To Wood

Earlier this week the Uncorked Monthly staff was having a discussion about the heavy oak flavor we were experiencing while sharing a new bottle of wine.  The girls were slightly more sensitive to this flavor.  Why?  Well the truth is that many flavors that are experienced in wine are created by the oak itself, not the grapes.  French oak barrels can often affect flavors so much that they have the ability to overpower the fruity or citrusy elements of the grapes.  Today some winemakers are actually adding free floating oak chips or oak sticks during fermentation to bring out the true nature of the grapes with the added oak flavors.  

Not to Wood

This oaky flavor is not for everyone.  There are a number of winemakers producing unoaked wine today.  One of the main reasons is the consumer (or the girls at Uncorked Monthly) demand for a lighter, fruitier white wine without all of the overwhelming flavors created by oak barrels. White wine grapes are very delicate and have complex aromas that can be lost when the wine is stored in oak.  The use of stainless steel containers do not reveal any additional flavor elements.  Unoaked wine is often said to emphasize the natural flavors of the grapes, along with elements of the soil in which they grew.

What’s your preference?

We were at Kona Grill in Troy, MI and our lovely waitress, Audrey started to chat with us. She mentioned that the staff recently had a wine tasting and noticed that one of the wines came with a glass cork. Must say we were shocked and in previous articles we even talked about different types of closures but this one slipped by us.

After Audrey intrigued us with this new information we immediately asked ourselves...WTF? How did we miss this one? So after digging around we found that glass corks are gaining popularity with wineries, but will they replace the traditional cork? Hmmm...this is what we want to know from you. What are your thoughts? Have you purchase wine with a glass cork? If so, tell us about the wine and your experience.

Now, here are the facts. The glass cork was created by Vino-Seal and provides a seal to protect the flavors and bouquet of the wine. Believe it or not you don't need a corkscrew to open your wine and if you have any left-over wine you can easily reseal your wine with the glass cork. This innovative design isn't new, it was introduced throughout Europe in early 2000 and is now making its way to the U.S. wine makers.

Ok, so why a glass cork? Your traditional corks come from the "Cork Tree" and takes 9-10 years to reguvinate and in fact if not harvested right the cork tree can die. Currently there are over 600 wineries worldwide using glass corks but mostly with whites and reds that don't need to be aged. The industry signs are promising but in true Uncorked Monthly fashion we would surely miss the experience of cutting the foil, setting the screw, and removing the good tradition wooden cork.

So you're going to a New Years Eve party and you need to select a great Champagne. The last thing you want to do is show up at a friend's New Year's Eve party with a bottle that leaves an uncomfortable and dry taste everyone's mouth.  Imagine, you're in the store and you approach the champagne isle and are suddenly presented with several options.  Below you'll find our beginners guide to help you make that ever so important decision easier.

When in doubt go for Champagne

The real champagnes are the ones that come from the Champagne region in France.   Champagne must be made by the traditional natural fermentation method  where as sparkling wines can go through this same process or the carbon dioxide injection method.   Both options would be great for any party, but the consistent quality and time proven product that is produced from the region of  Champagne in France is a solid choice.

Do your home work

Champagne has a unique story to tell.  It will certainly benefit you to know the different types of champagnes and understand the  basics about the types of grapes used to produce champagne.  Champagnes come in a multitude of flavors ranging from dry, sweet, crisp, full bubbles, or delicate bubbles designed to please just about anyone.  

What's your sweetness tolerance

The type of champagne you choose will also depend upon the level of sweetness that you want it to have. The different levels of sweetness in champagnes include:

• Brut: This type is not as dry as extra brut. But, it is not that sweet either.
• Extra Dry: This type is medium in dryness. Extra dry is sweeter than brut.
• Sec: This kind of champagne is slightly sweet and not that dry either.
• Demi-Sec: This type is fairly sweet and barely dry.
• Doux: This is the sweetest kind of sparkling wine or champagne. In fact, it is not at all dry.

Don't be afraid to ask.

You don't know what you don't know, so ask.  You might be surprised to find people around you who are more familiar with wines and champagnes,  it can't hurt to take their opinion into consideration.

What do you want to spend?

Determine your budget before you set out to choose champagne.   You can find very good bubbly at reasonable prices at your local wine retailer.

It's always inspiring to see a company expand in ways that reflect both sustainability and good synergy, and Spanish winemaker Group Matarromera recently did just that. With a history that includes more than 20 years of producing award-winning wines, the company has now launched a cosmetics line that makes use of the antioxidant-rich grape skins that are left over by the wine-making process.

Launched this past summer, Matarromera's Esdor cosmetics brand taps into the powerful polyphenols so abundant in the skins of red grapes. Using a patented process, the company extracts those antioxidant-rich compounds — it calls the result Eminol — and blends them with other natural ingredients to create its nourishing cream, moisturizer cream and eye contour products.

Your friends at Uncorked Monthly

Last week we discussed and showed you how to properly open a bottle of wine using a traditional wine key. Ok, this happens to the best of us…the cork breaks. What do you do now? On occasion when opening older wines the corks become brittle and break during opening. This can also happen with a newer bottle of wine if one isn’t focused. Don’t panic, remove the broken piece of cork from the cork screw and start over. This time gently place the tip of the cork screw into the remaining cork with moderate pressure without pushing the cork into the bottle. After slowly turning and progressing through the cork, you want to proceed to open the bottle as normal and with any luck at all you’ve managed to retrieve the broken end.

Now, if the cork did fall into your bottle you do not have to discard the wine, you just have to work a little harder for your reward.  There are a few simple options to consider for properly straining your wine for a clean pour, this can be done directly into the glass or a decanter.

1.   Wine strainer

2.   Coffee filter

3.   Paper towel

Hopefully you succeed and we know that all wine lovers do. Practice makes perfect! Enjoy your evening in wine style.

The wine staff at Uncorked Monthly

There are many different tools today designed to help you with opening your favorite bottle of wine.  Don't be fooled with all of the wine contraptions that try to simplify an already simple procedure. Yes, most of them are pretty cool and look great in your home or on your bar, but all you need is a basic corkscrew. The corkscrew is an indispensable tool that most waiters/waitresses can’t live without.  First thing you have to do when opening a bottle of wine is to remove the foil leaving a clean opening.  Simply use the knife typically found on most cork screws, if there isn’t one than you can use the pointed end of the screw.  Holding the bottle firmly in your hand, press the pointed end of the screw into the bottom lip and rotate all the way around the bottle until the foil can be easily removed. 

 

The goal is to remove enough foil so during the pore you achieve a clean flow with minimal drips.  Some say the foil may affect the wine as it exits the bottles so make a clean cut.  Next aim the point of the screw at the center of the cork and press down and start turning. You will want to continue turning until only the last half of the final twist remains visible. Now hook the prongs of the corkscrew onto the lip of the bottle and use the handle as a lever to slowly lift the cork from the bottle. Once the handle is almost vertically extended gently lift the cork out of the bottle while bending the cork to the side. This allows the air to escape up the side of the bottle neck helping to reduce the “POP” sound you often hear while opening a wine bottle. Hopefully at this point you are enjoying a great bottle of wine.

Next week we'll cover damage control for broken corks.

 

 

So you’re at the wine store and looking at a huge selection of wines and if you’re like us your confused.  There are so many wines from so many different places.  One of the first things we see that separates all the wine on the shelves from the other bottles are the labels.  Each label is unique to the bottle and can be little scary if you don’t really know what you are looking at.  Every wine bottle is different and the labeling design often varies between wineries and  the information listed on the bottle.

Name of Winery: This is usually in the largest text and often very present on the bottle, it can be located at the top, in the middle, or at the bottom. The winery is the name of the company that made the wine.

 Appellation:  Most bottles will list the country or region where the grapes that made the wine were grown.  Appellations can be very broad like “NAPA Valley” or “Sonoma” or as specific as the vineyard the grapes were grown.  Appellations are dependent on the country in which the wine was produced.

 Varietal: Many wine bottles will list the varietal on the label.  The varietal lists the specific type of grapes that were used to produce the wine.   Italian and French wines do not list the varietal, because their wine laws dictate that the wines from each region must be made from traditional varieties.

 Vintage:  Most people often think a wines vintage indicates the year the wine was bottled.  The vintage of a wine actually tells you the year that the grapes were harvested.  Most wine makers allow wine to develop in wood barrels and wait several years before turning grapes into wine.  

 Alcohol content:  The wine’s alcohol content will usually be disclosed.  This is typically found in very small print somewhere on the bottle.  In the U.S., the back label of the wine will contain the Surgeon General’s warning regarding alcohol consumption and whether the wine contains sulfites.

 Size:  A wine's size is often found on the back label of the wine bottles.  Wine may come in a variety of bottle sizes ranging from 375 ml to 50L which is 67 bottles.  These are very impressive bottles.  The most commonly purchased bottle size by consumers is750ml.

 Next time you’re staring at all those bottles in your favorite store and before you purchase a bottle of wine, take a second look at the label.  

 

This is certainly at hot topic in the industry. For the average wine consumer, the perception might be that a wine with a cork is of highter quality than a wine with a screw cap.

 

Wine Corks:

Pros: Cork has a long history; it has been used as the sealing method of choice for over 400 years. They’re a renewable resource (the trees are not killed when the bark is stripped to make cork). They’re readily biodegradable. And they support an entire industry of corkscrews and other cork-removal products.

 

Cons: Wine Corks often go bad. Estimates vary depending on which figures you believe, as little as 1% or as much as 20% of all wine sold is “corked,” which is to say, damaged by a problematic cork.) Wine corks can be difficult to remove, and sometimes break off into the bottle.

 

Plastic: the New Wine Cork

Pros: Plastic is immune to cork taint, so wine is much less likely to spoil. Depending on the vintner’s tastes, They’re recyclable. And the same cork-removal equipment can be used.

 

Cons: If not recycled, plastic corks also pose a more direct threat to the environment. The plastic may not retain its elasticity well over time, making it unsuitable for wines meant to age for decades.

 

Screw Caps:

Screw caps, are seen as industrial, cheap and lacking the romance of the old "closure" but they have been hailed as the future because there is no danger they will spoil or "taint" the wine, a problem that is said to affect up to one in 10 corked bottles.

 

Pros: Screw caps, like plastic corks, avoid problems of cork taint. They are less expensive than natural or plastic corks. And they can be removed without any special equipment.

 

Cons: As with plastic corks, screw caps imply environmental issues associated with the loss of cork farming.

 

What’s your opinion? Where do you stand on this great debate? Email us at info@uncorkedmonthly.com or post your comment here at our blog.

 

Cheers from the staff at Uncorked Monthly!

 

Uncorked Monthy is a lifestyle company with a social media platform for user contributed content from lovers of wine, food and travel. Our primary demographic is ages 21-59. Free members can share stories, tips, pics, and videos to entertain, inspire, and educate the Uncorked Monthly community. Our weekly newsletter goes out every Tuesday morning and is another great way to stay connected to each other. Our audience is likely to also visit sites that relate to food, home/family, magazines, consumer goods, home furnishings, home & gardening, schools/universityies, and consumer electronics. 

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A life changing note from Mitch Cosentino, Winemaker

November 11, 2010, the last day of a 30 year era in life as I have known it. Cosentino Winery founded in 1980 in Modesto by myself and then moved to the Napa Valley in 1990 closes under the current ownership. Several years ago I sold controlling interest to focus on what I do best— I am a winemaker.

The Winery went public five years ago and while I maintained a modest amount of stock, I was not a director on the Board nor an officer in the company. A few days ago the Board of Directors chose to shut down all operations while new owners are sought. I don’t know what will happen to our iconic piece of Napa Valley. I am heartbroken with these happenings and all of the uncertainty that comes with it, especially for the extremely loyal team of talented people that is broken up. They will be great additions to others now. Alas, fear not for I continue to make wine with the same fervor albeit on a smaller scale. A couple of years ago I started an “artisan” winery in Napa .

Originally referred to as “A winemaker’s wine project” it is now called PURECru Napa Valley , Bonded Winery #16906. It is back to the size of my first winery when I “rode into town” on a barrel as documented by the Wine Spectator in 1990. Ownership and control of this company rests with me now. I have three friends involved that are learning about the wine business from the grape seeds on up. I am excited about the initial releases from my new winery. They are not branded as “Cosentino” wines, but rest assured, they are Mitch Cosentino designed and made without compromise!

These wines are labeled pureCos Napa Valley and Couples & Co currently. PURECru Wines are a collection with very limited production. Unfortunately, we don’t have a tasting room at present. But we are setting up the usual social media contacts. The website is www.purecruwines.com. I will hope to advise all on happenings with my old namesake winery as well as the PURECru Winery as things develop. At the end of the day, I am still a winemaker with fun new things to come, because I am a winemaker!

Thank you all!