A little Wine Chat

I talk about my wine and wine experiences a lot. I thought I'd share a little wine knowledge and some of my personal tastes and perhaps even drop a few names of my favorite wines!

Dry Red Wines(My personal favorite dry red is a Cabernet Sauvignon)are predominantly made from red grape varieties that have been 'fermented to dryness. What this means is that the wine has little or no residual sugar in the finished product. The sugar is fermented completely into alcohol.

MOST Reds are dry, but there are some dessert wines that are sweet.

The TANNINS in wine are naturally occurring compounds in grapes and they are what give the wine the feeling or texture in your mouth. Tannins CAN be drying; they can make your mouth have a feeling of dryness. This does not technically make the wine a dry wine, see my notes about sugar. :)

Acidity and Sweetness of a wine are the taste elements that work together to give a wine a pleasantness of taste. Too much acidity and you have a harsh taste to your wine...not quite vinegar..but something similar. If a wine is too acid, the flavor of the wine will not linger in your mouth long enough. You will have a sensation of having something flat and not interesting at all. You don't want that! Too much Tannin in a wine and you have bitter wine. The right balance of the two; acidity and tannins will give you a wine that FEELS nice in your mouth.

There are many other hints and nuances of flavor in dry red wines; some of them being berries, plums, chocolate, and my personal favorite is the oaky taste. You will quickly recognize the flavor; it's that of freshly sawn oak. When a red wine has been "oaked' well, it will smell slightly of Vanilla. Too much oak is overwhelming, but get it just right and you have the perfect wine. (in my humble opinion)

**Wine is Oaked by the wine being in storage barrels of oak. The newer the oak barrel the stronger the oak flavor that goes into your wine. The Vanilla that is part of the Oaky taste comes from the character of the hardwood. Some wine enthusiasts consider the Vanilla to be a highly desirable taste. (I do!)

I am not a wine snob, quite the contrary; while I adore and appreciate a really fine bottle of wine; I quite frequently will purchase a $6 bottle or ... gasp... one of those BIG bottles you see mostly in grocery stores and Wally World.

The following list is a few of my favorite 'nicer' Cabernet Sauvignons but I'm in no way limited to these.

Robert Mondavi Napa Valley ($20 - $25) '05 -'07 Tastes of plums, blackberries and a hint of spice and lots of tannin for a really bold full mouth feel.

J Lohr 2006 ($22 - $26) Tastes of oak, cherry, stone fruits. Silky and smooth in the mouth, medium weight feel. (I LOVE this wine!)

Hawstone 2006 ($20) Good body, soft tannins, hints of fruit and berry, Earthy. Very nice wine.

Chateau St. Michelle (Columbia Valley) 2006 (Average cost around $15)Has a nice mouth feel, tastes of ripe berries and a tiny bit of oak.

Estancia($13 - $14) Black Cherry and chocolate, nice oaky flavor. For a lower cost it's a super nice wine.

Kendall Jackson ($18) Nice round mouth feeling, hints of vanilla and oak...long finish.


Now for my go wine of 'cheap' wines:

Barefoot makes a decent Cabernet and you can't get one much cheaper. No vintage..lol
It has a nice currant, berry taste with a really nice amount of oak. It may be just a wee bit acidic; but after a couple of glasses, you really won't mind it at all. AND the price makes it a steal. $8 or less a bottle. Try it; you might just like it.