Most wines these days are made to be consumed in their youth. But a properly aged wine provides something that can’t possibly be simulated in the winemaking process, with a decanter, or by using any gimmick or gadget.

There’s been a dramatic push over the past decade or two for winemakers to create super-plush, dense, extracted red wines, with soft tannins and generous amounts of oak that serve to make a wine highly approachable in its youth. White wines have been pushed to greater levels of ripeness, and consequently the occasional raging alcohol content.

There’s been so much emphasis on  making sleek, immediately approachable wines that it has forced classically made, well-balanced varieties to the sidelines. From Australia and California in the New World to the classic Old World wine-growing regions of Bordeaux and Rhone Valley in France and Tuscany and Piedmont in Italy, a growing number of winemakers are doing everything they can to make their wines as drinkable as possible upon release. But the almost inevitable tradeoff is longevity; without ample acid or tannin, it’s difficult for a wine to age gracefully, and all of the exuberant fruit that can be so appealing in a young wine tends to disappear before the oak has a chance to integrate into the wine.

Read the full article here written by Jeff Bramwell, co-owner of The Raleigh Wine Shop, as it appeared in the spring 2012 issue of Wake Living Magazine.

The rest of us — not-so-serious collectors who have some bottles accumulating — need to figure out how to keep those special bottles in good, drinkable condition.

I suspect most Carolina wine drinkers have killed a bottle or two — and I mean really killed it, in a hot car on an August shopping afternoon. We know wine can be hurt if not handled with at least a little TLC.

First, which wines age well? Figuring this out is a bit of an art as well as a science. Generally, most wines are released when they are ready to drink and need no special aging. For wines you may want to hang onto for a bit, look for things that act as preservatives. Acid, alcohol and tannin all do that. Drinkers who are seeking wines to “lay down” (or store for a while) often seek varieties and styles that are high in one or more of those.

Once you have wines you want to keep, it’s all about keeping the cork firmly in place. It acts as a barrier against oxygen, which will prematurely age wine.

Read more here.

Look beyond France to find tasty, affordable sparkling wine alternatives to Champagne.

To many people, bubbles in wine are synonymous with Champagne, while purists will argue (rightly) that true Champagne comes only from the region of that name in France. Champagne is wonderful, but it has a big problem, and that problem sounds like “ka-CHING!”

Luckily for budget-minded consumers, plenty of sparkling wines offer high-quality celebratory bubbles at a fraction of the price of Champagne. That means there’s no need to scrimp on the gifts so you can spend on the bubbles this holiday season. I’ve found two terrific bubblies that will have you and your guests dancing in the new year for a mere $10 a bottle.

But first, here’s how to find a wine to suit your needs.

Look for “the neighbors.” If Champagne is too pricey but you want to stay French, look for sparkling wines from other regions, such as Alsace, Bourgogne (Burgundy) or the Loire. Those wines are called “cremant,” and they are made by the same method as Champagne, with the secondary fermentation producing the bubbles in the bottle, though they might not be made with the same grape varieties. They often are quite excellent and range from $15 to $25.

Get out of France

Second, look for other countries that specialize in sparkling wines. Spain’s cava and Italy’s prosecco are ideal choices for celebrating any day’s minor victories or just for starting off dinner with a smile. The best-known cava is probably Freixenet’s Cordon Negro, which is widely available, inexpensive and rather cloyingly sweet. Most cavas are dry, often austere; they might be delicate or robust, but they are always inexpensive, ranging from about $8 to $20.

To paraphrase “Animal Farm,” all cavas are good; some are better than others. My favorite from this year’s crop is called Kila Cava, from famed Spanish wine broker Jorge Ordonez. It lives up to its cutesy name for a mere $10 with lively fruit and just enough richness to give it a little extra interest. At that price, it’s worth buying by the case and keeping a bottle chilled for impromptu celebrations.

Sparkling wine is so popular that winemakers around the world produce their own versions. California makes some to rival Champagne in complexity and price, but the real bargains can be found by way of some unexpected places. In Oregon, Argyle winery produces a delightful brut sparkler with an intensity of fruit that reminds me of the Domaine Chandon Etoile from Napa Valley. The Etoile costs about $40, but you can find the Argyle for $25 or less.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/18/1715433/bubblies-with-zing-not-ka-ching.html#storylink=cpy

But if you want to put more thought into it, following are some tips for finding something with a little more meaning. These suggestions are provided courtesy of Catherine Rabb, co-owner of Fenwick’s and a senior instructor at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte.

Be kind: Wine to Water, one of the coolest charities going, holds local fundraisers to transform wine into desperately needed water for people around the world. This year, you can also buy a bottle. Several are available, generally for $16 or less. When you finish the bottle, you have provided clean water to a person in need for as long as a year. By the way: W2W was founded by a Raleigh bartender, Doc Hendley. Details: www.wineto water.org.

Think local: Spend a pretty December day visiting five of North Carolina’s most talked-about wineries. Through December, Flint Hill, Cellar 4201, Rag Apple Lassie, Sanders Ridge and Divine Llama offer a tour and tasting of five wines for $30 a person or $40 a couple. Collect a unique tree ornament from each and be charmed by what is happening in our part of the wine world. You can buy tickets in advance or at the wineries. Details: www.YadkinRiver WineTrail.com.

Experiment: Most people over age 12 wouldn’t willingly eat spaghetti every night, so avoid the same trap with wine. A fun and commitment-free way to experiment is a tasting card for one of the cool new tasting machines. When you buy the card, you can pay for a taste of a number of wines in a self-serve, casual format. You can get started for around $6, so the card makes a nice stocking-stuffer.

Learn: Like Rabb, if I could, I’d go to every class and wine tasting out there. They’re so much fun and there’s so much to learn, and you can do it while meeting new friends. You can start with something easy and fun, like a guided wine tasting at your favorite shop.

Celebrate: The best gift of all is to drink something amazing and share it with that special wine lover in your life. As the holidays draw near, it’s easy to get caught up in the chaos. Take a few moments to pop the cork on something you’ve been saving for a special occasion and drink a toast to the many good things in life.

Cheers!

Sea Smoke Vineyards in Santa Barbara, California

The hottest topic in the wine world is the adoption of the term “Grand Cru” by Santa Barbara’s Sea Smoke Cellars. From the heated reaction on wine sites and blogs, one might think the sky was falling. There are lots of opinions and intriguing arguments.

In 2008, Wine Spectator writer James Laube called the winery “an important part of the Santa Barbara wine scene and one of its ‘grand cru’ properties.” I believe he meant it was a very special piece of wine real estate, and that the grapes that grew there made terrific wine.

Accolades like that are hard to come by, and surely were a cause for celebration at Sea Smoke. A year later, Sea Smoke attached the term “Grand Cru” to all of its 2009 releases.

In France, the term Grand Cru is a rating for established vineyards, and is highly regulated as part of French wine law. The term is most closely associated with Burgundy, where it may be used on a few dozen highly regarded, high-quality vineyard parcels.

In the U.S., quality terms are not as regulated as they are in Europe. We have no system to award Grand Cru status to a vineyard. Most terms that imply quality, such as “reserve,” are marketing terms here. They are not regulated.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/20/1654047/much-ado-about-the-grand-cru-marketing.html#ixzz1g3poZ6Cz

’08 Frogs Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, California
A classic Rutherford Cabernet can make any holiday gathering extra special. Aromas of cassis and currant combine with a mineral tone and a touch of warm spices. Rich black cherry flavors are enhanced with notes of pomegranate, spice, cedar and green olive.

NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve, France
Billecart-Salmon is one of the few remaining champagne houses to be owned by its original family. Lovely bubbles with aromas of honeyed apricots and freshly baked biscuits. A blend of 45% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay.

’09 Sant’Evasio Brachetto, Italy
Brachetto will make any dessert seem extra special. This semi-sweet, ruby-red bubbly has bright cherry and strawberry flavors. This wine is more floral than others, giving it an added dimension.

’08 Stemmler, Pinot Noir, Sonoma
Looking for a sexy wine for those intimate celebrations? This Pinot Noir will not disappoint. Beautiful ripe strawberry, raspberry and intense black cherry and plum aromas mingled with hints of cola, forest floor and earth. The wine is fleshy, sleek and spicy, with copious wild berry, black cherry and strawberry flavors, good grip and a sustained well-balanced finish.

’10 Lioco, Sonoma Chardonnay, California
This is the perfect wine to serve at your next intimate celebration. Aromas of fresh Meyer lemon, lime leaf and river stones. The wine is round with lovely flavors of lemon drop candies and green pear.

’06 Qupe “Bien Nadico Hillside” Syrah, California
Made from the southwest-facing, low-yielding hillside at Bien Nacido Vineyard, the grapes for this wine have the winemaker’s special touch. About 10-15% of the juice is barrel fermented ‘en saignee’, which adds a toasty mocha complexity. The wine is aged for 20 months in 60% new Burgundy barrels.

I can’t wait to try April’s suggestions.  What are your favorite wines for the holidays?  I’d love to hear your recommendations.

Wouldn’t you rather have a warm bowl of butternut squash soup than a BLT with pathetically green, under-ripe tomatoes? When the city is frozen over, doesn’t a hearty serving of deeply flavorful braised beef short ribs sound more appealing than a light, citrusy ceviche? Of course it does.

On a cold day, choosing just the right wine can be every bit as pleasing as warming yourself up with soul-satisfying comfort food. In the Winter 2011 issue of Wake Living Magazine, Jeff Bramwell, co-owner of The Raleigh Wine Shop, offers a few of his favorite bottles to uncork while cool weather prevails.

Perfect pairings

The wines of Burgundy, both red and white, seem to be at their best throughout the holiday season. Whether it’s the archetype of Chardonnay paired with Thanksgiving dinner or roast chicken and root vegetables, or the pinnacle of elegant Pinot Noir matched with a slow-roasted bone-in ham, these wines have a unique ability to enhance an already special time of year.

Other popular mid-winter classics like pot roast, meatloaf and pork tenderloin are great excuses to reach for the bold, spicy Grenache- and Syrah-based wines from the Rhone Valley in France, or big, structured reds from California.

Malbec from Argentina — one of the most popular wines over the past few years — would be equally at home with any of these dishes, but there’s another South American specialty that deserves your attention: Carmenere. This almost-forgotten Bordeaux varietal made its way to Chile more than 100 years ago, though until the mid-1990s it was thought to be an especially flavorful expression of Merlot.

Carmenere is a difficult grape to get right because it can be plagued with under-ripe green bell pepper aromas, but at its best it has tons of character and offers great value, much like its more well-known Argentine counterpart. Bramwell says he’s a particularly big fan of the Terra Noble Gran Reserva, which is akin to some of the far more expensive wines from this grape’s original home.

Solo sipping

Not every wine needs to be enjoyed with food, however. Sometimes there’s nothing cozier than curling up with a glass of wine by the fireplace. The ideal wine for such an occasion is Amarone from the Valpolicella growing area in northeastern Italy. This unique wine typically is made from a trio of red grapes that are allowed to partially dry out on straw mats prior to fermentation. By decreasing the water content of the grape, the resulting wine has an incredible richness, fairly viscous texture and flavors of plums, figs, dried cherries, and cloves.

For a more wallet-friendly version of this luxurious wine, try a Valpolicella Ripasso, which is made in the same region using the same grapes. In crafting Ripasso, winemakers take the used grape skins from the production of Amarone and combine them with their basic Valpolicella, introducing some of its richness to the blend in the process. With their silky textures and hearty, warming flavors, Bramwell says he can’t think of a better way to drink during cold winter nights. Come to think of it, neither can I!

What are your favorite winter wines?  I look forward to hearing your recommendations.

Italian wines, like those produced at vineyards near Soave, are a delight for fall.

With fall in full gear and winter just around the corner, now is a great time to enjoy some medium- to full-flavored whites before transitioning into heavy wintertime cuisine and the hearty reds that match it.

With so many wine drinkers moving away from heavy-handed, buttery Chardonnay these days, it’s prime time to dig in and enjoy some of the world’s most overlooked yet delicious wines: whites from Italy.

The country is well-documented as one of the world’s great suppliers of reds, from simple and fruity Montepulciano and Chianti to complex and age-worthy Barbaresco, Barolo, and Brunello. But when it comes to Italy’s whites, most wine drinkers’ experiences begin and end with Pinot Grigio. There’s nothing wrong with this workhorse wine, but it’s also far from the most compelling white grape that Italy has to offer. Thousands of grape varieties are grown here, with a handful that stand out from the pack.

Great Garganega

From the Veneto in the northeast — the same region that yields a vast majority of Pinot Grigio — a grape called Garganega is the main component of the wines of Soave. Long known as a wine of poor quality and questionable provenance, Soave typically was found gathering dust on the bottom shelf of the grocery store’s Italian section. But real-deal, high-quality Soave has experienced a resurgence lately and can be found at a reasonable price.

This type of wine comes in a variety of styles, from light and fresh to a riper, more sturdy style that can stand up to a bit of oak aging. While there’s no risk that it’ll ever replace Chardonnay in the wine hierarchy, this bigger side of Soave is a good starting point for fans of full-bodied whites.

Read the full article here.

Two important things happen to wine in oak barrels. First, the wine is exposed to a bit of oxygen. This is a good thing, softening reds especially. Second, the barrel may directly transfer flavors to the wine, increasing the complexity and appeal of the finished product.

Customers in the past couple of decades have approved of the use of oak. It’s a rare day at most wine shops and restaurants when a guest doesn’t request a chardonnay with noticeable oak flavor.

The creation of a wine barrel is an art. Wood is aged outside for a couple of years, formed by hand into a watertight vessel, then toasted over an open flame. When filled with wine, aromatic compounds released by the toasting process are transferred into the wine.

Barrels can be toasted lightly or deeply for desired flavors. The best known (and most loved) is vanilla, but oak can impart aromas like caramel, clove, coffee, cocoa, roasted nuts, coconut, butterscotch, cinnamon and toffee.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/16/1566535/wineries-roll-out-flavorful-barrels.html#ixzz1clqvGZN9

We’re all familiar with cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, merlot and shiraz, but there are hundreds of other grape varieties begging for attention.

Nero d’ Avola: This indigenous Italian variety has experienced a renaissance in Sicily. With dark berry flavors, the wine will appeal to malbec drinkers. Nero d’Avola is terrific partner for just about any pizza crust and topping combination.

Carmenere: One of the traditional red grapes of France, it has flourished in Chile. Confused with merlot originally, it has an interesting edge of spiciness that many merlots don’t, and it is becoming quite popular.

Mourvedre/Monastrell: Traditionally grown in both France (Mourvedre) and Spain (Monastrell), this sun-loving variety produces tannic, spicy and complex wines.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/18/1493731/red-wines-worth-a-try.html#ixzz1Yt8rf5IP