Here are all the questions I've answered in the past. Have a question of your own? Ask it here.
July 01, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
What is the main varietal used in Loire, France, to make red wine?
—Yoon-sik, Seoul, South Korea
Dear Yoon-sik,
Cabernet Franc is the dominant red wine grape in France's Loire region. You'll see bottlings bearing the names of the regions where Cabernet Franc is from, like Chinon and Bourgueil. These wines showcase typical Franc characteristics of red and black fruit, olive, tobacco, chalk and mineral notes.
—Dr. Vinny
June 29, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
I've had some pretty lousy wine in the past, but how would I know if I were tasting a wine that had truly "turned"?
—Bruce, Chicago
Dear Bruce,
Good question. So, you're not enjoying a wine, but you're not sure if it's always been bad or if perhaps it had better days. You may not be able to tell for certain, but there are a few clues to look for to indicate a wine that has shifted from drinkable to less so.
The biggest destroyer of good flavors is excessive oxygen, which will give a wine's color a brownish tinge and turn its flavors nutty and Sherry-like, with a distinctive bruised apple flavor. If a wine has been exposed to heat, the flavors might turn cooked—that is, the fresh fruit flavors take on a stewed note. In some cases, a wine might re-ferment in the bottle, and you can tell this by a spritzy, fizzy note and an off-putting yeasty scent. Finally, an otherwise perfectly fine wine may have been affected by a compound called TCA (or 2,4,6-trichloroanisole), which may come from tainted corks and results in notes of musty, dank, wet cardboard or damp cement in a wine.
—Dr. Vinny
June 26, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
I've read the term "garrigue" in reference to describing wine flavor. Does the term usually refer to a wine expressing a sense of the limestone that some plants grow in, or the notes of the actual herbs like sage, rosemary or lavender coming out in the wine?
—Michael S., Oak Park, Calif.
Dear Michael,
Garrigue refers to the low-growing vegetation on the limestone hills of the Mediterranean coast, not the limestone itself. There are a bunch of bushy, fragrant plants that grow wild there, such as juniper, thyme, rosemary and lavender, and garrigue refers to the sum of them. Think herbes de Provence, or a mix of fresh minty-herbal notes with more pungent, floral fragrances.
—Dr. Vinny
June 24, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Is there a rating system where one can determine where an individual's genetically inherited palate lies on the sweet-dry-bitter spectrum? People who rate wines should then provide their palate rating when they review wines. I found out I'm a supertaster, so I avoid things like beer and unsweetened coffee. I'd love to know which professional critics have the same preferences as I do so I can buy the wines they recommend.
—Bob B., Bellingham, Wash.
Dear Bob,
You're a supertaster, eh? That means you're among the 25 percent or so of the population who have a higher density of taste buds than most people. While it might sound like a form of physical superiority, in fact it is a bit of a curse. Supertasters are extra-sensitive to bitter, spicy, fatty and sweet foods. Even the smallest amount of bitterness can be overwhelming, and a hint of residual sugar can seem cloying. As you might imagine, supertasters tend to be picky eaters. And they usually don't like alcohol very much.
There currently isn't a rating system for our physical taste bud apparatus, though I imagine we could all dye our tongues with food coloring and count the number of fungiform papillae. But I don't think that just because two people have the same number of taste buds on their tongues they would necessarily like the same wines, describe them in the same way, or give them similar ratings. There's already a way to learn whether you have the same preferences as a critic: simply by looking at the reviews out there and finding out if your tastes align with their comments.
—Dr. Vinny
June 22, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Perhaps you can help settle a debate. A friend of a friend makes and bottles his own wine in upstate New York from grapes purchased from Lodi, California. If these wines were to appear on a wine list, should they appear as being from Lodi (where the grapes were grown) or New York (where they were vinified)?
—Sean, via the Internet
Dear Sean,
If the wine in the scenario you describe were to be sold commercially, as long as at least 75 percent of the grapes came from Lodi, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (or TTB) would allow it to be labeled as Lodi wine, which means it would appear on wine lists under "California."
—Dr. Vinny
June 19, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Prior to an official day of a blind tasting, what "pre-game rituals" do you or other tasters go through? I would think toothpaste, morning coffee, and breakfast foods would corrupt the palate.
—Jordan, Dallas
Dear Jordan,
I took an informal poll of Wine Spectator tasters and found common threads, and—as you might imagine—a lot of personal preferences. As far as tooth brushing, you're right that it is a no-no to morning tasters, not only because of lasting minty tastes but because brushing can make your teeth susceptible to acid weardown or tannin buildup during tastings.
Everyone who normally drinks coffee still drank their coffee, though most said that an hour or so before tasting, they stopped eating or drinking anything that might interfere with wine. And let me speak from personal experience here: tasting on an empty stomach is a bad idea unless you like to listen to tummy rumblings, so a healthy, neutral breakfast is key.
Just about everyone mentioned the importance of a clear mind when tasting. For some, that means tasting first thing, when they feel most alert. Others are more comfortable tasting in the afternoon, when their palate is broken in from breakfast and lunch. I think most of us avoid things like overly spicy foods, excessive garlic or onions, and tuna fish sandwiches for lunch on tasting days.
Finally, when tasters sit down to a flight, they are presented with a benchmark—that is, a previously rated wine which is tasted non-blind as a reference point. This helps them calibrate their palate, no matter what they had for breakfast.
—Dr. Vinny
June 17, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Can you explain to me what ice wine is? I thought it had to do with when the grapes are harvested—or am I completely wrong?
—Judi C., Elizabethtown, Ky.
Dear Judi,
You're on the right track. Ice wine (sometimes spelled "icewine" or, in German, eiswein) is a dessert wine that's made from grapes that were frozen while still on the vines. Since the water in the grapes freezes but the sugars and other dissolved solids don't, the result is a very concentrated and sweet wine. There are also "non-natural" ice wines, when grapes are picked and then frozen mechanically. Sometimes these are referred to as "icebox wines" or "iced wine" to give them a slight distinction from the original.
—Dr. Vinny
June 15, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
I just read a story about a couple that cannot use the word "Champagne" in their business name. But I see the word used in other areas. For instance, there is a certain beer in America that calls itself the "Champagne of beers." What gives?
—Cameron E., Orange, Calif.
Dear Cameron,
This is an interesting question, and unfortunately it comes with a confusing answer. Let me start by addressing the use of the term "Champagne" as it refers to wine. The French wanted to protect the use of the term "Champagne" to only refer to bubbly made using traditional methods from grapes grown and vinified in the Champagne region of France, so when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 to end WWI, they included limits on the use of the word. History buffs may recall that the United States never actually ratified the Treaty of Versailles, and that in 1919 the U.S. was in the midst of Prohibition, so alcohol-labeling laws hardly seemed important at the time. This created the loophole that allowed producers here to legally slap the word "Champagne" on their bottles of bubbly—much to the irritation of the winegrowers in Champagne. Out of respect and to avoid confusion, many producers in the United States called their bubbly "sparkling wine," even when it's made in the traditional method.
Then, in early 2006, the United States and the European Union signed a wine trade agreement, and the issue was brought up again. This time, the United States agreed to not allow new uses of certain terms that were previously considered to be "semi-generic," such as Champagne (as well as Burgundy, Chablis, Port and Chianti). But anyone who already had an approved label was grandfathered in and may continue to use the term.
But that recent wine trade agreement? It was only about wine, and not about beer or other spirits. I talked with a representative at the U.S. Alcohol Tobacco and Trade Bureau (or TTB), who confirmed that there currently isn't any law or international agreement that regulates the use of wine terms like "Champagne" on bottles of beer. Furthermore, he pointed out that there's a complaint process if someone wants to challenge the use of one of these terms on a product, and so far, no one has officially complained.
You didn't mention if the couple in the story you refer to were trying to use term "Champagne" in a wine-related business. That's the only legal restriction I know of.
—Dr. Vinny
June 12, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
I have some bottles of Cabernet that have lost some of their fruitiness because they're a little too old. I've heard that adding some Port (not tawny) can bring back the flavor of the wine. Have you heard of this, and if so, what amount of Port should be added to what amount of red wine?
—Arlene L., Somers, N.Y.
Dear Arlene,
No, I haven't heard about this, and honestly it sounds like a bad idea to me. Outside of an occasional mimosa or sangria, I'm not a fan of any sort of wine "cocktail," and I don't have any recipe to recommend.
But let's look more closely at your situation. First, you're correct that as wines age, their fresh fruit characteristics will fade. If it's an age-worthy wine that's been stored well, the youthfulness of the wine should be replaced by more mature notes that I would broadly describe as spicy or pleasantly earthy. While it can be a very different experience than drinking a newly released wine, I'd encourage you to have an open mind about tasting older wines.
If this flavor profile is not for you, I completely understand. But adding Port or any other substance to the wine isn't going to magically transform it and "bring back" the flavor that you feel is missing. You're just going to change your old wine into an "old wine plus Port" concoction—and, I'm guessing, it won't do either the wine or the Port any favors. If you decide to experiment with becoming an oenologist mixologist (oenomixologist?), I would recommend starting with a very small amount of Port, which I'd suspect would pretty quickly overwhelm an old wine.
—Dr. Vinny
June 10, 2009:
Dear Dr. Vinny,
What is the difference between a "domaine" and a "château"?
—Howard B., via the Internet
Dear Howard,
Hundreds of wine brands out there have either "château" or "domaine" in their names (and a few even have both). Often they're used interchangeably to refer to a place where wine is made. If you're looking for a more nuanced answer, château is the French term for a country house or castle, and is most commonly used by the wineries of Bordeaux, while the term domaine, which refers to a territory or empire, is typically associated with the wineries of Burgundy. Remember, though, that in most countries there are no legal restrictions on the use of these terms, so there may not be an actual, physical "château" at all ... much less a "domaine."
—Dr. Vinny
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