Blue Monday: Look Closely

We have been working on our deck for a month now because the only time we could do any work is when he's not working and when it's not raining, sometimes the two don't coincide but finally we are done, except for staining.  The orange, better known as "Cedar" color you see here is not at all what we wanted but I'm going to make it work...the stuff is way to expensive.  I think it sets up a nice contrast against the freshly painted patio chairs.

Look closely and what do you see... little glass of wine waiting for me :-)

Of course, there are some finishing touches I'm still working on. Chimes, some potted plants and an umbrella to protect from too much sun or rain. I plan on using this outdoor space as much as I possibly can. It's my favorite place to read and relax.

Enjoy your week everyone!

Terie

Sharing with all my friends at Smiling Sally

About Wine - Wine Storage and a new favorite white wine

Photo in the cellar by filtran

Check out this awesome article about wine storage from Neil from ON THE GRAPEVINE.  He is so knowledgeable about wine and the care of wine that I think you will all enjoy this article.

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By far most wine is purchased and consumed within 48 hours. Some people of course like to cellar wine they think has a good potential to age. This is fraught with “danger” mainly because some wine has no chance at all of improving with age, some can be left too long and goes “over the hill” and some spoils because of bad storage conditions. (I usually end up with red or white wine vinegar not even good for cooking!)

Aging wine increases its complexity. Chemical reactions take place on storage which can add new aromas, flavours and texture to the wine. And of course there is the inevitable colour change. However, if left too long, all these changes can be indistinguishable.  Briefly as discussed before, white wines change to deeper colours, some to deep yellow or gold and eventually brown.  (This was a learning experience, wish I had know this a few months ago.)

Aromas and flavours lose their varietal character and become similar to toast, honey figs, nuts and caramel.  Red wines change colour too as they age from purple through brick red to red brown and finally brown.  Again with reds, flavours change taking on the impressions of earthiness, fungi, coffee and even cigars. Red wine tannins increase in size on ageing and become softer and less astringent allowing other subtle flavour changes to shine through.

For most of us who store wine, it is kept in racks or boxes in the cellar, under the house, in a cupboard or even under the bed. Very few of us have proper temperature controlled rooms or expensive cabinets.  Ideal conditions for storage of wine are darkness, good ventilation, odour free, lack of vibration, minimal temperature variation of 12°-15°C (55°-60°F) and humidity of 70-80%. 

Obviously not many of us can comply with all these conditions so if we were to single any major one out to be aware of I would say it would be temperature fluctuation. Darkness can easily be created by leaving the wine in its original boxes.

In the past, table wines needed to be stored lying down. This kept the cork wet and the bottle well sealed. With the advent of the screw cap bottles with this closure can be stored standing up, one of its many advantages. For bottles with cork closures it is important to keep an eye on possible leakage and the ullage level. This means if the level of the wine falls below the shoulder of the bottle it needs to be topped up and recorked (if still ok) or better drunk as soon as possible.

Arranging bottles so those for early drinking are easily accessible prevents ‘long termers’ from being continually moved and disturbed.

Buying wine for long term storage is a complex issue. (and this is why I buy, I drink, done!) It is sometimes best to take the advice of wine merchants, winemakers and wine reviews when deciding what to ‘lay down’. Of course it is more rewarding to assess a young wine as to its ageing potential yourself and being able to enjoy it 10, 20 or maybe 30 years down the track.

It is also preferable to be able to buy a case of the selected wine and assess its progress regularly over time eg. for a red, five years after purchase then every year or two.

This all can be an expensive exercise so there is nothing wrong with splurging on an aged wine from a retailer or winery when the occasion calls. At least you can be almost assured that the bottle has been stored under ultimate conditions and if indeed there is anything wrong with it you can usually get a replacement. ...( and that's what I do... buy already aged wine - lazy or practical, call it what you want!)

So tonight I was enjoying some fun time with my friend from Chesapeake and we decided to take a quick trip to Trader Joe's and found, yet another delicious Australian Wine.  It is a "classic Muscat  with fragrant aromas of apricots, mangoes and lilacs and sweet, luscious flavors balanced by a crisp, refreshing finish."

A white wine from South Easter Australia called Alice White.  It's like a dessert wine, goes well with any sweets or by itself.  We loved it and we paid ...ahem... $5.00.  Now that's what I'm talking about. 

Enjoy the tips on wine storage and enjoy Alice White!

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Past about wine  articles:

In the beginning

Wine Tasting

The making of wine

Foodie Friday: Easy BBQ Baby Back Ribs & Red Zinfandel

Foodie Friday!!!

Hello again everyone. I have so missed participating in Foodie Friday but now I'm back with a very tasty, summer recipe and some wine to go with it. You just might find yourself baking or grilling these babies real soon. Enjoy! Please visit Designs by Gollum for more tasty recipes.

Serves 4 (or 2 depending how hungry you are)

2 racks of Baby Back Ribs

2 TBSP oil (olive or canola works fine)

Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/2 red onion

1/2 cup water or better yet - vegetable broth

1 bottle of original BBQ Sauce

You may want to cut the rib racks in half to make it easier to fit in a large pan.

Wash the ribs, pat dry with paper towel. Rub them with oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder - just a little; salt and pepper. Slice up onion and place in a shallow pan, top with ribs. It's OK if they overlap :-)

Add broth or water to the pan. Cover the pan with aluminum foil.

Cook at 350 for about 1.5 hour. Check for doneness. Meat should be tender and pull apart easily.

When done, remove foil, drain excess water from the pan. Brush ribs with BBQ sauce. Lots of BBQ sauce. I love it sticky, gooey, yummy. OK sorry.

Return to the oven and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Check it often so it doesn't burn. Keep adding BBQ sauce, and cook another 5 minutes longer. Oh yummy. This is a deliciously messy meal.

I serve this with Potato Salad, Garden Salad, Corn Bread, and of course a nice glass of Red Zinfandel.

Speaking of Zinfandel - here's Neil from On The Grapevine once again with a little background on the Zinfandel family of wines. Enjoy!

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Photo from Wines.com

Zinfandel is a very popular wine grape variety in the USA with 21,000 ha (52,500 acres) under vine in California alone. It is third only to Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the red grape growing stakes there. It is not popular in Australia where only 140ha (350 acres) are grown. In fact Australia exports most of this variety to the USA. It tends to be a little fickle from a viticulture point of view, demonstrating uneven ripening, rain damage and bunch rot as well as not coping well with mechanical harvesting.

DNA testing revealed that it was genetically matched to the Croatian variety Crijenak Kasrelanski (where it originated) and the Italian variety Primitivo. All three however have developed distinctive clonal differences in their country of cultivation over several hundred years. It is thought that the variety arrived in the USA into Boston via Austria around 1830 and made its way to California in 1850.

Wines made from this grape come in many different styles. In the USA, these range from rose¢s and light reds through to big alcoholic reds and fortifieds as well as late harvest dessert wines. White Zinfandel is a semi sweet blush ie. pale pink, wine that has picked up some colour from its short contact with the red skins of the grape during vinification. It could also be called a Rose¢ but this term is usually used for pink wines that are dry.

In the USA sales of White Zinfandel are six times that of the red wine.

White Zinfandel goes with pasta dishes (especially those with creamy sauces), fish, pork, lamb, hams, mild cheeses, antipasto, egg dishes, Asian and Indian food and most desserts.

Red Zinfandel wines can have an alcoholic content of 15% or more and many can be ‘hot’, big, full bodied and even jammy. But on average, with good wine making techniques, Red Zinfandel can have good fruit, with blackberry, raspberry, plum and cherry aromas and flavours. They can also have hints of earthiness, chocolate, leather and spice, but are not usually considered too complex. The tannins are usually moderate, generally balanced with good acidity and a pleasant mouth-feel.

Foods that go well with Red Zinfandel include sausage, beef, lamb, pork and venison, all either braised, grilled or roasted. Because of its lower tannin content, this wine can take some heat from chillies. Ribs with a spicy barbecue sauce are considered almost a classic match. Zinfandel friendly cheese include aged Parmesan, Dry Monterey Jack and Manchego. Zinfandel also goes well in recipes that include tomatoes, eggplant, mushrooms and olives.

Visit Neil at On The Grapevine to read more about wine, grapes, and travel adventures.

A visit to the vineyards

A little over a year ago I went on a wine tour in Williamsburg, VA.  The atmosphere was excellent, the people interested, and many of them knowledgeable.  After a tour of the vineyards, we visited the "dungeon" where they keep the barrels and where the wine is made, I guess, that was pretty cool, literally.  My favorite part was the actual tasting of the wine.  They had several bottles ready for us to taste but no one told me there would be a quiz. 

I hate tests.  Well, it was more like we take a sip and we had to write down what we tasted.  To me, at the time, wine was wine--it tastes good, I wrote after my first sip.  Then I heard others call out "citrus, grapefruit, peach, oak"  --what the heck..there's oak in my wine?  Any way, I failed miserably but I still got to drink my wine.  

Oh yeah that was the other thing, they provided us a bucket to spit out the wine -- seriously, that's just wasteful.  I wont be needing a bucket, thank you.  Thank goodness I was not driving that day because after tasting several varities I was feeling pretty good.  

I decided that day that would try harder to really pick out the flavors, to better understand wine and the makings, and to educate myself a little more about wine and food combination.  

I ran across Neil's blog On the Grapevine recently and became interested in what he had to say so I invited him to be a guest on my blog.  He will give us a few lessons, ideas, and maybe even answer some questions about wine grapes, wine selection, etc.  Don't be shy, ask away.  I plan to post about wine when the mood strikes us or when we have a really good recipe deserving of some really great wine. Check out Neil's blog too, full of information and ideas.

Guest post coming soon...stay tuned!