(som-MAL-ee-ay): The knowledgeable person at better restaurants who can give you advice and answer questions about wine. It is French for wine waiter or server. A specialized wine person who is able to assist with food and wine pairing, wine suggestions or ensure correct wine service.To increase your odds of getting a great wine in a restaurant, tell your sommelier which kinds of wines you've enjoyed lately. Are they red or white, light or full-bodied? Do you like wines from a particular region or grape? Some other questions to ask your sommelier:1. What are your favorite red and white wines?2. What's the newest wine on the list and why have you added it?3. Can describe the texture and taste of the wine you suggest?4. What's your favorite food and wine pairing on the menu? 5. Which wine offers the best value for money on the list?
If you have a craving for a specific food item or type of wine, don't be shy to ask.
Sommeliers are trained to understand the history of wine, grapes used to make the wine and where the wine comes from.
Since there is no practical limit on how much you can spend on wine, it is always good to hint or even specify your budget. For example, you could say, “I’d like white wine to go with our appetizers, something on the drier side, under $40. What do you recommend?”
Their primary role is to serve you. Confidently approaching this exchange will make for a better dining experience. The expert will open the bottle for you and pour a taste, which you are encouraged to swirl, smell and sample. Do not smell the cork!
Remember, know what you like and be mindful of your budget. The sommelier will do the rest.
Until next time, cheers!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Wine and Sweets
Dessert wines are perhaps something we overlook when we pair wines during a multicourse meal. There are four basic categories of dessert wines: Ice Wines, Late Harvest, Fortified, and Dried Grapes wines. These represent a broad spectrum of wines and styles.
Let’s start by exploring Ice Wines: The taste, nearly always made from white grapes (Riesling, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc), is quite sweet, usually with a nice acidity with fruit flavors of apple, peach, and apricot. Desserts to try: cheesecakes, berry cobblers, lemon tart, peach desserts, short bread cookies.
Late Harvest Wines: This implies the grapes are picked late in the season. Some are left on the vine so long they begin to shrivel and turn to raisins. The taste: fruit flavors like above, but also some with tropical fruit flavors as well. You can find Botrytis affected wines in this group. Botrytis, a mold, is also known as noble rot. Sauternes would be a good example of a wine that is Botrytis style. Botrytis wine flavors will be nutty, earthy with honey and vanilla. Other examples of Late Harvest can include Late Harvest Semillon, and Late Harvest Zinfandel which are usually not affected by Botrytis.
Desserts to try: apple and pear based desserts, peach desserts, almonds, crème brulee, also apricot and nectarine based desserts.
Fortified Wines: Fortified means to strengthen. In the wine world it means to strengthen the alcohol content by adding neutral grape brandy. Wines in this group would include Port, Sherry, Madeira and Marsala, which are all blends. The taste: vivid sweetness from the grapes themselves, and full bodied from the added alcohol. Blackberry, red cherry, dark raisin and fig are the flavors you will find in these wines. Desserts to try: chocolate, coffee and caramel based desserts go well with port and other “dark” dessert wines (Port and Port styles). Tawny ports and Madeira (Bual and Malmsey) are great with nuts, caramel, toffee, and butterscotch. Try the Madeira (Bual) with Pumpkin pie!
Dried Grapes Wines: These wines come from grape clusters that are harvested and then hung to dry or sometimes placed on mats in the sun to dry. French wines Vine de Paille or Italy’s Vin Santo are examples of these wines. Try pairing these wines with Hazelnut Biscotti or Greek Baklava.
The bottom line is, the wine should always be sweeter than the dessert, otherwise the wine can dull and acidic.
Sparkling desserts wines are usually only slightly sweet and don’t pair well with desserts that are super sweet. Pair a poppy seed lemon cake, which is usually not as sweet, for a great companion to a sparkling wine.
Let’s start by exploring Ice Wines: The taste, nearly always made from white grapes (Riesling, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc), is quite sweet, usually with a nice acidity with fruit flavors of apple, peach, and apricot. Desserts to try: cheesecakes, berry cobblers, lemon tart, peach desserts, short bread cookies.
Late Harvest Wines: This implies the grapes are picked late in the season. Some are left on the vine so long they begin to shrivel and turn to raisins. The taste: fruit flavors like above, but also some with tropical fruit flavors as well. You can find Botrytis affected wines in this group. Botrytis, a mold, is also known as noble rot. Sauternes would be a good example of a wine that is Botrytis style. Botrytis wine flavors will be nutty, earthy with honey and vanilla. Other examples of Late Harvest can include Late Harvest Semillon, and Late Harvest Zinfandel which are usually not affected by Botrytis.
Desserts to try: apple and pear based desserts, peach desserts, almonds, crème brulee, also apricot and nectarine based desserts.
Fortified Wines: Fortified means to strengthen. In the wine world it means to strengthen the alcohol content by adding neutral grape brandy. Wines in this group would include Port, Sherry, Madeira and Marsala, which are all blends. The taste: vivid sweetness from the grapes themselves, and full bodied from the added alcohol. Blackberry, red cherry, dark raisin and fig are the flavors you will find in these wines. Desserts to try: chocolate, coffee and caramel based desserts go well with port and other “dark” dessert wines (Port and Port styles). Tawny ports and Madeira (Bual and Malmsey) are great with nuts, caramel, toffee, and butterscotch. Try the Madeira (Bual) with Pumpkin pie!
Dried Grapes Wines: These wines come from grape clusters that are harvested and then hung to dry or sometimes placed on mats in the sun to dry. French wines Vine de Paille or Italy’s Vin Santo are examples of these wines. Try pairing these wines with Hazelnut Biscotti or Greek Baklava.
The bottom line is, the wine should always be sweeter than the dessert, otherwise the wine can dull and acidic.
Sparkling desserts wines are usually only slightly sweet and don’t pair well with desserts that are super sweet. Pair a poppy seed lemon cake, which is usually not as sweet, for a great companion to a sparkling wine.
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