Excerpts from American Cellars Wine Club, 101 things you should know...
Avoiding a Hangover :
•  "Wine can be enjoyed as a pre-meal drink, but it shines brightest when paired with food. Consuming wine with a meal reduces the incidence of hangovers."
•  "The alcohol in wine dehydrates the body, and dehydration causes headaches. When drinking wine, consume one glass of water (or more) for each glass of wine."
Wine & Food Pairing:
•  "Wine should be matched with a dish's dominant flavor, which, in many cases, is the sauce. For instance, a simple grilled halibut matches best with Sauvignon Blanc; halibut topped with a rich cream sauce matches best with Chardonnay."
•  "Match fresh fruit with either sparkling wine or a sweet, dessert-style wine. Be sure the wine is sweeter than the fruit, or the wine will taste bitter."
•  "Match hot and spicy food with Riesling or a very fruity red."
•  "Match pizza, hamburgers, meat loaf or other 'comfort foods' with Zinfandel, Syrah or Shiraz."
•  "The most important food and wine pairing 'rule' of all: drink the wine you like with the food you like; there are no 'wrong' answers if you enjoy the match."
Dining Out:
•  "If you'd like to bring a bottle (or two) of wine to a restaurant, be sure to call ahead and inquire about the corkage policy. A reasonable corkage fee is $10 or less per bottle."
•  "If those in your party can't reach consensus on a single bottle of wine, see if the restaurant stocks half-bottles or serves wine by the glass. There is no 'rule' that says a party must order a full-sized bottle of wine."
•  "When all else fails, a fairly reliable way of selecting a bottle from a particular category is to choose one that falls in the middle of the category's price range."
Wine Quality:
•  "The color of a wine provides a clue about its age: younger wines tend to be 'brighter' than older ones."
•  "The aroma of a wine is important because it's directly connected to the flavor. Swirling the wine in the glass will help you experience all of the aroma nuances."
Reading a Label:
•  "You can't judge a book by its cover, nor can you gauge a wine's quality by its front label. A pretty label does not necessarily mean you'll encounter a 'pretty' wine. Be sure to read the label, not just look at it."
•  "When assessing the quality of a bottle of wine, consider the following things (listed in order of importance): the wine's place of origin (also known as appellation), the wine producer, and its vintage."
Wine & Guests:
•  "When pouring wine for guests, follow culinary tradition: serve all of the women first."
•  "If a guest brings a bottle that doesn't match the cuisine, open it before dinner and serve it as an aperitif."
•  "Server drier wines before sweeter wines, lighter-bodied wines before fuller-bodied wines, and younger wines before older wines."

ˆTop

Tasting Notes From a Zin Master’s Secret Hideaway...
Dez Landing

Seven Petite Syrah’s: Five people tasting, top three were all consistent:
1st Place: 2004 Rosenblum Heritage Clones, Napa, Sonoma, Redwood Valley Vineyards, 15.4%, big berries up front, very tasty
2nd Place: 2004 Macchia, Lodi Vineyards, 15.5%, no one can argue this one……
3rd Place: 2003 M-D Earthquake, Lodi Vineyards, 15.5%, another great one….
4th Place: 2004 Rosenblum Rhodes Vineyard, Redwood Valley, 15. 7%
5th Place: 2004 Runquist, Salmon Vineyard, Clarksburg, 15.0% big surprise this one placed 5th…..
6th Place: 2005 Rosenblum, Rockpile Road, Dry Creek Valley, 16.0%, maybe a little more time in the bottle would help this top flight wine…
7th: Place: 2001 Cederville Vineyards, El Dorado County, 13.7%

ˆTop

1.27.07 - CORK DORKS AND WINE GEEKS UNITE, ZAP RECAP
Zin Masters Wine Club Members, Monte Fitchett, Mike Moynahan, Leslie Musante, Renee Araiza and friends Tom McClosky, John McIntosh & Sara (Renee’s English friend from Davis) met up in San Francisco for the 16th Annual Zinfandel Festival January 27th. We all had trade and media tickets to get in earlier then the general public, that was nice because after 1:30 it is elbow to elbow.....approximately 270 wineries and a few thousand people.....

Tasting notes:

*The one everyone lusted after: Lust, Michael-David Winery, Lodi. Maley Vineyard very tasty but $49 a bottle......
*The sleeper: Brown Zinfandel, St. Helena. Not too much of a fruit bomb just a well balanced wine. I was able to order this through my wine guy in Napa at $30 a bottle, retail is $36.
*Late Harvest Yummy: Zin Lady, m2 Winery, Lodi. I tried to order a case but they were sold out of the 04 but will be bottling the 05 in a few months and best of all $12.00 a bottle.
*The Old Stand By’s and the ones we visited more then once: Macchia, Rombauer, Seghesio, Runquist, Rosenblum, Ridge
*Deserving of mention (I picked up a business card so it must have been good): Jus Soli, Cosentino, Rued, Hunt, Amphora, Davis Family


ˆTop

MACCHIA PETITE SYRAH VERTICAL TASTING Recently members of the Peterzin Chapter of Zin Masters met in Lodi for a 2001, 02, 03, and 04 Macchia Petite Syrah vertical tasting. This has been one of my favorite wineries and wines since stumbling on them while at a soccer tournament with my son back in 02 or 03? The consensus was: The 2002 won the tasting by a 4 to 2 vote the other two voted the 01 as the best of the four. The wine maker Tim Holdner thought that the 02 was his best vintage of the Macchia Petite Syrah. The 01 I thought was more complex but didn’t quite have the structure of the 02 or the alcohol 15.7%.

Club members Megan, Terri & Sandy enjoy the Macchia Vertical Tasting!

ˆTop

Stay tuned... More wine to drink & more notes to come!