+1 855.946.3338

After taste, cost defines a winning wine

Consumers, retailers, restaurant owners and distributors — we are all faced with thousands of choices when it comes to buying a wine.

Last month I was honored to judge for the Professional Wine Buyers Competition in Santa Rosa, Calif. With more than 400 wines and 16 judges, our appraisal offered a unique methodology compared with that at other competitions. In addition to the wines’ overall quality, the retail price was also considered in the scoring, a crucial factor in any buyer’s recommendation of a wine.

The competition concluded with a similar opinion resonating among all the judges: Buyers are looking for wines they would recommend to a friend because it tastes great and is a great value.

Below are a few winning wines available in Arkansas (with two Arkansas wines making the winners list). For a complete listing of results visit ProWineBuyersComp.com.

  • 2008 Duck Pond Pinot Gris, Oregon (about $12 retail)
  • 2007 Duck Pond Syrah, Oregon (about $12 retail)
  • 2008 Eola Hills Pinot Noir, Oregon (about $17 retail)
  • 2008 Eola Hills Chardonnay, Oregon (about $14 retail) 2008 Vertikal Riesling, Germany (about $10 retail)
  • 2007 Vertikal Spatlese Riesling, Germany (about $12 retail)
  • NV Post Familie Vineyards White Muscadine, Arkansas (about $10 retail)
  • NV Post Familie Vineyards Red Muscadine, Arkansas (about $10 retail)
  • 2005 Beaucanon Estate L’Cuvee Cabernet Franc, California (about $30 retail)
  • 2006 Gloria Ferrer Carneros Chardonnay, California (about $24 retail)
  • 2007 Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Cabernet Sauvignon, Oregon (about $22 retail)
  • 2008 Erath Vineyards Pinot Gris, Oregon (about $18 retail)
  • 2008 Columbia Crest Grand Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington (about $18 retail)
  • 2008 Turnbull Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, California (about $20 retail)

Valentine’s gifts will delight wine lover

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so here are a few special and fun ideas for wooing the wine lover in your life.

HOMEMADE DESSERT

Call me a romantic but there is just something about homemade desserts. Valentine’s Day is an ideal occasion to take the time to show a little love in the kitchen. Whether you are planning a family dinner at home or intimate dinner out, you can always end your evening with a special treat for your valentine. Not sure where to start? Consider The Wine Lover’s Dessert Cookbook: Recipes and Pairings for the Perfect Glass of Wine by Mary Cech. The book offers exceptional recipes and easy wine advice and pairings for the novice or connoisseur.

THE SPECIAL BOTTLE

A sentimental bottle of wine is something to be shared today or in the future. Consider ports from your anniversary year, wine regions with romantic memories or vintage champagnes to be opened together 10, 20 or 30 years from now.

CHOCOLATES

Pairing wines with chocolates can be a great adventure for food and wine lovers but a single box of chocolate and bottle could leave your sweetheart wanting more. Consider a “chocolate of the month club” for your chocolates and a local retailer for your wines. Together, with the monthly arrival of the chocolate, it’s a fun time to explore a new pairing. It doesn’t have to be complicated, just stay with the basics and the pair-up will be perfection. White chocolate: framboise or moscato. Lightbodied milk chocolate: framboise, pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon. Medium bodied milk or semisweet chocolate: cabernet sauvignon, port, merlot or syrah. Full-bodied bittersweet or dark chocolate: cabernet sauvignon or port.

THE WINE GETAWAY

What’s more romantic than a trip to a wine region with the one you love? There are many options and choices ranging from a day trip to Altus, a long weekend in California or a destination vacation to France or Italy. Of course your valentine will love this gift but you get to enjoy it too!

Double gold from way down under

The results are soon to be posted for the Professional Wine Buyer’s Competition, but I thought we should take a sneak peak.

Searching out stellar wine values has always been my mission, so with 400 wines in the competition and prices across the board; I knew it would be long day of stained teeth and aching gums.  Not talked about many tasters, but for me crucial to any social interaction following these events.  When you taste 40-60–100 wines throughout a few days, your teeth and gums take a beating.  I usually leave with black teeth and a paranoia of drinking anything extra hot or cold.

As judges, we tasted blind (not a blind fold… just did not know the producers).  The wines were scored Bronze, Silver or Gold and the extraordinary Double Gold.

Awarding a double gold was not an easy task for any of the judging panels.  Not that we were a tough crowd, but knowing our collective scores would be compiled into a list of awarded wines and handed on to you the consumer to decide for yourself.  My panel only awarded one the entire competition, the 2009 Crossroads Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

I think all buyers are looking for a wine they would recommend to a friend because it taste great and is a great value for your money.  This wine delivered both and had all of the benchmark qualities you would expect from a well-made New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

For final results go to the Professional Wine Buyers Competition website.

The nose will know a ‘clean’ wine

Knowing how to judge the quality of a wine is essential to its enjoyment. No one should suffer through horrid smells and tastes simply because of lack of information. Understanding a wine’s quality starts with a simple question you can ask yourself: Is this wine clean?

Whether you are a beginner or expert your nose will quickly guide your answer. Clean wines have no trace of musty, moldy, rotten egg or vinegar smells.

Twenty years ago poor quality, unclean wines were more commonplace, but with today’s technology only a minuscule amount of bottles are faulty because of an error in the wine-making process. Today, the culprit, most likely, is the cork or disturbances along the journey from the winery to your glass. The following are some common problems and ways to identify them.

CORK TAINT/ CORKED WINES

Cork taint is the most common wine fault and is thought to affect up to 10 percent of wines bottled in the world. The befouling happens when a cork infected with a fungus producing 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) contacts the wine. The contact imparts musty and moldy aromas. Research shows that TCA also may be linked, ironically enough, to the chlorine bleaching used to sterilize corks. Corked wines are one of the most obvious faults to detect because of the musty aromas.

In the late 1990s, cork taint forced many wine producers to seek alternate closures, including screw caps and synthetic corks. The switch to screw top or synthetic was a direct result of the escalating occurrence of tainted corks. The TCA fungus is not able to harbor in screw tops, beer tops or synthetic closures.

OXIDATION

This results when wine is exposed to air, usually because of a faulty cork.

Oxidized wines are simple to detect, with their dull or stale fruit aromas and flavors. These wines will have a brownish color because of the contact with oxygen, much like how a cut apple will brown when exposed to air. Keep in mind a few wines are intentionally oxidized during the fermenting process, such as sherry and port. But for the others, oxygen is not a wine’s friend during the making or in the bottle.

VOLATILE ACIDITY

Though rare, this fault occurs from poor hygiene or temperatures during wine making. At its worst this fault is easy to single out, with aromas of vinegar or nail polish remover.

BAKED WINES

Baked or cooked wines largely result from exposure to high temperatures during storage or transportation. Not only does the extreme heat change the taste but it can also cause oxidation. When a wine is exposed to high temperatures the liquid expands, forcing the cork from the neck of the bottle. After the wine cools the cork will contract, leaving the opportunity for air to trickle in around the displaced cork.

Detecting a cooked wine is straightforward because it tastes and smells as if it was cooked. The wines usually lose freshness, smelling more like stewed fruit or prunes. In my experience this fault is less of an issue, and is avoided when buying from reputable retailers and distributors diligent about shipping and storage conditions.

Fussy Bordeaux seeks sleeker image

When most of us think of French wines, too often what comes to mind are expensive prices, confusing labels and unfamiliar, esoteric terminology.

Even though many French wines are among my favorites, the wines have never seemed very user friendly. And it’s easy to spend more time trying to figure out what to buy than simply enjoying the wine.

But that doesn’t have to be the case. Near the end of 2009, Bordeaux launched a new campaign — “Life Goes Better With Bordeaux” — aimed at honing its image and capturing a larger share of the U.S. market. Aware that consumers often search the Internet for information and recommendations, Bordeaux launched a new Web site, www.enjoybordeaux.com.

The site offers sections for live chats, Bordeaux event listings from around the world, recommended wines priced under $25 (100 listed) and tips and facts about Bordeaux. There is much information that could change consumers’ perceptions about Bordeaux. I found the site easy to navigate with helpful tips.

The following are my picks for wines less than $25 and produced in the Bordeaux region of France.

  • 2007 Chateau Bonnet Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot (about $19 retail)
  • 2007 Chateau Bel Air Haut Medoc (about $24 retail)
  • 2008 Chateau Bonnet Bordeaux Blanc (about $15 retail)
  • 2007 Chateau De Clairefont Margaux (about $25 retail)
  • 2007 Chateau Mayne Pargade Blanc (about $10 retail)
  • 2007 Michel Lynch Merlot (about $13 retail)
  • 2007 Mouton-Cadet Red Bordeaux (about $10 retail)

Early results are in

Professional Wine Judges Award Gold to Three California Wines and One New Zealand Pinot Noir in Early Morning at Second U.S. Professional Wine Buyers Competition™.

Santa Rosa, CA —  In early results at the second U.S. Professional Wine Buyers Competition, Judges awarded Gold medals to the following wines:

California

  • Big Dog  Vineyards, San Francisco Bay, California 2006 Cabernet Franc, $29.50
  • Forchini Vineyards & Winery, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley Estate Grown Proprietor’s Reserve 2007 Pinot Noir, $32.00
  • Summerland Winery, Santa Maria Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Single Vineyard Collection, 2008 Pinot Noir, $45.00

New Zealand

  • Crown Range, South Pacific Wines LLC, New Zealand, Central Otago, 2008 Pinot Noir, $19.99

“The purpose of this competition is to allow professional wine buyers an opportunity to determine which wines should be on the retail shelf, restaurant wine lists, and in the hands of private collectors,” said Lea Pierce, Founder and Managing Director of Wine Competition Management, LLC.  Wine Competition Management also produces The National Women’s Wine Competition (March 22-23, 2010), the new Organic & Biodynamic Wine Competition, May 17, 2010, and the new NextGen Wine Competition for Millennial Wine Drinkers, to be held June 13-15, 2010.  All competitions are held at the Fountaingrove Hotel in Santa Rosa.  St. Gobain Containers and Fountaingrove Inn and Hotel are sponsors of the event.

The Buyer’s Guide™ will be available January 25 as a free download at www.prowinebuyerscomp.info or by email request to info@prowinebuyerscomp.info.  For answers to your questions, please call the competition at +1 707-568-3900.