Wine Infographic: Port Wine Cheat Sheet

Next in the wine cheat sheet series:  Port!  Port is a great wine to keep around during the holidays. It's a warming, celebratory drink as well as a festive gift.

The full collection of wine cheat sheets is here.

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You may also be interested in:
Easy Chocolate-Port Brownies
A Dessert Wine from the Texas Piney Woods
Sherry Cheat Sheet

A Beer Aged in Sherry Casks

The annual International Sherry Week goes from November 7th through 13th. (The Sherry Cheat Sheet can help you navigate the complex world of sherry and find something fun to drink.) This year, I celebrated Sherry Week with an ale aged in sherry casks. UK brewer J.W. Lees matures its Harvest Ale in barrels previously used for sherry.

  

The cheapest, easiest, laziest way to cook with wine.

Okay, I know what I'm about to say sounds bad, and I'm the first one to advocate for drinking good wine and serving it correctly. But when it comes to cooking with wine, I just don't have the time (or the budget) to be a perfectionist. So I've developed some strategies to get the great flavors from cooking with wine without any of the hassle.

The general rule is to not cook with any wine that you wouldn't want to drink. You might open a single bottle to put into the dish you're cooking and to drink while you eat it. Or, if you're cooking with the leftovers from an open bottle from a few days ago, you'll want to make sure you preserved that bottle properly, using a vacuum or gas system and putting the wine in the fridge.

This approach is admittedly not that hard, but I have a few issues with it, because maybe I'm cheap and/or lazy. First, I'll spend about $15 on a bottle of wine to drink with dinner. I won't do it every day, and I'll spend more on special occasions. I'm reluctant to pour a $15-a-bottle wine into spaghetti sauce. If I spent the money and chose the wine, I want to drink it! And if I'm supposed to always cook with wine I would drink, then we have a problem.

Second, I cook dinner for my husband and myself 4 or 5 nights a week. This requires a lot of both planning and improvising. Sometimes I plan a meal and use a recipe; sometimes I make it up as I go along from whatever we happen to have in the house. Sometimes we're drinking wine with dinner, sometimes not. Figuring out which bottle of wine to cook with complicates things, not in an insurmountable way, but in an "I worked all day and need to cook something healthy and fast and I don't want to deal with one more thing" kind of way.

Ideally, it would be nice to have a couple of different types of wine on hand for cooking (red, white, etc.), without having to plan ahead, without having to worry about an open bottle spoiling, without cringing as you pour some of your yummy $15 bottle into the pan.

Here's how you do it!

Wine Infographic: Madeira Wine Cheat Sheet

Next in the wine cheat sheet series:  Madeira!

See the full collection of wine cheat sheets here.

To see the Cheat Sheet in full size…
…in Internet Explorer, right click on it and select “open in new tab.”
…in Chrome, right click on it and select “open link in new tab.”
…in Firefox, right click on it and select “view image.”   


You may also be interested in:
Sherry Cheat Sheet
Spanish Wine Cheat Sheet
Texas Kneecaps (with Bonus Lesson on Semi-Generic Labeling!)
Vinho Verde: Your New Favorite Summer Wine

Easy Chocolate-Port Brownies

I was tasting wine in Sonoma last week with some friends, who loved a Port-style wine but were hesitant to buy a bottle because they didn't know if they'd finish it before it spoiled. I proposed 2 solutions to this problem:

1)  Keep the bottle in the fridge and have a few sips every night after dinner.  That bottle will be empty before you know it.

2)  Make Port brownies!

I first experienced Port brownies in a wine class, when each week a different student was responsible for bringing dinner for the class. One girl brought these brownies, and we all fell in love with them. They're simple but impressive. Here's how to make them.

Buy a good quality brownie mix, like Ghirardelli. You'll also need Port and some dried cherries. Look at the amount of water (or milk) the brownie directions call for, and measure out that much Port instead. Take some dried cherries - about 1/2 cup, or however much looks good to you - and soak them in the Port while the oven heats up. Continue to mix the brownies according to the directions on the box. (It may work best to remove the cherries from the Port, mix the Port into the the other ingredients, then gently fold in the cherries at the end.) Bake as directed.

For a really impressive dessert, serve these brownies with the Port you used to make them.  The flavors will be wonderful together.  Port, cherries, and chocolate are a perfect match.

For a fancy way to serve them, I like to use this tequila set.  I don't drink much tequila, but this nifty set is perfect for Port and brownies.  It comes with six glasses and a tray, or as single serving pieces.

     

A Dessert Wine from the Texas Piney Woods

With the increasing fame of the Texas Hill County, it's easy to overlook some of the other Texas wine regions. But the Piney Woods Trail (east of Dallas) has a few hidden gems, including Enoch's Stomp Vineyard and Winery. I visited in 2012 and enjoyed the wines, but only brought home one bottle. (As I recall, it was one of the last stops on the trip, and by that time I was thinking I'd never be able to drink all the wines I had already bought.)

This week I finally opened that lone bottle from Enoch's Stomp: Ellen's Sweet Song, a red Port-style dessert wine. Many Texas wineries make a Port-style wine, but this may be one of the best. Many of the Texas Port-style wines are not fortified, meaning that unlike true Port, brandy is not added to the wine. They achieve a higher alcohol content (usually 18 - 20%) through fermentation alone, which makes them very smooth and perfect for those who like the taste of Port but find it a bit harsh.

Ellen's Sweet Song is made from Lenoir, which grows well in east Texas. Lenoir is an up-and-coming variety to watch. Many Texas winemakers are growing and experimenting with it. I've tasted great and not-so-great examples, but I predict a big future for the grape.

2010 Ellen's Sweet Song

Appearance:  Opaque, deep brick red. The brownish tinge is a result of age, since it's 5 years old now.

Nose:  Very aromatic. Notes of blackberry preserves, raisin, dried plum, vanilla, and almond (almost like in Amaretto).

Palate:  Fully sweet (14% residual sugar), high acid, medium tannin, full body. 17.3% abv.

I don't believe you can purchase any of Enoch's wines in the Houston area yet, but since the Piney Woods is an easy weekend getaway from Houston, I hope you'll visit them sometime! They have a restaurant along with beautiful, relaxing views, as you can see.

P.S.  Yes, that is a Messina Hof tasting glass in the picture! I often use mine for tasting at home, since they're the right size and shape.


You may also be interested in:
Texas Wine Cheat Sheet
Visiting Tara in East Texas and Tasting Stagecoach Red
Lenoir and the Georgetown Winery
Visiting Los Pinos in the Piney Woods
Returning to Messina Hof for my 1st harvest and grape stomp!

Wine Infographic: Sherry Cheat Sheet

Sherry is a fortified wine that has been produced in Spain since around 1100 BC and was extremely popular throughout the 19th century.  It's currently experiencing a resurgence of popularity, so I thought we needed a cheat sheet to remind us of the key Sherry facts.

Sherry has been frequently mentioned in literature, including several of Shakespeare's plays (usually as "sack").  My favorite literary reference to Sherry is in Edgar Allen Poe's short story, "The Cask of Amontillado."  The full text is here, and it only takes about 10 minutes to read the whole story.  Without giving away the plot, I can say that I love the association of wine cellars with burial and crypts.  As you'll see in the cheat sheet, Amontillado is a type of Sherry that develops flor (a film of yeast on top of the wine), but then the flor dies or is killed.  Poe cleverly uses Amontillado (and flor) as a metaphor for...well, what happens at the end...  This story might also have the best opening line of any short story ever.

To see the full collection of wine cheat sheets, click here.

To see the Cheat Sheet in full size…
…in Internet Explorer, right click on it and select “open in new tab.”
…in Chrome, right click on it and select “open link in new tab.”
…in Firefox, right click on it and select “view image.”   

Texas Kneecaps (with Bonus Lesson on Semi-Generic Labeling!)

I recently came across a cocktail recipe for a “Kneecap” at The Kitchn, one of my favorite cooking sites.  The drink is simple: equal parts bourbon and ruby Port, shaken over ice.  Lately my go-to bourbon is Lone Star 1835 Texas Bourbon (available from Spec’s for $27 per 750 ml bottle).  I picked up the Haak Texas Port to go with it ($18 per 750 ml bottle), so I could make a 100% Texan Kneecap!  

The Texas Kneecap is definitely a drink for bourbon (or whiskey) fans, and it's strong.  The Port adds sweetness and fruitiness which combines well with the caramel notes in the bourbon.  I threw in an ice cube because I was too lazy to shake it properly.  I am obviously not a cocktail purist. 

But, you may ask, doesn’t bourbon come from Kentucky?  And doesn’t Port come from Portugal?  And for that matter, why are some bottles labeled “California Champagne” when Champagne is in France?  I’m glad you asked!  The answer, in a (hyphenated) word, is “semi-generic.”  We’re about to traverse some dry, legal territory, so I recommend you pour yourself a Texas Kneecap before proceeding.  

U.S. wine label regulations divide geographical names into 3 categories:  generic, semi-generic, and non-generic:  

• Generic means that in the past the name referred to a place, but now refers to a style of wine.  A generic name can refer to any wine of that style, no matter where the wine is from.  (Vermouth is one of these.)
• Semi-generic means the name refers to a specific place, but the name is so closely associated with a particular style of wine that producers from anywhere are allowed to use the name to refer to the style.  However, if the wine doesn’t come from the place the name refers to, another regional name MUST be placed in front of the semi-generic name.  (Hence Port comes from Portugal, but we can have a “Texas Port.”  This is also how we get “California Champagne.”)
• Non-generic means that the name can ONLY be used to refer to wine from that place, and does not refer to a wine style.  (Bordeaux wine can only come from the Bordeaux region of France.)

Here are some examples:

* The U.S., per European Union request, has agreed to work to change the status of EU semi-generic names to non-generic.  If/when the law is changed, new labels will only be able to use these names in reference to these specific wine regions.  However, producers outside these regions who used the names (legally) as semi-generic on their labels prior to a certain date would be “grandfathered” and able to continue using the name, providing that no other wording on the label changed.

Clear as mud?  If you're a masochist and want to read the full law, click here.  These regulations apply to wine.  Bourbon has its own set of regulations, but for now let’s stick to the 2 most important ones:  1)  it must come from the U.S. and 2)  the grain used to make it must be at least 51% corn.

Now you understand the basics of generic vs. semi-generic geographical names on wine labels!  I think you deserve another Texas Kneecap.

NASA, Space, and Wine

As you may have noticed on my profile, I work full time as a contractor at NASA's Johnson Space Center.  I write and edit reports that support human spaceflight safety.  So of course, I'm always interested in intersections between wine and space.  Recently I've come across a few articles with a NASA-wine connection, and though some of them are pretty old, they still have interesting information to share.

Sucking Sherry From a Bag in Space - February 2, 2014
In the 1960s and 70s, NASA scientists tried to make the prospect of long-duration space flights more comfortable by packing wine for the trip.  (I should add that today alcohol is officially not allowed on the International Space Station...though sometimes there are rumors.)

Monitoring Vodka Production from Space - June 14, 2012
Russian authorities use satellite images to catch producers of illegal vodka.

Space Wine: The Next Frontier - November 20, 2012
Ardbeg has claimed a spot for some of its scotch on the International Space Station, to find out how the aging process differs in a micro-gravity environment.  They're calling it Galileo.  Wine may be next.

Flying High for Fine Wine:  NASA and Robert Mondavi Use Airborne Cameras to Improve California Vineyards - June 26, 2000
This one is VERY old, but it shares some fascinating information about how aerial photos and sensors can be used to assess the health of the vines in different areas of a vineyard.

One more fun NASA-and-wine fact:  The North American Sommelier Association also uses the acronym NASA.  I find that a strange and confusing choice, but hey, they didn't ask me.

Oxidation, Friend or Foe?

The process of oxidation contributes to some of the world’s great wines, yet most of the time it is considered a fault.  Here’s a primer on what it is, how to recognize it, and when you might want some!

As the name suggests, oxidation happens when wine is exposed to oxygen.  Oxidation can happen slowly or quickly, depending on how much oxygen is in contact with the wine.  Oxidation causes wine to turn a brownish color and creates nutty, sometimes caramelized aromas.

If you open a relatively young wine (less than 5 years old), and it looks like this picture, it is oxidized.  See how brown it is?  When I opened this 2-year-old wine, I noticed that the cork was protruding slightly from the bottle.  This is generally not a good sign, but you never know until you open the bottle.  Sure enough, the wine was oxidized due to a bad cork seal, which allowed far too much oxygen to circulate into the bottle.  If this happens to you, I have good news and bad news.  First the bad news:  this wine is officially “faulted” and will not taste the way it should.  The good news:  if you like the way it tastes, you can still drink it.  It won’t hurt you or make you sick.  (I drank some from my oxidized bottle, just to notice the changes in flavor.  It wasn’t terrible.)

Many wines are partially oxidized on purpose.  This happens in a slow, gradual, controlled way when wines are aged in oak at a winery.  It also happens very slowly as wines are aged in the bottle, since the cork allows a small amount of air into the bottle.  (More about aging wine here.)  If the picture above had been a 10+ year old wine, there would have been no problem.  Part of the allure of older wines is that they take on different characteristics through slow, gradual, oxidation.  If you use a wine aerator, you’re increasing the wine’s exposure to oxygen just before drinking it, to mimic a bit of that aging effect.  (More on aeration here.)  But wines that have oxidized at a young age due to improper bottling or storage are not better for it.  Storing bottles on their sides helps to keep the cork moist, maintain a good seal, and prevent unwanted oxidation.  

A few wines are heavily oxidized on purpose.  The most famous of these are Oloroso Sherry, Tawny Port, and Madeira.  These are sweet, fortified wines that are aged in oak until they take on a brownish hue and nutty, caramel-like aromas.  They are delicious, and you should try one!

Have you ever opened a young wine that had turned brown from oxidation?  Did you taste it anyway?  Did you like it?