Organic Wine Might Actually Taste Better
It seems that organic wine may not just be better for the environment, it’s also better for your taste buds! After years of debate and speculation, there’s strong evidence that grapes grown free of pesticides, artificial fertilizers and fungicides make better wine than conventionally-grown grapes.
Researchers at the University of California used data from three prestigious wine magazines to look at the quality and review scores of just over 74,000 wines produced between 1998 and 2009 in California.
Using a standardised 100-point scale to iron out the differences between the magazines’ individual scoring systems, the researchers found that the wines made from certified organic grapes scored 4.1 points higher on average than the non-organic ones.
Positive effects
The research report concluded that organic and biodynamic wine production has an – albeit small – overall positive effect on the quality of the wine.
Of course, there are many factors that influence the taste and quality of a wine, but it seems that the terroir comes out more with organic wines – the pesticides and other artificial chemicals are replaced with the sun, labour, the insects and other microbes necessary for agriculture. There’s also the fact that organic wineries tend to be more careful and hands-on with their production; they probably also use better-quality grape varieties to start with, too. However, the numbers in the study speak for themselves.
There’s still skepticism
Despite these findings, people are still only choosing organic wines over conventional if they think the conventional option is from a poorly-regarded region. Some will choose the organic bottle because they’re green-conscious, but overall, people still believe eco-wines to be inferior.
This persistent image has prevented many organic wineries from labelling their wines as organic – as many as two-thirds of California’s certified organic wineries have no organic labelling on their bottles.
Hopefully, studies like this recent one will help to dispel this damaging myth about organic wines and encourage consumers to buy more organic so green wineries can finally be out and proud.
All about Zinfandel
Zinfandel has a white and a red version and the white Zinfandel is very often the first wine someone drinks. It’s a safe option, as it’s quite sweet and has a low ABV of around 10% or lower.
It’s often only $5 or $6 a bottle, so it’s within the budget of younger drinkers, but it doesn’t have the depth or complexity that the red version does.
What’s so great about red Zinfandel?
The taste is quite complex, with notes of jam, black pepper, licorice, cranberry and plum. It starts off sweet and fruity and then gives way to a warm spiciness and a slightly smoky finish.
How does it stack up against other reds?
The red Zinfandel is a lighter red than Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but it has a decent amount of tannin and a lot of acidity, so it comes across as bolder than it really is.
In general, red Zinfandels have more alcohol than most reds, ranging from 14% to 17%, and this extra alcohol adds to the texture and body.
What foods does Zinfandel pair with?
Zinfandel is perfect for spicy foods as it’s sweeter than most reds. It’s ideal for meaty barbecues and curries. It’s a good idea to identify the spices in the wine and add them to the sauce.
You need to think of rich and aromatic curries, rather than searingly hot ones. A good idea is a savoury-sweet curry like a Balti or a Japanese katsu rather than a vindaloo or a phaal.
Zinfandel’s best meat pairings
Although it’s a red, Zinfandel works well with lighter meats like turkey, ham, bacon and veal. It can still work well with barbecued beef and lamb, though, especially if the sauce is sweeter.
The best spice combinations
You may notice your Zinfandel has notes of ginger, black pepper, saffron, fennel, vanilla, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and curry, as well as coriander and even rosemary.
Its favourite cheeses
Zinfandel goes best with hard cheeses that are rich, like Manchego or aged cheddars.
Vegetarian food and vegetables
You need veggies with a bit of punch – roasted red peppers or tomatoes, cranberries, beetroot, caramelized onions and roast squash. These foods bring out the Zinfandel’s natural fruitiness.
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Bulk-buying Wine
Buying wine in bulk will save you a lot of money, that’s for sure. It’ll also mean you have a good supply of decent wine readily available for you and your friends or clients. It’s not just the preserve of budget-buyers, though; many serious wine buffs will also bulk-buy if they find a wine that they’re particularly taken with.
Here’s a few tips for bulk-buying your wine supplies…
Plan it out to the last glass
If you know that you and your significant other like a largish glass each a night, then one regular-sized bottle is going to last two nights with a slosh left over for a sauce. You don’t drink at all during January and switch to fizz throughout December… This will help you to calculate how many bottles you should aim for.
Find a bulk winery
Not all vineyards and wineries will let you place a bulk order, but most will. You may not be able to get a discount on bulk purchases everywhere, though, which defeats the object somewhat, so do ask around. You should choose somewhere that will offer discounts on cases and work up from there.
Place your order
Cases are almost always 12 bottles, so working on the assumption that a regular-sized bottle will provide five or six glasses and you need 100 glasses for a function, you’ll need to order two cases (just to be on the safe side).
Store your bottles carefully
Make sure you store your wine carefully, away from temperature extremes and light, and re-order when you start to run low on supplies. Wait until you only have a few bottles left so you have enough room for the new batch.
If you’re a professional
If you’re an event-planner or professional host, then you should always buy in bulk as you can pass your savings onto your clients. It also means you’ve got plenty of varieties to offer your clients as tasters.
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All’s Well that Blends Well
Far from being the remnants of a few bargain buckets all cobbled together to make a few bucks, blended wines are actually among the most interesting and challenging. If you never imagined yourself drinking a blend, here are some things you need to know.
The difference between a varietal and a grape
A varietal like Chardonnay or Merlot, for example, is made entirely from the same grape. Occasionally winemakers might use grapes grown on different vineyards, but the type of grape is the same. In the US, the wine needs to be 75% one grape, while in Europe it’s 80%.
A blend is just that – a blend. Usually, a blend will contain 40-50% of one grape and then the remainder is made from two or three different grapes.
Blending adds complexity
This process is used to bring out the aromas, colors, body, finish and so on. If a particular wine doesn’t have a strong smell, for example, then the winemaker can add 10% of a more aromatic wine to give it more nose.
In Argentina, the main wine is Malbec, and a Merlot can be added to give it more aroma, or some Sauvignon to give it more tannins. To make a blend really work takes expertise and experience and many blends will vary over the years depending on the characteristics of that year’s harvest. The permutations are endless.
Some wines are made for blending
Winemakers, especially bulk wineries, will often produce barrels of a single varietal just to go into blends. As the grapes are harvested, the winemaker will decide what sort of blend the grapes will be good for and decide which barrels will go into it. The point is to create a synergy between the different grapes, to get them to bring out the best in each other.
Young and old wines can be used
There are many different stages that the wines can be at when they enter the blend. They tend to be mixed in steel tanks and then they may be aged in oak barrels, depending on the eventual price point. Sometimes the wines are put into barrels halfway through the aging process, and some winemakers let the different grapes ferment together. It all depends on how each grape behaves with the others.
Some grapes don’t go into blends
Whites don’t tend to be blended, although some European regions do specialise in this. Reds like Pinot Noir are rarely mixed in with others, too.
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Using Empty Wine Bottles
You probably get through a few wine bottles a month, right? Hopefully you’re a keen recycler, too. If you are, you’re among the one-in-three US citizens that recycle their glass bottles, so good for you.
Recycling your wine bottles keeps them out of landfill, but it also costs a bit of energy to do the recycling, so why not up your game a bit and re-purpose a few empty bottles? You’ll save energy and a few dollars, so see if any of these ideas appeal to you.
Make a rolling pin
An empty wine bottle makes a perfect rolling pin – it’s smooth, cylindrical and you can also fill it with cold water to stop your pastry getting too warm.
Just soak the label off the bottle by submerging it in soapy water, then refill it with water, reseal with a cork or screw top and chill it in the refrigerator.
Make a candelabra
Many Europeans use old bottles as candle holders, but not as you might imagine. They use specialised inserts that can hold two or more candles as once, rather than just jamming a candle into the bottle neck! You can find some decent ones for $30 or so.
Safety first! Weigh the bottle down with water, sand or marbles, or the candelabra will make the bottle very top-heavy which you don’t want if there are candles involved.
Make a water jug
Obvious, yet not many people do this. A wine bottle takes up less space on the table than a regular jug, and if you can get a clear glass bottle, or even a pale blue one, you’ll add a really nice and unusual touch to your table settings.
Oil storage
If you buy your olive oil in large tins, then you’re to be commended on your economic sense and (usually) your taste in oils. However, those tins are unwieldy and a bit of a pain to use every day, so you can decant some oil into an old, clean wine bottle to make for easier drizzling. Another advantage is that the dark green glass protects the oil from the sun.
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Tips on Storing Wine
If you’ve recently bought some wine that you’re planning to keep for a while, then you might be wondering how to store it safely so it doesn’t go off. You may have made a bulk wine purchase and you want to lay it aside to mature for a few years, or you might be working on your own wine cellar.
Whatever your reasons, there are a few core rules you should follow to keep your wines in good condition until you get to them.
Stay cool
Excessive heat is your wine collection’s nemesis – anything over 70F will cause the wine to age too rapidly and if it really gets warm, the flavors can be cooked out, effectively. Most experts recommend that wines are stored at between 45F and 65F, although a degree out here and there isn’t a disaster.
Cool but nor frosty
Keeping a wine in your refrigerator for a few weeks is OK, but long-term coldness can dry out your corks, leading to air getting in, which is game over, usually. Also, if the wine starts to freeze, the expansion of the liquid could push out the corks or even crack the bottles.
Keep your temperatures consistent
It's actually more important to keep the wines at a fairly constant temperature, as expansion and contraction of the liquid and air inside the bottles can cause the corks to move a bit. This can mean seepage or air getting in, so you should take pains to avoid this.
Stay in the dark
Light – UV light in particular – is a real problem as it can age the wine too early. This is one reason why wine tends to come in green bottles! Minimise your wine’s exposure to UV by keeping bottles out of the sun and use LED lights or incandescents rather than fluorescents.
Relax about the humidity
You’ve probably heard about the magical 70% humidity that prevents your corks from drying out and letting air in. Most areas of the world have a reasonable level of humidity and anything between 50% and 80% is OK. If your cellar is especially dry, try using a tray of water to dampen the air a bit.
Sideways or horizontal – you decide
We always imagine wines being stored on their sides as this prevents corks from drying out. If, however, your wines have glass or plastic corks, or screw tops, this doesn’t matter. Racking your wines horizontally saves a lot of space though.
Don’t shake the bottles
Some people believe that vibrations can speed up the chemical reactions that age wines and strong vibrations can definitely stir up sediment in older wines, making them cloudy and gritty. A regular household isn’t going to have too many vibrations going on, unless you live in a train station, so don’t worry too much.
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