Wondering Through the World of Wine

As another year passed and one of my favorite activities occurred, Kacia’s Birthday Wine Find, I found myself in my happy place of categorizing my new treasure trove of bottles. Before a new wine is entered into my database and stored in my cellar, I read up on it, seeing its professional wine scores, history, tasting notes, and, most importantly, the recommended year to drink it. It was during this recent categorization fest and the entry of a 20-year-old Australian Syrah into my collection that I really started to ponder the rules for determining what does and does not make a wine able to age. Wine never stops evolving. According to the popular publication Wine Enthusiast, once in bottle, the alcohols and acids of the wine continue to react with one another, forming new compounds. This leads to changes in color, aroma, and taste. For example, a red wine’s color will fade over time from a bold ruby hue to that of tawny or orange, and a white wine’s color will deepen from a pale y...

From, “It is healthy to drink a glass of wine a day,” to, “If you drink at all, you are going to destroy your liver and die,” the debate between drinking and health has been an ongoing issue that has spurred many studies. Just like the statements above, the study conclusions have been varied and subjective, causing the question to remain, is wine good for you?                Not typically a subject I give much thought to, it did pop into my mind during a recent yoga and wine class a friend and I attended at Sweet Heart Winery in Loveland, CO. As I sat and watched about thirty women from all fitness levels prepare for 45 minutes of yoga, followed by the reward of a glass of wine, I couldn’t help but wonder: Were we being fitness ambitious, or had we all taken our love of wine a step too far?                Often times, when opening a new wine mag...

Have you ever picked up a bottle of wine that you thought was amazing, only to find out it is lowly rated and scoffed at by wine experts? Or have you ever grabbed a bottle that you loved from your early days of wine exploration, only to find that now it falls flat on the pleasure scale? Or have you ever slunk down in your chair at a tasting room in shame, as everyone is ripping on the current sampling that you found quite delicious? All of these scenarios bring up a very valid question: When is a wine considered exceptional?                First and foremost, liking or disliking a wine is based on personal preference and taste buds. We all taste things differently, and if a wine is delicious to you, then enjoy it. End of story. Who cares what anyone else thinks. I once received a mini Black Box Chardonnay as a gift, and I loved every single drop of that buttery delight. I think the real issue to discuss here is qual...

When I say, “wine list,” I am not referring to that section of the drink’s menu highlighting a restaurant’s vino selection. For me, it is that list of wines that I hope to someday try. Almost every wine lover has one, and it’s a quest to see how many can get scratched off, a personal victory every time one does.                My wine list has levels. In general, my list consists of specific wines suggested by magazines and wine experts, types of wines from certain areas or wineries, no particular vintage, and recommended wines to be paired with some of my favorite foods. Then, there are my dream wines. These are the historical, rare, ridiculously expensive wines that are featured over and over again in wine publications. The bottles that have shaped the world of wine, that are crafted from vines older than most humans, and are the epitome of the area they represent. My list of dream wines started with the five wine...

 It’s only natural to have a sense of pride in one’s hometown. Its where lasting memories were created, forever friendships were found, and life lessons were learned. Seeing it thrive and stand the test of time gives each and every one of us a feeling of relevance.                Every time I return to my hometown of Montrose, CO, I always enjoy seeing the places that made up my past and created who I am today. There’s the historic movie theater I worked at, the coffee shop I spent so much of my time at in high school, the snowball cart where many a honeysuckle iced-treat was consumed on hot summer days, and the street where fond memories of attending the annual Christmas parade followed by a trip to McDonald’s and those beloved – and still loved – Chicken McNuggets meant the holiday season was here.                As with all things, as ti...

Ah, Cheetos. Is there anything better than that odd shaped chip covered in that oh so delicious powdery cheese flavoring that just begs to be licked off the fingers? Now, imagine finding the perfect wine to pair with this most beloved snack. Heaven, right?                Not much of a snacker, I do love partaking in the occasional Cheetos bag. A few years ago, at a Christmas decorating party at the winery I worked for at the time, I found myself eating Cheetos while enjoying a glass of the winery’s zinfandel. Weirdly tasty, I often wondered what would be the perfect wine to pair with this cheesy delight. With these ponderings in my mind, I once again found myself pleased with the book Big Macs and Burgundy: Wine Pairings for the Real World by Vanessa Price and Adam Laukhuf, as it gave me a new and intriguing Cheetos and wine pairing recommendation.           ...

  Swirl . Sniff . Sip . Repeat . Just kidding on the repeat. These aren’t instructions on a shampoo bottle. However, following these most basic of steps will enhance any wine tasting experience, allowing the consumer to discover all of the aromas, tastes and hidden treasures a wine contains.                Making wine is a gamble. Pure and simple. Winemakers battle with so many things that could go wrong. Frost, hail, heat, or smoke from fires can damage the grapes before they even make into the winery. The cork used to seal the bottle could have been subjected to the tree fungi 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) causing cork taint and ruining the bottle by making the wine smell musty or like wet cardboard. Brettanomyces, or Brett, a wild yeast that can invade a winery or barrel if it hasn’t been scrupulously cleaned can make a wine have aromas of extreme barnyard notes like sweating horses, sweaty gym socks, or chee...