One Moment Is All That It Takes

Many people who are really into wine have related stories to me about their “wine moment.” This is when a person discovers for the first time the treasure that this glorious beverage can bring. It’s after this revelation that wine will forever be more than just a casual drink. After such a “moment” — hopefully you have been blessed with one — wine becomes a part of your diet, a hobby, a passion,an endeavor, a lifestyle, a social bond.

The “wine moment” occasion is etched into your being, much like a significant world event. It seems everyone can recall exactly where they were and what they were doing at their “moment.” And each can remember the name of the wine that opened their eyes, and usually the vintage date as well.

In listening to these stories, I often hear tasting descriptors, such as “it was like a handful of fresh blueberries,” “it was like a ripe peach,” and one I hear most often is “it reminded me of the smells of my childhood.” Whatever the tasting sensation experienced, the impression is indelible.

Interestingly, the types of wines providing these moments are all over the board. For many, taking a leap didn’t require a great wine, just something that rang a bell. There were Cabernet Sauvignons, Zinfandels, Chardonnays, old Bordeaux, young Bordeaux, red and white Burgundy, Italian ... and on it goes.

My wine moment happened in 1975. I was studying and working in the field of architecture, and to supplement my income I got a job at the first French restaurant in North San Diego County, called Mon Ami. I was 24 years old, and didn’t know anything about wine, except that my brother and I had gotten very sick on some cheap, sweet, fortified grape juice while still in our teens. I wanted nothing to do with it ever again.

It was midsummer, and the Mon Ami was having an opening party, a kind of rehearsal dinner for friends and a small gathering of the local culinary crowd. Since it was my first job in the restaurant industry, I was obviously going to be washing dishes that night.

It was a hot evening, and the kitchen staff was full of kinks, bad timing, overcooked foods, dropped plates — you name it. Dinner lasted until 11 p.m., and by that time, I had washed every wineglass in the house twice, and pots and pans three or four times each. I was tired, my legs were worn from standing nine straight hours, and I was building up a mighty thirst.

One of the servers that night, Tom, kept telling me how great the wines were that were being poured at the dinner. He offered me a taste of a few, but I declined, recalling the scourge of Red Ripple many years back. It must have been about midnight when I caved in, and Tom poured me a half-glass of the 1973 Ridge Zinfandel, Geyserville.

I must have looked like I’d seen a ghost; I am sure my eyes grew wide while focusing on the red liquid I had just tasted. Wait a minute! It tastes like fresh blackberries and vanilla ice cream! This can’t be. It’s wine, not an ice cream sundae.

I will never forget that moment — that taste, that wine. That was it for me.

The 1973 Ridge Zinfandel, Geyserville later became known as one of the finest Zinfandels ever produced in California, and is still alive and well in the bottle today. I had one about four years ago, and it was wonderful. However, it did not have the same taste of the blackberry and vanilla that had such an impact back in our youth. It was refined, elegant, and smooth, as hopefully one becomes when aging gracefully.

Gary Parker
GParker@WineSellar.com
Gary Parker is the owner of The WineSellar & Brasserie

Hand Me a Screw Cap Bottle, Please!

I was just doing some math . . .
I open bottles of wine everyday, as I sample wines for my business, and have wine every evening with dinner. In addition to this, I have put on a few thousand wine tastings, special culinary events, as well as various parties, celebrations and wine dinners. Add in serving lunch and dinner in restaurants I have worked in or owned, I can easily say I have opened an average of 10 bottles of wine a day.
I have been in the wine and restaurant business in San Diego for 35 years now. At ten bottles a day for thirty five years, I figure I have opened about 127,750 bottles of wine during my career in this industry.
If you stood these 127,750 bottles up side by side, you would have an eight-mile long row of wine bottles. If you laid them down end to end, you’re looking at a twenty-five mile trail of opened wine bottles.
It now takes me an average of 20 seconds to open each wine (I just opened another to qualify this remark). This means I have spent 42,583 minutes opening wine, 709 hours in total. With an eight-hour workday, this tally’s up to eighty-eight days of work doing nothing but taking corks out of bottles of wine.
The wine experts claim up to 5% of all bottled wine is ruined by cork taint. If that is the case, then I have opened up 6,237 of bottles that were contaminated by cork bacteria, “corked” as we call it.
Can someone hand me a screw cap bottle, please?
Folks, screw cap wine bottles are really cool. Yes, historically, screw cap bottles generally signified a wine of a lesser and often inferior quality, but that image is diminishing rapidly among consumers. Literally, hundreds of top quality wines are now being placed in screw cap enclosures for ease of use, but most importantly to preserve the wine and offer the best, most consistent product possible to the consumer.
I know that screw caps diminish the drama and romance of opening a bottle of wine. I think that is great, actually. Some of the ‘pomp and circumstance’ surrounding the use of table wine should be dropped to allow easier social accessibility. Take the fear and mystery of opening a bottle of wine out of the picture, and more people will enjoy and understand the benefits of having wine with meals.
On my day off, Sunday, I often go to a chain restaurant just to have a dozen or so fresh oysters from their impressive selections. Always ordering a bottle of a fresh, white wine to go with them, I would wince watching our ‘server of the month’ struggle while opening a cork-enclosed wine. More than few times, I ended up taking over the corkscrew to aid in the battle. Now, with ordering a screw cap bottle there, I feel more relaxed, confident and secure the server can readily twist off the cap and pour away.
Corks are still necessary!
Most all screw cap enclosures are placed on wines not meant for cellaring. 90-95% of wine produced is consumed within its first year of release. Wines like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio, some Chardonnay, Rose’s, and even some lighter red wines are perfectly suited for easy opening enclosures.
If you want a wine to place in your cellar to age for a more than a couple years, a cork enclosure is better suited for aging the wine. Cork allows minute amounts of air into the bottle, which assists in the development of the wine.
I recently spent some time with one of the finest winemakers in the world, Luis Barraud, from Vina Cobos in Argentina. His observations about cork enclosures are: “the general public is getting used to the idea of fine bottles of wine are being sold in screw cap nowadays, and certainly anything under $20 retail does not seem to raise an eyebrow.”
I totally agree. Let’s embrace the proper utilization of both screw cap and cork enclosures. Then after we have adjusted to these circumstances, we will be a little more ready to accept the next generation of premium wine containers: wine in a box! (Yes, I like this, too!)

Gary Parker
GParker@WineSellar.com
Gary Parker is the owner of The WineSellar & Brasserie

Wine: Developing a Subtle Swagger

Wine is what you make of it. It can be a hobby or a consuming passion. It can be a person’s lifestyle, and for some (such as myself) can carve out a living in the wine industry. For others, wine can be confusing and intimidating; therefore, less rewarding.

For instance, you might ask, what am I supposed to do with a cork the waiter handed me after opening my wine at the table? Would I know it if I were drinking a “bad” wine? Can I taste things in wine like other people do? Through the appreciation of wine, I have received so many wonderful, enriching life moments involving friendships, conversations, laughter, travels and dining experiences. I even wooed my wife with bottles of wine from my meager wine collection.

Somehow, her preferences seem to run towards the more expensive Burgundy
and Bordeaux wines, which I began to run low on after our first few months of
dating. I knew I had to pop the question before she was given to think I may be as shallow as my wine collection. If you can taste food, if you can smell butter and garlic cooking, you have the ability to enjoy and discuss wine with anyone else on the planet.

Allow me to help you feel more confident and assured about your wine prowess
next time you grab a glass in public. (But wait, don’t GRAB it!)

– Hold the wine glass by the stem only.
Do not put your fingers or hands on the bowl of the glass. No matter how clean
your hands are, after a short time you will have unsightly smudges and oils on
the bowl.
– Swirl the wine in the glass before your first sip. (and as often as you like after that). Swirling releases aromatics of the wine, allowing you to experiencemore of what the wine has to offer. You will find swirling is easier to do while the base of the glass is on the table. Practice at home.
– Breathe in the fragrances. Let your nose hover as close to the top of the glass as you can without getting it wet. Back off and focus for a few seconds. Was there one scent that came at you strongest? Was it fruit, herb, spice or wood? Go down for another whiff, and see if it is different from the first one. Often times the aromas will change as the wine is exposed to air.
Many people actually detect different fragrances from each nostril. One side may be more available to fruit, the other more towards woods and acids, etc. Using the edge of the glass, gently press one of your nostrils (shut) and sniff the wine with the open nostril. Back off and then reverse nostrils. Did you notice a difference?
– Take your first sip. Bring in enough wine to thoroughly coat the inside of your mouth. Here is where experts say you should “Trill” the wine, which is actually sucking air through your mouth while wine is still in it. I really don’t do this unless I am thoroughly evaluating a wine for business. Because of the gargling sounds it may create, “trilling” is generally not accepted at the dinner table or around people who are trying to enjoy a civilized social event.
– What was that? After you swallow, the flavors of the wine become more expressive in your mouth and olfactory system. So does the texture of the wine.Was it powerful, rich, fruity, viscous, and balanced,or was it acidic, harsh, and watery? I have heard people describe flavors in wine I wasn’t able to detect, but I never consider them wrong. Everyone has unique senses, and wine drinkers give high respect to that.
– Get reference material. I taught myself how to taste and enjoy wine before there was any real reference material available: not quite the stone ages, but before the internet. Whenever I had a wine I knew little or nothing of, I read World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson while imbibing. It told me what I needed to know, and I began to get a foundation of wine knowledge that is invaluable to me. I want everyone to enjoy winewho may be so inclined.

-Gary Parker