Cheers To You

Brynn writes:

I like this term, only because I find it a bit comical to call an inanimate object “dumb”. But rest assured, I’d be careful to never call a wine dumb to the winemaker’s face — as you can imagine, this is not a term winemakers want to hear.

So what does dumb mean when it comes to wine? It means the wine hasn’t opened, it’s not reaching its full potential and there’s a good chance it never will.

Something happened during the winemaking process that stunted the wine, or made it closed and unable to open to where the wine drinker thinks it should be.

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Mary writes:

Originally from the eastern Mediterranean, this thin skinned seedless white grape is used for dried or table grapes.

It needs a hot climate to thrive as is susceptible to fungal diseases, which is why it never made it big in cool foggy Europe. Wine produced from Sultana is distilled and used to fortify wine. It’s the most widely planted grape in California, where it’s known as Thompson Seedless.

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Mary writes:

Criadera is the term used to refer to a group of barrels holding wine in a Sherry Solera. The barrels are also referred to as “butts”. In this case they hold 172 gallons of sherry.

So what is a Solera? Imagine a pyramid of barrels stacked on top of each other, filled with wine. Each line of barrels is given a “level” — i.e. First Criadera, Second Criadera, etc. In a Solera wine is pulled from the oldest criadera (the one that’s been filled the longest) and placed into bottles. Then the empty barrel is refilled with wine in the barrels from the second criadera, the second criadera is filled with wine from the third criadera, etc., etc. This process is repeated through the various criaderas.

Soleras can have a simple system of four criaderas, up to a more complex system of 14 criaderas.

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Mary writes:

Bereich is German for district, similar to our AVA.

According to German wine laws a Bereich is a district within a quality-wine growing region. There are 43 Bereiche throughout the 13 wine growing regions.

If a wine label carries a Bereich name, like Bereich Berkastel, it’s considered to be of good quality. But, like anywhere in the wine world, the more real estate listed on the label, the higher quality the wines will be. Look for the name of the vineyard or a great producer such as Joh. Jos. Prüm badstube riesling Auslese, Mosel. At just over $40, this wine will turn the heads of even red wine lovers.

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Mary writes:

Loess is an important component in most Washington wines. It’s an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, 20 percent or less clay and the rest equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate.

That blend adds to the complexity of our state’s wines. Many of Washington’s vineyards are located on gentle slopes or on valley floors. Almost all of these vineyards are planted in loess derived from sediments deposited by a series of glacial floods, known as the Missoula floods.

Underneath much of these vineyards is the other reason Washington is unique in the wine world. The bedrock is basalt alluvium or just plain basalt. At higher elevations the loess lies on top of basalt bedrock.

Because basalt is dark colored and dense, it keeps the average temperatures above average. And basalt keeps the root louse away.

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Brynn writes:

If you’re at a wine tasting, or with someone who knows some wine lingo, you might hear them describe a wine as closed.

I usually will say “tight” to mean the same thing, but essentially a wine is “closed” when it’s not showing its full potential. This is a situation you’ll often find with a young wine, which is still getting its bearings.

Depending on the winemaking style, a wine might stay in this state for a few years or longer.

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Brynn writes:

This is a term I heard a lot this weekend at Taste Washington: Varietal character.

We attended one of the weekend’s seminars on Sunday about blending wine and part of that discussion had to do with the grape varieties often used for blending and how to keep their distinct character, or flavors, in tact.

When winemakers produce a wine the general idea is if they’re making a chardonnay or a cabernet sauvignon, they want that wine to taste like a chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon. Makes sense right?

So the winemaking techniques they use are going to keep the grape variety and its many characters — flavors, aromas, tannins, weight, etc. — in check. As consumers if we see a grape variety on the label of a wine, we have a general expectation of what that wine is going to taste like. As we start to get more educated about specific winemakers and their styles, we’ll start to know what to expect from them.

This weekend there was one winery in particular that we tasted that I felt nailed the varietal characters of the wines they were pouring and that was Maison Bleue. But we’ll get to that in a later review of the event.

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Brynn writes:

So lychee isn’t exactly a wine term per se, but it’s a descriptor I’ve seen recently when reviewing wines.

Lychee is a tropical fruit whose trees are native to Southeast Asia. The fruit is widely popular there and is found during the summer months in markets throughout the country. The fruit is juicy and its sweetness levels range from refreshing and light to thick and syrupy — much like wine.

It is often a flavor used to describe aromatic white wines. It also can be a wine itself — people ferment the fruit and create lychee wine.

Typically you’re going to see lychee as a descriptor in wines like Gewurztraminer, ice wines made from grapes afflicted with botrytis (a good kind of mold) and even some sauvignon blancs, chardonnays and viognier.

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Mary writes:

From the Alps to the Adriatic Sea, this wine region in northeastern Italy borders Austria and Slovenia. And because of the three distinct cultures and geography, this region puts out wines that are very unique to Italy.

In Friuli you can find crisp, fruity mostly white wines made from the grapes Tocai Friulano, Ribolla, Malvalsia, Verduzzo, Picolit, Refrosco, and Pignolo.

But wait there’s more! French varietals Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot, and Pinot Nero were introduced in the 19th Century.

The region produces a modest amount of wine by Italian standards but on the plus side, the percentage of DOC wines produced is one of Italy’s highest.

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Mary writes:

Crust is the name for sediment that forms in a bottle aged port.

The presence of the crust is the result of the natural wine making process. It indicates the wine has continued to improve in bottle, developing aroma and character with age.

Crusted port, a style rarely seen these days, is a blend of vintage ports that would be released and ready to drink sooner than a vintage port and at much more attractive price.

The ‘crust’ or sediment in the bottle means you should decant before serving.

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