Crémant

Within the champagne-method of making bubbly, there’s a style called Crémant. Like Champagne, 2nd fermentation takes place in the bottle. However, when the primarily fermented vino is given its mixture of wine, yeast and sugar to induce bubbles, less is used. The resulting wine possesses a lighter, more delicate spritz and effervescence. This style used to be allowed in the Champagne region of France prior to 1996, but since, is only reserved for other champagne-method sparklers made elsewhere in the country, often from different grapes. Examples are Crémant d’Alsace, Crémant de Bourgogne, Crémant de Loire, Crémant de Bordeaux, Crémant de Jura and Crémant de Limoux. 

Oak Chips

There’s no question that oak treatment adds complexity to wine as long as it’s not over done. Oak barrels are usually the norm, but they’re expensive. An alternative and less costly approach that many wineries use are oak chips. Providing oak flavour, small fragments of oak in netted bags are immersed or floated in wine, similar to a tea bag in water. Certainly not as elegant or romantic as barrels, most producers would never admit to using these as it is considered inferior. However, it’s not too difficult to tell if they’ve been used. If the back label of a bottle describes a wine as having been oak treated, but mentions nothing about barrels, type or length of time in them, chances are, oak chips are the culprits.   

Late Harvest Wines

If you leave grapes on the vine after the regular harvest and pick them later, you end up with “late harvest wine”. By leaving the grapes on the vine longer, the sugar content increases so the finished wine is sweeter. However, by doing this, producers run the risk of losing some fruit to frost and marauding animals, so late harvest wines tend to be pricier as they’re more work to create. The ultimate late harvest wine is Icewine, which is extremely sweet and expensive. Regular late harvest wines are usually medium-to-medium sweet, more reasonably priced and sport flavours of honey and fresh fruit. Great on their own, they’re divine with fruit-based desserts, cookies and veiny cheeses. Got to love them! 

Versatile Riesling

What’s the most versatile white grape variety in the world? That would be Riesling, of course. With its crisp, aromatic, peachy, floral, citrus character, it never sees oak so what you get out of the vineyard goes into the glass. From bone dry to sweet, still to sparkling, and even Icewine, there is no other grape variety that has so many faces and matches food superbly. Dry versions make great aperitifs and work well with fish, seafood, poultry and mild cheeses. Medium-dry styles compliment game birds, spicy dishes, soufflés and exotic fare. Medium-sweet offerings mesh with strong cheeses, paté and fruit-based desserts and Icewine, dessert by itself, is divine with most rich, decadent goodies. Check out Riesling for a nice change of pace. Enjoy!

Food-Friendly Wines

You often hear wine writers refer to certain wines as “food-friendly”. Let me explain. Simply put, a “food-friendly” wine is one that overall meshes nicely with food because of its structure and taste. However, certain wines when tasted without food are so easy-drinking and yummy, they don’t actually require it to work, but will do nicely when accompanying it. Then, there are others, straight up, that come across as aggressive, overblown, nondescript or not particularly fruity, with lots of earthy, leathery notes. Although not as enjoyable alone, these guys often come to life when matched to food and really show their stuff. Since the majority of us enjoy wine with food, it only makes sense that most wines be created to be food-friendly. Cheers!

Romance Factor

Ever taste a wine abroad in the place of origin and discover that wine back home, but somehow it just doesn’t come across the same? Well, you’re not alone. Part of the trip of tasting wine where it is made is seeing, first-hand, the vineyards and winery; meeting the winemaker; sampling the local food; inhaling the indigenous smells, experiencing the lifestyle of that region and the sheer excitement of just being there. No matter how hard you try, simulating that back home, even with the exact same vino, isn’t quite the same and as a result something in the tasting experience is missing. What’s missing is the “romance factor.” For most people, the “romance of wine” encompasses an ideal or fantasy that makes it more enjoyable.

Wine and Vegetables

If you’re a vegetarian, there are lots of wine choices to match your favourite dish. Generally, wines that have vegetal, earthy, herbaceous or leathery qualities work best. For white varieties, try Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Pinot Grigio, Verdicchio or styles like white Bordeaux and white Rhones. Red varieties such as Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Carmenere, Pinot Noir, Barbera, Pinotage and styles like red Bordeaux, red Burgundy, red Rhones, Italian and Portuguese reds do an admirable job. You can always add some of the wine that you want to sip to the preparation of the dish to pull the flavours together. Either way, when it comes to matching wine to veggies, you certainly won’t go thirsty.