Last week, we wrapped up the wines of Bordeaux. Now we’re on to the Rhône Valley region, whose deep, dark reds came into vogue in the ’80s.

Rhônes come in simple varieties that are fine for daily consumption, but most are rosés. To push the level up, look for Côtes du Rhône Villages. These are more robust and full-bodied wines.

Northern and Southern Rhône are where the serious wines come from. If you’ve never tried these wines, then I envy your pleasure when tasting them for the first time. We’ll start in the northern region.

This area fell into disfavor until about 10 years ago, when some outstanding vintages helped make their wines highly exciting discoveries. Hermitage, made entirely from syrah grapes, is the most famous, with its intense, deep hue. It’s rated as one of the best wines in the world, and draws distinctive benefits from a long aging process. Unfortunately for wine lovers, its also one of the most expensive wines out there.

Moving South in the Rhône Valley, there’s really not much to remember but for Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This red wine is made from 80% grenache with any combination of 13 other varieties, including syrah, mourvèdre and cinsault blended in. Châteauneuf-du-Pape comes in two styles: one is fairly light and meant to drink young, and the other is richer and more intense when enjoyed anywhere from 5- to 20-years-old. When you’re out looking for Châteauneuf-du-Pape, make sure you see a medieval crest embossed on the neck of the bottle and a pair of crossed keys on the label, both indications of a better bottle of wine.

Now on to Alsace, a small region adjacent to Germany. Alsace produces mostly white wines, which are very different from those of their German neighbors’; most Alsatian riesling, gewürztraminer and muscat are dry in contrast to the more widely-known German styles.

Champagne dominates its namesake region about champagne. True champagne is usually blended from three grapes: pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier. Champagne made from 100% chardonnay is called a “blanc de blanc”; ones made from 100% pinot noir are called “blanc de noir.” Don’t forget that when you see “brut” on a label that it means dry to very dry. Your finest champagne producers are Moët et Chandon, Dom Perignon, Roedere (Cristal), Taittinger (Cometes de Champagne), Perrier-Jouët (Fleur du Champagne), and Krug (Clos du Mesnil).

I’m done, and I mean it. No more about French wine! (If I do mention it again, please let me know.)

See you next month. Remember: life’s too short to drink lousy wine!

Where was I when we ended last month? I do remember that I got a screaming headache taking about French wines. I hope to get through all of it in this issue so we can cover something more pleasant. French wines are spectacular, but the attitude? Not so much.

So let’s finish Bordeaux. In Médoc, in 1855, a consortium of growers, shippers and merchants judged all of the wines of the region in order of their quality, and the classification of the wines really hasn’t changed much in all that time.

Premier Cru is the top of the wine from Médoc, and is usually translated as “First Growth.” That doesn’t imply a number of consecutive growths, but it does mean that it comes from a first-quality vineyard. You will pay dearly for these wines. You may recognize their names: Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Margaux, and Château Haut-Brion

Deuxième Crus are second growths and are at the second level of quality. Many are still superb though, such as Château Léoville-Las Cases and Château Pichon-Longueville.

And so it goes from third-class and on down. Wines from the second to fifth class will sometimes read “Cru Classé” or “Grand Cru Classé,” indicating that they were rated somewhere within the original 1855 classification — a great distinction in itself.

Saint-Émilion is much easier to understand. All you need to remember is Premier Grand Cru (first great vineyards — the really great wine), Grand Cru Classé (great classified vineyards), and Grand Cru, in that order. Most of the wines of Saint-Émilion are merlot blends with a little cabernet franc.

Graves includes red and white wines. All you really have to remember as far as they’re concerned is Premier Grand Cru.

Pomerol is the smallest of the five Bordeaux districts and was never classified. However, one of the most famous wines in the world and most expensive, Château Petrus, comes from Pomerol. If anyone offers you a bottle, or even a sip, DON’T TURN IT DOWN!

Uninformed Sauternes and Barsac detractors think of Sauternes as a cheap cooking wine. Not so! A real Sauternes, that is one that actually comes from the Sauternes district of Bordeaux, is one of the finest and most interesting wines in the world.

Sauternes’ distinctive character comes from noble rot, a mold that grows on the grape when conditions are right, which doesn’t happen every year. That’s also why Sauternes can be very expensive.

Sauternes and Barsac are both made from a blend of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc. They are classified into three categories. Grand Premier Cru only has one, and that is Château d’Yquem. If you get a chance to taste this at least once in your lifetime, you will indeed be lucky. This wine needs 20 to 30 years in the bottle to reach its full potential. Premier Cru has 11 Sauternes in this category and Deuxième Cru has 12.

Our coverage of Bordeaux is complete now, but learning it isn’t easy.

Drinking a great Bordeaux is a treat few will have, so if you get the chance, don’t pass it up.

Next month we’ll begin with the Rhône region and move on from there.

Remember: life’s too short to drink lousy wine!

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer, and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach. Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com.

The French Attitude and Their Wines

Ah, The French.

Why is it that the French hold all things refined — perfume, couture, cuisine? Easy: because they’re French… and that great accent probably helps.

France has the most famous wine regions in the world, and as a nation, they’re also the best merchandisers of wine. They do produce some of the best in the world, such as Château Pétrus and Château Rothscild, but as fabulous as some of them often are, they’re also usually very inexpensive — in the $15 to $25 range. Many of French wines are even found cheaper in the U.S. than in France.

Wine is made all over France, but there are six major growing regions — Bordeaux, the Rhone Valley, Alsace, Champagne, the Loire Valley, and Burgundy. French wines are named for where they come from rather than the grape variety used, so many Americans are overwhelmed when confronted with them. We’ll try to sort it out.

With French wines, the vintage year is more important than say, California, because of California’s relatively even, temperate climate, a factor that helps yield wines of generally consistent quality. France experiences more swings in temperature and weather, so every year the wine varies. Obviously, some vintages are better than others. The French have also devised a way to rate the vineyards, resulting in distinctions like Premier Cru Classé, or simply Grand Cru or Cru Classé. You’d think they would use this rating for all regions, but no — that would be too easy. And the French make nothing easy. The more complex, the better.

We’ll begin the breakdown of the regions in this issue, but it may take a couple more to get through it all. It will be worth it if you like French wines.

Bordeaux

You may want to pick up a bottle of red wine labeled “Appellation Bordeaux Controlée.” This just means that all of the grapes used in this wine came from Bordeaux. You can find these in the $15-$20 range — a great sample price. Look for anything made with Cabernet: berries, herbs, etc. The wine will be a deep purple, packed with flavor and deep tannins.

Bordeaux is divided into 35 wine districts, but five of them stand out above all the others. They are Pomerol, Saint-Émilion, Médoc, Graves and Sauternes. The first three — Pomerol, Saint-Émilion, and Médoc — specialize in red wines; Graves in red and white, and Sauternes in white. Each district uses a different blend of grapes: Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec for reds, and Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon for whites.

As I said earlier, for the the French, nothing is simple, and the Médoc region of Bordeaux produces many of the top wines of Bordeaux. Médoc is divided into areas called “communes,” or wine communities. The top four are: Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe, Margeaux, and Saint-Julien.

Are you getting a headache? I know I am, so I’ll continue with the French saga in the next issue.

Always remember: Life is too short to drink lousy wine.

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer, and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach. Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com. Check this issue’s “Word On The Street” section for a listing of special events held there for the month of February.

Virginia is the oldest wine growing region in the U.S., but California is the best established in terms of production and quality. If you look at a wine growing map of California you can see different AVAs dotted up and down the state.

An AVA is an American Viticultural Area, which defines a wine growing area by type of terroir where the grapes are actually grown. So in Sonoma, the Russian River is an AVA within Sonoma. If you see “Russian River” or “Napa Valley” on a wine label, all that really means is that 75% of the grapes that made the wine within are from that area. The wine doesn’t need to be made in Napa or Russian River, but the grapes need to be grown there.

California winemakers spend a fortune getting their wines known, so it should surprise no one that their respective names are all over each bottle they produce. Starting at the top of the bottle, the foil around the top shows the winemaker’s name, as does the cork. They want you to know they made it and that they’re proud of it. Some have a credibility line on the neck, which will tell you how long they’ve been making wine.

The main label, as you might expect, shows their name in bold print followed by the grape’s name. Now the grape shown — lets say chardonnay — means that at least 75% of the wine is chardonnay. The other 25% is comprised of various white wines blended together. If the grape name is missing and a general name is there, that means the wine is a blend of various reds or whites and no one grape makes up over 74% of the finished product.

As we continue down the label, you’ll find the AVA followed by the year of vintage. This is the year the grapes were picked. It may take two years of aging before the wine is bottled, so this is important in better quality wines, though most are ready to drink upon release. Next you may see “Estate” or “Reserve,” which usually means a better quality bottle of wine. In an estate wine, the winemaker is responsible for the grapes from the ground to the glass. He buys none of the grapes from other growers. So when it’s all on him, it usually means a much better wine.

Continuing on down — who would have guessed, but their name is there again. (Enough already…) And finally you’ll find where the wine was produced and the percentage of alcohol within.

On the back there could be a personal statement by the winemaker with some biographical info, or a statement regarding his wines. Some offer a food pairing and some even have directions to the winery itself.

Though at times the wealth of information on labels seems daunting, there really is a lot of simple information you can pick up very quickly. What you learn will certainly make your decision to purchase much easier.

We hope you found this informative and fun to read. If you’d like to see an article on something specific, please email us at: flyingcorkscrew@gmail.com.

I also hope you all have a very happy and prosperous 2010; it has to be better than 2009.

I’ll drink to that!

Ken

www.brevardwines.com

Wine lovers always appreciate a nice bottle of wine. Remember: it doesn’t have to be expensive to be outstanding. The most important thing is to know whether they prefer reds or whites. If you can, find out which particular grape they most prefer — cabernet, zinfandel, etc. — any type of grape that makes it easier for your wine clerk to help you pick out a great bottle in your price range.  Wine accessories are always a surefire hit as well. I’ll go over some basic items you should be able to find locally.

For the true oenophile, subscriptions to either Wine Spectator or Wine Enthusiast would make very memorable gifts. These are monthly magazines that rate sampled wines, from the very expensive to the very cheap, but devoted wine lovers will look forward to these coming every month. Information for both magazines is easily found online.

For the not-so-demanding people, a wine aeration unit like a Vinturi makes a perfect gift. It’s easy to use; simply pour your wine through the Vinturi into the glass and it’s the equivalent of decanting your wine for an hour-and-a-half. Speaking of decanting, another nice gift idea might be a decanter itself. These are used to allow red wines to “open up” by infusing them with oxygen. The process really makes a difference.

Any wine lover would appreciate a fine set of Reidel stemware. These are goblets made in Austria and are made for specific types of wine. These are top-of-the-line stems and truly add to the enjoyment of any vintage. New corkscrews always make welcome gifts. They come in all shapes and sizes and can be electric or mounted on a table, or can use compressed air or brute force to do the job. They’re all available locally, so have some fun and pick one out.

I’ve never mentioned beer in this column before, but in the spirit of the holiday season, we may as well mention some gifts for them as well. Beer lovers are different from oenophiles in that most are more concerned with quantity over quality. These gift ideas are not for such folks. A true beer geek has either brewed or wants to brew their own beer, so brewing kits and supplies make great gift ideas. Just google “brewing supplies” and loads of items will come up. The kits are the best place to start, but they’re not found locally, so online is the way to go. A subscription to Beer Advocate would be an excellent gift for the lover of craft and imported beers. The magazine offers ratings for tasted brews and brewing tips.

For those who would rather rate their own tasted brews, a membership in a monthly beer club is a great idea. These usually come in the form of a mixed six-pack of seasonal and hard-to-find beers. And last but not least, a four-pack or six-pack of a really great craft or imported beer you’ve chosen yourself. Some great gift beers even look like wine bottles and come equipped with a cork and cage. These are usually found in a bottle shop rather than your local supermarket.

I hope I’ve given you some different and useful ideas for this season’s shopping.

I’d like to thank you for checking out this column and hope you all have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season.

Always remember: life’s too short to drink lousy beer & wine,

Ken

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer, and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach. Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com

The holidays are a time for celebration and to give thanks, and although there’s been little to cheer about in 2009, let’s start with the ultimate celebration drink — champagne. True champagne is from the Champagne region of France; all others should be called sparkling wines… or so say the French. But being Americans, we don’t care what the French say, and California gives us fantastic champagnes of our own. Most champagnes will read “brut” on the label, which means “dry”; “extra brut” is extra dry. You’ll find quality in all price points, so you don’t need to spend a lot of money to find a great bottle. Serving champagne is also the perfect way to start or finish any holiday celebration.

As far as wines go, the general rule most people follow is “white for fish or fowl and red for beef,” and since turkey is a type of fowl, any white wine would make an excellent accompaniment. A nice chardonnay, viognier or a pinot gris would be a great wine for your holiday dinner. But if you came to me and asked me the perfect wine for turkey, I’d say pinot noir. I know it’s a red wine, but it truly pairs well with a turkey meal.

If you’re Italian and you start your meal with antipasto or move onto some sort of pasta with red sauce, you might try a barbera or a sangiovese. Or if you’re unconventional and serve ham for a holiday meal, a riesling or a gewürztraminer would make a perfect match.

But before you loosen your belt and fall asleep watching football, there some great dessert wines out there to help you finish off your holiday meal in style. Dessert wines usually come in 375 ml. bottles — half bottles — and are late harvest wines and ice wines. A late harvest wine is made from grapes that have been left on the vine until the last moment. The longer the grape is on the vine, the more natural sugars build in the grape. As such, late harvest wines will be smooth and sweet and will go well with most desserts. An ice wine is a wine made from grapes that have stayed on the vine until frozen solid. They are hand-picked, grape by grape, then thawed and crushed. The resulting wine is highly sweet and is very crisp and clean on the palate. Ice wines are best served with any chocolate dessert.

I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to read these articles; I really enjoy doing them. And I’d like you wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season.

Drink and enjoy.

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach. Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com

I really have to apologize. I don’t know how I missed this part of wine enjoyment, but I did: How do you get the wine out of the bottle and into the glass?

In ancient Greece they used large casks sealed with corks to hold their wine, and the early Romans used cork covered with pitch to get an airtight seal. In the 17th century, people used glass bottles with glass stoppers — like a decanter — but that method proved too expensive. Bottlers eventually went back to corks, but they were only pushed partway in because no one had yet invented the corkscrew.

Most bottles today have a foil covering around the neck, which can be removed with a small, sharp knife or a nifty little gizmo called a foil cutter. Use either to cut the foil so you can see the top of the cork. After wiping the rim of the bottle to remove any debris, it’s time to remove the cork.

There are a few corkscrew choices available out there, but it’s important to remember that there is no right or wrong model — just what ever works best for you.

The “armpit” opener (my name), unless you have a better one, is an auger-type of corkscrew. It’s my least favorite to use, but they do work. Place the round collar of the opener on the neck of the bottle and turn the handle, which turns the auger into the cork. Once the auger is in as far as it will go, pull down on the arms and the cork will rise out of the bottle. The screw pull is completely foolproof and easy to use. Place the corkscrew over the neck of the bottle and guide the screw a little way into the cork and start turning the top gently in a clockwise direction. The screw will move down into the cork and pulls up the cork in one continuous motion. The two-pronged opener, often called an “Ah-So,” looks like an inverted “U” with a handle. You begin by sliding the longer side in next to the cork followed by the shorter side. Once in, simply twist the cork out. The “air-pop” employs a long needle that you push through the cork. By hitting a button on top of the handle, you release air from a small CO2 cartridge which forces the cork up through the neck. There is also an electric corkscrew people tell me is easy, but I’ve not tried it.

“The Waiter’s Friend” (my favorite) really takes practice to use, but it works like a charm. It comes with a small, fold-out knife to cut the foil and is available in one- or two-step models. To use it, drop down the corkscrew and start it into the cork — the more in the center, the better. Once you’ve set it deep enough, place the foldable fulcrum against the lip of the bottle to raise the cork out of the neck. With practice, the waiter’s friend is the fastest corkscrew available.

There are just a few options; it’s up to you to decide which works best for you. Whatever type you choose, they’ll all get you where you want to go: inside the wine bottle. Before too long, there are sure to be more and more screw-tops being produced, and corks and inventive openers will be a thing of the past. I sure hope not, though. There’s just something wonderfully romantic about opening that dark bottle and pouring that heavenly nectar.

Drink and enjoy.

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach. Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com

When a wine is well balanced it means that the elements of a wine exist in a pleasing proportion. In white wines it’s a balance of acid, sugar and alcohol. Let’s take lemonade, for example, to illustrate the descriptor. Too much of either the tart acid of the lemons or the sweetness of the sugar can make lemonade unbalanced. To correct the balance, you simply need to add a little of one or the other to find a pleasing middle ground. In red wines, another element comes in to play — tannins. If you remember, tannins come from the skins of the grapes that are left in the juice during wine making. Tannins are what will leave your mouth dry, like a strong tea. If your mouth feels watery after drinking a wine, that’s due to the acid.

Let’s go over some other terms.

“Jammy”: This sensation comes from the sugars in a red wine which result in a prominent taste of grapes.

“Watery”: This characteristic is found in both reds and whites and is just what it sounds like: a very light wine with no real flavors or one that tastes simply bland.

“Big”: A wine that has it all. A burst of flavor at the onset of the taste followed by an acidic taste over your palate and ending with dryness in a red and alcohol in the white.

“Woody”: A wine that has been barrel-aged, leaving a touch of wood flavor in the wine.

“Buttery”: Usually an attribute of a chardonnay that has been oak barrel-aged. The finish of the wine will have a buttery flavor.

“Corked”: A wine that has gone bad. Maybe the cork didn’t seal the bottle correctly or was stored in a warm or sunny spot. It will have a bitter to vinegar-like flavor. Not a very pleasant experience.

Well, you’ve got it. You now know how to taste and describe the wines you’ve tasted. See? There’s nothing scary, and no mystery to it. Now try it again; look, swirl, smell, and slosh. Notice the body, the flavors; swallow or spit, taste the aftertaste, notice the length. Then answer the most important question: did you enjoy this wine? Only you can answer that.

Now you’re ready to taste with the best of them. You won’t like them all, but that’s o.k. There are thousands of different wines out there and you’re sure to find plenty you’ll just love. And that’s why the hunt for a favorite is always continuing.

Next month we’ll talk about how to open the bottle — the best and worst corkscrews and how to properly open champagne.

Remember: Life’s too short to drink lousy wine!

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach. Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com

You all know how to drink wine, so now I hope to teach you how to taste it.

There’s a huge difference.

After attending and hosting hundreds of wine tastings, I’ve found that many people just have no clue that gulping down wine doesn’t allow the palate to truly pick up on the flavors the winemaker intended you to enjoy. Once you learn the art of tasting, you can then really enjoy the drinking of wine.

First off, what do you pour your wine into? A good, clear, general-purpose wine glass is the way to start. The stem should be long enough so your hand doesn’t warm the wine, and the bowl (where the wine goes) should hold 12 oz. or more. This size will allow you to swirl the wine around in the glass. The bowl should also have an inward taper so your nose can capture the bouquet of the wine; so much of what we taste is affected by what we smell. There is some fine stemware out there, such as Riedel, which makes glasses for every type of wine, but a good standard wine glass from anywhere will do the trick.

White wines are served cool — not cold — and reds are served at “room temperature,” which should be anywhere from 62-68 degrees. The basic rule I follow: store both whites and reds in a refrigerator and take them out 20 minutes prior to drinking. The winemaker has put some beautiful aromas and flavors into the wine and the correct serving temperature will allow them to come out.

“Looking,” “Smelling” and “Sloshing” are the three key steps for enjoying a proper wine tasting. You may even want to pour a glass now and follow along. You’ll need your glass and a white tablecloth or a white piece of paper and of course some wine. You can tell a lot about a wine simply by looking at it. Pour 3 to 4 ounces of wine into your glass and look straight through the wine at the color, using the paper or tablecloth you’ve placed under it as a neutral background. If you’ve chosen a white wine, you’ll find that it isn’t really white, is it? Is it very pale? Is it pretty intensely-colored — almost yellow? Is it more golden? Greenish? In the case of a red, is it dark purple, the color of beets? Is it brick red? Very pale red to pink? If white wines are pale — almost colorless — the wine will be very light and fresh. With more color comes more assertive flavors. The same is basically true for reds. Anything dark purple will have more pronounced flavors. The lighter the color, the more often they will taste lighter. But wine also lightens as it ages, so it may have more subtle and complex flavors at this stage.

Now place your glass on the table and place your hand over the foot — the disk at the base of the stem. Gently move your hand in a small circle and notice how the wine circles the bowl delicately and doesn’t slosh about. This practice helps the wine pick up some air and will allow the true aroma of the wine to come out. Now smell. What do you smell? Most people will smell fruit first and maybe some spices or herbs. You’ll sometimes smell flowers, earth, leather or smoke. This step really takes practice, so don’t be discouraged.

Now comes the fun part: take a sip of the wine and slosh it around your mouth, making sure it hits all parts of your tongue. There are a number of taste buds on different parts of the tongue that register different tastes. Sweetness is tasted in the front, acidity on the sides, saltiness on top, and bitterness in the back. At this stage, the smell comes in and adds nuance and complexity to what we thought was merely our sense of taste. Now sit back and enjoy. Does the taste last a long time on the palate? That’s called length. We’ll get into phrases and frequently used words to describe wines next month.

Until then, drink and enjoy.

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach.  Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com.

Making Wine

How do grapes become wine? Great question.

I hope I can answer it without putting you to sleep. It’s an important question to answer so you can begin to understand the differences between the tastes of the same wine from the same vineyard made in different years.

The weather really determines the quality of the wine. Most winemakers hope to get nice, cool, sunny spring weather, a nice hot summer and a dry fall, with warm days and cool nights. Rain at harvest can speed up the picking process. A lot of rain can dilute the taste, which in turn makes for a watery wine. A great growing season doesn’t always produce great wines, though — it varies from vineyard to vineyard — but you can bet there are some fantastic wines being made during these conditions. When you see a vintage year on a bottle that’s the year the grapes were grown and picked. The winemaker hopes to pick their grapes at the highest level of sugars the grapes produce — the higher the sugars the better the fermentation process.

The high sugar content is important because when the yeast is added, it eats the sugars to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide bubbles off, but the alcohol remains. Fermentation can last a few days to a few weeks. The wine is then aged in either stainless steel vats or oak barrels. If the wine is vat-aged, you really get the taste of the fruit shining through. If aged in oak, like many Chardonnay wines, the oak barrel will give the wine a toasty vanilla flavor. Some drinkers call this a “buttery oaky” flavor.

White wines are made from sort of a yellow to greenish red grape, which also means that it is possible to have a white Pinot Noir or Merlot. Red wine is made almost the same way with a few differences. After the grapes are crushed, the stems are removed but the skins are left on and the red color is obtained from the pigment in the skins of the grapes that are left in the juice during pressing. These provide both pigment and tannins, as do the oak barrels. Tannins are what gives the wine structure and preserve it for aging. Tannins also produce the dryness usually associated with red wines.

Oak barrels are used to age most red wines. The benefit of this is the flavor characteristics contained in new oak barrels, which are transferred to the wine while aging. New oak barrels are very expensive and are replaced every two years, so many high-end winemakers taught the use of new French or American oak barrels as an added incentive to get wine lovers to purchase their wines. If a winemaker can’t afford new barrels but want to add oaky flavor, they usually age the wine in stainless steel vats and add oak chips to the liquid. Strange, but true! This process results in the very inexpensive wines you see offered at the big box stores and other locations.

Winemaking is a true art form, taught over years and years in the fields and in the pressing rooms and wine cellars around the world. Obviously, I’ve really simplified the process, but it should help you gain a basic understanding of the craft.

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach. Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com

Why did I agree to do this article? Maybe just to prove I could do it, but it goes deeper than that. I just love good wine.

Wine has a mysticism about it. It takes a normal, rational person and instills in him the fear of looking foolish or just plain unsophisticated. It makes most people shy away from ordering it in a restaurant or bringing wine as a dinner gift. As Americans, we’re newbies in the appreciation of wine as a beverage. We feel the French and Italians know a great deal more than we do about wine because they grew up with it. But the truth is, by and large, that they only drink the wines of the regions in which they live. Most are table wines — red or white — which are a blend of wines grown in a local area. Foods prepared in a given area of France or Italy readily pair well with the local table wines, so there’s no fear of which wine best matches which meal.

Even though wine has been made here since the 1800s, production was not very large until the California wine industry took off in the ’50s with companies like Ernest & Julio Gallo. Except for a few vineyards, all wine production stopped during Prohibition from the ’20s to early the ’30s. Many vineyards lost all or most of their vines and went out of business, so we forgot how to make and enjoy wine. In the ’60s and ’70s, most wine was sold in one-gallon jugs or marketed as “Ripple,” “Boone’s Farm,” or other low-grade juice. My first experience with wines took place during this era. No wonder it took so long for me to try it again. Even with all of these obstacles, California made a quick turn around and has succeeded in making some world-class wines.

So how do you take the mystery out of wine? Start with a knowledgeable wine clerk. They can direct you to a wine that will fit your needs as well as your wallet. There are thousands of great wines from $10-$25, so spending a lot of money isn’t necessary.

Or you could just try it! Go to a wine tasting or your local wine shop and buy a bottle you may think you’ll like. It may be a red or white, you may like the shape or color of the bottle or the label, or you may have a friend that recommended it. Whatever the case, pick out a bottle to start with.

Once you’ve made your purchase, take it home, open it, fill a glass half full and swirl it around and smell the aroma. What you smell is not as important as much as how the nose of the wine will affect what you taste. Now swish the wine around in your mouth and swallow. How was it? Did you enjoy it? Was it horrible? Was there any lingering aftertaste? It may invoke a lot of sensations, but scary it wasn’t, was it? Wine is really simple: You either like it or you don’t.

You may need to try some different styles to find what you really like, but above all, it’s okay to try. Over time, your tastes will change, so the hunt for the perfect wine never ends — and that’s a good thing.

Ken Mageau is the owner of The Flying Corkscrew, purveyors of fine wine, beer and cigars, located at 1877 S. Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach. Call (321) 773-8757, or visit www.brevardwines.com

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While not considered one of the world’s more refined wines, Egri Bikavér is one of Hungary’s most famous exports. Seasoned oenophiles are likely to invoke the nectary Tokaj wines as more deserving of that distinction, but it’s hard to compete with a wine, however rustic, that boasts such a romantic, evocative name.

Translated as “Bull’s Blood of Eger,” (a wine growing region of Northern Hungary), Egri Bikavér is reputed to have earned its name from a legend that dates back to the 16th-century invasion of Europe by Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent. During the Siege of Eger castle by the Turks, the ragtag group of Hungarian soldiers defending the edifice were said to have been furnished with lavish feasts at which gallons of red wine were consumed. Unable to explain the resilience and tenacity with which the comparatively small band of men were able to stave off the siege, the Turks murmured rumors about the Hungarians’ wine being mixed with bull’s blood. Eventually, the Turks gave up, and the victory at Eger was credited with dramatically reducing the threat of Ottoman expansion into northern and western Europe.

Though it’s likelier that the name was coined by Hungarian nationalist poet János Garay in the mid-1800s for inclusion in one of his lyrical odes to the mighty Magyar race, Egri Bikavér still appeals to drinkers for the mystique of magical power it suggests. It’s comprised of a blend of grapes that has varied over the years, although many consider its foundation to be laid with bitter Kadarka grapes, one of the more ancient varieties of the Eger region. Another legend has it that Kardaka grapes arrived with the Turks during their invasion, brought either by the Turks themselves or by the Serbs they displaced.

Because Kardaka is a difficult grape to vinify, it’s been increasingly replaced by the German Blaufränkisch, known locally as Kékfrankos. According to official standards, Egri Bikavér must contain at least three of 11 grapes: Kardaka, Kékfrankos, and Austrian hybrids Blauburger and Zweigelt among them. Under Turkish occupation, the Hungarians’ traditional white grapes were replaced by Kadarka and its relatives. Hungary did not escape the effects of the phylloxera epidemic in 1882 which wiped out thousands of vineyards, after which Blaufränkisch and small amounts of Bordeaux varieties were introduced, and the different varieties were often grown together in the vineyard and processed together.

Under Communism, Kadarka was largely replaced by the Bordeaux varieties and the easy-to-grow Zweigelt. This along with the industrialization of production saw Egri Bikavér become a much lighter, simpler wine during the ’70s and ’80s. Since the fall of Communism, however, much Kadarka has been planted, and since the mid-’90s there’s been a return to a more traditional, much darker style of wine. In order to eliminate some quality problems, stricter regulation was introduced in 1997 leading to the formation of Hungary’s first Appellation Control group which now enacts the rules specifying Bull’s Blood ingredients.

In 2004, Egri Bikavér Superior was introduced. In this case, at least 4 out of the 11 recommended varieties must be used and a lower yield must be applied. Despite considerable investment in vineyards and wineries, Egri Bikavér is still quite variable. The difference in quality between good vintages and cheap mass-market versions can be immense, but know that high-quality Egri Bikavér requires two to three years of oak aging, and is best enjoyed with game, beef, or spicy food — especially Indian curries and Hungarian dishes like Gulyás (goulash) or Paprikás.

A century ago, it wasn’t customary to drink anything before sitting down for a meal and any social drinking took place at dinner’s end. Sparkling wine, if there was any, was drunk at that time or with the meal, while sherry or port may have been served afterward.

Times have changed, of course, and drinking wine or hard spirits for an hour or so before the meal has become commonplace. Done on an empty stomach, however, it becomes an assault on the senses and loses its purpose as a means of priming the stomach for the meal to follow. Anything eaten will likely taste pretty much the same, and at that point, wine that should be savored can barely be tasted, let alone appreciated.

The term “aperitif” means an alcoholic drink taken before a meal as an appetizer. The right kind of wine, if not overindulged in, should help not only to stimulate the appetite, but also take the rough edges off a long day or week.

Sweeter tasting wines don’t make good aperitifs because they tend to suppress the appetite. Wines that do make good aperitifs should be relatively dry and high in acidity, making them refreshing. They should be moderate in alcohol content and comparatively light-bodied. Most are white, but a few pinks and reds may fit the bill as well.

Dry sparkling wines are ideal for aperitifs. The bubbles themselves can spark up the cocktail hour. Delicate and preferably dry, a brut French champagne would be perfect, as would a Spanish cava or a California sparkler made through the méthode champenoise process.

Among non-sparkling French wines, the optimal candidates would be a Loire, a Graves, an Alsatian, or a Moselle. Rieslings, too, from France or other good wine-producing regions also prove excellent as aperitifs.

Red wines, especially if they also are to be served with dinner should be light; possibly a Beaujolais or other lighter Burgundy. A French tavel rosé or a rosé d’Anjou would also be ideal.

An alternative classic would be kir (pronounced “keer”), an off-dry cocktail made from dry, white wine or brut champagne to which a small amount of crème de cassis is added. With the addition of a slice of lemon peel, an outstanding aperitif is born.

Seasonal conditions should be taken into consideration when choosing aperitifs. For warm, summertime evenings, an ideal aperitif would be a wine spritzer made with dry white wine mixed with a generous pour of club soda. Variations on this could employ ginger ale or a lemon-lime soda. Sangria, made with red or white wine blended with fruit juice and sparkling water and floated with sliced seasonal fruit, is also a delicious way to entice the appetite.

In wintertime and the cooler months, a dry sherry may be a popular choice. Sherries may be almost black or almost white, covering a wide spectrum in between. They may be bone-dry or sugary sweet, but stick to the drier ones for pre-dinner ocassions. Sherry may be close to perfect as an appealing aperitif, a powerful table wine with the meal, and with an after-dinner final course.

Remember the purpose of happy hour: to relax and unwind. Pop a cork on a nicely chilled sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio, and do just that.

Salud!

This Month’s Wine Pick: Marqués de Cáceres Crianza

This fabulous wine from Rioja in Northern Spain has been a reliable standby of ours for years. Not only is it reasonably-priced (usually around the $10-range), it’s incredibly versatile (don’t let anyone tell you that reds can’t be enjoyed with fish or poultry), and, in our minds, stands up — and even surpasses — many of its more expensive peers.

Rioja is the most prestigious and traditional wine region in Spain, its reputation based on the high quality and peculiarly bold personality of its wines. Due to rigorous controls, as well as the high demands on quality carried out in productions from this area, Rioja is the only denomination in the country that can boast the title of Denominación de Origen Calificada. Founded in 1970, with its first release in 1975, Marqués de Cáceres’ Rioja bodega was established by Henri Forner, whose family has been active in the wine business for generations. The winery is named for a Spanish peer who was also an investor in the winery and a friend of Henri Forner. The Forner family fled Spain during the Spanish Civil War and settled in France, and in the early ’60s, Henri Forner and his brother Elysée bought and restored two abandoned châteaux, Château Camensac and Château Larose-Trintaudon. When Henri decided to establish a bodega in his homeland, he selected what he considered the finest viticultural area in Spain: Cenicero in Rioja Alta. The vinification methods at Bodegas Marqués de Cáceres are similar to those used in Bordeaux, thus, French winemaking techniques and expertise have been applied to native Spanish grapes to produce one of the finest modern Riojas.

The Crianza, one of the most readily available varieties of Marqués de Cáceres, has a distinctively bright-red ruby color. Even the most untrained of noses will detect a bouquet of black cherries and blackberries with soft hints of aromatic Mediterranean herbs — bay leaves, rosemary, marjoram and lavender. The Crianza is fresh and explosively fruity in the mouth where rich fruits (cherries, strawberries, raspberries) and notes of cinnamon mingle to give a pleasant fullness with a solid backbone of silky-smooth tannins. It has a long-lasting, presence in the mouth and impressively oily finish. The Crianza is the perfect accompaniment to Mediterranean cuisine (especially paella and other rice dishes like risotto), fried food (especially tapas items like patatas bravas, gambas, calamares, and riñones), olives, ham, chorizo, pâtés, beef and many hard, mild cheeses, especially those made from sheep or goat’s milk. As mentioned before, the Crianza, as well as many other reds, compliment seafood dishes wonderfully — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Another misconception is that all reds should be served at room temperature — a fine rule to respect when you live in say, the Pyrenees or have access to a cellar, but very impractical in hot, humid Florida. Chilling the Crianza down to about 60 degrees (Fahrenheit) will bring out its distinctive hues and character traits.

Rosés make for versatile partners with many dishes, with their typically nice balance of fruit, acidity, and sweetness. They are generally a good value and may range from a low- to high- alcohol level. Aromas range from floral to cherry and candied spice. A good rosé should taste fresh and fruity, have decent structure, and a lingering finish.

Rosé wines are made from red grapes whose skins were removed after the fermentation process began. Whole red and white grapes are put together in a single tank and the weight of the grapes on top crushes the ones below. The pink color comes as the juice remains in contact with the red skins. They should generally not to be laid down to age, as rosés are meant to be drunk young. Their variations are most apparent in their color and range of sweetness.

Two categories stand out among rosés: Tavel and Rosé d’Anjou, both from France. Unfortunately, rosé wines have never played that well in the United States. The shared mentality of Boone’s Farm, White Zinfandels and the like, has left many a potential rosé drinker with a not-so-sour taste in their mouths.

Tavel rosé wines hail from the southern Rhône region of France. This region is part of the aromatic, sun-drenched, olive-producing Mediterranean. A brutal, freezing wind called le mistral slices through the hot days, blowing from the Alps and through the Rhône Valley. But the ferocious wind may actually help in the wine-growing process. During the growing season, the mistral cools the vines, helping the grapes maintain acidity. Just before harvest, the intense wind blows through, ensuring the grapes are free of mold and humidity.

Though Grenache is the leading red grape, southern Rhône wines are made from a combination of many different grape varieties. Says wine writer Karen MacNeil: “Blending is a way of creating a wine that is more than the sum of its parts.”

Most Tavel wines are hardy, with robust berry and spice flavors. They are bone-dry and have an appealing ruggedness. They pair well with southern French fare — dishes laden with olive oil, fresh herbs, and garlic. As in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, its neighbor across the river, winemakers in Tavel create their own blend.

From the Loire Valley hails the Rosé d’Anjou. These wines are generally pretty accessible and can be found on most grocery store shelves. Some may ridicule this scented, slightly sweet wine, but many enthusiasts beginning their “wine experience” began with these wines. It can be compared to the European equivalent of the jug wines of California with its noted sugar on the palate and flowery bouquet. Rosé d’Anjous are simple and medium sweet. They are made primarily from the red Grolleau grape, though five other red grapes may be part of the blend, among them Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Gamay, and Malbec. The top rosés from the Loire are fruity, gulping wines with a hint of acidity and light cherry flavors.

Worth mentioning still — though despised by some — are wines from the “blush” category. While wine snobs look down their collective noses at these pink wines, they have gained steady worldwide appeal. White Zinfandel is the most popular in this category, despite the fact that it doesn’t remotely resemble its big brother, the big, dry red Zinfandel. Blush wines are sweet, fruity, and inexpensive. And the debate will rage on; for White Zins (“You’re a hick”) and against (“You’re a snob”). There’s no gray area.

Champagne, a rosé (or maybe best of all, a rosé champagne) with a box of chocolates and dreamy music for Valentine’s Day – it’s up to you. Let your romantic imagination run wild.

The methode champenoise is the best way to make champagne, but it is costly and labor intensive since each bottle has to be handled many times by may hands.  This method ends in the degorgement — the removal of the sediment — caused by the secondary fermentation. Formerly this was done by hand; the sediment was shaken down to the neck of the upside-down bottle by remuers, people trained and skilled in doing exactly that. Now mechanical frames are mostly used. All champagne made in France is made in this manner, hence the name.

The charmat (or bulk or tank) method style of introducing the bubbles into the wine is an alternative method. This method is considered by some (though not by purists) to be nearly as good as the methode champenoise. The secondary fermentation takes place in the vat rather than in the bottle, and the resulting sparkling wine is subsequently bottled under pressure.

Champagne was first made in the end of the 17th century, as the story goes, by Benedictine monk Dom Perignon. Whether he “invented” the wine or whether he merely worked tirelessly on developing it remains at question. Though he never drank the wine himself, he was a savvy businessman and passionate winemaker and his name remains synonymous with champagne. After his first sip of the wine, he’s reputed to have exclaimed: “I’m drinking stars!”

Flutes or tulips are considered the best glassware for sipping champagne. Others have said a silver mug or goblet is ideal. But try if you can to stay away from “the caterer’s special,” which is no more than a saucer on a stem. Champagnes should be served cold, though not flat-out icy. Neither the taste nor the scent of the wine can come out if it’s just this side of frozen.

Champagne owes a large part of its reputation to its potential magical effects on one’s morale. It has fostered an image as a “luxury beverage,” though this image may conceal its excellence as a fine wine.  Its name has been lent to anything and everything that aims to sound high-end or expensive.

Champagnes are used to mark the most important events in life. Often imitated, yet to be improved upon, champagne is the world’s supreme sparkling wine. But then Champagne is not simply a wine; it’s also a state of mind.

Helpful champagne terms:

Extra Brut: The absolute driest champagne
Brut: Very dry
Extra Dry: Off-dry
Sec: Lightly sweet
Demi-sec: Medium sweet to sweet
Doux: Quite sweet
Blanc de Blancs: Made from chardonnay grapes only
NV: Non-vintage