The Real Mendoza July 31, 2009

While browsing through my Twitter feed, I came across this article in the San Francisco Chronicle on Mendoza, the primary wine region in Argentina. Like many foreign visitors, reporter David Armstrong portrays the region as the Southern Hemisphere’s Napa or Sonoma: beautiful wineries flanked by fruitful vineyards, with nearly no mention of what ails this region. Armstrong stayed in one of the fanciest hotels in Mendoza, the Park Hyatt, and was shuttled to and from the prettiest wineries in the region by a private car. He describes his visits to Catena Zapata, Salentein, Zuccardi — “gleaming, modern wineries”– but fails to mention that many of these behemoths are only accessible by dirt roads. No, not rustic dirt roads. Rough, rocky dirt roads because the regional government has no money to pave them.

Armstrong talks of the smooth ribbon of macadam that is the Route 40. There is little mention of the stray dogs (many of whom have not survived the highways and lay dead and gutted on the sides of the roads), the shantytowns (nearly right next to the vineyards he so glamorizes), the buses spewing diesel exhaust, the construction factories. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are expecting a wine country with rustic hotels and beautiful scenery at every turn, you will be disappointed. This is no Napa. The “gourmet ghetto” that is Chacras de Coria, a nearby suburb of Mendoza sold as a foodie haven, is a settlement of wealthy homeowners who live in gated, guarded homes lined with unpaved sidewalks. We left our car outside for five minutes outside of the gated confines of our hotel and were immediately told that it was unsafe to do so.

The saddest part, however, is that this reporter failed to get the true story about Argentina’s wine economy. One winery owner I talked to said he had little interest in investing any more money in Argentina. “You never get paid and you have to sue people and spend 10 years in court waiting for your money,” he said. “The political situation here has made it inhospitable to businesses.” Security, after the barrels, is his biggest expense. Every winery has a guard and a gatehouse to keep unwanted visitors — and it isn’t just for show.

Yes, there are wonderful wines being made in Mendoza. But many investors have left the country (Ruca Malen used to be owned by Kendall Jackson. KJ decided to pull out because of the terrible business conditions and the winery is now owned by KJ’s lawyers) and with the current economic crisis, times have only gotten worse. Tourism in Mendoza crashed this year, a result of the global crisis and the swine flu. Most hotels were under 50 percent capacity (funny, Mr. Armstrong, how you never mentioned this) and tourists were a rare and lonely sight. Times haven’t been good in Argentina’s wine country and they aren’t getting better.

Is it worth it to visit this wine country? Obviously tourism would bring badly-needed capital to the area. I hope that Mendoza’s wealthy wineries band together to bring economic development to the area. Poverty, infrastructure and crime all need to be addressed. For now, tourists need to be well informed before visiting. Read past the glossed-over accounts of Mendoza and learn the true story before you visit.

I got the blues (bleu cheese, that is) June 3, 2009

I had the chance to pick up some fabulous blue cheeses yesterday from Taste Artisan Cheese & Gourmet Shop in Hillcrest — what a treat! George Palmer of Taste helped me select these two cheeses to end a very special meal (C’s birthday dinner).

The Cashel Blue is a beautiful tangy, creamy cheese from Ireland and is the creation of a wife-and-husband team (Jane and Louis Grubb). It’s a semi-soft, cow’s milk cheese with an assertive taste.

The Valdeon Cheese we tried (the one in the back of the plate) hails from Spain. It has a stronger flavor than the creamy Cashel and is saltier than a Stilton. This cheese is made from cow’s and goat’s milks and made a lovely pairing with an elegant, earthy Pinot Noir. The cheese is often wrapped in sycamore or maple leaves when aged.

Still drinking, just swirling wine that is a little cheaper February 4, 2009

People may have cut their Starbucks lattes, their pricey haircuts and highlights and their weekly massages, but they haven’t cut drinking. Wine, that is. (Although one suspects that the financial crisis is probably driving some to imbibe more of the hard stuff).

According to this article by the LA Times, people are just looking for better deals. Out go the $80 bottles of wine, in go the $15-$25 range. And thanks to newer producers like Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa and Argentina, there are plenty of fabulous deals to go around. Here in San Diego, our local wine shop (Dick’s Liquor) is having a 10-50% off sale on most of the wines. I found some excellent zinfandels, pinot noirs, cabernet sauvignons and syrahs on sale.

So don’t despair. Just be creative and you’re bound to find a wonderful bottle or two.

Check out the full article:

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-wine4-2009feb04,0,7436559.story

From the Los Angeles Times

WINE

It’s a buyer’s market in wine

Although people may not be buying as many expensive bottles as before, they’re still seeking out quality wine. And retailers are responding with specials.

By Patrick Comiskey

February 4, 2009

As we limp into 2009, watching our mad money dwindle from a mountain to a mound to a modest lump, you’d probably rather not think too much about restocking the dent you put in your wine collection over the holidays.

But there are many signs that this economic downturn could result in a mini-boom for wine lovers. Perhaps more than at any other time in the last five years, this is an opportunity for consumers to not only drink really good wines, but also to drink better for less. This is true in nearly every price category, and in nearly every region; for the truly savvy, this could be one of the more exciting periods in recent years for America’s rekindled love affair with the grape.

All of the area retailers I spoke with said that, despite bouts of dark humor along the lines of “things are so bad I can’t stop drinking now,” all is not gloom and doom on the floors of your average wine shop. “People are pretty happy when they’re here,” says wine buyer Kyle Meyer of the Wine Exchange in Orange. “I mean, this isn’t a doctor’s office.”

Indeed, there’s a prevailing sense that, even in tough economic times, Americans have not lost their thirst for good wine, and its enjoyment has become a regular part of their lives. We all may be watching our pennies, but so far, at any rate, we haven’t been willing to part with this everyday pleasure. The genie is out of the bottle, and the only place it’s going to go is into a glass.

But the mood has turned less exuberant than it was in the rip-roaring days before the crash. “People are definitely trading down,” says Mike Greene, general manager of Woodland Hills Wine Co. “They don’t seem to be cutting back on the amount of wine they’re buying, but they’re much more fixated on what they’re spending.”

And retailers have responded. There’s consensus that 2009 will be the Year of the Shrinkage. In the coming months, distributors will be looking for every opportunity to trim their inventory.

The result is a buyer’s market for retailers and consumers alike. Wine shops are scouring distributor catalogs for bargains and actively recalibrating their stock for the new economic reality. In many parts of the market, deals are there for the taking.

“Oh yeah, we’re vultures, no question about it,” says Meyer of the Wine Exchange, “but we know good wine, and we’re giving our customers more for what they spend.”

New comfort zone

Most retailers agree that, in terms of a retail “sweet spot” — the price that regular customers feel most comfortable spending — $25 has become the new $40. Whether it’s a village Burgundy or a fancy new Syrah from Walla Walla, Wash., people are comfortable spending $25 but get balky if the price rises much above that. As for the more expensive wines? “If you’re a $40 wine on the shelf,” Woodland Hills’ Greene says, “you’re probably a pretty lonely bottle about now.”

That’s not to say that customers have abandoned expensive wine. “My customers still want their special bottles,” says Jim Knight from the Wine House in West L.A., who points out that his allocation of the pedigreed Santa Ynez Rhône blend from Jonata (as in the folks who bring you Screaming Eagle) was snatched up in days. “They still want their Friday-night dinner wine to be a step up from Wednesday’s.”

But even among highflying, Parker-point-chasing, mega-cult reds, there are deals. “If you don’t have a track record,” Greene says, “you may just have to suck it up and price it right.”

At least some of the deals are coming from distributors, whose warehouses are full of inventory accumulated in better days and who are striking deals to move it out. A store like Wine Exchange is large enough, and has sufficient clout among distributors, that Meyer can leverage even better margins above already discounted offers. “They’ll come to me with a 30% discount. I tell them, ‘You give me 50% and I’ll take it all.’ ” That’s the sort of bargain Meyer likes to pass on to his monthly wine clubs and other dedicated customers. Not every shop has this sort of leverage, but most stores have taken advantage of closeouts, end-of-vintage or end-of-year specials.

Some of the wines being offered by distributors are rarities, boutique and hard-to-find wines that in the past would have been allocated to just a tiny group of mostly restaurant accounts but now are going to a broader range of outlets. “We’ve really benefited from some allocation shifts,” says Chris Meeske of Mission Wines in South Pasadena, who can now get wines like the current vintage of Ridge’s great Cabernet blend, Monte Bello. “I’ve got all of these wines I couldn’t get before, and they’re flying out the door.” Some wineries are even cutting out the middleman; one retailer spoke of a winery owner who tried to sell him his wine direct at a price that undercut the winery’s distributor by 20%.

Good value

Going straight to the source can certainly pay off, even if you’re not allowed to say who that source might be. Late last year, Gary Fishman, domestic wine buyer for Wally’s Wine Merchant, purchased and bottled a 2006 Cabernet blend from a well-regarded, Parker-anointed Napa winery (which must remain nameless) as a store brand for the L.A. wine shop. Called Cyclone, it retails for about $70, less than half the price of similar wines from that winery.

Meanwhile, the new $25 sweet spot is crowded with value. After a string of good vintages in the Beaujolais, Loire and Rhône valleys, even the most modest bottlings from those regions are drinking beautifully. The 2007 vintage in the Piedmont will one day yield some exquisite Barolos and Barbarescos; but the inexpensive Nebbiolos from Alba and the Langhe — not to mention a bumper crop of charming Dolcettos and Barberas — are marvelous right now. In Spain, 2007 wasn’t quite the same quality vintage as in France and Italy, but the values from places like Montsant, Rueda and Bierzo are as strong as ever.

Every retailer I spoke with mentioned the exceptional Malbecs of Argentina, which continue to outperform for their price. Not only do they get better with each vintage, but they also stay inexpensive — almost all of them are under $20.

And most retailers predicted that Australia’s crowded tier of premium Shirazes and other reds — wines that came into the market at $40 or more — is almost certainly going to be discounted for tremendous bargains.

You might expect smaller retail shops, such as Mission Wines in South Pasadena and the Colorado Wine Co. in Eagle Rock, to be more vulnerable to economic woes, but so far that hasn’t proven to be the case. They may not have the buying power of some of the bigger stores, but with a smaller inventory they can be more nimble with their stock.

And all are doing more with less. “Instead of having three Amarone, I’ve got one, and a much cheaper ripasso-style Valpolicella that drinks like one,” says John Nugent, owner of the Colorado Wine Co. The shelves are far from empty; they’re just filled with less-expensive, more carefully selected wine.

The care that goes into selection is certainly not lost on its clientele, which has a bond with the store that Nugent says has not diminished.

“I get people almost every day asking me how the shop is doing,” Nugent says. “They want to know we’re OK; they don’t want to lose the relationship. They don’t want to have to go to Vons for their dinner wine. They’re way past that.”

When Ignorance is Bliss July 17, 2008

Can your taste buds really detect the difference between a $10 bottle of wine and a $100 or a $1,000 bottle of wine? I’ve had this conversation endless times with family and friends. Most people agree that there’s some difference between the cheapest bottle of wine on a menu and something a little better, but when you start getting into the stratospheric levels, it’s really not worth it, they say.

My take is that you can tell the difference. Good wine is silkier, less rough on the tongue, has more body, more complexity.

Turns out we’re both right. According to the publication “Do More Expensive Wines Taste Better?” from the American Association of Wine Economists published in the Journal of Wine Economics, Vol. 3, No. 1, it depends on who is doing the tasting. Regular folks can’t tell the difference between expensive and cheap wines. It’s really not worth it for them to blow $400 on a bottle of wine when a $40 or a $15 bottle would have done.

But the wine snobs, oh, they can tell. It’s both a blessing and a curse. Obviously it’s nice to be able to know that your tongue distinguishes between the best of the best and the cheap Two Buck Chuck.

Then again, you make for an expensive date.

I love this little essay in the Freakonomics blog on the New York Times about how Steven Levitt was always miffed that he was offered expensive wines when at Harvard’s Society of Fellows when just the cash would have sufficed. His advice:

No matter what, do not let yourself become a wine expert who can tell the difference between cheap and expensive wines. When it comes to your pocketbook and wine, ignorance is bliss.

The one thing Levitt missed is that neuroeconomics studies have found that people drinking expensive wine actually physiologically enjoy the pricey wine better (when they know the price, of course). In other words, your brain is actually tricked into thinking the expensive stuff is tastier and you can see it in the reward centers. So it’s not of much use if you’re doing a blind tasting, but if you’re treating yourself to a nice bottle of wine, you’ll at least enjoy it more, even if your pocketbook doesn’t.

Learn and laugh as you watch this wine guy May 20, 2008

Wine tasting, buying and collecting is considered by many to be stuffy, elitist and boring.

I wish they would watch Gary Vaynerchuk’s video podcasts (Wine Library TV).

You’ll laugh so hard out loud that people around you may wonder whether you’re insane. You’ll giggle at his facial expressions, chuckle at his descriptions of wine (he compared the smell of one wine to powdered lemonade) and tears will be coming out of your eyes by the time you’re finished with the show.

Oh, yeah, and you’ll learn about wine. He knows his stuff and isn’t afraid to share it with ya.

I just watched an episode where he compares Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio (which are made from the same grape — just in different styles) and found myself learning a thing or two. Plus, he rates the wines he tastes and talks you through the ratings, which helps you understand why a wine got a certain score (for example, an expensive wine with an “eh” taste rates lower than a cheaper wine that tastes the same).

If you’re on the path to wine snobdom, forget the stuffy wine mags, you’ve got to watch this guy.

Chew on this: The World in Food Numbers May 15, 2008

We all have stereotypes of different countries. The French drink a lot of wine, the Russians a lot of vodka and the Mexicans a lot of Corona. Boy, are we wrong (well, at least in terms of who do it the most).

Read these random facts and figures (food-related, of course) from the The Economist Pocket World in Figures (2008 Edition):

World’s Greatest Beer Guzzlers (Off-trade sales, liters per head of pop.)

1. Czech Republic (You were thinking Germany, eh?) – 82.4
2. Venezuela – 71.6
3. Australia – (68.7)

Top Global Smokers (Average Annual Consumption of cigarettes per head per day)

1. Greece (!) – 8.4 (Who knew that these Mediterranean denizens were such smokers?)
2. Macedonia – 7.1
3. Russia – 6.8

World Winos (Off-trade sales, liters of head of pop.)

1. Portugal – 32.1
2. Switzerland – 29.5 (They may be neutral, but they’re not sober!)
3. Italy – 29.4

Spirited, they are: Greatest Consumers of Alcoholic Drinks (Off-trade sales, liters per head of pop.)

1. Australia – 99.2 (those Aussies really put it away!)
2. Czech Republic – 98.2
3. Germany – 96.2

(The U.S., by the way, is #12, with 73.8)

Pass the Lipitor (Cardiovascular Deaths per 100,000 population, age standardized, 2002)

(Basically, living incountries that end in “stan” is not good for your heart!)

1. Turkmenistan (and you thought the U.S. with its diabesity crisis was #1!) – 844
2. Tajikistan – 753
3. Kazakhstan – 713
4. Afghanistan – 706

Where’s the Sugar? (Diabetes rates, % of population aged 20-79, 2007)

(Looks like living in an oil-rich country is hazardous to your health!)

1. United Arab Emirates – 19.5
2. Saudi Arabia – 16.7
3. Kuwait – 14.4
4. Oman – 13.1

Screw, Cork or Rubber: Corks Demystified May 6, 2008

There’s nothing more satisfying than sitting down to a warm, copious repast and hearing the familiar “pop” as you open a bottle of wine.

But if more wineries have their way, you may soon be hearing the sound of a screw top being unfastened. Or, that familiar corky top may be replaced with a rubber one.

Why the change? For one, cork is a natural material and thus subject to nature’s inconsistencies. Some cork can taint the wine — up to 5 or 8 percent of wine is thought to have cork taint — so by eliminating this factor, you can keep the wine from spoiling. (Learn about how to detect cork-tainted wine in this post).

Plus, screw tops can prevent air– and thus oxygen — from seeping into wine. Exposure to air oxidizes the wine; that’s why wine that has been opened for days doesn’t taste quite as good. But a little, teeny bit of air is good, argue some wine experts, and that can help the wine age. So for wines that you’re going to store for years, maybe decades, a cork top is the way to go.

Finally, there’s the cost factor. Really nice corks (yes, there is a huge quality difference between cheap corks and expensive corks, which can run almost $1 each) are made from the best quality cork wood and have small holes that let as little air in as possible. Using cheaper corks can be OK, but for cheaper wines, a screw cap works much better and is much cheaper. That being said, there are pricey screw caps out there, too, and you’re starting to see them in nicer wines.

In the hottest new wine regions, screw caps are becoming de rigueur. According to this article at BeverageDaily.com, nearly 90 percent of New Zealand wine comes in a screw cap. Australia’s is reaching 50 percent.
Even so, many wineries, particularly those in France, are not going to give up that cork. Their customers expect to see it and to deny them the pleasure of popping open that bottle would be absolument terrible.

Check out this great article on Appellation America about the screw cap debacle. I think the use of these tops is best summed up by Jason Haas of the Tablas Creek Winery:

“It depends on what we want the evolution of the wine to be. For an aromatic white, or for our Rosé, we like the brightness and freshness that the screw cap closure provides, and believe that the screw cap will have the additional benefit of keeping these wines (which are typically meant to be enjoyed young) tasting youthful longer.”

(photo credit: New Zealand Herald)

Culver City = Foodie Haven April 21, 2008

With my trusty Cole Haan heels in my bag and a copy of Elle magazine in hand (hey, I was heading to the La La Land — aka the land of the superficial), I hopped onto Amtrak and headed down to Los Angeles this last weekend. The boy and I stayed in a hotel in Culver City, so I decided to make our evening plans in the environs and made plans with Christa and her boy to meet up.

Culver City has brilliantly rebranded itself. Once a decaying exurb bordering Santa Monica, it is now a vibrant, trendy hub filled with beautiful people clinking glasses and eating gastropub fare. Ford’s Filling Station, owned by Harrison Ford’s son, lies within the city limits and Fraiche, which has the second most requested reservations on OpenTable.com in LA (according to Christa), is only a few yards away.

We started off at BottleRock, as per Christa’s suggestion, which is a fabulous little wine bar with a huge wine menu and a pretty thick beer book as well. The metal high chairs and bar tables paired nicely with the bar’s sleek interior and the wine racks on the side added a bit o’ humor with funny signs such as “effin’ merlot” and “pinot envy.”

The boys choose beer while Christa and I selected some wines. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m very into wine these days, so I ordered a 2003 Cordon Syrah — dusty, earthy, dark plum jam flavors — and shared fruit-and-nut bread crostini with the boyfriend (who got the PranQster Belgian Style Golden Ale — my new favorite beer — fruity and crisp), which were topped with crispy prosciutto. Christa and her boy shared a truffle grilled cheese sandwich which looked quite tasty as well. Glasses by the wine range from about $6 to $65 for the most expensive wines.

We skedaddled over to Tender Greens — a casual spot that serves a variety of fresh tossed salads — and watched as our meals were prepared in front of our eyes. Compared to most of the restaurant spots in the area, Tender Greens is pretty inexpensive. I opted for the steak salad, which featured several slices of rare, juicy steak topped on mesclun, while the boy picked the vegan salad. His dish had several grain salads and a big scoop of delicious green hummus all topped with fresh mixed greens.

We ended the night with some gelato from Ugo — a conetto and chocolate concoction that was creamy and rich (and pricey! $4.60 for gelato! what is this? Starbucks?) and thus ended our Culver City jaunt.

I most definitely recommend a visit or two (or three!) if you haven’t made it to this little gem. Street parking is available (and for the most part free after 6 p.m.) and the hip, unpretentious ambiance is most welcoming here in La La Land.

Drink Up: “The History of the World in Six Glasses” April 21, 2008

Beer, yes, beer — has made history. And no, we’re not talking about the hazy stories told the morning after beer-soaked frat parties — we’re talking thousands of years of real history. Who knew that the bubbly, fermented beverage was once a form of currency in ancient Mesopotamia? Or that Egyptian mothers were urged to give beer to their children?

I feel like much was edited out of my history textbooks, likely the result of overzealous parents hoping to shield their innocent children from any book containing the word alcohol. But to censor alcohol is to censor history — the oldest forms of writing in several cultures include the intoxicating elixir. Fortunately, Tom Sandage’s book, “The History of the World in Six Glasses”, has filled in those critical gaps.

Sandage — the technology editor for the Economist — regales us with tales of how beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola have shaped history. And unlike your dry history books of yore, Sandage has full of cocktail party-worthy tidbits (and has any topic ever been more interesting for a cocktail party?) that keep you intrigued. Who knew, for instance, that tea began as a medicinal gruel in China, mixed in with garlic, shallots and ginger? Or that Coca-Cola was exempted from sugar rationing during World War II so that it could be sent abroad to the troops to keep up morale?

What’s funny is that while reading the book, you recognize that, well, some things haven’t changed. Greek and Roman wine buffs distinguished between wines of different regions and prided themselves on their knowledge. In ancient Rome, wine became a symbol of social differentiation, of status and class. “For wealthy Romans, the ability to recognize and name the finest wines was an important form of conspicuous consumption; it showed that they were rich enough to afford the finest wines and had spent time learning which was which.”

Hmmm… sounds to me quite a lot like modern readers of Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast!

My only complaint is that the book is too short. Sandage picks only several periods in history to highlight as he talks about the influences of these drinks when we well know that some of their influence stretches across different cultures and eras. For instance, how can you tell the story of coffee while mentioning modern coffee empires like Starbucks in only one line? Or how to talk about the history of wine without mentioning new regions like California, Chile and Argentina? Clearly, each of these drinks deserves a volume and it’s difficult to include everything, but all in all, the book is quite fun to read.

Some of my favorite facts (take these to your next wine-and-cheese — you’re sure to impress):

• Coca-Cola still includes extracts from the koca plant, from which it was initially derived
• In 1671, French doctors decried that coffee caused impotence and burned the blood (they did so at the behest of wine merchants who feared for their livelihood)
• “Coca-Cola” is said to be the second most understood phrase in the world after “OK”
• The word “alcohol” is derived from the Arabic “al-koh’l”; the Arabs became master distillers around 1000 A.D.
• The first stockmarkets started in European coffehouses
• The British began adding sugar and tea to their milk in order to mask the bitter and often adulterated beverage (merchants added loose leaves, ash, sawdust — even sheep’s dung to stretch the tea)
• Sailors in the 1600 and 1700s were able to prevent scurvy by drinking “grog:” rum, lemon juice, water and spices on board
• Greeks and Romans almost always drank their wine with water

Becoming a wine snob: step three April 17, 2008

For those just joining the blog, check out steps one and two before reading on!

You’re the envy of your friends at the restaurant table when you knowingly pick the perfect Viogner, others look to you with awe as you describe the nose of a Malbec. Now it’s time to learn some vineyard, winery and tasting lingo. Throw these words around next time you go wine tasting with your friends in Napa and you’ll be the star of the tour:

Clone – No, not a science-fiction term, although grape clones do result from weird mutations. Wine grapes are known to spontaneously mutate in the vineyard. The result is a very, very close relative of the grape type (or varietal) called a clone. Some clones are given numbers (for instance, “777″ is a clone of Pinot Noir) while others are given names based on their history (the “Swan” clone was taken from Joseph Swan’s vineyard) Many wines are a blend of a bunch of different clones. Many wineries are now offering “clonal tastings” where you can taste the clones before they are blended.

Finish – The lingering effect of wine in your mouth. The longer the length, the better. If the wine is acidic, you might describe the finish as “edgy,” while a creamy finish would be better described as “smooth,” or “silky.”

Malolactic Fermentation – This jargony term refers to a bacterial process that takes place in the wine. Yep, bacteria! These little guys turn the acetic acid in wine (which has an apple-y flavor) into lactic acid (the same acid found in milk). The result is that you get a creamy, rich wine when it has gone through malolactic or “ML” fermentation.

Punchdown – A technique during fermentation that mixes up the juice and skins. I spent a good chunk of the summer of 2007 doing punchdowns. Pinot Noir and Syrah have to be punched down three times a day. The winery where I worked had 20 tanks and each took anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. You do the math to determine the amount of manual labor this took!

Check out this cool video from WineSpectator.com that shows you how the punchdowns are done:

Brix – A measure for determining sugar levels in wine (specifically, the ratio of dissolved sugar to water).

Residual Sugars – Also known as “RS” (you’ll hear this term thrown around by really stuffy wine snobs), RS refers to unfermented grape sugar that remains in wine after the fermentation process.

Vertical Tasting – You’ll see these offered at some wineries. A vertical tasting refers to tasting several vintages of the same wine: you’ll taste the 2003, 2004 and 2005 vintages and compare.

For more wine lingo, check out this great glossary over at Fine Cooking that demystifies other wine terms. Learn them all and impress your friends.