Debunking the House Wine Myth
Nov 17, 2008 beyond venice, wine for all & all for wine
OK. Who hasn’t received the advice from guidebooks, and friends who are just returning from their first trip from Italy: “Drink the house wine! It’s great, and cheap!” So of course, you take this sage advice to heart and enjoy the house wine with every meal. Anything wrong with that? No, but…
That was then, this is now. House wine no longer has a mandate. So what’s changed?
Wines. Wines have changed. There is a bigger variety of better wines that cost less, especially when you can drink them in the country where they are produced, especially when they’re by a non-exporting producer. It’s a big a mistake to travel thousands of miles and not explore the non-house options, at least on occasion.
What is the difference between house and bottled wine, anyway? House wines are young, fresh, usually fruity (not sweet) and low in alcohol. They are the ideal accompaniment to panini, a quick primo between sightseeing, or anytime you are deciding between wine or an iced tea (the tea will cost more).
Sitting down to enjoy a four-course meal, though, merits drinking a wine chosen specifically to accompany it. These wines may will not be big, aged, or necessarily even famous (which too often depends more on the marketing budget than the quality of the wine). Indulging in a classic Italian meal that celebrates local cuisine is the ideal time to venture a better wine.
But how to choose? Most of us are intimidated by our lack of knowledge of wine, for a number of reasons. First, it’s not an original part of our culture. Although the U.S. (for example) produces some wonderful wines, unless you produce them yourself or are within a stone’s throw of Napa or Sonoma valleys, you probably don’t identify much with wine or winemaking. Then, there are more wines being produced all the time, all over the world, and unless it’s your business, the sheer number makes them that much more difficult to keep up with, let alone differentiate among. And, almost everything about the wine culture is confusing: the jargon, the labels, to the yet-to-be-completely-dismantled opinion that you have to have some special gift to “really” understand wine. The result? We depend on number rating to choose a wine. What does a number tell you about a wine? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. (I mean, if a wine isn’t good, why is the store where you’re shopping carrying it anyway?)
It’s only attention and experience that brings a greater wine understanding. Experience is a lot easier to come by (and costs less) when you live in a country whose wine sales not only comprise a significant percentage of the GDP, but that has been producing wine for hundreds of years.
The good news is, you don’t have to know very much to order an excellent, reasonably-priced bottiglia (or two, if you’re in a group) with your meal. Ask your server (or proprietor, or sommelier) for their recommendation…especially if it’s a place known for their wine list. Let them know what you want to spend, whether you have any preference you have as to white, red, fruity or dry, aged, or younger, higher or lower alcohol content, spumante or still (fermo), local, regional, or from anywhere. If this is a locale known for their wine list, just give them a price range and let them choose.
So is choosing the house wine a bad idea? Not necessarily…dipende. Try an appealing alternative ogni tanto…you won’t regret it.
Tcin Tcin!
Tags: wine
Prosecco passito? Che sorpreso!
Oct 22, 2008 wine for all & all for wine
By now, the popularity of Prosecco has propelled this unpretentious potation to international fame, to the delight of producers and enthusiasts alike. But Prosecco passito? Who knew!
At dinner with friends, it’s not unusual to have a specific wine chosen to accompany dessert (a Barolo, for it’s glorious reputation, would va molto male, for example.) A nice vin santo, a pleasing Picolit, or even Barolo Chinato (perfect for pairing with chocolate, for example), would be a welcome accompaniments to any dolce. But Prosecco? Fermo? Passito?
Well I never. And it’s just grand. Who knew? Can’t wait to try it on friends alla cieca at the next dinner and see if they can guess what it is!
Here’s the one we had (they produce a passito of Marzemino and Verdiso too, along with a series of Prosecco spumantizzato):
Veni, vidi…vini (and more vini).
Apr 14, 2008 wine for all & all for wine
VinItaly shouldn’t last a long weekend, it should last a month. Even if you had five whole days to spend tasting wine, it would be impossible to sample even half of those that are represented there, and likely to bring on raucous case of gout to boot. Besides, it’s not just about tasting an individual wine, it’s about learning first-hand from the producer their background, philosophy, and approach; the vinification process and challenges of their particular area, region, and terrior, and, in general, just facendo due chiacchiere, which usually bubbles as effortlessly as a Scolca spumante about halfway into the second bicchiere. If VinItaly went on for at least two weeks, for example, you could stop by four or five times, for perhaps for a few hours, tasting, say, Franciacorta one day, hopping over to Puglia or Sicily another, Friuli or even Alsace another, and…well, you get my point.
Tags: Untitled
Beyond Venice: Bordeaux to Bourgogne
Apr 18, 2007 beyond venice, wine for all & all for wine
Bonjour!
Here’s a all-too-quickly assembled slideshow turned video from an all-too-quick trip across France, taking advantage of the excellent myair.com fares from Venice to Bordeaux, and Nancy back to Venice, with all the France I could manage in between. The goal (OK, the excuse) was testing out Paris resident and travel writer Alison Culliford’s content for the upcoming France: Instructions for Use (it was only a matter of time…and the right writer, of course).
It has been decades since I was in France for more than a CDG layover, how happy I am that it finds itself so close to my adopted home, with so many affordable ways to visit. I think it’s one of the few places I could consider going with “certain” Italian friends, where I’d feel confident they wouldn’t complain about the food. The bread. The wine. The cheese, ohmygoodness the cheese…
Glass, cork. Glass cork?
Oct 11, 2006 wine for all & all for wine
I’m unexpectedly captivated by the oddest things.
We we had the pleasure to dine recently at Vini da Gigio, and to accompany dinner, co-owner Paolo brought us a Blauburgunder Pinot Nero (that’s what Blauburgunder means in German, I’m told). He didn’t open it with his usual panache, i.e., with his preferred cavatappi, though. He couldn’t, because the stopper was made of glass.
