French Wine
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California boasts more than twenty different winegrowing regions, each with distinctive personalities reflected in the landscape, the wineries and the wines, and even familiar spots have undiscovered back roads and spectacular but less-visited regions within the region. In fact, California now has 107 different American Viticultural Areas or AVAs, delimited winegrowing areas recognized by the federal government. Wine is a signature product of California and an important part of the cultural and physical landscape of the state. California is the fourth largest wine producer in the world and Golden State wineries produce 90 percent of all U.S. wine!
The French even have a name for it - gout de goudron - according to Frank Schoonmaker's Encyclopedia of Wine, which notes that the smell, "far from disagreeable ... is usually one of the characteristics of a fine red wine made from very ripe grapes."
Ordering wine in restaurants is an essential step in 'enjoying your dining experience. You will find that there 'are two types of restaurants serving wine: simply, those 'that have a poor wine service and poor wine selections, 'and those that provide a knowledgeable and helpful wine 'staff, and stock favorable wines.'
The smell of old leather comes up often in well-aged red wine. I find it pleasant, too, more like fine old books in leather bindings than well-used shoes.
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| California boasts more than twenty different winegrowing regions, each with distinctive personalities reflected in the landscape, the wineries and the wines, and even familiar spots have undiscovered back roads and spectacular but less-visited regions within the region. In fact, California now has 107 different American Viticultural Areas or AVAs, delimited winegrowing areas recognized by the federal government. | |
The scents of wine come from several sources. The fruity smell of young wines comes directly from the grapes, with woody and other organic aromas added if the wine was aged in oak.
Fine, aged wines add the most complex (and sometimes un-winelike) scents, which some wine tasters call "bouquet," as the result of gradual chemical reactions in the wine. Less pleasant changes in odor and taste occur if the wine is poorly or carelessly made or spoils with excess age.
Just for fun, I scanned back over years of my tasting notes and several good wine books to get an idea of the breadth of vocabulary wine tasters have used.
Emile Peynaud's "Le Gout de Vin" ("The Taste of Wine," quoted in Robert M. Parker Jr.'s "Wines of the Rhone Valley and Provence") divided wine aromas into nine principal categories:
Animal odors, smells of game, beef and venison; balsamic odors, smells of pine trees, resin and vanilla; woody odors, smells of new wood of oak barrels; chemical odors, smells of acetone, mercaptan (skunks or natural gas), yeasts, hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs), lactic and fermentation odor; spicy odors, smells of pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, truffles, anise and mint; empyreumatic (creosotes and oils) odors, smells of creme brulee, smoke, toast, leather and coffee; floral odors, smells of flowers, violets, roses, lilacs, jasmine; fruity odors, smells of blackcurrants, raspberries, cherries, plums, apricots, peaches, figs; and vegetal odors, smells of herbs, tea, mushrooms and vegetables.
Other frequently occurring scents include apples (a characteristic of Chardonnay and Riesling grapes); green olives, green peppers, even asparagus (typical of inexpensive red wines from some cool regions); walnuts and pecans (desirable in Sherry, a flaw in wines oxidized with age); vinegar (a breath is common in Beaujolais, more than a breath is a fatal flaw in any wine); and chalk or steel (reminiscent of licking a clean pebble or knife blade, the trademark of French Chablis and some other acidic Chardonnays).
Young wines are usually simple and straightforward, offering uncomplicated smells of grapes and fresh fruit.
It's bottle age that brings about the chemical changes that provide unusual and (one hopes) delicious nuances that cry out for descriptive terms.
Wine Ordering
A wine list doesn’t have to be lengthy in order to be 'good. Restaurants that take pride in their wines hand pick 'them to compliment their menus so you are likely to have a 'good match with your meal. Another alternative is enjoying 'wine by the glass instead of by the bottle. Better 'restaurants will offer this choice as well as quality 'house wines. Their staff should be well informed, helpful, 'and respectful of your choices. They should also be 'willing to replace any wines that are not up to par.'
Wine Tasting Tips | Advice:
September is the perfect time to take to the road or gather friends around your dining room table to experience the flavorful results of California’s winemakers’ labors and celebrate the 2006 harvest season just getting underway. With a special proclamation from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, designating September as the time to acknowledge the commitment of the state’s 2000 wineries and 5000 winegrape growers to “the highest standards of excellence,” special events abound in wine regions throughout the state, and many retailers and restaurateurs are putting the spotlight on California wine with promotions and seasonal menus. |
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