Local IQ - in line with wine

in line with wine

Features - Cover Story

Friday, 05 September 2008

Four local wine buffs offer up advice for novice wine drinkers thirsty for knowledge

STORIES BY KEVIN HOPPER | PHOTOS BY WES NAMAN
Some people say wine is nothing more than just grape juice. In essence, they’re right. Wine is merely fermented grape juice. Therein lies the simple beauty of this ancient drink, which has spanned history and heritage, continents and culture, to become so deeply ingrained in many of our lives. Wine is certainly just grape juice. But wine is also very deep. So deep that the thought of even beginning to grasp wine’s myriad components is simply staggering.

But as Artichoke Café’s erudite Wine Director Stewart Dorris so succinctly put it during a recent informal tasting, “Wine is fun.”

We at Local iQ wholeheartedly agree. So much so that we decided to break down some of the more common misconceptions and fears that often inhibit novices from discovering the literally endless attributes of well, grape juice, by seeking out the advice of a few local experts and tasting our hearts out. Here’s what they had to say.

Cheers!

Kevin Hunter
Sommelier, Savoy Bar & Grill 10601 Montgomery NE, 224.9135 | savoyabq.com

Local iQ: What are some of the common mistakes, if any, that people new to wine make?

Kevin Hunter: I don’t know if it’s a mistake, but what people find themselves doing is falling into ruts, where they order the same thing they drink at the house. In the restaurant end of what we do, it really should be about exploring and trying different stuff. You’re not eating the same food you’re eating at home, why would you drink the same wine you do at home? I think it should be more about finding wines you haven’t had before, from regions you haven’t been to before, trying different varietals that you’re not used to.

iQ: Is it obvious to you when diners are not asking questions about wine because they might be afraid to?

KH: There’s a small percentage of people who are that way. They don’t want to be embarrassed or they don’t want to feel like maybe they know less than they should. I teach wine tasting classes every other Saturday (at Savoy). It works out really well because we can expose a huge group of people to different stuff, whatever we think might be a good region to study up on

iQ: Give us a for instance. What types of wines or regions are you into currently?

KH: Spanish wines. We’re all about them right now. They’re really hot. It goes along with New Mexican-style food and our palates here in New Mexico. It’s really acidic on the white side and really dry on the red side. It mirrors the kinds of food we eat here and our lifestyle a little bit. So, we’ve done a pretty good job of trying to get people into those wines and we have a pretty large Spanish selection. It’s a personal favorite of mine, so it makes it easy for me to put on the menu.

iQ: Aside from wine classes, what are other ways for people to taste new things without dropping a fortune?

KH: Wine flights are a great way to sample wines without having to buy a whole glass or bottle. It’s really nice to be able to offer three wines without people having to buy three glasses. It’s been a popular concept for a long time. It’s not really new to New Mexico but it’s relatively new to a lot of people who are finding out what restaurants offer these days. The dining scene has changed so much in the past three years. It’s amazing how many restaurants are getting progressive with their wine menus. It’s not the same old stuff anymore.

iQ: Is it difficult to jump from drinking stateside varietals to ones from say, Italy or Spain that grow less familiar grapes?

KH: Yes, especially with Italians. Because of the sheer volume of different varietals that come from Italy, it’s confusing to people. But I believe modern wine drinkers are waking up to the fact that they need to pay attention to the stuff abroad. And that’s what I like about the events that we host, they ives us a chance to let people know varietals that fall into different bottlings or different regions and how those compare to things you know or don’t know.

iQ: There really is a lot to learn about wine, isn’t there? Especially given that you can grow the same grape varietal in two completely different parts of the world and create wine that vastly differs in taste, aroma and color.

KH: It’s one of the draws to the whole industry that I fell in love with, how vast and varied it is to begin with. There really is no end to the style that one single varietal can give you. That to me is fascinating. It’s the beauty of this industry that attracts so many people.

iQ: I recently heard a wine described as “barnyardy.” Some of the descriptions of wine are pretty out there. So much so that it might scare some people away. “Cat pee” is one that comes to mind.

KH: The terminology kind of cracks me up. I read various wine periodicals and it cracks me up to listen to wine writers and how they describe wine. The average consumers, they don’t know what that is. Or, if they do, it’s a learned behavior; they learn to repeat those terms. Picking up on your own style, I think, is a lot more important as well as coming up with your own terminology. Try to have your own set of flavors and smells that you associate with what you’re tasting and just go on that. Try to really expand on that in your own style.

SUGGESTIONS

Argyle Brut 2002, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Tasting notes: Aromas of grapefruit and lemon. Creamy, peach and apple flavors, hints of vanilla and a long, fruity finish.

KH: This is a bridge for people who don’t want to get a fully dry-style champagne that maybe doesn’t have some of that racing acidity and some of that fruit that domestically we all tend to like a little bit.

Naia Verdejo 2005, Spain
Tasting notes: Bright lemon color and a nose of fruit, vanilla and minerals. Complex citrus, peach and pear flavors that roundly melt into its flavor profile. Less acid on the back side.

KH: "Very good with Mexican dishes. Carne asada tacos and this? Sign me up. I’m all over it."

Nipozzano Chianti Rúfina, Italy
Tasting notes: Tart cherry and black cherry notes. Solid acid on the back, balanced tannin with a fair amount of wood.

KH: "This changed my opinion what chianti can be, because a lot of chiantis are so raw cherry, but this isn’t that way. It’s got a little bit of weight behind it, it’s got a different style."

Stewart Dorris
Wine Director, Artichoke Cafe, 424 Central SE, 243.0200 | artichokecafe.com
Co-owner, Farina Pizzeria & Wine Bar, 510 Central SE (scheduled to open in October)

Local iQ: What characteristics of wine generally tend to turn off novice wine drinkers?

Stewart Dorris: I think dryness and acidity, a lot of the times. Or, just the fact that novice wine drinkers get their terminology incorrect. What you hear a lot too is ‘bitter.’ And bitter I think, is something that naturally occurs in wine through tannins and tannins are what really drive people off a lot of the time. It’s that thing that gives you the tendency to pucker. Anything that’s running along the sides of the tongue that seems different ... if it’s different, it’s confusing.

iQ: I notice you are sort of slurping the wine as you taste it? What’s that about?

SD: It’s a very important element in tasting wine. What we’re doing is pulling the right amount of oxygen through the wine while tasting it. That way nothing slips away from you. Also, sometimes (white wine) tends to be too cold, so if you keep the wine in your mouth and you pull the oxygen through the wine, you’ll get a huge difference.

iQ: It’s almost too much to comprehend — the sheer variety of grapes and flavors and smells. I wonder if there are wine drinkers out there who find something they like and stick with it because the know it and love it.

SD: Typically, if there’s a wine that you know and love, there’s a good chance that a lot of other people know it and love it. The idea here at the Artichoke Cafe is to constantly be changing things to turn the public on to new and different grapes, wineries, winemakers by one-on-one conversations and putting on wine dinners.

iQ: Given such massive volume and variety, the prospect of really getting to know wine seems pretty ominous. How would you suggest a beginning wine enthusiast initiate that learning process?

SD: If you’re a novice buying wine, I suggest going into a wine shop and talking to somebody who is knowledgeable and spending as little money as you can on the best bottle of wine, for the money. Because that’s where the secret is, that’s your goal. Expensive wines can obviously be the best wines in the world, but there’s no reason to drink an expensive wine on a regular Friday night with your family. Save that for a special occasion. But when you can go get a wine that truly blows you away and you’re not going to spend more than $10 or $11, and you can even do better than that, you can spend less, that’s when you have to consult with someone knowledgeable, whether it be at a wine shop or a wine bar, someone who tastes 200, 300 wines on a regular basis.

iQ: And you can’t do that at a grocery store.

SD: No, you can’t.

iQ: Price is obviously a good general guideline to follow when buying wine. But are there some pricey bottles out there that really aren’t all that?

SD: There are some. There are some very high profile wines out there. There are definitely some out there that are way overpriced. And in my opinion, you can get wines that cost a third or half the amount to get the same quality wine. But you sometimes have to go to great lengths to figure that out.

iQ: So, theoretically, if a person begins drinking wine on a daily basis from birth (a practice that Local iQ does not recommend) and lives for a hundred years, it’s almost impossible for them to possess a thorough knowledge of wine.

SD: It’s endless. Even people who are considered to be the most knowledgeable wine drinkers in the world, the so-called masters of wine, even they’ll tell you that they have so much more to learn. And they’ll be learning until they take their last sip of wine. Hopefully we’ll all be smiling with a glass of wine in our hands when we keel over.

SUGGESTIONS:
Laxas Albariño 2006
Tasting notes: Pale green and yellow in color, with a big nose of lemon, grass and stone fruit. Clean and crisp on the palate with flavors of pear and apple. Pairs well with a fruit plate or grilled seafood.

SD: "A great summer porch wine."

Greco di Tufo, Italy
Tasting notes: Straw yellow in color, complex and slightly limey bouquet. Full-bodied and smooth on the palate.

SD: "This with a plate of mussels ... Oh my God dude! It’ll send you into orbit"

Casper Dowlen & Lee Keller
Wine Director & Bar Manager
Scalo Northern Italian Grill, 3500 Central SE, 255.8781 | scalonobhill.com

Local iQ: How important is drinking wine out of the correct glassware and how many different wine glasses, realistically, should people keep at home?

Lee Keller: Having the right glassware at home is helpful but really, you can get away with having a burgundy glass and a bordeaux glass. I used to sell Riedel (glassware) for 15 years, so I know all about it. In fact, George Riedel, the owner, carries one glass, a zinfandel glass, and he drinks everything out of it.

iQ: Pairing: it seems that most folks know that white wine pairs best with fish and chicken, while reds are more fit for richer foods such as beef and lamb. Is that necessarily true?

LK: As a rule of thumb, it’s pretty safe to say, ‘Yes, white with this, red with that.’ The grand exception being pinot noir with salmon.

Casper Dowlen: Or a good solid rosé, a good Spanish rosé with everything.

LK: And rosés are a good one to always talk about, even though it’s late summer, because they have the tannic grip of reds, but you can drink them chilled, so they are refreshing like whites. And they have a little higher percentage of alcohol, but people are just scared to death of pink wine.

CD: Americans really don’t understand that (winemaking) has been something that has been going on somewhere else for a very long time.

iQ: Established rules aside, how then do you approach wine pairing at home?

LK: If I’m hungrier than I am more concerned about what I’m drinking, my first concern is what I’m eating. If I’m not all that hungry and maybe I’ve got a great bottle of wine, I’m more concerned about the wine. If I’m not so hungry but I’m going to drink a big bottle of red, I may have something light and it could be fish, it could be chicken or an appetizer. But it’s a mindset moreso than the actual dynamics of pairing. But I come from a weird point of view, having tasted thousands of bottles of wine. So it really depends on what kind of mood I’m in and where I’m going with it.

iQ: Flexibility seems to be the key element, then, when one is not just tasting or pairing, but enjoying wine.

CD: My big pleasure is in the process, the discovery of tasting something new. That’s where it’s at, that’s where it’s fresh. If you’re bored with what you’re drinking, go find something new.

LK: In my opinion, the first rule of thumb with wine is really, that there are no rules. But if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can make some pretty big mistakes. I guess the best piece of advice I could give to a novice is to not be afraid to ask — ask for help, ask for advice, ask for recommendations. Starting with good package stores, like Jubilations (Wine & Spirits).

CD: I send everyone there. If we have something on the list, and a guest wants to purchase it in town, that’s the first place I send them.

There are so many ways to go about the wine game. I always recommend going to free tastings. People should take advantage of those without, you know, taking advantage of those.

iQ: Can you bottom line this whole endeavor?

LK: When it comes to wine, it’s really just all trial and error. I hate to say it, but this would be a very brief article if I wrote it. Just get off your ass and go try some things.

SUGGESTIONS

Paso A Paso Verdejo 2007, Spain
Tasting notes: Aromas of peach, pear with subtle citrus notes. Apple and fresh herbal flavors. Great on the patio with a plate of grilled fish.

Castle Rock Pinot Noir 2005, Sonoma County
Tasting notes: Appealing for its fresh raspberry and spicy toast aromas and supple, user-friendly black cherry, vanilla and mushroom flavors that firm up on finish. Drink now through 2010. 30,000 cases made.

Boom Boom Syrah 2006, Washington
Tasting notes: A lively and lush syrah that exudes jammy blackberry and blueberry flavors and a good amount of oak. Great all by itself.

CD: "Big, wonderful, irreverent and cheap"

{mosimageWHERE TO TASTE:
Albuquerque certainly has no lack of wine bars and wine shops, a few of which are listed below.

Artichoke Cafe
424 Central SE, 243.0200
artichokecafe.com

Cost Plus World Market
3301 Menaul NE, 881.9300
worldmarket.com

Gruet Steakhouse
3201 Central NE, 256.9463
gruetsteakhouse.com

Jubilation Fine Wines and Spirits
3512 Lomas NE, 255.4404
jubilationwines.com

Kelly’s Liquors
Mulitple Locations
millerbrewing.com

Marcello’s Chop House
2201 Q NE, 837.2467
marcelloschophouse.com

Prairie Star
288 Prairie Star, Bernalillo, 867.3327
santaanagolf.com

Quarters Discount Liquors
Multiple Locations
thequarters.com

Savoy Bar & Grill
10601 Montgomery NE, 224.9135
savoyabq.com

Scalo Northern Italian Grill
3500 Central SE, 255.8781
scalonobhill.com

Seasons Rotisserie & Grill
2031 Mountain NW, 766.5100
seasonsonthenet.com

Slate Street Cafe
515 Slate NW, 243.2210
slatestreetcafe.com

St. Clair Winery & Bistro
901 Rio Grande NW, 243.9916
stclairvineyards.com

Whole Foods
Multiple Locations
wholefoodsmarket.com

Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro
3009 Central NE, 254.9462
zincabq.com

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