Food
and cooking articles and information:
Red
Wine Grapes
by
Greg Meserole
OK
so you wanted to bring some wine to a dinner party and
look like you knew what you were doing when you picked
it out, or order wine at a nice restaurant, and possibly
buy a bottle as a gift for your boss or connoisseur,
or most importantly purchase a bottle for yourself to
enjoy with dinner or on it's own. That is what we're
here for - to simply give you information to make these
choices easier for you.
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So
we'll explain some grape basics that must inevitably
start with the different grapes used to produce some
of your favorite juice. Here in America and some other
New World wine regions (Australia, South America, South
Africa) we identify our wine by the grape variety that
dominates that particular wine. Most producers make
a Cabernet Sauvignon that they want to label and sell
as a Cabernet Sauvignon. That Cab (short for Cabernet
Sauvignon) must contain at least 75% Cab. They can blend
whatever other grape they want in there to balance their
wine out, and they can use 100% Cab in that wine if
they feel it does not need another red grape variety
to balance it out. This is done to protect the consumer,
so when we purchase a bottle of wine with the grape
varietal listed on the label we can be sure it is that
grape varietal in the bottle. So now lets look at some
varietal wines you will see at your local wine store.
Cabernet
Sauvignon (ka behr nay-soov en yawn) is the big
daddy of the red wine world. It is the famous grape
that is used in the Bordeaux region of France, and is
produced in quantity in North America, South America,
Italy and Spain. Cab is a red grape that produces a
red wine that is full bodied, rich in all its flavors,
firm and able to age for long periods of time in the
bottle (depending on the winemakers intention, and the
region). It is aromatic and deep in all it aspects.
Some flavors that can best describe Cabernet Sauvignon
are black cherry, cassis, and raspberry. These flavors
are balanced out with tannins and acids. Besides the
fruit flavors present in Cab, there are predominant
flavors of tobacco, cedar, oak and dried herbs. Cabernet
Sauvignon is a stronger wine that is most often worked
up to. Usually starting with lighter bodied, mellower
reds and graduating to the tannic, very full Cab. But
if you want to jump right into it and start out with
Cab, more power to you.
Now
we can move onto a red grape that is easy to drink,
and easy to pronounce. Merlot (mer-loh). This
grape is also famous for it's use in the Bordeaux region
of France. Merlot has been very popular in the last
15 years here in America because it is generally smooth,
juicy, doesn't need a lot of time to age in the bottle,
therefore can be drunk upon release. Some producers
do go for a tougher more tannic Merlot, but it is the
nature of the grape to be plump and soft. Merlot makes
beautiful wines that are medium to dark red in color,
have a fruity complexity highlighting cherry and black
currant flavors. Merlot generally has lower tannins
than Cabernet Sauvignon and comes across rounder and
a bit sweeter (Merlot usually has higher sugar levels).
There are Merlots out there that are made to age, (and
some do age well) that do not start off the soft, fruity
little thing in a glass. The French use Merlot so well
in blending with Cabernet Sauvignon, and some other
grapes, it is easy to see why New World wine makers
want to use Merlot the way they do in Bordeaux. If you
are starting off with Merlot for the first time, there
are hundreds of California offerings out there that
you will fall in love with. Just ask me, I will tell
you where to start.
Now
on to another grape that we look to France to learn
about and emulate, Pinot Noir (pee noh-nwahr).
Hey, the French have been doing this wine thing for
2000 years, so it only makes sense that the three top
red wine grapes that American's enjoy most, have French
origins. Pinot Noir finds it's home in the Burgundy
region, in eastern France. There it has produced such
exquisite wines over the years that collectors of fine
and rare wines pay large sums of cash to get their hands
on bottles from highly regarded regions and wine makers.
Pinot Noir is a delicate and lighter bodied wine than
the two previously discussed, but it does not dilute
its flavor or intensity at all. A youthful Pinot Noir
is light purple in color and has a strawberry, plum
flavor that can have great depth and smoothness. Pinot
Noir is grown in many places around the world bet I
suggest to look towards Oregon and California in the
beginning and then branch out to the French Burgundy's
from there. Oregon has emerged as a leader in fine Pinot
Noir mainly due to its climate and growing conditions
that make this hard to tend to grape flourish in the
great Northwest.
Lets
talk about a red grape that dominates the landscape
of California. Zinfandel (zin fun dell) (and
it is fun). I say it dominates California because it
is the most extensively planted red grape in California,
if not the most recognized. Zinfandel has had sort of
an underground following for years with fans loving
it for it's character and flair, and also because it
wasn't the wine "everybody was drinking".
Zinfandel is one of my favorite grapes, and I urge everyone
to try at least a couple of bottles to get a feel for
what it offers. Zinfandel is known for hitting you with
it's spicy, robust berry flavors, and has a terrific
dark purple, red color. If the wine maker decides to
remove the skins quickly from the juice after pressing
he will make White Zinfandel. As well as it sells White
Zinfandel obviously has its place, but (red) Zinfandel
is where it is at. Zinfandel might be a little harder
to hunt down if your nearest wine store doesn't have
a large selection, but keep hunting and if you need
a few recommendations that you should be able to find
with no problems, just e-mail me <click
here>
Greg
Meserole
DamnGoodWine.com
 This
article comes from and is reproduced with kind permission
of the guys at The Wine School
which is part of DamnGoodWine.com
To
visit the web site <click
here>
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