Glassware, Storage, Serving Temps Wine Focus: Aromatic Whites, Zinfandel

1. Glassware, Storage, Serving TempsWine Focus:Aromatic Whites, Zinfandel Presented by Alphonse DiMino Wine Director Passport Wine & Spirits

2. Glassware • What's Important? • Vessel Material • Glass vs Crystal • Crystal is more brilliant, enhances the wines color • Softer (breakage issues) • Size • Effects temperature (surface area), aromas (surface area) • Shape • Effects how wine is delivered to different areas on tongue • Effect Temperature • Narrow glasses retain temperature longer • Effect aromas • Narrow openings concentrate the aroma or bouquet • Rim • Rims should have a "cut" edge that is actually smooth to the feel. Inexpensive glasses often feature a bumped or rolled edge that directly affects how the wine rolls across the lips and tongue. Consequently, bumpy rims can inhibit some of the more delicate flavors of a wine. • Stem • Effects temperature, comfort, aesthetics • Thickness • Breakage, color, comfort, aesthetics

3. Champagne and Sparkling Wine Glasses • This glass shape allows the bubbles to flow up a longer length of the liquid, a pleasing sight to the eye. Similarly, because the glass is narrower, the gas of the bubbles can't escape the liquid as fast as it would with a more open bowl. This preserves the carbonation.

4. White Wine Glasses • White wine glasses are generally narrower, although not as narrow as champagne flutes, with somewhat straight or tulip-shaped sides. The narrowness of the white wine glass allows the chilled wine to retain its temperature for two reasons: • The reduced surface area of the glass (in comparison to red wine glasses) means less air circulating around the glass and warming the wine. • The smaller bowl of the glass means less contact between the hand and the glass, and so body heat does not transfer as easily to the wine.

5. Red Wine Glasses • Bordeaux glass: tall with a broad bowl, and is designed for full bodied red wines like Cabernet and Merlot as it directs wine to the back of the mouth. • Burgundy glass: broader than the Bordeaux glass, it has a bigger bowl to accumulate aromas of more delicate red wines such as Pinot Noir. This style of glass directs wine to the tip of the tongue.

6. Port, Sherry, Dessert Wine Glasses • Small narrow glass • Should be big enough to still swirl wine

7. Decanters • Helps release aromas • Helps soften tannins • Helps removing sediment from bottle

8. Storing Wine and Proper Serving Temperatures • Short Term (less than a week) • Out of light and high temperatures • DO NOT PLACE ON TOP OF REFRIGERATOR!! • Decorative Wine Rack • Do not display near window! • Do not display near stove or cooking appliances • Only put wine in refrigerator when you are going to drink it within a day or two • If you open it, drink it within two days!! • To keep it longer place it in the refrigerator and put it in a half bottle if you have one! Remember, oxygen is the enemy!!

9. Long Term Storage • Temperature (Most Important) • High temperature (>65ºF) causes the wine to age prematurely, thus losing its flavor and balance • Wide fluctuation in temperature will damage the wine and the cork. • Ideal range of temperature for storing red wine is 50-55ºF or 10-16ºC. • Humidity • If the humidity is too high, mold can grow and cellar woods and wine labels can be damaged. If the environment is too dry, the cork will crack and air will leak into the bottle, again ruining the wine. • Ideal humidity for wine storage ranges from 60-75% RH.

10. Best Places to Store Wine • Basement • Recommend converting a closet or construction of separate room. • Monitor temperature (No more than a 3-4 degree fluctuation), and humidity. • Keep away from laundry • Wine Storage Unit • Subzero, Wine Cave • Wine Cellar • Regulated temp, humidity, and light

12. Aromatic Wines • What exactly is an aromatic white? It's a white wine made from an aromatic white-grape variety -- that is, a grape that has pronounced aromas and flavors. It is also usually an unoaked white wine; that's because the whole point of making wine from an aromatic variety is to express the grape's aromas and flavors, and barrel fermentation or barrel aging mask them.

13. Popular Aromatic Whites • Gewürztraminer • Known for their floral and lychee characteristics • The name literally means "Spice Traminer", or "Perfumed Traminer". • Best examples come from the Alsace region of France. Also grown in Germany, Italy, cool areas of California, Washington State, Oregon, Canada, and the Finger lakes. • Its aromatic flavors make Gewürztraminer one of the few wines that are suitable for drinking with Asian cuisine. It goes well with Munster cheese, and fleshy, fatty (oily) wild game. Smoked salmon is a particularly good match.

14. Kerner • A cross between Trollinger (a red variety also known as Schiava grossa) and Riesling • Kerner has been named in honour of a poet and physician from Swabia, Justinus Kerner, whose works included songs and poetry on wine • Kerner is most commonly planted in the German regions of Palatinate, Rheinhessen, Mosel, and Württemberg, but it is also grown in Austria, Switzerland and Italy’s Alto Adige/Südtirol region. It was introduced into Alto Adige/Südtirol in the early 1970s and awarded Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status in 1993. • Pronounced varietal bouquet, often with a Muscat tone; fresh aromas offer a tasty blend of mixed white fruits, with hints of apple, grapefruit and a tropical whiff of mango.

15. Muscat • The muscat family of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. • Muscat grapes are grown around the world in Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Israel, France, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Australia, California, Oregon, Hungary, Canada, Italy, Albania, Turkey, Slovenia, and other places. • Perhaps the oldest domesticated grape variety, and there are theories that most families within the Vitis vinifera grape family are descended from the Muscat family • Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have analyzed pots from King Midas's burial mound and determined that Muscat grapes were a key component of the alcoholic beverage served at his funeral feast • Many varieties of the grape, Muscat Blanc (used in Moscato d’Asti), Muscat Ottonel, Black Muscat , Orange Muscat • Made in dry and dessert wine versions.

16. Rhone Varieties • Viognier • It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu in the Rhone valley. • (Also found in Australia, and California) • Richer, Fatty Style • Well-known for their floral aromas and spiciness • Roussanne • The aromas are often reminiscent of a flowery herbal tea. In warm climates, it produces wines of richness, with flavors of honey and pear, and full body. In cooler climates it is more floral and more delicate, with higher acidity. It is a difficult variety to grow, with vulnerability to mildew, poor resistance to drought and wind, late and/or uneven ripening, and irregular yields.

17. Zinfandel • DNA fingerprinting revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski, and also the Primitivo variety traditionally grown in southern Italy, where it was introduced in the 1700s. • The grape found its way to the United States in the mid-19th century, and became known by variations of the name "Zinfandel", a name of uncertain origin. • It is planted in over 10 percent of California wine vineyards.

18. A little History • Believed to have Croatian origins • The first documented use of the term Primitivo appears in Italian governmental publications of the 1870s The name derives from the terms primativus or primaticcio, which refer to the grape's tendency to ripen earlier than other varieties • Primitivo is now thought to have been introduced as a distinct clone into the Apulia region of Italy in the 1700s.

19. US History • George Gibbs, a horticulturist on Long Island, received shipments of grapes from Schönbrunn and elsewhere in Europe between 1820 and 1829. Zinfandel was one of those. • "Black Zinfardel of Hungary" mentioned by William Robert Prince in A Treatise on the Vine (1830) may have referred to one of Gibbs' 1829 acquisitions. • Gibbs visited Boston in 1830, and Samuel Perkins of that city began selling "Zenfendal" soon afterward. • The first reference to making wine from "Zinfindal" appears in John Fisk Allen's Practical Treatise in the Culture and Treatment of the Grape Vine (1847) • Prince and other nurserymen such as Frederick W. Macondray joined the California Gold Rush in the 1850s, and took Zinfandel with them. When the vine known as "Black St. Peters" arrived in California, it was initially regarded as a distinct variety, but by the 1870s it was recognized as the same grape as Zinfandel. • Joseph W. Osborne may have made the first wine from Zinfandel in California. He planted Zinfandel from Macondray at his Oak Knoll vineyard just north of Napa, and his wine was much praised in 1857.

20. Cali History • By 1930, the wine industry had weakened due to the Great Depression and Prohibition • Thus, the end of Prohibition left a shortage of quality wine grapes, and Zinfandel sank into obscurity as most was blended into undistinguished fortified wines. • By the middle of the 20th century the origins of California Zinfandel had been forgotten. • In 1974 and 1981, American wine writers described it as "a California original, grown nowhere else" and "California's own red grape". • In 1972, Bob Trinchero of the Sutter Home Winery makes “white” zinfandel by accident. In 1975 he makes the style of white zin we know today

21. Major Zin Wine Regions • California • Zinfandel is grown on approximately 11% of California's vineyard land area. • Certain California regions are regarded as "exceptional" for Zinfandel, each with identifiable flavor characteristics. • Amador has a reputation for big, full-bodied Zinfandel. These extra-ripe Zinfandels have been called jammy, briary, and brambly, having aromas of sweet berries. • Although the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA in Santa Clara Valley produces Zinfandel from just 9 acres (3.64 hectares), the Zinfandel from that region is known for its complexity and depth. • Sonoma county has a Zinfandel-producing land area second only to that of San Joaquin County. The county contains the warm Dry Creek Valley AVA, known for its juicy Zinfandel with bright fruit, balanced acidity and notes of blackberry, anise and pepper. Dry Creek Valley produces Zinfandels in a variety of styles ranging from the high-alcohol Amador style to balanced, spicy wines. • San Luis Obispo, particularly the Paso Robles AVA with its hot days and cool maritime evenings, produces Zinfandel known for being soft and round. • Napa produces Zinfandels described as plummy and intense, tasting of red berry fruits with cedar and vanilla. Zinfandels in Napa tend to be made in a claret style like red Bordeaux. • Mendocino County Zinfandels have been considered high quality, but they are less known because they are not heavily marketed. • Lodihas some of the oldest Zinfandel vines in California. While often used for White Zinfandel production, in the red style, Lodi Zinfandels have a reputation for being juicy and approachable.

22. Italy • Most Primitivo is grown in Puglia (Apulia)

23. Zin Viticulture and Winemaking • Early ripening with high sugar levels • Zinfandel vines are quite vigorous and grow best in climates that are warm but not too hot, because grapes may shrivel in hot weather. • Thin-skinned, grow in large, tight bunches that are sometimes prone to bunch rot. • Tendency for uneven pattern of ripening. • Has a predilection for American oak barrels. American oak is tannic and imparts spicy flavors laced with coconut overtones. These powerful, upfront flavors need a bold, brawny wine like Zinfandel as a foil.

24. Common Flavors • Raspberry • Black Raspberry • Blackberry • Raisins • Candied Fruit • Anise • Black Pepper • Bay Leaf • Cinnamon • Clove • Sandalwood • Nutmeg • Oak • Vanilla

25. Flavors • Red berry fruits like raspberry predominate in wines from cooler areas, whereas blackberry, anise and pepper notes are more common in wines made in warmer areas and in wines made from the earlier-ripening Primitivo clone.