Great Wine Source Wine Blog

Basic information about wine, wine education and wine business discussions

Posts Tagged wine grapes

Wine of the Day – Pinotage

Feb 5

Posted by greatWineSource in Reds, South Africa, Wine of the Day | Comments off

Wine of the Day for February 5, 2010

Pinotage

Pinotage Grape

Origin

Pinotage was created in 1925 by Professor A. L. Perold at Stellenbosch University in South Africa when he crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsaut.

Style

This red grape produces different styles of wines, from young, light, and fruity, like Beaujolais; deep and robust like a Côtes du Rhône or Zinfandel, or age-worthy like Bordeaux. It has been produced into a blush version, Port style dessert wine as well as a sparkling wine.

Characteristics

You will notice smoky, blackberry or raspberry and earthy flavors, with hints of bananas and tropical fruit. If fermented at too low of temperatures, it can smell like finger nail polish remover or rusty nails. However, when fermented and aged properly, this is a very versatile and first-rate wine.

Pairing

Tuna, swordfish, grouper, rabbit, venison, chocolate soufflé.

Cheers to full glasses all around!

Visit my website

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Wine of the Day – Sagrantino di Montefalco

Jan 16

Posted by greatWineSource in Italy, Reds, Wine of the Day | Comments off

Wine of the Day for January 16, 2010

Sagrantino di Montefalco

Origin

Sagrantino di Montefalco is a red grape originating in Umbria, Italy.

Style

Today you will find this wine is dry and fully of tannins. For years, it was made into rich sweet wines called passito, which is produced using the method of drying the grapes on straw mats.

Sagrantino di Montefalco grape

Characteristics

I was turned on to it because of its deep color, full body and abundance of blackberry aromas, with hints of violet, spice, chocolate and earth. This combination emits a sense of luxury to me.

This wine has specific aging requirements. It must be aged for 30 months before release of which 12 months must be in Oak barrels (preferably French Oak).

In my research, I discovered that this grape is thought to contain the highest amount of cancer fighting polyphenols of all known grapes. Bonus for those of us who enjoy these full-bodied reds!

Pairing

As I mentioned in my Sauvignon Blanc post, this wine will pair well with your spicier Chilis, and will other excellent complements are asiago cheese, paella and roasted meats.

Leading producer

Arnaldo Caprai is a leading producer of this wine, and while not inexpensive (at $35 and up) is well worth the investment. (FYI, I consider inexpensive wines as less than $20.) If you can find it at a local wine store, let me know where and I will post for others’ benefit.

Cheers to full glasses all around!

Visit my website

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Wine of the Day – Dolcetto

Jan 13

Posted by greatWineSource in Italy, Wine of the Day | 1 Comment

Wine of the Day for January 13, 2010

Dolcetto

DolcettoWe are coming out with a Dolcetto this month and so I wanted to give a bit of time to this fabulous grape and wine. I was introduced to Dolcetto a couple of years ago through my business and loved it!

“Dolcetto” means “little sweet one”, but it is most often a drier wine. This black grape which originated in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, but which is grown in small quantities in California produces deeply-pigmented wines, with luscious fruit character, natural acidity, and firm tannins. It is a very pleasant, drinkable wine and a wonderful choice for the new wine enthusiast who wants to start with a more subdued red. Be careful though, some Dolcettos are replete with tannins, which can leave you feeling bitter about the ending (it’s a play on words – tannins create the bitterness in wines).

Common aromas and flavors you may find with this wine are plum, prune with slight hints of cherry. Dolcetto is wonderful with pastas, pizza, prosciutto, and bleu cheese.

When you take a sip of this wine, envision yourself in the mountains of Italy, gathered with family and friends, enjoying life’s simple pleasures and the beauty of life.
Italian Villa

Cheers to full glasses all around!

Visit my website

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Wine of the Day – About

Jan 3

Posted by greatWineSource in Wine of the Day | Comments off

What is this wine of the day blog about?

Education about grapes

I’m trying to educate about the grapes that go into wines, writing about aromas and flavors and adding a couple of food pairings. I might even give a recipe or two.

Any wine enthusiast knows that wines change based on terroir, fermentation methods, producer, vintage, etc. This blog talks about general characteristics you can find in these wines made from these particular grapes. If you do a taste test comparison of two Cabernet Sauvignons from different producers, you will get different results. You can get different results from different vintages from the same producer and same wine. That is what is so great about wines. They change, they keep our interest, keep us guessing and enjoying!

My ideal job: travel the world, trying different wines, meeting other enthusiasts from around the globe and learning from them. That would be such a fantastic job to be able to travel world-wide and get paid to try new wines! I know there are some of you out there that do, and I would love to hear from you. Let’s make this interactive; I can talk about the grapes and you can add your favorite wines for that grape. That sounds like the best of both worlds to me and can help me and others live vicariously through all our experiences.

Cheers to full glasses all around!

Visit my website

Tags: , ,