Big Changes Coming

Happy New Year! I hope the start of 2024 has greeted you well and I hope that you enjoyed some great wine over the holidays!We at Gulf Coast Wine have been busy with several big updates for 2024. Stay tuned as we prepare for some exciting new events, new venues, and wine trips! There may be some gaps in our newsletter and on the website as we get everything set up.In the meantime get out and enjoy some good wine with some fun people! Cheers to having some exciting wine adventures in 2024!

Bubble Party

So many people like bubbles, and not just the ones you blew out of a wand covered with soapy water in your backyard. The bubbles in this case are the ones that are held captive by a corked bottle, waiting to be unleashed by a POP, destined to float across your tongue like a thousand miniature rubber ducks having a dance party in your mouth instead of on the dash of your friends Jeep. The experience brings even the non-wine drinker back again and again.Wine is so special because it has both taste (flavors) and feel. Sparkling wine (the likes of Cava, Prosecco, and Champagne) take the feel part to a whole other level. It gives everyone a mouth full of feel which is why SO many non-wine drinkers like it. Yet, once you start diving a little deeper and begin to ask: “Could you taste anything underneath all of those bubbles?”, that you begin to sort through the morass of, what I call, “backyard bubbles.”“Backyard bubbles” (BBs from here on) are sparkling wines with no taste, no flavor, there just to fill one’s palate with CO2 fluff. BBs can be very cheap or decidedly not so, and the only good use of BBs are as a mixer, like a Mimosa. So how do you avoid buying or drinking BBs? Simple. Don’t buy a Sparkling Wine that you haven’t tried.Well that might not be that simple!  If you don’t have a chance to try it, then as a minimum talk to someone who can actually guide you to a sparkling wine that has some complexity of flavor and isn’t just all bubbles. Here are a few pointers on what to ask that will help prevent you from going home with BBs:  can you tell me about the bubbles (Are the bubbles large and fill the mouth or are they more subtle and elegant)? How is the finish (does it have one)? What could I expect to taste?If the person who is helping you has a hard time answering your questions beware.  Also beware if the answer to your questions are all in prices. Example: “This one is great for that at $45.”  My current favorite sparkling wine can be had for around $40, has an excellent mouth feel with a lot of elegant bubbles, and has a great compliment of complex flavors.Multiple wine shops around town this past week did sparkling wine tastings. Most were BBs, and if that is all you are after, then rock on.  Out of all of them one stood out as being able to do something more. Tapiz Sparkling Rosé made from Malbec out of Mendoza had a good combination of bubbles and deep flavor. It was also the Crowd Favorite.  If you recognize this sparkling wine it is because it was featured as the Crowd Favorite at an Aragon Tasting this past March, showing that is can still hold its own.So the next time you dump a bubble bath in your mouth try to see if you can actually taste anything while that party is going on across your tongue.  If not then have a glass of something else.

Wine at lunch?

I love having a glass of wine at lunch.  I have touched on this topic before, but today with a new angle; politeness.  Just this morning I caught part of a discussion about politeness in our current society.  Are we more or less polite than we used to be was the basic question. The consensus seemed to be that we are less polite, mainly to due to the electronic device that is now semi-permanently attached at the end of our arms. Well, I have a solution; Wine!Go to any of our local wine tastings and you are going to find people talking, to each other! And they are enjoying themselves! A cell phone comes out every now and then, but a wine glass has temporarily surmounted its place. It is such a novel and amazing concept, talking to one another, that I want to foster it.Most wine tastings are in the evening, causing many to be stuck in this modern, non-polite world for hours on end. Therefore an intervention is needed, right in the middle of the day. The solution:Lunch!Many, due to occupation, are not allowed to consume alcohol while on the clock. I feel you, I spent 12 years in that kind of hell, and I’m sorry. For everyone else who can [have Wine] at lunch then this is for you. There are only two rules to Lunch Wine.First rule: Don’t let someone in your lunch group order a beer. If you are allowed to drink during your work day then don’t have a beer. This is one of the few times when the perceived “sophistication” of wine is to your benefit. Having a beer in the middle of the day gives the impression of laziness and poor decision making. Wine does not come with that baggage. Don’t believe me. Try your own experiment and ask the folks around your work place how they feel if they hear a co-worker had a beer at lunch. Then ask the same if they had a single glass of wine.Second rule: Do not have more than one glass. The stigma that surrounds alcohol at lunch roots itself in the possibility of you getting drunk or at the minimum not performing upon your return to the office. One glass of wine will not make you “sloppy.” If it does then don’t drink. By all means have a coffee and don’t mess it up for the rest of us.Having a glass of wine at lunch does many good things. It will help keep you off of your phone, thus you will be more social and attentive to your lunch guests, a very polite gesture indeed. Also people drinking wine look better than those not, and it has been proven that red wine aides in digestion. Therefore the result of you having wine at lunch is that you will physically feel better and come off as more positive and more polite.My favorite place to have a glass of wine at lunch in Pensacola is Carmen’s Lunch Bar & Tapas. The last time that I was there I was fortunate enough to try a wine that was soon to be but not yet on the menu; Cabriola by Borsao 2019 Spanish red blend. It paired perfectly with my lunch choice, and my lunch guest, who had the same wine, was impressed with my recommendation. We spoke about the business at hand and I only interrupted the occasion once with my cell phone to take the picture for this post. So, if you can, do us all a favor and have a glass of wine at lunch.  You just might make the world a better, slightly more polite, place.

“What is the best Wine Shop…?”

“What is the best Wine Shop around here?” I suppose that was a fair question at the end of a 30+ person private wine event that I had the privilege of getting to co-host, some of attendees being new to our area. I took a moment to answer with: “There are a couple,” then expanded on my answer.

It would be too easy to say that the best shop is “X”. Often to correctly answer a question you must ask a question, so after giving my initial answer I asked: “How do you like to buy wine?” After getting his response I then gave him a brief run down of where I thought he would get the best bottle with the best experience. The last part of that sentence is the key! But before diving in and answering what makes a good wine shop we must define what a wine shop is.

That is actually harder than it sounds. One possible definition is a shop whose merchandise is comprised of 51% or more of wine. Yet that can take several locations out of consideration that could deserve a look. For me, a better way to define a wine shop is based on expertise and experience. Some of the best places can have a small, but unique, wine selection with great knowledge on that selection. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love a big selection, but no one knows everything about every wine. I love being surprised by a recommended wine that turned out to be fantastic, a wine that I would have otherwise not picked on my own. That level of knowledge and expertise often leads to a great experience, both in buying and consuming. Finding a store with huge selection of wine that also has a staff (or just a single staffer) with a vast level of knowledge is very, very rare.

A great example of being suprised by a wine that was a recommendation, one that I would not have bought on my own was Cantine Coppi Core Rosato Negroamaro from Salento, in Puglia Italy that was at Aragon Wine Market. Aragon is small but has a very good selection and a very knowledgeable staff, making my list for one of our area's best wine shops. The Negroamaro was a Rose but very unique with a complexity of flavor and feel that you don't get out of almost every other Rosé, making it a Wine of Note!

So I go back to my question of “How do you like to buy wine?” Do you enjoy going into a big box store and finding your own treasure bottle or do you like a more intimate venue with a staff that can point out something great?  We are blessed to have several good wine shops locally, but we also have a few that I would NOT recommend.  Sorry, I am not going to go over them here.  Ask me at the next wine event if you are curious on my opinion. 

Wine Too Hot or Too Cold?

Several of my wine friends recently returned from trips to Italy. Most were on separate trips and all of them sounded like they had a great time. One was recounting their journey through Tuscany and brought up the temperature of some red wine that they were served…and how cold it was. “Is that normal?”

No.  9.9 times out of 10 I get that question posed in the opposite way: “How cold should [that] wine be?”

“Red wines should be room temperature, right?”

I have preached the Sermon of Wine Temperature from my swirling pulpit for quite a while; Almost all red wines should served between 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit (18-20 Celsius). That “Room temperature” is the temperature of a bottle coming out of a wine cellar. Most wine cellars are around 60 degrees. The bottle is brought out and opened, allowing for some aeration as the temperature raises to around 65 degrees or so. Then the wine is poured into a glass that is close to the temperature of the room you are actually in, probably around 75 degrees, or even higher if you have been holding that glass for a while. Hopefully you see where this is going.

We, especially along the Gulf Coast, have a chronic problem of serving red while too hot!  When red wine is poured into your glass then the glass should feel cool to the touch, not cold, with NO condensation. If the outside of your glass starts to condense with water, then your wine is too cold! White wine SHOULD cause your glass to form condensation, assuming you are in a similar climate to that on the Gulf Coast.

It is okay to put your bottle of red wine in the fridge.  Assuming your bottle of red is around 75 degrees you can put it in for a short time, 30 or so minutes, opened, and it will be ready to drink almost immediately upon exit. Or, if you leave the bottle of red in for longer, with your whites, then it will just take longer outside of the fridge to be ready.  Wine is served wrong either because of ignorance, laziness, or a combination of both.  Don’t let that describe you.

I had the chance to go to two of our local wine events this past week: a tasting at Beyond the Grape that was supporting the Pensacola Opera, and the monthly tasting of our local chapter of the American Wine Society. Beyond the Grape featured a fun full tour of Italy with some fantastic charcuterie boards and the AWS chapter taught a class on Spain, followed by an awesome Paella! The Crowd Favorite at Beyond the Grape was a fascinating Cabernet Franc from Umbria (Paolo e Noemia d’Amico Atlante), and there was a Wine of Note at the AWS tasting, Pazo La Moreira Albariño.

Other than the white wines, ALL of the red wines, at both events, were served too hot!  There are very few rules in Wine…but; Rule #1, don’t serve hot wine!  Temperature matters.  Wine served at the wrong temperature makes it taste worse no matter how good that wine was supposed to be, and life is too short to waste it on bad wine.

Do you buy wine based on it’s Points?

It has been a while since we visited the topic of “Scored Wine,” or in other words, wine that has been given a point value by someone. In a previous article I conveyed a caution: Don’t just blindly grab a bottle just because it has the closest number to 100 on it!  There are a lot of organizations that “Score” wine, some with very good reputations, others not so.Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, James Suckling, etc. Is there a difference?  Yes!  Do you even recognize the organization that score it?  Not only do you need vet the organization that printed that “92” on the bottle but you need to see if their grading system matches your tastes.  Does that “92 points by James Suckling” equate to that level of experience on YOUR palate?If you have been buying a lot of wine, for a while, scored by James Suckling and liked what you have been getting then great, stick with it!  Every organization that scores wine has its own criteria.  Some publish what that criteria is, others keep it behind smoke and mirrors, so you will have to experiment with the different scoring organizations.Tonight’s Crowd Favorite was Escudo Rojo 2020 Chilean Reserve Chardonnay.  Chardonnay tends to make drinkers very opinionated. It is either too oaky, or too watery, or from California, or not from California. Something about Chardonnay brings out the inner wine critic in a lot of us.  Well, Escudo Rojo quelled the critics and seemed to please the masses.If you do a search for the tasting notes you will find this right off of the distributor’s website: “…voluptuous tropical fruit and yellow peach aromas, followed on airing by notes of gingerbread and toasted brioche. The palate is pleasantly full, the attack reveals the aromatic intensity of tropical fruit such as pineapple and passion fruit…a range of tropical fruit flavors together with notes of toasted almond and mild spices such as cumin and cinnamon, building to an attractively long finish on elegant touches of toasted hazelnut, mild spice and pineapple.”  That’s a lot of words, really too many, and I even left out some of the verbal non-sense.  It sounds like they were trying too hard and I doubt that anyone felt the “attack.”  I sure didn’t!  Even so it was a pleasant Chardonnay at a great price, during a beautiful evening upstairs at So Gourmet (above and part of Bodacious).  If you didn’t like it take note of why.  Also take note of what the Score was and who scored it, adding yet another tool to your wine choosing kit.  Doing so will only make you a better wine buyer, and when you can effectively and efficiently buy a wine you will like everyone wins.  Cheers to that!

Brother Fox’s 1st Wine Dinner

This article is a little longer than average, so get comfortable.  I don’t know any lovers of wine who are not foodies. There is a scientific connection between the two: a love of tasting!  Even though we all have slightly different tastes, the pursuit to pleasure the palate is universal. How we each go about this endeavor defines our journey, both in food and wine.  And just like any journey some can be content with self experimentation and exploration while others enjoy guidance to aid their adventures. Whatever method you choose the pursuit of the “Wow” is the goal.

There are a lot of food and wine events locally.  Pairing food and wine correctly is hard. I have been to more food and wine dinners where the pairings were barely compatible than not.  In fact there was a wine dinner the following evening at a well know local establishment that was not worth anyone’s time or money. So how can you tell if a food and wine event is worth your time, and money?

Brother Fox (BF) is relatively new to the Pensacola Restaurant scene. The Restaurant Industry is one of the most unforgiving industries to be in so it was not surprising that there were some mixed reviews from folks who had dined at BF. Like many new restaurants there was very little middle ground; people either had an amazing time or they didn’t, for a myriad of reasons.  I needed to meet the ones with the vision before committing to the event.

So the week before the wine dinner I had the great opportunity to spend some time with BF’s head Chef, Darian Hernandez, and some of his team. It was very apparent while speaking to him how excited he and his staff was about the dinner and the Orin Swift wines to be paired.  Not only that, but it was apparent that the goal of their dinner was to have fun, and during the dinner they were having fun, while working very hard to make sure we did too!

Let’s contrast this to the wine dinner the very next evening. I am going to refrain from naming the location but it was obvious that the goal at this event was to push a product. The food pairing was a second thought, mainly relying on their name to bring people in. Their attitude could not have been more different.  And I am sure people enjoyed it, but I guess ignorance is bliss.  If you went to this other event and enjoyed it, great, I will NEVER tell anyone what they should like, with wine or anything else for that matter, but I am also not willing to eat and drink whatever is in front of me just because.  

Back to BF.  Most Orin Swift wines do not come out ready to drink.  I often seriously joke that their popular “8 Years in the Desert” needs eight years in the bottle before it’s ready to drink!  So I was a little concerned about the age of the reds to be served.  The starter, a Rosé, followed by a Sauvignon Blanc, were hits with the crowd, both tasting great and pairing perfectly.  The Pinot Noir started to miss its mark, not able to measure up to the amazing crusted salmon that it was served with.  Next Palermo, their Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.  My first taste and my fears are mostly realized, too young.  BUT, it paired great with the accompanied braised beef checks!

Would a few more years have enhanced this 2019 big red, absolutely!  But it worked for dinner.  Most tasters don’t know how to tell if a certain wine is too young.  Definitely a skill that takes practice.  Most amazing wines start out as “too young,” and just like any virtuoso, require some time to compose a masterpiece.

The most asked question of the evening was what I liked?  Well, what if we don’t like the same wine?  Then what I liked doesn’t do you any good.  The better question is; do you know why you liked that wine?  But, what I liked was the Port Style (not Port since it wasn’t from Portugal!) desert wine.  And of course it was the only wine from the dinner not available to buy.  That sums up a lot of my life!

So back to the beginning; why was this event worth your time and not the one the next day, and how can you tell???  Both venues needed to make money but it was how they went about it.  BF had passion and the other didn’t.  The other wanted to push something, BF wanted to showcase.  The other solely relied on its name, BF actually put in the effort.  And finally, BF is run by actual foodies, the other is definitely not!

So do a little research to find what will be worth your time and money, and when you find those passionate about what they’re doing you will probably be rewarded with your choice!  I look forward to Brother Fox’s next experience.

Aragon’s 5 Oct 23 Wine Tasting

It’s refreshing how I can still be surprised by a wine at one of our local tastings, and funny how stories evolve. Just the prior evening to this tasting I had a decently long conversation with two young, enthusiastic, aspiring wine connoisseurs about how difficult it is to find a good Bordeaux that is less than $50. Good, I mean very good, Bordeaux wines are expensive, often very expensive.Most cheaper Bordeaux’s, even in the $30-$40 range, have some sort of off flavor. It can range from tart-acid to basement gym sock. I’m not kidding. I blame Bordeaux for ruining many new wine drinkers, because of the perceived price and possible taste.First reason; new wine drinkers have all heard of Bordeaux and think it’s a wine to “splurge” on. So they look at the price and “splurge” on a $45 Bordeaux from Graves. They go to some event, or have friends over and really talk up this Bordeaux. The bottle gets opened, and poured, too hot, and tasted. Now comes the second reason, the taste. Our new wine tasters encountered a palate of old basement gym sock with hints of red currant (which they have never heard of), oak and wet leaves. Other than the gym socks the rest of that description is right off a bottle of Bordeaux!!!The result of that experience, at best, is not liking ANY French wine. At worst, back to beer! Because of the “Bordeaux Effect” I often dissuade new drinkers from Bordeaux unless they want to really splurge. So it was with great surprise to taste a Bordeaux, from the outskirts of Saint-Emillion, that was very good, and one that costs less than the mythical $20! And everyone liked it! 2018 Chateau de Pitray, from the Cotes de Castillon sun-region of Bourdeaux was approachable with aromas of cranberry and raspberry, and a taste black plum, licorice, and blueberries, finishing with dry spice cake. And no gym sock!The key to this wine were the grapes, and while that seems so obvious, it is the lack of a grape. No Cabernet Sauvignon! Instead, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Merlot. Yes, Malbec, one of the original, and legal Bordeaux varietals.Even after having had Chateau de Pitray’s 2018 I talked a fellow wine drinker a few days later off of going to the store to get a Bordeaux. “Go for a mid-Rhône” was my suggestion, after discussing her taste preference. This Wine of Note, while such a refreshing surprise, was too much of a rare encounter to change my future recommendations, being that it is very possible to never see another like it again.

Inadvertent Wine Snob

Can drinking more wine turn you into a Wine Snob? It can, if you are not careful. One of the best attributes of our local wine tastings is the delightful absence of the typical Wine Snob (WS). We at GCW have defined the typical WS before. Typical WSs are not welcoming, often critical of others’ comments, and TELL YOU what you should be drinking.Yet there is natural phenomenon that can occur as a wine drinker progresses from beginner, to novice, to, hopefully, a true wine enthusiast. That phenomenon is a maturing/discerning palate. It is just like growing up. Most kids will not eat a dill pickle, yet most adults will. As we drink more wine, and different wines from across the periodic wine table, our palate can develop and it CAN change. A wine that used to be one of your favorites earlier on can become un-drinkable later in your wine journey, and that is OKAY!What is not okay is turning your nose, or glass, up against those wines, and especially to those who still enjoy them! Your wine journey is unique, and you should take pride in developing a discerning palate. Just because someone still likes that Merlot (I still love a good Merlot) doesn’t mean you are any more of a wine lover than they are.The same is true from the other view point, from the beginner’s view. Just because someone takes a sip of a wine and dumps it out, or passes it up, does not automatically make them a WS. It is the attitude. If that person dumps it out saying; “Well this is just an $18 bottle of wine,” then they might be a WS. Yet if that same person dumping the wine instead says “This just isn’t for me,” then respect that, even if their reason internally is the fact that the wine is $18 a bottle. (Just kidding, don’t mis-judge a bottle because it was only $18!)As you progress into your wine journey and find yourself becoming very discerning, increasingly liking more unique and often more expensive wine, invite others in and share your experience in a positive way. Not in a way that says “Oh look what I’m drinking.” Don’t begrudge other wine lovers for loving other things. And NEVER tell someone what they should, or shouldn’t, like!I just did make it back home this week in time to catch parts of Friday’s wine tastings; Seville’s and the mystery wines at Bottle Shop on Baylen. One of the best methods that I use to make sure that I keep myself from inadvertently straying into the tendencies of a WS is going to as many wine tastings as possible. This keeps me “wine grounded.” Two easy drinking reds were the Crowd Favorites at Seville; Klinker Brick’s Old Vine Zinfandel from Lodi California and Hedges CMS blend (71% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Syrah) from Washington. The mystery wines at the Bottle Shop were unique and very good! So go out to the tastings, share in your experience, taste everything, and stay grounded to being a true wine enthusiast. Cheers to that!

Buying Wine at a Restaurant?

It is no secret that any given wine is going to be more expensive when ordered at a restaurant than if purchased from a store. But just how much more expensive? In a post-COVID-shutdown society the costs that restaurants have to cover have really gone up. Wine is no exception, but the rising cost of wine at restaurants have greatly out paced the other costs.So how much does that bottle of wine really cost? There is the production cost. Then factor in transportation, and perhaps import taxes. Add in some marketing from time to time and then you get pretty close to the wholesale price. Add roughly about 30% to that and you get very close to the retail price. Buy that bottle at a restaurant and you can tack on another, on average, 30-40% on top of that! Ooofff. I hope you like that wine which the restaurant “can’t” let you taste before you order!I love drinking wine at dinner, especially at a nice restaurant, but I also don’t like throwing my money out of the window. That’s what you might be doing if you order a bottle of wine at certain restaurants. Before I decide to order a bottle of wine I want to gauge how a restaurant thinks about its wine. There are several parts that go into how a restaurant thinks about its wine, and how a restaurant thinks about its wine gives me some insight into the culture of that restaurant.Here are a few things that I look for before ordering a bottle of wine at a restaurant. First and Foremost: Can I taste the wine before ordering? If the answer is “No” then don’t buy unless you absolutely know that wine, and/or you are dead set on getting it. Getting to taste it does SO MANY things. Not only does it tell me the obvious of “do I like it or not,” but it tells me if they are stingy with their wine. Restaurants stingy with wine tend to not sell a lot, and therefore tend to not know wine. This leads to storage and service. Try to take a look at where the restaurant stores its wine; is it out of the light, stored, and then SERVED, at the correct temperature? A restaurant that thinks about its wine, that pays attention to it, will have better wine, more worthy of your money!After all that I do consider the mark up. If the mark up is in the tune of 40% then that mark up should come with an experience! If the restaurant doesn’t know wine then why I am going to pay up to 40% more for that bottle?!? Can someone at the restaurant advise me on a wine that will pair correctly with my dinner? Will they present and pour the wine? If it needs to be decanted can they do that? Do they even know if needs that? What am I paying for?Restaurants have to make money, but I want to hold people accountable for that value. If a restaurant can’t do the things or answer the questions listed above, then stick to ordering just a glass of wine, or maybe even a glass of tea!

Do you keep wine?

I have read, and heard, multiple times, in multiple places, from multiple people, that somewhere around 95% of us buy a bottle of wine to consume within a week, or less!95% is a big number, and like many big numbers meant to generally encompass a population it doesn’t tell the real story. First, I question how they came up with that number. I am still looking for the wine industry polling person standing outside of my favorite wine shop waiting to ask me; “When do you plan on drinking that bottle?” I have run into a lot of wine/drink representatives inside of stores, like grocery and big box stores, and have been asked many things, yet the question of when will I drink that bottle has yet to come up. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but it hasn’t happened to me, or anyone that I know.Several of my friends proclaim not to be “wine people.” They enjoy wine but don’t seek it out, yet all of them have a bottle, or several, stashed away in their homes. My friends who do proclaim to be “wine people” all have small to very large wine collections. So why would we, why do we, keep a bottle of wine?I kept a bottle of table wine from the Douro in Portugal that was from my birth year. I drank it, or attempted to, after my wedding. It was AWFUL, long past its prime, never meant to age that long! Another reason why many keep a bottle is because it was a gift, sometimes coming with the words; “This is a good wine!” Well, I hope so!Last week I got to share a special bottle of Gigondas, a red blend from the Rhône, with some very close friends. These friends had some family come visit, one of which had just recovered from a severe stroke, nearly dying. Being able to share a special bottle for such a special occasion is the big reason why we all keep wine.100% of us want to be able to mark such occasions, and wine fits the bill more than any other drink because it can age with us, as long as you pick a bottle that will age. With just a little research you can ensue that bottle of “special” wine will be good on that “special” occasion. So does that 95% number really reflect our modern wine drinking culture? Maybe, but probably not. My advice; definitely keep wine, and make more occasions special! I will always cheers to that!

Value of Wine Tasting

Why should you bother going out to wine tastings, especially during the week? There are so many valid reasons to not go. They almost all occur right after work, when most people need to get home to the family, make dinner, let the dog out, go work out, etc. Or you might just be “peopled out” and could not imagine talking to, or interacting with, anyone else.

These reasons and more may prevent the occasional wine drinker to the avid wine enthusiast from going out to a wine tasting, and at no point should you feel bad about it!

But if you in the market for some wine let me give a few reasons to consider the value getting out to a wine tasting every now and then, perhaps one or two reasons that you haven’t considered.

"It's just so easy to grab a bottle of wine while I am already at the grocery store." That is the single biggest comment that I hear.  It is also the best way to get BAD wine!

The first value to consider is the ability to buy a wine that you got to taste! If you are buying a wine at a tasting, after tasting it, that probably means that you liked it. You can then rest assured of the value on the dollar amount that you spent for that wine, I.e. you didn’t just waste money, and most importantly, you didn’t waste your time on a wine that you won’t like once you get home. Why buy a wine that you might be anxious about, concerned whether or not it will be good? The answer is don't!

Second is the Dollar amount.  In addition to you getting to taste the wine before you buy it, all of the paid wine tastings offer discounts on that wine, anywhere from 10% up to $5 off a bottle. The free tastings all offer a loyalty discount, such as Aragon’s “buy eight bottles and get $20 off the ninth.” Therefore the actual dollar value of the wine is better than, let’s say, the grocery store. That may surprise you!

So if you are going to buy wine then going to wine tasting, even for just a short amount of time, will yield you with a better and cheaper wine than you may have otherwise obtained. Oh, and you have, overall, saved some time. I call that a 3win; a win win win!

Two of this week’s Crowd Favorites; Izadi Rioja Reserva 2018 and Mettler Albariño 2021, saved me time, money, and any anxiety. So even if your weekly schedule is often against you getting out to the local wine tastings, maybe considering the actual valve of buying wine at a tasting.  Perhaps that will persuade you to reconsider.

Anna recaps Aragon’s 7 September Tasting

As the summer is coming to an end, we are getting to the point where we are closing down the season with a wonderful transition of wines that suit both the hot summer days and the more chilly days of autumn. Living in Florida, however, is the exception to the rule and one can enjoy the more "summery" wines for much longer. Today we were served an excellent lineup of vino by Kevin (WSET3) with Terroir Selections at the Thursday Aragon Wine Market tasting. His knowledge in the wine he poured was excellent and all-encompassing. The line-up this week included the following:2022 Tenuta le Calcinaie Vernacchia di San Gimignano, 2018 Mt. Beautiful Riesling from New Zealand, 2019 Constantia Uitsig Semillion, 2022 Yves Cuilleron "Les Vignes d'a Cote" Syrah, 2020 Powell & Son "Riverside: G.S.M., and 2019 Chateau de Pitray Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux.All were tasty and perfect for the end of summer and budget friendly, ranging from $19-$24. The Crowd Favorite was a tie between the 2022 Tenuta le Calcinaie Vernacchia di San Gimignano and the 2022 Yves Cuilleron "Les Vignes d'a Cote" Syrah.The Vernacchia appealed to me the most due to the very refreshing crispness of the green apple I tasted. It was perfectly tart and fruity and did not leave to much guessing as to what fruit you were tasting. The Yves Cuilleron Syrah also appealed to me and was nice and medium-bodied with a well-balanced oaky taste with hints of red fruit. I could easily see why either of these two wines were competing for #1 spot!One part of the tasting I enjoyed most was encouraging someone to try a wine they would not have typically chosen for themselves. This person ended up liking the Vernacchia after I had recommended that they try it. I always recommend trying everything once! The worst case scenario is that it does not appeal to you and you can dump out of excess wine in your glass, and the best case scenario is that you found your new favorite wine!I cannot discuss this tasting at Aragon without talking about the other huge hit- the sourdough bread! I cannot sing its praises enough, the baker at Local Thyme Bakery does an excellent job every time their bread is available for sampling at Aragon's tastings. They had baked goods available at the tasting and they almost ran out of their supply at the end! Please visit their Instagram page @ltbpensacola to view when their weekly baked good drops are available.Overall, the wine tasting was super and our hosts at Aragon Wine Market were fabulous as always to provide a relaxing and fun atmosphere to taste wines with Kevin from Terroir Selections providing a superb selection for the crowd.Happy tasting!-Anna

Two Fun Birthdays with Wine

“Where did you find this?” “How did you know they would go well together?” “Where can I buy this?!?”

Those were the three questions I got repeatedly at a big birthday Wine and Food event I put together Saturday night for 40 people.

“Perfect.” “Is there more?”

Those were the top two phrases that were said last night at birthday Wine Dinner #2 that I was privileged enough to be part of. The birthday girl for this dinner is one of the most highly respected wine enthusiasts in our region, so like any die hard wine lover she had firm guidance of what wine she wanted.

The twist for both birthday parties was that they were both surprises.

The first party involved a lot more people than the second and many of them were just beginning their wine journey. Three or four only drank beer. It’s okay, I [over] planned for that. If anyone wants some cold beer please let me know, I will give it away! Anyway, so my wine choices for the first party had to run the gamut of wine, beginners to the experienced wine connoisseur and pair with all of the food. Sadly I was so busy I didn’t get any pictures of the ten different wines I had chosen.  They were all empty and in the recycling by the time I got back to them! It was a GOOD time!

Party 2 gave me a unique opportunity to “surprise” my dear friend, who had no idea I was involved. She had given wine directions to her husband, who is a wine connoisseur in his own right, to pick two or three bottles for just the two of them.  But we had 14 more people coming, so we needed several more bottles than just two or three she had requested!  Yet her direction gave us a blueprint. We included the three bottles that she had requested, as part of the ruse, and then got to work picking the rest needed for the birthday dinner.  

Simplicity is key most times. This was no exception.  We needed two “big” wines, a white and a red. Our white wine pick was Fulldraw 2020 by Drift from Paso Robles; 80% Clairette Blanche, and 20% Grenache Blanc. The easiest way to explain this wine was that it could do, and did do, just about everything you want out of a white wine! Wow! The red pick was Shafer’s 2010 Relentless from Napa; 96% Syrah, 4% Petite Sirah. Drinking this red was the equivalent to calling in an air strike using a MOAB. The MOAB (GBU-43/B for my military folks) is the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, the biggest non-nuclear weapon in the US Arsenal. Simply put, it [the wine] could not miss! It was “Perfect” with everything that came from the kitchen!

I have to thank my amazing friends for helping me with these events! Catering for party 1 was done by Kingfisher Restaurant with amazing desert fruit bowls from Bear Fruit Essentials, and everyone LOVED all of it! Party 2 was held at Union Public House in their new restaurant. The staff was excellent and the food fantastic!

If you are interested in doing a fun wine event please reach out to us and GulfCoastWine will be happy to give you a wine experience that you will not forget!

Blind tasting Zinfandel

What do you think of when you hear “Zinfandel?” Sweet fruit bomb or lush complexity, Zinfandel can run the gambit of the favor spectrum.I had invited one of my best friends and his wife to the monthly tasting of our local chapter of the American Wine Society featuring a presentation on Zinfandel and Primativo. My friends are severe Rioja drinkers, rarely straying from the Spanish wine staple. They almost didn’t come, convinced that there was no possible way that there could be a Zinfandel worth drinking.Fast forward an hour and a half and their opinion had turned 180 degrees! “I had no idea Zinfandel could taste like this!” I wasn’t surprised at all. People can have very strong opinions about wines, and Zinfandel might be at the top of that list. They have one or two examples of certain variety and deem “That’s it, all XXX wines taste like this!”  Don’t fall into that trap, stay curious!We tasted six different Zinfandel’s and one Primativo during the presentation, going over terroir, style, and taste profile, all BLIND! It was a great time with some great food, and is still the best way to Up your Wine Game.

How to take a chance on a Bottle of Wine

Getting back into my schedule after returning from my trip has proven to be more difficult than I expected. Several missed tastings has been the main casualty, along with my health.

Now that I was finally feeling better I was able to finish my week on a pretty good note while visiting some friends this weekend. An elaborate dinner was planned, so of course I brought a bottle of wine. I have tasted most of the wines that I have in my archives, but a few I took a chance on. The bottle that I brought to share this evening was one of my “Take a Chance on Me” wines. I will probably hum that Abba song for the next bottle!

Due to forces outside of our control, the elaborate dinner turned into a simple cookout. So, after some needed time in the cool healing waters of The Cold Hole of the Magnolia Springs River and a 1/2 mile swim it was time to open the wine I brought.

Is it truly fair to call my bottle, which I hadn’t tasted, a “Take a Chance” wine? It was from a great location, known for growing exceptional grapes of this particular variety, made by a good winemaker. Not expensive but not cheap. I felt pretty confident.

Showing up to a gathering/party/dinner, etc., with a bottle of wine is always a test, especially when everyone knows you as “The Wine Expert” (which I don’t like to be called). I had the wine at the correct temperature (66 F for this hot day) and gave it about 30 minutes of air. My friends’ wives tasted it with me. The first response from one of them was a joyous cuss word, ending with some surprise. I just laughed!

I actually rather enjoy the “pressure” of bring a wine to social gatherings. Nailing it is pretty common for me. Not always, and not to sound arrogant, but when you go to a lot of tastings, begin to pay attention to what you are drinking; the flavors, the feel, and then geek out a little on some wine knowledge, then being confident on a wine that you haven’t tasted should not be a alien concept.

The pictures on this post are the Crowd Favorites from both Aragon on Thursday and The Bottle Shop on Baylen Friday (1 from Aragon, 2 from Bottle Shop). What was my “Take a Chance on Me” wine? Ask me at the next tasting. See you then.

Hacienda Zorita’s Unamuno Vineyard

We travel for so many reasons. To see, to experience, to learn, to have fun. For the wine traveler you can add; to discover.  To discover for both the soul and the palate.

During my summers as a kid on the Portuguese side of the Duero River (Douro in Portuguese) I would look at the landscape of rolling hills and steep canyons, of Olive and Almond trees, of Cork Oaks and Vineyards, and stare across the border to Spain.

The Duero River in our region forms the border between Portugal and Spain. Our house in Portugal, on the edge of a tiny village just four-ish kilometers from the Duero River gorge, allows for one of the best views on the planet. The view imparts the feeling that you are looking at the Earth, as you would look at another intriguing person while at a café.

The view is an experience by itself! Yet one of the things that you can see from our small backyard, on the Spanish horizon ten miles away, is the tower of Hacienda Zorita’s Unamuno Vineyard and Estate.

Both sides of the border here form one of the largest Natural Park Reserves in Europe. Called Arribes del Duero Natural Park in Spain and the Douro International Natural Park in Portugal, it was formed in 2002 to protect several UNESCO recognized natural spaces and several endangered species. It is expansive, encompassing roughly 410 square miles.

The Arribes del Duero area is not “known” for wine, even though quality grapes have been growing in this part of Spain for thousands of years.  The reason for this area not being well known by the modern wine word is very low yield and production. The Hacienda also does not export, and does not ship outside of the Iberian Peninsula and France. Because of this you are not going to find wines from here next to your favorite Rioja. The other surprise at this Estate; superb Syrah!

Yet if you venture to this far edge of Spain you are going to discover what all wine travelers want: an experience! That experience includes exceptional wines in an amazing landscape, and ZERO tourists. Eureka!

A year ago I wrote about Hacienda Zorita’s other, main location; their Luxury Hotel and Wine Estate located about 65 miles to the east (15 miles to the west of Salamanca). It is an exceptional place, full of amazing history (King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella hired Christopher Columbus in the current wine tasting room!!!) and you can find all of their wines in the hotel wine shop and stop there.

But if you pride your travels on discovery and true Immersion of the palate, you are going to want to journey into the Arribes del Duero, to Hacienda Zorita’s Unamuno Vineyard Estate, and get the full experience for yourself!

Quinta do Vale Meão

Translated to mean “of the valley in the meander,” Quinta do Vale Meão is situated in some of the best terrain in the entire Douro River Valley. Quintas are wine houses in Portuguese, Hacienda in Spanish. The Quinta here is on a peninsula where the Douro River makes a 90 degree turn from west to north, then 180 degree turn south, and then a 90 degree turn back to the west towards Porto.What makes the vineyards here so exceptional are, basically, everything. The soil is rocky, forcing the grapes to send their roots down deep, resulting in profound complexity. The climate is dry and sunny but with good ground water. This is essential for disease prevention and good growth…mature grapes at harvest. This combination allows for the best possible product.I chose to visit Quinta do Vale Meão for three reasons. First, I have never been and have always loved their wine. Second, they produce extremely high quality wine and are located not far from my small vineyards. Third, they export most of it to the United States, so we can actually find it back home! Like almost all high quality Douro red wine, it will need age, a minimum of seven years in my opinion. Ten, up to Fifty is even better! It is worth the wait!They produce two relatively easy to find levels; a very good “Tinto” (red table wine) around the $25 a bottle range, and a high end Estate-Grand Reserve level. Expect to pay $100 plus a bottle for those. And of course they make Port Wine, with some of the best Vintage Port in the industry. Good luck finding those, as I was only able to obtain one bottle on this visit for myself.If you find yourself in the high Douro, near the Spanish border, definitely reserve a tour and tasting. They also have a helicopter pad for true ease of movement. Next, on to Spain and some grapes grown inside an internationally recognized nature preserve, very much off the beaten, touristic, path.

What is “Old Vine?”

“Old Vine,” “Ancient Vine,” I have even seen “Gnarled Vines” grace the label of many wine bottles. Like many things in the consumer world we must peel back the marketing to find any true meaning.So what is an “Old Vine,” how old does it have to be? There are no true legal age limits to the term “Old Vine.” In most of Spain, it’s older than 30 years. In California, the vines must be 40 plus. The rest of the world mostly falls into this age range.Why does the age of a grape vine matter? When does it matter? There are two main factors I look at when I specifically reach for true “Old Vine” wine.The first factor I consider is where the grapes are grown. If they are being grown in very rocky, mountainous terrain, then age matters. Like all plants, grape vines get everything they need from the sun and the soil. Grapes grown in rocky terrain really have to fight to get their roots down to the water table, which can be more than 20 feet down. It can take the roots up to 30 years to get that deep. Once there, magic happens. The grapes can have amazing potential at this point!The next factor I consider is grape variety. The two easiest to find are Grenache and Zinfandel. Again, if the vintner did everything correctly, something magical happens as those grape varieties pass 40. The same can be said for the Portuguese varieties of the Douro.Most of my vines are growing in soils of granite, mica, and schist, on steep slopes, in a harsh environment. The majority of my vines are passing 97 years! The roots go very deep, up to 30 feet or more! My vineyard is located in a DOC where, legally, you cannot irrigate the vines after the grapes form, ensuring the highest quality of juice…no dilution.So for my vines to thrive for 97 years, and still going strong, mean that these “Old Vines” can give you grapes with an essence of complexity that younger vines could never achieve. But don’t just trust the label on the bottle, do a little research before buying. And to really get the full experience of my grapes you will just have to share a bottle with me!

Why Portuguese Wine?

“Let’s just go to Porto now.” After one night in Madrid we decided to visit more of Spain at the end of our trip instead of in the middle and head to Portugal.

Everyone that knows me, and most of our readers know, that I am partial to Portugal and Portuguese wine, and for good reason. Family ties aside; few places in the World of Wine can do what a good Portuguese wine can do.

What can it do and why?…should be everyone’s question.

There are two special things happening here; the land and the indigenous grapes.

There are books written about, what the French call, “Terroir.” People have gone to blows about what it actually means. Once you, if you can, scrape away the emotions and marketing you do get to a truer sense of the word. It should not surprise anyone that if you grow two identical things the same way in two different locations (say an apple) they can, and often do, taste different.

The Terroir of Portugal, especially of the Douro, is unique on this planet. Between the steep slopes of Schist and Granite flows the River Douro (translated from low-Latin to mean “Of Gold”). Growing on those slopes are varietals of grapes, many indigenous to the Douro, that have still not been fully explored by the palate of the Wine World at large. The future of Douro wine is bright.

When most people hear Porto (only bad tourists call the city Oporto) only one wine comes to mind, Port Wine. I do love a Vintage Port! If you have had Port and perhaps didn’t care for it go back and read the multiple previous posts titled “So you think you’ve had Port.” Yet it is the red blends that I am after this trip. With the capacity to bring the drinker both the complexity of deep ripe fruit, elegant tannins, balanced acid, and a formidable, long finish. What many call the holy grail of wine.

Not every Portuguese wine on the shelf will give you that experience. Most bottles that do can fetch a very high price once the word gets out, so I do my research and go to the source. One of my favorite shops (of which I mentioned last year in a post of how important a few key translation words are) always has some of the hardest to find bottles at very good prices.

Next week we will travel into the high Douro, the Alto Douro Superior, nearly untouched by tourists, and continue to explore why the wines here have abilities unique in the World of Wine. Until then; A té logo.