This book offers an easy guide to navigating the world of wine, Modesto columnist says
When I started writing Wine Line, I wanted to write a column that made people feel comfortable about wine. An unpretentious and consumer friendly approach, if you will.
But trying to simplify a complex field of ever changing information, like wine regions, AVAs, wine varietals, old world and new world wines, critics ratings, vintages, non-vintage, oak, unoaked, dry, off dry, or brut, what’s hot and what’s not, well, it’s not easy.
If you ever longed for an easier way to deal with wine then “Wine Style” by Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy is the book for you. The authors present four styles of white and red wine. For each style they describe the taste of the wines and the types of wines that generally fall in that category and the foods that match those wines.
The four styles of white wines are: 1. Fresh, unoaked whites (Pinot Grigio), 2. Earthy whites (Rhone whites), 3. Aromatic whites (Rieslings), 4. Rich, oakey whites (New World Chardonnays). The four red styles are: 1. Mild-mannered reds (simple Chiantis), 2. Soft, fruity reds (Beaujolais, some Pinot Noirs), 3. Fresh, spicy reds (Zinfandels, Malbecs), 4. Powerful reds (elite Cabernets, Merlots, Barolos). The authors state the only thing that matters is how the wine tastes to you and whether you like it or not.
My advice is to find the style you like and then try to taste as many of the varietals in that style. In other words, break out and not get hung up on just one. Wine is incredibly simple, just find a wine you really like, one that you can afford, open it and then just enjoy it. The end.
Wine events to consider
There are many cool wine activities this spring and most of them include food. The Gourmet Cabernet Franc Dinner at the Golf Club at Copper Valley is April 13 from 6-9 p.m. Call 209-783-9518 for reservations. The fifth annual Portuguese Festival is April 19-21 at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock and admission and parking are free. The wine and cheese tasting is on Saturday and costs just $10. The El Dorado Wines Passport Weekend is April 20-21 and features the region’s high elevation vineyards producing award-winning wines. Amador Vintner’s Association is hosting the Four Fires Food & Wine Festival on May 4. The event combines the four global wine regions that have inspired Amador’s award-winning wines, France’s Rhone Valley, Italy, the Iberian peninsula and Heritage California with open-fire roasted cuisine. May 17-19 is Anderson Valley’s Pinot Noir Festival that will have 50 wineries pouring along with two dozen prestige labels from Napa and Sonoma. Oh my, oh my! What to do? My advice, JUST GO.
What’s on our table
The Navigator and I took our first riverboat trip in France on the Rhone River in 2003. It was fantastic. However, it was one of the hottest summers on record. We had a few days in Nice before boarding the ship. We ate our dinners outside and very late, just like the locals. We also discovered chilled crisp bone dry roses. When we returned home, almost all the pinkies on store shelves were sweet white Zins. So to get our fix of dry roses, we’ d buy a mixed case of French roses whenever we went to a Giants game in the City. Today there are plenty of foreign and domestic dry pinkies available locally.
The 2022 Routas from Provence, just $5.99 and the 2022 Jean-Luc Columbo Cape Bleue Rose, only $4.99 were two of my go-to wines in San Francisco. Today, they’re just one third the cost at the local Grocery Outlet. Yes, we love those bone dry pinkies. Cheers!
Questions? Comments? Find me on Facebook or at rgwinton@yahoo.com.
