Some places will veer in the direction of ‘tourist’. The wine offerings here might just make you or someone you’re with shed a silent tear for the grapes that could have been. Other places will have leather bound anthologies of their expansive wine cellars…those aren’t tears, they’re the cold sweat of being faced with too many choices.

So what to do?

Defer to the most knowledgeable person at the table. This is seriously not the time to be arrogant about your wine smarts, people. Sometimes…you’ll be that person. It’ll feel good, people will be impressed when you make a solid suggestion and all will be merry and fun. But part of the fun of wine is how it brings people together. If you’re always making the choices, you might miss out on something unexpectedly wonderful that never would have been your selection. This is also the easiest way to keep learning.

See what the waiter says. I admittedly don’t find myself in the vicinity of a true sommelier all that often. But, I will ask the person taking our order for their opinion from time to time. Sometimes they panic a little bit, while you quickly realize they’re not really the wine sipping type. But other times they really know the menu and can steer you in the right direction or validate the one you are considering.

Figure out what’s considered ‘expensive’ or ‘cheap’ on the menu. There is no rule here. Some places don’t have a glass of wine under $15 (and at the lower end is icky plonk) while others will have firesale priced dreamboat selections for under $8.

Determine your budget…and sense of adventure. Willing to see if lower end offerings rock your socks? Or are you celebrating and want to indulge? Either way, know you’re boundaries and how okay you’ll be if the wine ends up disappointing.

If at first your tastebuds say no…try something else! And even if they say yes, don’t be afraid to branch out and sample another selection on the menu anyway – the first step to knowing is trying…what do you really have to lose?

Post from: EveryJoe

At the bar and not sure what to drink

But the wine. Oh, the wine.

While the taste of lemon was more than evident, there was little else to back it up. Bland and flavorless, this one truly lacked the character of it’s namesake.

But I drank on. In hopes that something else on the menu would brighten my disappointed spirits.

Unfortunately, their Parker Station Chardonnay also tasted unbalanced, with grapefruit undertones rising to one big overtone and leaving the rest of the flavor flat and unmemorable. This was evidently not my night for wine.

To be fair, I’d say some of it could be attributed to the wine being far too cold when it arrived. The glass should be cool to the touch, not icy and sweating with condensation.

Too bad. I suppose I’ll have to stop by Wayne Gretzky Estates for another taste, since I would hope their vineyard staff prepares a glass more suitable for evaluation and consumption.

Post from: EveryJoe

By The Glass: Wayne Gretzky Chardonnay 2007

Going into our wine tasting last Friday, we were well aware that Chile is far more well known for their reds then whites. But who wants to colour inside the lines? We take risks – which sometimes end surprisingly well and other times take us in directions we might have been better off without.

Of course, it might have helped if we triple checked to make sure all our Chilean Chardonnays and Sauv Blancs were actually from Chile. Once we realized that a couple of North American intruders had snuck into our LCBO bags, we decided this could be excused and justified by labeling them “controls” in our delicious experiment.

Here’s how we ended up:

J. Bouchon’s Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Chile): very citrus-y, but also a little harsh and well on the acidic side. No one particularly loved this one and overall felt it was “not very interesting” and tasted like an average house white at a bar.

Concha Y Toro Trio Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (Chile): I was surprised that this one didn’t fair well, since I’ve had it before and found it to be lovely. While I would like to blame our decidedly common stem-less stemware, there were others that did just fine even with such a handicap. “Displeasing”, “Boring” and “Not delicious” outweighed one lone “Nice” from the group.

Painted Turtle Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Canada): This one was a winner for everyone in the group, even if it wasn’t terribly distinctive (and was one of the first non-Chilean bottles to find their way onto the table). While the expected citrus tones were there, the peach-y taste was unexpected and…surprisingly good.

Wild Horse Canyon Chardonnay 2007 (Canada): I’ve never been a huge Lycee fan, but this bottle does it right. A few of our guests passed on a glass so they could continue to savor Painted Turtle, but the three of us who charged on agreed they were missing out. Crisp and summery, this one would pair nicely with a poolside afternoon.

Casillero Del Diablo Chardonnay 2007 (Chile): Wow, lovely. A surprise finish after we were so disappointed by the first two Chilean blends, but this one was well above average and would have easily been finished off had we not taken care of business with the last two bottles.

Final Thoughts…

There appear to be reasons Chile is not known for their white wines. Beaten out by a couple of Canadians, with only one out of three of them making the cut for a future repeat showing. I recommend investing elsewhere for flavorful summer whites.

Post from: EveryJoe

Friday Wine Tasting: Chilean Whites

This was a welcome improvement from the wine tasting I co-hosted on Friday (more on that later) where no true winners really emerged. I expect I’ll be exploring what other exotic goodies Madrid has to offer very soon.

(Photo: website)

Post from: EveryJoe

By The Glass: Spain’s Marques De Riscal Rueda