Barolo (barr-oh-low)

            A big robust, long-lived, red wine from Piedmont, Italy. The basis is

            the  Nebbiolo grape.

Brunello di Montalcino (brew-nel-lo dah mon-tal-chee-no)

A very long-lived and exquisite red wine from Tuscany, Italy, made

famous by Dr. Ezio Rivella, who was a Banfi Vintner’s winemaker.

Burgandy (burr-gun-dee)

Famous wine area in southeast France, known worldwide for

excellent red and white wines.

Cabernet Sauvignon (ka-behr-nay so-veen-yohng)

            Famous red wine grape varietal. Its origin is from Bordeaux, France,

            but it is sometimes attributed with a Phoenician origin.

Champagne (shahm-pain)

            Famous sparkling wine district in northeast France. Julius Caesar

            fortified this area and built its first underground storage caves.

Chardonnay (shar-doh-nay)

            Exquisite white wine grape varietal. Its origin is both the Burgandy and Champagne districts in France.

Chenin Blanc (shay-nan-blawnk)

            Excellent white wine grape varietal. Its origin is the Loire Valley of

            France where it goes by the name of Vouvray, first introduced

            commercially in the USA by Robert & Peter Mondavi around 1955.

Chianti Classico Riserva D.O.C. (key-aunt-tee)

            Superb red wine from the Tuscany area of Italy. It is known

            worldwide as a good wine with most pasta and meat sauce dishes.

Fume Blanc (foo-may-blawnk)

            French name for Sauvignon Blanc white wine grape varietal. First

            introduced commercially in the USA by Robert Mondavi around

           1966. Fume Blanc has a crispy, smoky, rocky finish.

Gattinara (got-tee-nah-ra)

            Outstanding red wine produced in the Piedmont area of northern Italy.

            It’s very long-lived and needs proper aging.

Gavi (gah-vee)

            A crispy, dry excellent white wine from the Piedmont area of northern

            Italy. Gavi is named after a German princess. It is superb with fish or

            chicken dishes.

Gewurztraminer (guh-verts-tra-mee-ner)

            This wine is an excellent Alsatian white wine grape varietal with

            aromatic aroma and bouquet and a totally dry finish. Great with

            barbecue!

Merlot (mare-low)

            Red wine grape varietal with origins in the St. Emilion and Pomerol

            parishes of Bordeaux. This noble grape produces a medium-bodied

           or lighter style red wine.

Nebbiolo (neb-bee-o-low)

            Famous red wine grape varietal from Italy. It is said to be the “anchor”

           for the great Italian red wines.

Pinot Grigio (pee-no-gree-geo)

            Noted Italian white wine grape varietal, it produces a very light and

           delicate white wine. Try the new Danzante by Robert Mondavi and

           Marchesi de Frescobaldi.

Pinot Noir (pee-no n’war)

            Very famous red wine grape varietal, it produces the great red

            Burgandy wines of France.

Riesling (rees’ling)

            Famous German white wine grape varietal that produces low-alcohol,

            fresh and fragrant German  Moselle and Rhine wines. The grape was

            discovered by Benedictine monks in 1775.

Sangiovese (san-ge-o-vay-zee)

            Excellent Italian red wine grape varietal. It is the basic grape, along

            with others, for Italian Chianti. In California, it produces a softly dry,

            excellent red varietal wine.

Sauvignon Blanc (so-vee-yohng-blawnk)

            A French white wine grape varietal, it is found both in the Bordeaux

            and Loire Valley wine areas of France. Its attributes include a light,

            dry, crisp taste.

Semillon (say-mee-yohng)

            Another fine French white wine grape varietal, its origin is Bordeaux,

            France. Both France and California blend it to make superb dry or

            sweet wines.

Spatlese (shpate-lay-zuh)

            German wine term that means the grapes are late harvested. The sugar

            content in the grape is higher than in a normal harvest and produces a

            sweeter wine.

Syrah (see-ra)

            A very famous Rhone Valley of France red wine grape varietal, used in

            both Chateauneuf du Pape and Hermitage- both superb-quality Rhone

            wines.

Zinfandel (zin-fan-dell)

            Excellent California red wine grape varietal with its origin in Apulia,

            Italy, which is geographically the “heel of the boot” of Italy. Zinfandel

            is a clone of the Sangiovese grape.

Food and Wine:  Pairings of Flavors

     From Great American Guide to Fine Wines, Victor L. Robilio, Jr., 2002

Wine snobs may profess that only white wines go with fish and chicken, but they are

 wrong. Don't laugh.  You can serve light red wine with fish or chicken.  Just serve the

 red wine at about 62 degrees, not room temperature.

Cooking with wine adds flavor to any food dish.  The alcohol leaves the dish and

only the flavor remains when you cook it.  Hot-flavored foods over-power most

wines.  dopff Moulin Gewurztraminer can hold its own with barbeque ribs or a pulled

 pork sandwich with hot barbeque sauce.  White Merlot works well with "hot"

Szechwan Chinese foods.  Cajun or Mexican foods made with hot peppers can

overpower any wine, so don't "miss the boat."  Experiment with foods and wines

 to find the right combinations. 

The marriage of food, wine and champagne is what the good life accomplishes. 

 And the good life should be enjoyed with good friends and family having fun

 together and not taking each other too seriously.  Snobs often don't know how

to have fun-how to jest or kid one another.  Pomposity is their main dinner

 conversation subject.

Cheeses and wines belong together.  Here are some suggestions:

First, try mild cheeses, such as Jarlsberg, Edam and Muenster.  Serve them

 with apples, crusty French bread, Chateau Souverain Sauvignon Blanc and

Forest Glen Merlot.

Serve some stronger cheeses:  Brie, Camenbert and strong Wisconsin or

 New York State aged Cheddar with Beaulieu Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet

Sauvignon, Robert Mondavi  Pinot Noir Reserve and Beringer Zinfandel.

With super stong (stinky) cheeses such as Stilton, Blue Vein and Gorgonzola,

 rely on the wines that can handle their robustness.  They are called Portos. 

 Some excellent shippers are Taylor Fladgate, Grahams and Dow's Portos. 

Dow's is usually a little less sweet than the others.

For an enjoyable lunch for two, order and split a Caesar salad, fresh soup and

only one entree.  The Caesar salad can be topped with grilled salmon or chicken. 

Order the anchovies and salad dressing on the side.  Enjoy this lunch with Robert

Mondavi Private Selection Coastal Sauvignon Blanc.  If you are watching your

weight, choose a grilled fish or chicken dish with a bottle of R.H. Phillips Chardonnay.

  Pasta is also a good choice, but go light on the sauce.  Marinara sauce is lighter and

usually available in most fine Italian restaurants.  Beaulieu Vineyard Coastal Cabernet

Sauvignon stands as a coog accompaniment to pasta. 

Always go from dry to sweet when tasting either wine or food.  For example, steak is a

dry food that has no sugar.  Sweet foods such as sweet potatoes, ice cream, pie, cake,

cranberries etc., have varying degress of sugar.

Concentrate when you taste wine (or food) by using the tip of your tongue.  This helps

your mind perceive sweetness or dryness.  The sides of your tongue up front give you

the amount of fruity acidity (lemon, lime or grapefruit-type taste).  When tasting wine,

cup or roll your tongue, sides up, center flat, and inhale air through the wine in your

tongue's cup.  Exhale through your nose so that your olfactory nerve in your nose is

 used properly.  There are more than 300 distinct odors recognizable by your olfactory

nerve at the rear of your nose.  White wines are usually judged for a particular grape

 variety's flavor and its fruit acidity balance.      

The sides of your tongue in the back and the roof of your mouth perceive the amount

of tannin (roughness on the roof of your mouth) in red wine tasting.  Tannin in red

 wines is like tasting a strong cup of hot tea when you have left the bag in to steep

too long.  You will find strong tannin taste in young, vintage-dated, European or

American Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Zinfandel or Pinot Noir.

All fine red wines get tannins from the skins of grapes and the oak casks they are

 aged in by the wine maker.  Also, stems are sometimes left in contact with the

fermented red wine to give more tannin.  Tannin is nature's own natural preservative,

along with the alcohol. 

Tannin dissipates after proper aging and the wine becomes velvety smooth. 

Age your red wines to match your own tolerance of tannin in wines served with

particular dishes.  Sediment found in wine is a good sign that the wine was aged

 properly.  A green mold, sometimes found on the top of your unopened cork, is

also acceptable.  It means the wine has been properly aged in a cool, dark cellar.

Shipping and Storage of Wines and Champagnes

     From Great American Guide to Fine Wines, Victor L. Robilio, Jr., 2002

In 1789 Thomas Jefferson had a wine shipping and storage problem.  He would

pick up his wines shipped from France, Germany or Italy and take them to his home,

Monticello.  He would never know what to expect when the wines arrived in Virginia. 

No air conditioning was available in the shipping of the wine and sometimes the sailing

ships were blown off their course and ended up in warm Cuba or Puerto Rico where the

wine cargoes cooked.  Monticello also had no air conditioning, so a spoiling nightmare

would develop.

Jefferson used his genius, however, to solve his storage problem by building a wine

 room in the cool cellar of Monticello.  His wooden racks were triangular shaped, with

a safety lip across the bottom.  Each rack held about 2 1/2 cases (30) bottles.  To save

 room, bottles were often reverse stacked against each other.

Today most legitimate wine importers have "reefers," which are air-conditioned ship

containers.  Each reefer can protect roughly 1,200 cases from heat damage.  In your

home all you need is a cool cellar or air-conditioned room to provide good protection

for your aging wines.  A window air-conditioning unit also helps in that protection.

Wines age slowly, last longer and tastes better if it is kept at a constant temperature

of 54 to 64 degrees.  That includes reds, whites and sparkling wines.  Fine red wines

usually last many years if stored at a constant temperature.  Snobs often serve reds

that are too young, which makes them over tannic.

White wines and sparkling wine do not keep fresh for a long period.  French Alsatian

white wines,  however, age very well.  They are an exception to the rule.  Keep white

wines for no longer than three years in your cellar and sparkling wines for no longer

than two years.  Snobs will argue with those recommendations, but often they have

 more money than they do wine knowledge. 

Both cold and heat extremes damage wine's freshness.  Extreme cold weather causes

wines to freeze, then expand and blow the bottle corks out.  To protect your wine cellar

or storage room, consider adding a small electric heater with an automatic thermostat. 

 The heater will click on when the room temperature falls below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Thomas Jefferson would have loved to have our ability to cool down the shipping and

 storage of fine wines.  He incidentally had a dumb waiter (small, automated lift) that

 transported wine from his cool cellar to his dining room table.  What a genius!  We

should always toast him at all wine get-togethers.  He is truly the "heart and soul"

of the American inventive spirit.  Let us never forget the spirit of this young founder

of our republic.

Opening and Serving Wine

     From Great American Guide to Fine Wines, Victor L. Robilio, Jr., 2002

Even though a wine cellar or cool room will protect your aging wines, you will want to

 have a number of bottles closer at hand.  Place a 36-40 bottle wine rack next to your

refrigerator.  The bottom level can hold six bottles of champagne or sparkling wine. 

Stock the top level with about 17 bottles of ready-to-drink red wines (assorted and two

of each flavor).  Place the white wines on the rack between the red and the sparkling

wines.  About 17 bottles of white wine is sufficient (two of each flavor).  Chill white and

sparkling wines a day before your guest arrive.  Open bottles as needed.

Obtain a champagne fizzer to cap all unused sparkling bottles; this will save you many

dollars from spoilage.  A captain's knife with a "wide thin worm" is the best wine opener

 to use.  The quality ones are made in Munich, Germany. 

Don't remove the cork "too fast" or your clothing will match the color of your wine. 

 Pour all wine into the glasses with a "slight wrist twist" to the right to stop dripping. 

Always pour a half glass of wine so it can breathe.  Then swirl it very gently in the glass

 to let the oxygen enter the wine.  Voila!  The bouquet is an explosion of odors from

aging, winemaking techniques and blending.