Saturday, March 9, 2013

Film Review #2: Wine for the Confused


Film Review #2:
Overall the special, hosted by John Cleese was a basic overview on top white and red wines grown and produced around the world. Cleese’s comical approach to the matter diffuses the overwhelming amount of information for a new audience of wine enthusiasts trying to take in the excess of information. The film is obviously intended for a novice wine drinker who wants to learn more about the basic facts to growing or where to look for the most popular grapes such as merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and chardonnay. One interesting aspect of the movie is that throughout Cleese’s visits to multiple vineyards he puts groups of people in small experiments that mostly focus around the most important aspect of wine, which is to trust your own palate. The other important thing that Cleese does is that he uses each vineyard as discussion point to challenge the viewer by breaking stereotypical interpretations of wine.
First, Cleese begins his journey by delving into the world of white wine, starting with famous wines such as the German Rieslings. After going over basic information such as why white wines are different than reds such as the length of the growing season is shorter than red grapes, therefore giving the wine a sweeter or green apple taste. He then asked the wine maker for the common taste of the wine, which he frequently requires for each grape he visits. The most important topic that Cleese argues at the end of the Riesling topic is the concept that a white wine can be dry. While tasting the wine Cleese asks the example winemaker what some of their main tastes were in their white Riesling and the winemaker responded with a dry mouth puckering sensation rather than the classic sweet and malic taste. Also during the Riesling visit Cleese shows the fermentation process and explains how sugar from the grapes turns into alcohol and Carbon Dioxide. As he walks by huge steel vats you can appreciate the amount of wine one winery can make.
The next grape that Cleese visits in the white wine family is the Sauvignon Blanc. While talking to the wine maker they discover the basic characteristics you should taste when drinking this specific grape, which is mostly acidic or sour. Furthermore, Cleese returns to the dry white wine concept as he explains why Sauvignon Blanc grapes are sour. Since Sauvignon Grapes are very tiny the concentration is higher and with the vineyard he is at they also cut branches to concentrate the grapes further. Wine maker Merrill Chapone says dry white wines are hard for new people to drink but the sweetness helps. Cleese also chimes in during this important tip to newcomers that characteristics such as bright and fresh explains it is good to drink before a meal. All of these facts are approached with a funny attitude which helps the viewer approach the facts in an entertaining way.
The final white grape that Cleese visits is the Chardonnay, which Cleese personally enjoys the most out of any white grape. He starts off the topic of the Chardonnay by talking about his past film Monte Python and the Holy Grail, and that because of drinking a chardonnay he was able to keep on going in the gloomy Scottish climate (in a joking matter). Basic tastes that you should look for would be a richer, fruity, or creamy taste. It is important to know that creamy describes more texture similar to the buttery taste in Chardonnay as well. The vineyard that Cleese visits also uses oak barrels which with a Chardonnay will bring out a spicy flavor rare in white wines. While soaking in this information Cleese discusses topics such as malo-lactic fermentation with a definition shooting up on the screen similar to a dictionary page to sustain the educational approach. To transition to red grapes Cleese dismantles the stereotype that red wine grapes look different than white. On the contrary Cleese demonstrates that it is the skin that gives the red wine its color and without the skin red wine would be clear, similar to that of white wine.
Cleese chooses to discuss the skin color because it is a good transition phase between white and red. The first red wine he discusses is Pinot Noir. The vineyard he visits describes its characteristics as plum, black pepper, earth. Apparently Pinot Noir is also one of the hardest wines to balance, which means balancing all of the complex flavors so the drink is enjoyable, such as hiding the heat from alcohol or producing an even distribution of plum and pepper taste. The most interesting thing that Cleese describes Pinot Noir as the most complex wine and therefore the hardest to grow right,
Next Cleese visits Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and he discusses the importance of atmosphere and how to age wine, specifically when he visits a fake Australian outback scenery for the Merlot vineyard. While talking about the Santa Rosa plum, spice characteristics of Merlot Cleese ventures into how to interpret vintage which he describes as how good the weather was. This leads in how to interpret terroir when Cleese demonstrates how a eucalyptus tree near the vineyard will affect how the wine tastes and therefore the terroir. Negative terroir could be fog, which is not good for ripening, which can bring out more of vegetable quality to the wine. This led into buying wine in a restaurant. Cleese says terroir is a great aspect of the wine to know since you could know if it was a good growing season. Furthermore buying wine should be an experience of what you want compared to your palate rather than what the waiter suggests. Cleese leads from the topic of forcing a wine choice with an experiment with a group of visitors at a wine cellar to test what they enjoyed the most out of the unmarked bottles. The bottles ranged from two hundred dollars to 5 dollars, and at the end of the test some participants thought the five dollar bottle was the two hundred bottle and vice versa.
Basically, in my opinion the main objective of this film was to help the viewer learn the basic information so the drinker can make a good enough assumption of what he/she likes in order to trust their palette in the future. Going to a winery, describing wines to come up with, learning new vocabulary, and talking about it with other wine enthusiasts will help them discover and improve their wine drinking experience.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Dinner - Friends House, Lynchburg (Jesus & Seafood)

This is the first wine dinner I have decided to do for the semester. The wine I have chosen was honestly a last minute decision mostly due to the inexpensive price. My goal in this dinner was to try and improve my palette by noticing the difference between food choices over the course of the evening. To start the Facts are:
No Stem

Jesus with Chili!
  • Matthew Fox Vineyards
  • Carbranet Sauvignon
  • Modesto, California
  • USA
  • 2004
  • $3.99
  • Grand Wine Cellar on Snooth.com gave the wine a less than average review describing it as flat, with little complexity. On the positive side, the wine was easy to drink with low acidity on the palette.
  • Step 1: the Initial Sip - Personally, I did not enjoy this wine without any food. The bottle said the wine was held in a toasted oak barrel with the main flavors mostly belonging to a raspberry and vanilla flavor. I did not enjoy the initial first few sips, tasting mostly bitter raspberry, cough syrup, and a flat dryness that over stayed its welcome. I also noticed the alcohol, feeling a little heat throughout the whole tasting, with no vanilla flavor from the oak.


  • Shrimp and seasoned Mahi-Mahi

  • Step 2: The Food - Overall the food was an interesting choice consisting of Mahi-Mahi and Shrimp. I wanted to try something different from whats was recommended on the back of the bottle which was some red meat, specifically beef. I applied some fish rub on the fish, and after cooking it in foil on the grill, I took some prepared shrimp and began experimenting.
  • Taste with Dinner was not improved and truly peculiar and unsatisfying giving it a spicy kick that amplified the unwanted bitterness and dry characteristics. Additionally this food did not soften the medicine flavor either which made it hard to combine the food with the wine.
  • Step 3: The Atmosphere - Overall this was the best part of the meal, because I was enjoying the biblical discussions that were commencing around the living room. This spiritual stimulation honestly helped me get through the odd combination as it distracted me from the meal. Listening to some Virginia Bluegrass in Lynchburg, VA seemed to helped further with the religious topics and soon after finishing I left the bottle out for a while to see if helping the wine breath would improve anything the taste later.
  • Step 4: Redemption - After our sermon was over I went back to the kitchen and tried my friends homemade black bean, tomato, and beef chili with the wine. I had let the wine breath for an hour and a half and with the chili, the wine improved. The Chili brought out the buttery flavor in the wine and amplified the raspberry flavor, therefore dampening the medicine flavor. The wine also gave the chili a more desired barbecue flavor as well, so overall the second meal was a much better combination. Overall this Wine was not very good with seafood, but with the red meat, like the bottle said, and the bean flavor, the wine became enjoyable. More importantly I noticed the difference between the two foods and my experiment was therefore a success.
  • Final Thoughts: This was not very enjoyable but it served its purpose in helping me find distinctions in my palette when tasting wine with food. The atmosphere was extremely stimulating though since I was with friends who had invited me to their house for the weekend in Lynchburg. The discussion of Jesus over seafood and wine with friends was a new experience for me and thanks to the pleasurable combination of chili and wine at the end, the experience was even more fruitful.