In tasting room, restaurant, or wine shop conversations you might hear the term Noble Grapes, but what are they referring to? This is a two-part answer. Depending on context, they may be referring to either The Six Noble Grapes or referring to The Five Noble Grapes of Bordeaux. It can be…
Noble Grapes
Where Have All the Malbecs Gone?
San Francisco, CA. 2007. I was the Sommelier & General Manager at multi-year Wine Spectator list awarded, multi-year Michelin-starred Yabbies Coastal Kitchen on Polk St., between Vallejo & Green in the historic Russian Hill District – the restaurant where I actually met Cam for the first time as…
Decant
Wine Term: Decant Variations: Open, Oxygenate, Aerate, Breathe, Breathing What it really means: Allowing the wine to interact with oxygen after the cork is removed. While there are all sorts of currently, highly marketed devices and fancy (expensive) vessels that double as art pieces, a good old glass…
Corked
Wine Term: Corked Variations: Cork taint, Tainted, TCA, Systemic TCA, Trichloroanisole What it really means: The wine has an off-putting musty, mushroomy fragrance and taste. This is not in regards to Pinot Noirs, where the mushroom fragrance and taste is very welcoming. And this is not in reference…
Today is National Beer Day
A very wise, well-traveled winemaker once told us: “It takes a lot of cheap beer to make great wine.” Today is a day to celebrate for us, as America is home to the finest cheap beers on the planet, and we only deal in great wines. So crack…
Varietal
Wine Term: Varietal Variations: Single varietal, Varietal wine What it really means: The wine is made from* and labeled as a single grape variety. A varietal wine is labeled as a single grape wine. Examples would be wines labeled as: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot,…
International Whisk(e)y Day
It’s International Whisk(e)y Day! Dude… What are you doing reading a wine blog today!? You know exactly what you need to be drinking and doing right now. And don’t forget today is Friday, so NO WORK TOMORROW! Oh, and drink responsibly. 🎵“Show me the way to the next…
Customer Take Over Version: Linear
Customer David C. writes: “What is meant by ‘linear?’” At the end of January we wrote about ‘Angular’ wines – not to be mistaken for ‘Linear’ wines, see below: Wine Term: Linear Variations: Straightforward, commonplace What it really means: the wine does nothing to play outside of the…
Filtered vs. Unfiltered
There are 2 types of finished wines. Wine Term(s): Filtered and Unfiltered No one or the other is better, they are a stylistic choice by the winemakers in modern times. Historically speaking, wines always had to be filtered to remove potentially harmful bacteria, but due to modern winemaking…