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 Dr. Vinny knows the answer, and he's on his way! |
Ask Dr. Vinny
Our resident expert provides saucy answers to your toughest questions
From Wine Spectator magazine
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Since Wine Spectator frequently rates Chilean wines, and many of us consider them excellent bargains, why is the vintage chart for Chilean wines updated only to 2005?
—J.L., Coboug, Ontario
Dear J.L.,
I checked with James Molesworth, who reviews Chilean wines for us, and this is his response:
"The next Chile tasting report (scheduled for the May 15, 2008, issue) will have an updated chart that includes preliminary ratings for both 2006 and 2007. However, many of the top wines from these vintages have not yet been released.
"Vintage charts also focus only on the top cellar-worthy wines from a particular region. Typically, most value bottles see less effect on quality from vintage to vintage, since they are often blends of grapes from a wide range of vineyard sources and/or are vinified for early enjoyment. So, vintage ratings are less important for many Chilean wines."
You might also want to check out our vintage report cards, which give the earliest vintage assessments. These focus on weather and harvest conditions, not the individual wines themselves.
—Dr. Vinny
Dear Dr. Vinny,
I have a bet going on with a sommelier. The point we are betting on is whether or not unfiltered wines must say that they are unfiltered on the label. I say yes and he says no. Can you settle this for us?
—Gord, Toronto
Dear Gord,
I'm afraid you'll have to pony up: unfiltered wines are not required to be labeled as such. Many producers choose to mention it, believing it is a selling point as a more "natural" wine. Other producers think that the term might be lost on some wine lovers. Also, keep in mind that there are many different levels of filtration, so it would be a difficult term to define comprehensively.
—Dr. Vinny
Dear Dr. Vinny,
When enjoying a quality white wine, why is it not decanted, as with a red? Would it not benefit and open up as well?
—Kirk, Allentown, N.J.
Dear Kirk,
White wines are sometimes decanted, but you're right that it's less common than with reds. Remember that the main functions of decanting are to aerate a wine or to separate it from its sediment. The vast majority of whites are made in a drink-me-now style, so most folks don't age their whites, and even if they do, whites tend to throw less sediment then reds.
If you're curious, experiment! The next time you have an intense young white wine, see if you prefer it decanted, and hold a taste aside that's undecanted to compare. If you drink a lot of aged white Burgundies (and I hope you do), you should definitely try decanting them. Decanting is also a trick I use to warm up a too-cold white so I can enjoy it better.
—Dr. Vinny
Dear Dr. Vinny,
When the waiter sets the cork on the table, what should you do with it?
—Eddie Stephens, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Dear Eddie,
You paid for the wine; you can do whatever you wish. Some people just check to see that any writing on the cork matches the wine's label—if a cork marked in Italian comes out of a prize Bordeaux, you might have a problem. If you think you can learn something from smelling the cork, go ahead. Sometimes you can pick up the musty aromas of the contaminant TCA from a faulty cork. If you're suspicious about the way the wine was stored, you can touch the end of the cork to see if it's damp—this indicates the wine was stored on its side, which is a good thing (be careful not to stain your hand with any sediment, though). Most folks won't do much with the cork except appreciate the tradition or grab the free souvenir. By the time you run all the options through your head, there should be some wine waiting in your glass for you to taste.
—Dr. Vinny
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Will swallowing or spitting yield the same wine tasting impression? How can you calculate finish length if the wine never touches the back of your tongue and throat?
—Juan M., San Jose, Costa Rica
Dear Juan,
While there are some taste buds in the back of your throat, they aren't crucial for the evaluation of the finish. A wine's flavors will ricochet around your retronasal passages whether or not you swallow the wine. I'm an experienced spitter, and I find that in some situations, it's actually easier for me to evaluate a wine when I don't swallow it. It's just a matter of training and experience.
—Dr. Vinny
Dear Dr. Vinny,
I have heard several different versions of how the tradition of clinking wineglasses got started. Do you have any insight on that?
—Manfred S., Oakland, Calif.
Dear Manfred,
There are two main schools of thought on this one. The first (and most popular) is that when wine had its heyday in medieval times as a beverage generally safer to drink than water, apparently it was common to poison an enemy's wine. A good host would pour you a glass of wine, then pour himself a bit of the wine in his own cup to drink first (or simultaneously), to prove it wasn't poisoned. But if you had faith in your host, you'd just clink your cup against his in a "Hey, man, I totally trust you're not gonna poison me" gesture. It also seems to have been customary to make a sarcastic joke about staying healthy; the thought is that this is how toasts most commonly became a gesture to one's good health.
Of course, there was more thudding and clunking of wood and metal drinking vessels than clinking of glass back then. As glass became more common, it was thought that the clinking, chiming noise was a festive, happy sound, reminiscent of church bells, which would come in handy if you were trying to scare the Devil away, which is the other theory. The Devil was believed to lurk around festive occasions, and bells and clinks were a way to drive him off.
—Dr. Vinny
Dear Dr. Vinny,
What wine would you pair with popcorn?
—Jan, Pittsburg, Calif.
Dear Jan,
I love me some bubbly with popcorn! Of course, I also love bubbly with sushi, caviar, most Asian food, fried chicken and grilled cheese sandwiches. Sorry, back to the popcorn—Chardonnay, which often delivers buttery flavors from oak and malolactic fermentation, is also a good match.
—Dr. Vinny
Dear Dr. Vinny,
My kids asked me: How many grapes are used for one bottle of wine?
—Albert, Lelystad, the Netherlands
Dear Albert,
Quite a few, actually. About 600 to 800 grapes go into each bottle of wine (some grapes are bigger or juicier than others). This usually translates as about three to 10 clusters of grapes—again, depending on the grapes.
—Dr. Vinny
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