Wine Culture

Restaurant wine lists come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. Knowing how to navigate through one is key to successful wining rather than fumbling your way without a compass. Fortunately, I do have experience with wine lists: creating, writing, designing, and reorganizing them. Even though my experience as a fine wine consultant bodes confidence in this task, sometimes even those in the know, don’t. I’ve been overwhelmed many times by wine lists. Long-story-short -- My husband and I and our close friends were at a swanky Italian restaurant in New York City.

These days, thanks to America’s undying love of dining out, being a professional chef is sometimes akin to being a celebrity. Well, minus the money and fame, of course. When I say celebrity, I’m referring mostly to the reactions that chefs can sometimes get from other people. Even then, I’m not really talking about screaming fans or anything of that nature. It’s a very subtle thing, really, but I am still amazed by how interested some people are to meet a chef -- even an everyday chef -- like me.

Let’s pretend that I once had a friend named George. George was a Silicon Valley type, who made a boatload of money at his code-writing job right out of grad school. Being the bachelor that he was, living with a former college roommate, and not giving much thought to trivial matters like personal appearance or fancy-pants vacations, George soon found himself with lots of disposable income and too few hobbies to spend it on. So he turned to wine.

No country has a greater love affair with the art of winemaking than France. The passion with which the French enjoy a perfect food and wine pairing is an absolutely unparalleled experience. The average American can’t possibly understand the rooted history of this obsession, or the extent to which the French have gone to preserve their winemaking heritage. These folks are serious about many things, but none play second fiddle to the fermentation of the all-mighty grape. Swoop into any world-famous or mom and pop restaurant in France, and you’ll likely spy the volumes of bottles way before you lay eyes on the food. Chef superstars like Alain Ducasse and Joel Robuchon wouldn’t dream of a prix fixe extravaganza without the ideal wine accompaniments for each and every dish.

Deep beneath the surface of the Sonoma Valley, a controversy lies. Little is known of this controversy unless one happens to delve deep into Sonoma’s rapid growth in recent years. Many people may be surprised to know that Sonomans don’t really want to be compared to, or put against, Napa Valley, its closest rival. Napa, at least some people agree, has become a commercialized Sonoma with high-end shops, high-class eating establishments and high-priced wines; many believe too high-priced. Enter in the Wine Patrol, a group of individuals whose single most important quest in life is to locate, promote and praise Sonoma’s finest wines under $15-$30 and to bring public awareness to Sonoma and its original simple, non-glitzy charm that Napa has commercially overshadowed in the last few years.

I’ve taken my column’s title from Michelangelo, who once wrote, “ I feast on bread and wine, and feasts they are .” Tuscany’s most famous sculptor had his heart in the right place. Wine has been part of Italian culture since the ancient Romans began to write.

Setting aside the surplus of uppish “authorities” on wine, who use their knowledge to cloak it in an exclusionary and intimidating mystery, wine, in and of itself, is a complex and mysterious substance. It is no small matter that Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired to the comparison : “Wine is bottled poetry.” For, like poetry, wine is concentrated expression. Within its dark reaches we may encounter any number of mercurial impressions, odors transporting us back in time, elements of surprise, and sensory revelations. A wine, like a poem, is never exactly the same wine twice. Not only is each person’s experience contingent upon his or her individual mood, memory, and sense of smell, but a wine, too, as a living, changing substance, is also subject to varying characteristics within a given period of time.

“I’d like to try your Goosetaweiner.” Since barrel-tasting weekend coincided with a few of the major NCAA college basketball conference tournament finals, I had half an eye on the high def TV on the counter. While I was pretty sure I had heard “Goosetaweiner,” I wanted to give the visitor the benefit of the doubt. “I’m sorry? You’d like to try our Gewurtztraminer?” I figured I’d let him off the hook by pronouncing it correctly. That way, he could just repeat it. “Yes, the Goosetaweiner.” There it was again.

The Winemaking Formula The fermentation of grapes and grape juice into wine, is a natural process that has been enjoyed by man for thousands of years. The choices made in the vineyard and winery are of relevancy to the wine enthusiast as they directly affect the final product. There is an...

The words Vine, Vineyard, Wine, Winebibber, Wine Press and Strong Drink are often used in the Bible to reference wine. Below are some bible passages that contain the word Strong Drink .