ask a sommelier
I love big fruity Australian Shiraz but I would like to try something new. Is there a particular country or grape variety that I should try next to ease me into uncharted territory? There are so many choices out there and I don’ t want something too far from what I know I like.
— Betty Anne Aitken Dear Betty Anne,
I completely understand how you feel. It can be so overwhelming to walk the aisles of the wine store and stare at the labels of all these wines that you don’ t know. If you are going to lay down your dollars for a bottle of wine, you want to know that you will enjoy it. Given your current preference, I think there are some good basic rules to follow.
First, stay in the New World( anywhere but Europe) and stick to warm climate wines that will have softer tannins. Depending on how far you are willing to stray, there are a few options. From there, if you want to keep very close to your comfort zone, you could stay in Australia but try some of the blends. Just adding a second varietal, like a Cabernet blended with Shiraz, might be enough of a change to start.
If you want to stray a little further, I would recommend starting in California. Check out some of the Zinfandel-based blends, which have big fruit qualities and deliver that great punch that Aussie Shiraz can give you. Another option would be Argentinean Malbec. These wines are rich and fruit-forward with gentle tannins that don’ t dry out your mouth. And remember, your local wine expert is around to help. We are always looking for a good excuse to talk wine!
— Saralyn Mehta
Once I open a bottle of sparkling wine, will it keep its fizzy sparkle? If so, how long?
— Brenda LeBeau
Dear Brenda,
Depending on conditions, those wonderful bubbles in sparkling wine and Champagne might last a few days, or even longer. At worst, a modest bubbly will be mostly flat by morning— or five minutes after someone shakes the bottle and lets it fly. Here’ s why.
First, the quality of the wine matters. The best sparkling wines are made by the Champagne method, from the region in France where it was perfected. It starts with a quality base wine; bubbles are produced by adding a bit of sugar and yeast, creating a second fermentation( and carbon dioxide gas). The gas dissolves in the liquid, and the sediment created is eventually removed. This all happens in the same bottle that you ultimately purchase. Bubbles can also be created in a large, closed tank, or( I shudder to add) by forcing gas into the wine soda-pop style. Generally speaking, the finer the wine, the longer-lasting the bubbles.
How much wine is left in the bottle also matters. If there is a large amount still in the bottle, the bubbles will last longer than if there is a small amount. In other words, the more air present for gas to escape into, the faster it escapes.
A few things help to slow down that escaping gas. Champagne stoppers push a tiny bit of air into the bottle, and hold it, saving the wine better than a bit of plastic wrap would do. Inert gas preservers( which Banville & Jones sells, and I buy) also help to keep the wine fresh. Placing the bottle upright on the refrigerator or wine cooler shelf( rather than the fridge door that moves every time someone goes in for a snack) also helps.
— Sylvia Jansen
Is there a difference between a Rosé and White Zinfandel?
— O. F. Clark
Dear O. F.,
The longer a wine sits on its red skins during the winemaking process, the deeper the red hue of the final product. Both Rosés and White Zinfandels get their pale pink colour from the skins of red grapes.
Technically, all wines of this colour are considered Rosés, but due to the branding machine that was the 1980s, most people put White Zinfandel, or blush, in a category of its own because of different production styles. Rosés are normally fermented until dryness, meaning a lot of the sugar is gone in the final product; when producing a blush( White Zinfandel), fermentation is halted early, leaving behind some( and sometimes lots) of sugar. Rosés are nuanced and delicate, and produced in small lots; blush wines are made to taste consistently the same and are made by the tanker-load! One large producer makes more White Zin than Canada’ s total wine production!
Rosés are a great summer drink for red wine lovers who are dying for something cooler, and White Zin has made amazing marketing strides, getting more people interested and drinking wine. If you haven’ t tried Rosés, I think you are missing a really fun part of the wine world. From Australia’ s nearly red Rosés, to Spain’ s Garnacha Rosé, there is so much to explore!
— Mike Muirhead
If you have questions for our Sommeliers, please submit them to www. banvilleandjones. com
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