything. It’s just a biological fact that some people have taste receptors for certain chemicals in specific wines and others don’t.  It is often written that Syrah has a definite taste of white pepper.  That may be so, but not for us.  It seems that a chemical called rotundone is found in white pepper and in low concentrations in Syrah grapes.  If you don’t have the capability to taste just a bit of rotundone, you won’t find it in your wine glass.
• Don’t fake it. If the “official” description says a wine tastes of honeysuckle and you can’t find that, but do taste pineapple, stick by your guns.  Maybe honeysuckle was dominant at the time the description was written but it has faded now, with pineapple coming out as the wine aged.  There’s no sense convincing yourself that you taste something you don’t, just to get along by going along.