Wine, Beer and Halloween Candy

Trick or Teat!

You know, I never really liked Halloween all that much.

Even as a kid, my mom would force me to go trick or treating.

Oh, I liked the candy, Reese's peanut butter cups and Snickers being my favorites, but I just didn't enjoy dressing up like a clown or a monster and begging for it. My little sister brought in enough for both of us, she liked dressing up, and never had a clue that I was pilfering her candy. 

Perfect.

Anyway, we're stocked with candy at home now, and I do enjoy handing it out to the kids.

And ..... 

I hope their's a bunch left over, so I can eat it with some beer and wine.

Here are some interesting parings, some of which I created, and others that I've read about.

Snickers: beer: milk stout; wine: Brachetto. There is a lot going on in a Snickers bar, with all those sweet and salty flavors attacking your palate. Brachetto is a sweet rose' sparkler from Italy. The sweet strawberry flavors will complement the milk chocolate, while the bubbles and slight acidity will do well with the salt.
Milky Way: beer: milk stout again or an English barleywine. Wine: Tawny Port - no doubt about it.
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup: beer: sweet or imperial stout or a sweetened fruit lambic; wine: The Brachetto would work here too, but I think a Merlot would also be very interesting.
Sour Patch Kids: beer: Flemish red ale or American IPA; wine: tough one. When in doubt - Champagne!
Candy Corn: beer: English ESB or American or English IPA; wine: gotta be sweet. Icewine or Sauternes.
Dark Chocolate: beer: chocolate or coffee stout. wine: something big, like a  Syrah/Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon would both do nicely here.

Boo!

Tom

    

Food, Wine and Mouthfeel

Here's another of one those wine terms for you: Mouth feel or mouthfeel.
This describes the sensation of wine in the mouth. What is that mouth of yours "feeling"?
Typically, you will be describing a texture. Silky, smooth, rough, harsh or hot are a few of the sensations we experience as we taste various types of wines.
The beauty of a wine's mouthfeel is that when paired properly, it is in perfect harmony with a particular food's mouthfeel.
The classic example is matching the full bodied, tannic mouthfeel of Cabernet Sauvignon with the smooth, slippery  marbled fat found in quality cuts of steak.
Other classics include:
Champagne and potato chips (acid and bubbles vs. salt)
Chablis and oysters (crisp minerality vs. briny, salty and creamy)
Sauternes and Foie Gras (rich and sweet vs. rich and savory)
Does anybody care about this stuff now?
Nah.
It's World Series time, and the Cards are in the thick of things again.
Have a great weekend.

Tom

Here are two famous Cardinals fans:

Fredbird

Elmo

                                

Cabernet .... Franc?

What do you think of when someone says Cabernet Sauvignon?
Big, bold, noble, powerful, elegant - "the king of red grapes"!
And, what do you think of when somebody says Cabernet Franc?
Eh ... maybe nothing at all.
Ok, I'll admit Cabernet Franc is no Cabernet Sauvignon.
That's like comparing, say, a White Castle hamburger to a dry aged New York strip.
But guess what?
I like White Castle hamburgers.
And I also like Cabernet Franc.
Cab Franc is one of the five grapes used in making the great wines of Bordeaux. It is also often used in red blends in California, Washington and really, all over the world.
The Right Bank of Bordeaux uses Cab Franc as its "lead" blending grape.
Further north in the Loire Valley (still in France) Cab Franc is the ONLY grape used to make wine in the regions of Chinon, and the lesser known Bourguell.
Anyway, right around now you may be thinking:
Tom .... Shut up already! What does it taste like?
Here are some tasting notes from a fantastic Cab Franc we have at Balabans:
2007 Nicholson Jones Cellar Arts Napa Valley Cuvee - $35
70% Cabernet Franc/30% Cabernet Sauvignon
The nose opens with cedar and old wine barrel aromas, then unleashes notes of savory baking spices.
The flavor packs intense red fruits of strawberry, raspberry and plum with hints of mint and lavender.
Doesn't that sound delicious?
Believe me - it is.

Tom

                           

Are you aging your wine too long?

There's nothing more satisfying than drinking an aged Bordeaux, Burgundy or California Cabernet. Those are rare but always special wine moments.
However, for the most part, I prefer my wines young, and I really don't think most wines evolve that much after 5 years - maximum 10. I am also, I would say, hyper sensitive to oxidation - a process that occurs in all wines as they age.
I just don't like it. 
Oxidation - sounds like a topic of a future blog to me.
Anyway, young wines were not always so drinkable. Only in the past 20 years or so did you find this phenomenon with young wine, especially reds.
One of the main reasons for this "youthful drinkability" is a process called "green harvesting". This practice has been in place since the 1980's, but did not become common until the 90's.
Green harvesting is the removal of immature grape bunches from the vine, typically for the purpose of decreasing yield. What this seemingly simple process does for wine, however, is magical.
Removing the immature grapes while they are still green induces the vines to put all their energy into developing the remaining grapes. This results in wines that are more ripe and well rounded with softer, silkier tannins. Also, the "greenness" that can occur with underdeveloped grapes is significantly reduced.
The ultimate outcome is the production of wines that don't need to age as long as in the past.
Wine countries all over the world have adopted this process, so you will even find some young Bordeaux and  Barolos that are more approachable in their youth. 
Wine Spectator editor, Matt Kramer, wrote an interesting article titled: "Is It Worth It to Age Wines Anymore?" If you want to know what a supposed expert thinks about this topic, check out the link below:

Tom

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/47848

How to learn more about wine: Taste!

The world of wine can be very confusing, frustrating and even intimidating at times.
There are so many grapes, countries, regions and different wine terms, it can make your head spin.
I like to say I learn something and forget something about wine every day.
Yep. That's what I like to say.
So, what to do??
I recommend tasting. Taste as much and as often as you can. Now, this is not the same as "drinking" wine, although that's not necessarily a bad thing either. Tasting implies that you taste several wines within a short period of time. You don't even have to swallow the wine. That's why you will always see spit buckets at serious wine tastings.
Tastings are the best learning experiences you can have. Side by side, you can really taste the difference between a Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, or, the difference between French Chardonnay and California.
Ever think that Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are similar in taste profile? Try one right after the other.
The St. Louis area offers many opportunities to taste wine for no or minimal cost.
Of course there are all of the Missouri wineries. There are 7 wine regions here, four of which are American Viticultural Areas (AVA's): Augusta, Hermann and two regions in the Ozarks.
All of the major liquor stores, wine shops and many grocery stores have complimentary tastings Friday nights or on Saturdays in the afternoon.
Here at Balabans, we taste four wines, two white and two red, every Saturday from 1:00 - 3:00 PM. We serve the wines with our Artisanal cheese plate, and this is all complimentary.
We also have Wine pairing dinners every month on a Sunday evening. There are five courses paired with five wines, and these dinners are amazing - in my humble opinion.
So whatever you do, don't be intimidated by wine - it offers way to much enjoyment for that.

Tom

Baseball

If you know anything about St. Louis, you know baseball is not "just baseball".
It's religion here.
And our beloved Cardinals just made it past the first round of the playoffs - again.
This year was a little different for me, though.
I normally want the Cards to just crush the competition and move on.
But, you know, I really liked the Bucs. They are a class act, and, if the Cards wouldn't have won this series, I would be pulling for the Bucs all the way.
So, how do I celebrate when the Cards win postseason baseball?
Champagne, of course!
I didn't have any last night, but, I have the whole weekend ahead of me.
Can't wait for more baseball - can't wait for Champagne!

Tom

       

              

Wine Bottle Size Trivia

Brian, one of our owners here at Balabans, hosted a party this weekend and cracked open a special bottle from his cellar.

It was a 6 Liter bottle of 1986 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon. He said the wine was "excellent", which was no surprise to me.

Me. I was driving to Chicago with my wife. As I'm telling her about this wine, she asks: "so how many bottles are there in 6 Liters"?

I responded "8". And then thought, wait, maybe it's 10. Or, is it 12?

Dang. I wasn't sure. I hadn't thought about this in a while. 

So, after we got home, I revisited wine bottle sizes.

Incidentally, my initial response was correct. 6 Liters = 8 regular bottles of wine.

Here are some other bottle sizes. These sizes are for still wines. Bottle sizing is a little different for sparkling and Champagne wines.

187.5 ml - Piccolo or Split - Typically used for single servings of Champagne.

375 ml - Demi or Half - Holds one half of the standard 750 ml size.

750 ml - Standard - Most common wine bottle size.

1.5 L - Magnum - Equivalent to 2 standard 750 ml bottles.

3.0 L - Double Magnum - Equivalent to 2 Magnums or 4 standard  bottles

4.5 L - Jeroboam - Equivalent to 6 standard bottles 

6.0 L - Imperial - Equivalent to 8 standard bottles or 2 Double Magnums

9.0 L - Salmanazar - Equivalent to 12 standard bottles - a full case of wine!

12.0 L - Balthazar - Equivalent to 16 standard bottles.

15.0 L - Nebuchadnezzar - Equivalent to 20 standard bottles.

18.0 L - Melchior (not pictured) - Equivalent to 24 standard bottles - 2 cases of wine!

Tom

Now those are some BIG bottles!

When is wine a good value?

It seems you can buy wine almost anywhere these days. That can make it tough sometimes on your friendly, local independent wine retailer.
Sam's, Costco, Trader Joe's, Walgreens, Amazaon.com, even Aldi's is hawking wine at dirt cheap prices. 
I generally consider wine to be a good value if it is under $20 retail and of high quality. The high quality part is essential. At Balabans, I spend more time trying to find high quality value wines than anything else. A quick physical count shows we have over 100 labels under $20, with many wines at $9 and $10. And I can guarantee you every one of those 100+ wines is of high quality. Because somebody here tried them before they were purchased.
Cheers to value!

Tom

Wacky Wine Customers

A lovely couple had just finished lunch the other day, and as they were leaving, they hesitated and began lurking in the retail section of Balabans.
I was passed out at the bar at the time, but you know how you get this strange feeling sometimes that suddenly wakes you up and you don't know why that happens but you're happy when it does because something good usually happens?
Well that's exactly what happened to me!
I woke up, checked for drool and dashed over to them, smiling, asking:
Can I help you folks with some wine selections?
They: We would like a Pinot Grigio.
Me: I have several Pinot Grigios at all price levels. Do you have any favorites?
They: We like sweet Pinot Grigio.
Me: Really? I'm sorry, I only have crisp, dry Pinot Grigio from Italy or Pinot Gris from Oregon.
Me again: Have you ever had a sweet Pinot Grigio?
They: No, but we think it would be good.
Me: Uh Huh.
Me again: If you like sweeter wines I have some great Rieslings from Germany that you might like.

Time passes as they contemplate this life altering decision. I'm worried that I might fall back to sleep right in front of them.

Suddenly they ask:
Do you have any Missouri wines?
Me: Sorry, I don't.
They: No?? What kind of wines do you have?
Me: France, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Spain, California, Washington .............
They: I hear California is starting to make some good wine.
Me: Uh Huh.

Now I'm thinking: do I slit my wrists now and end this, or should I continue to try to sell them something.
I continue:
You know, I think you really might like this Riesling. If you don't, it's only costing you $13.
They: Ok. We'll try it.

I know I'm being silly here, but the above exchange is pretty much verbatim.

I hope they like the Riesling.

Tom