An Experiment: Sauvignon Blanc vs. Vinegar

Following the instructions of an online food/wine pairing guide, a group of friends and I got together the other night to find out the nitty gritty on Sauv. Blanc--that drinkable, refreshing, "pairs-with-anything" wine that many of us turn to on a warm summer evening. What I discovered was somewhat surprising.

The online guide explained that Sauvignon Blanc is often appreciated for its tart, crisp, acidity, which can be completely masked (if not ruined) if paired with the wrong foods. To illustrate this point, the guide instructed us to taste a crisp, light, California Sauv. Blanc (like Duckhorn 2007, which is pretty tasty), then taste vinegar, then taste the wine again. The results were interesting: first of all, we all really enjoyed the tangy effervescence of the Duckhorn upon first sip. And many of us actually enjoyed the taste of vinegar after (even though we were initially really put off by the thought of drinking straight vinegar). My sister even remarked "Wow this is really good!" I thought she was talking about the wine, but she was talking about the vinegar! Bizarre, but beside the point. Anyway, when we revisited the wine after tasting the vinegar, it was flat, boring, and almost sweet. The vinegar saturated our palates, and completely sapped the wine of that bright acidity that we all enjoyed so much in our first few sips.

The take-home: don't pair Sauvignon Blanc with highly acidic foods because it will "ruin" the flavor of the wine. Instead, pair with creamy/fatty foods, and also herby vegetables, specifically: brie and mango quesadillas, asparagus, and light olive oil citrus vinaigrette.

This is just the tip of the iceberg though. What about oak vs. un-oaked? I'm planning a follow-up with some friends, so I'll let you know what we find out!

Napa Part 2

Went to Napa yesterday, a fun "booze cruise" with about 20 others. First of all, the weather was perfect. It was a beautiful Saturday in the valley, and all the wineries we went to had great outdoor areas. In my opinion, this definitely affects the psychological aspect of tasting (and purchasing) wine. We went to 4 wineries:

Laird Family Vineyards: It was a pretty typical tasting, Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay, 3 cabernets. It was interesting tasting the cabernets from newest (and least developed) to oldest (and, in theory, the best). The 2008 was definitely tart and flat. The 2005 was definitely milder on the palate but still left my tongue very dehydrated. It wasn't the type of dryness that makes you want more...it was the kind that needs food pairing to be remedied. And that's fine. It just depends what you're looking for: casual sipping wine, or a pairing wine. I purchased a 2007 Sauv Blanc that we didn't taste for $12 (probably just an easy go-to wine), and a Pinot Noir for $34.

Steltzner: This was an interesting tasting. We had a Rose, Pinotage, Malbec, Claret, Cab Franc, and Cab Sauv. The wines here had substantially more character, and I purchased the Rose at $18, which I felt was a good value for the drinkable, not too tart, and not sweet, wine. I also purchased the Cab Franc and the Cab Sauv. They were both around $40, and they were both smooth, had great fruit and balanced tannins. These will be nice in a couple years or now. One thing I didn't appreciate was how stingy they were-- $15 per person instead of the normal $10 per person, and no discount on purchased wines, even though we brought them a lot of business.

Silverado: We had our own tasting/banquet room overlooking the valley. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, after two wineries and 2 bottles of wine at lunch, tasting became a little difficult. I didn't buy any here, because I don't think the wines matched the price-point. I've noticed in general though that the wines one tends to taste are usually the newest vintages and therefore not aged to their full potential. 

Cline: The winery was beautiful, flowers, lake, etc. They also gave us cheese/crackers in our own tasting room which was great and much appreciated. We tasted: pinot gris, viognier, cashmere blend, mourvedre, and a cab. I am a huge viognier fan. Theirs wasn't my favorite, but i I thought it was fair for $16, and I purchased it to encourage the production of Viogniers. I'm pretty tired of Chardonnay, and rarely drink it. So Viognier is my medium-bodied replacement. 

All in all, I really enjoyed Laird for it's hospitality and family feel, Steltzner and Cline for their different varietals, and Silverado for its views of the valley. I think we had the perfect mixture of wine types and we saw the variation in styles. 

In conclusion, I just want to say that wine country is yet another HUGE reason why California is the best state. Seriously, no other state can compete!

Blind Tasting

We had a housewarming party a couple weeks ago, and decided to do a little blind tasting before. I selected 2 whites and 2 reds, concealed them in paper bags, and asked the guests to guess the varietal and/or region, and the price point. I had opened the bottles about 1.5 hours prior, so they had some time to breathe.

1. white, drinkable, tart/clean finish: Sauvignon Blanc from Chile; Trader Joe's, $2.99. People thought it was decent, maybe half the guests guessed that it was a Sauv Blanc, others guessed Reisling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Grigio at $5.99.

2. white, similar tasting: Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma; $13.99. I didn't actually intend on having two Sauv Blancs, but between BevMo, Costco, Trader Joe's, the aquarium/fish store (bought an awesome voracious little Betta named Walu), and cleaning the house, I somehow dropped the ball in variety of varietals. The guests were thrown off by the fact that it tasted similar because in theory it should have been a different varietal. People guessed all sorts of grapes. In fact, I think only 1 out of 10 people guessed that it was Sauv Blanc. They did think that it was more pricey than the first one.

3. Tart, acid, weak tannins: Charles Shaw "two buck chuck" Merlot, $1.99. People didn't like this wine. They thought it was flat and bland, and I agree. In terms of varietal, people were all over the map. People thought it was a Bordeaux blend, or maybe a cabernet sauv. Maybe a Zin or a cheap Pinot. When I revealed that it was 2 buck chuck, people seemed relieved, and it seemed that the price point explained the poor flavors.

4. Smooth, balanced tannins, nice fruit/crispness, very drinkable, J. Lohr Syrah, $14.99. This one was everyone's favorite, and i'm glad we finished with this one so we could have nice memories of the tasting. People had no idea what it was though. A few guests even said the "forgot about Syrah." 

In general, people weren't really confident about the varietals. If i were to have an oak-aged Chardonnay to compare to the Sauv Blanc, it might have been easier to distinguish. If I were to have a classic Cab or a spicy Zin, maybe people could've guessed those varietals. But one thing my friends did know, was which were cheaper than the others. The ones that tasted bad, or rather, didn't match well with our palates, were definitely a lower price point. I actually was expecting that we'd like some of the cheap ones and be able to say "See? It's not all about the brand/price! This $2 Chilean white is great!" But that wasn't the case. It seems the pricier ones were actually more valuable for our enjoyment...