View As PDF - Wine Country This Week

More documents

Recommendations

Info

WineologyINTELLIGENCE FOR THE WINE CONSUMERby Len NapolitanoWhat can be learned fromobserving a wine’s color and clarity?I recently opened a bottle of red wine, vintage 1985. It poured outof the bottle with the color of an old brown-brick building, and myimmediate comment was “Perfect!” You can’t always judge a wine byits color, but often a visual inspection provides clues to its age andsometimes quality.Young red wines show a deep purple more than red. After aging afew years, the color becomes more ruby-like. With an age of 10 to 20years, or more, the color is lighter and takes on a tinge of brown atleast around its edge, if not throughout.As red wines turn a little lighter with age, white wines take theopposite path. Young white wines start very pale, maybe even with agreenish hue. As the wine matures, the color of straw yellow is normal.As white wines age to near 10 years and older, the color deepens to anattractive golden yellow.Exceptions apply to sweet white wines like Sauternes, which arealmost never pale and will become deep amber-yellow with age, andalso with light red wines like Beaujolais, which rarely become deep incolor, at any age.Wines made from different grape varietals posses different shades.For example, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Riesling are palerthan Chardonnay, which tends to be more yellow-gold. For reds, PinotNoir, Sangiovese and Beaujolais are more translucent than Cabernet,Merlot or Syrah.Judging a wine’s clarity involves holding the glass up against a whitebackground. A white wine should be clear and bright while a red winewill be densely pigmented with color, depending on the grape variety.It may even have a little sediment, depending on its age, and still bepleasing and safe to drink.The key is to look out for cloudiness in the wine. A bottle of veryold red wine, say, more than 20 years old, may become a little cloudywhen moved because the sediment is agitated. This is normal. My1985 bottle was decanted to separate the wine from its sediment.But a permanent, dull, cloudiness in wine is a bad sign. Fortunately,the quality of wine these days is so good that this is highly unlikely.Len Napolitano lives in Central Coast wine country and is certified in wine by the Society of Wine Educators,Wine & Spirits Education Trust, and Chicago Wine School and continually gains knowledge from hisfrequent contact with California winemakers. More information is on his website, www.wineology.com.Send your questions about wine to: wineologist@earthlink.net or by mail to Len Napolitano in care ofWine Country This Week magazine. Wineology is a registered trademark of Len Napolitano.18www.winecountrythisweek.com
WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKWINE COUNTRY NEWSEvery Saturday Night in August –P.A.W.S. (Paso Art Wine and Song)Downtown Paso Robles will be alive with music, art and wine in 15 separate tasting roomswithin walking distance of each other every Saturday evening in August from 5 to 7 p.m. Enjoylocal artists and music while savoring the fruits of 15 different winemakers in the NorthCounty. Brochures with maps will be available – just follow the flags with the PAWS printedon them or follow the paw prints on the sidewalks to an enjoyable evening before you settledown for dinner at one of our fantastic restaurants.“This is a fun event and presents us with an easy opportunity to showcase our local winemakerswhile featuring local artists and musicians, “ says Norma Moye, Executive Director ofthe Downtown Paso Robles Main Street Association. For more information, contact the MainStreet office at (805) 238-4013.www.winecountrythisweek.com19
Page 3 and 4: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKATTRACTIONSww
Page 5: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKATTRACTIONSww
Page 9 and 10: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKWINE COUNTRY
Page 17: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK’SPREFERRED
Page 23 and 24: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKDOWNTOWN PASO
Page 25 and 26: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKPASO ROBLESww
Page 27 and 28: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKPASO ROBLESww
Page 29 and 30: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKPASO ROBLESEn
Page 31 and 32: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKSAN LUIS OBIS
Page 33 and 34: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKSANTA MARIALe
Page 35 and 36: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKSANTA BARBARA
Page 37 and 38: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKWINERY LISTIN
Page 39: WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEKWINERY LISTIN

View As PDF - Wine Country This Week

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?