Fellow wine writer Eric Asimov thinks that we have a big problem in this country. His argument is somewhat more subtle, but hopefully he’ll forgive me for boiling it down to the fact that it’s a damn shame that people think they need to know something about wine in order to enjoy it. He posits that we have a culture that has turned wine into an intellectual object, imbued with status and special qualities that can only be perceived and appreciated by the knowledgeable.
One of the byproducts of this class driven, intellectualization of wine is something that I like to call the Wine Asshole. In 2007 a study showed that 22% of men in the UK embellished their wine knowledge to impress their dates. And worse, 35% refused to let their dates choose a wine at dinner.
Well a new study has recently come out showing that 62% of self described “wine lovers” in the UK think they know “a lot about wine” but when tested got many basic facts wrong. Much more egregiously, however, 66% said they “bluffed their way through” interactions with sommeliers at restaurants, and 30% said they do not trust a sommelier’s opinion while at the same time 84% feel “they are being ripped off” in restaurants.
So let’s just get this straight once and for all, guys (yes, it is mostly men that have issues here). Knowing something about wine doesn’t mean shit. It doesn’t make you special, sophisticated, cultured, or classy. Like any knowledge it’s all in how you use it. And when you’re over your head, its much sexier to ask for help than it is to bluff your way through. There’s nothing shameful in seeking the help of a professional. Spend your time paying attention to your date instead of in a pissing contest with a sommelier.

RAMON GARCIA
WINE SPECIALIST

I GOT SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THIS WEATHER CONDITION AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE WINE.
QUESTIONS:
When a wine is exposed to high temperatures I have heard it turns to vinegar.

Are there different degrees of cooked wine? Some wines that are not vinegar but boring, dull, taste bad etc.

How long does it take for high temperature or temperature fluctuatiuons to ruin a wine? A day,
a week, a month a year I am a sure there is a range but include a best and worse case scenario if you can.

Do you think there are a lot of stores that are selling wine that is not being properly cared for?

How prevalent are damaged wines that were shipped in bad temperatures?

Ever since I found out about the importance of temperature I have been a little paranoid about where I buy my wine.

I like grocery stores where the wine faces open refrigeration but I wonder what kind of truck the wine came on.

I am also to the point where I fear Beverages and More because I have been there before when it was uncomfortably hot.
ANSWERS:
First, to get vinegar, you need acetobacter (a type of bacteria), which is usually not found in clean wineries.

How can you tell a wine is cooked? It may smell of nuts or sherry or stewed fruit instead of having the vibrant fruit flavors that it’s supposed to have. A slightly cooked wine may have dull aromas and flavors. Another clue for cooked wines: the cork might be pushed up a bit and there might be some wine dribble coming from under the foil (because the volume of wine increases when it’s heated).

A single spike of heat can break the seal on the cork and expose your wine to oxygen. If this happens, I advise drinking the bottle ASAP. Seasonal fluctuations that don’t get too hot or too cold are okay; the wines in my basement are still holding up okay. You do have to worry about more frequent fluctuations.

Extended exposure to warm temperatures will speed up the aging process. This is not a good thing. You can’t rush mother nature; the wine doesn’t really gain in complexity; instead, it simply gets tired and old before it’s time.

Shipping wine in refigerated containers is expensive. Sometimes wines are exposed to heat en route and a few are damaged. I don’t know about numbers, but I can say that in a couple decades of tasting wines from all over the world, I haven’t encountered enough cooked wines to worry about shipping conditions.

Hope this helps.

Ramon Garcia

Radioactive carbon dioxide can help detect vintage fraud, Australian scientists say.

In a study presented to the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco this week, Dr Graham Jones of the University of Adelaide showed that measuring the amount of C-14 – or radiocarbon – in a wine can help determine whether it is really from the vintage stated on the label.

Between the 1940s and 1960s, atomic testing released C-14 into the atmosphere, which has since been diluted by CO2 from burning fossil fuels.

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Other events such as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster also contributed to the level of C-14 in the background.

Grapevines have absorbed some of the C14, and their fruit – when transformed into wine – contains the same age ‘fingerprint’ as the vines.

Using an accelerator mass spectrometer, analysts can measure the radioactive element against the more common Carbon 12 – and compare it against a benchmark – to reveal the wine’s age up to within a few months, according to Dr Jones.

The method was tested on 20 Australian red wines made between 1958 and 1997 and found accurate to within a year.

The test works on the same general principle as one developed by scientists at the French national research centres in Bordeaux. The latter measures the presence of Caesium 137 (Cs137) to age-date wine.

‘Our technique may be slightly less precise,’ French scientists Philippe Hubert and Hervé Guégan said, ‘but ours works without having to open the wine. We have used it a lot on old bottles of Pétrus, Mouton, Romanée Conti, Yquem and Lafite supposedly from before 1950, to see whether there is any Cs137 – which would mean they are fakes. Some of them were.’

This test, along with PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) is used by vintage wine specialists the Antique Wine Company to authenticate both wine and bottles, to check whether they have been refilled with younger wine.

Next time your’e trying to choose a bottle of Champagne! Keep a few of these tips in mind!

Level of Dryness: This refers to the amount of residual sugar per liter. The different levels include Extra Brut, Brut Sauvage, Ultra Brut, Brut Integral, Brut Zero 0.6 percent, Brut 1.5 percent, Extra Dry, Extra Sec 1.2 to 2.0 percent, Sec 1.7 to 3.5 percent, Demi-Sec 3.3 to 5.0 percent, and Doux (sweetest) 5 percent and up.

Be warned, even if you are a sweet tooth, champagnes rated as Doux should be used only as a dessert wine. The most popular style will be Brut, and champagne makers save their best grapes for this category.

Cheers!

In this week’s tip, David shows us how to make a delicious Michelada! Enjoy!