Wine Part 4 brought to you by Quamut:
The other day I watched the movie Bottle Shock, which came out in 2008. It takes place in 1976 when a Sommelier from Paris comes to the United States to host a blind taste test in Napa Valley against French wines. If you have not seen it I would recommend it, very informational of how United States got on the map in the wine world.
Definition: Bottle-shock is a temporary condition of wine characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile wines) are given an additional dose of sulfur (in the form of sulfur dioxide or sulfite solution), and are subject to other forms of handling and transport. After a few weeks, the condition usually disappears. - Wikipedia
It can be very hard to understand wine, there are so many different varieties that sometimes you don’t understand what you are drinking or ordering. I have been on many wine tours since moving to California being so close to Sonoma and Napa. I went out to dinner with a friend and when the waitress asked us what kind of wine we wanted, my friend order a red wine and the conversation went as followed:
Waitress – That is a very popular choice and many people love to eat it with red meats or pasta. It is a great French wine, good choice.
Me – What kind of grape is this wine made from? (She just sounded like she knew a lot about the wine)
Waitress - Well I think it’s a red grape
Me – Oh, ok, Thanks… (I no longer thought she knew what she was talking about)
New World:
I remember coming home that day thinking ill do some research, I never did…till now. Quamut says that wines that are grown in the United States, South America, and Australia are “varietals” meaning that they are “named after the variety of grape they contain.” They name the wine after the greatest factor of the wine the grape itself. That being said if you buy a Pinot Noir it’s a good bet it’s a Pinot Noir grape.
If only one grape is in a wine it’s named after the “sole grape”. There are also wines that have different “blends” of various grapes. The wine is then named after the “principal grape” or the grape with the most in the particular wine. The rule is whatever grape dominates the wine; the wine is named after that grape. Different states have different requirements regarding percentages it must contain.
Europe:
In Europe things are a little different. The wine is not named after the grape that it is from; instead the wine name comes from the place they were made. The vineyards in Europe have it down to a tee. They know the best place to grow each type of grape, so if you want to make a certain wine there are regulations to where you can grow your grapes. The “place name” in Europe means high standard location and type of grape. A Burgundy then “must be made from Pinot Noir grapes.”
Ok, I will expand more on this soon.
"Wine is sunlight, held together by water." - Steven Spurrier
Information from Quamut
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