Tag Archives: wine

Mar 03 2013
15 Comments
Food and Wine Pairings, Sunday read

Sunday Read: An Overview of the ISA Wine Pairing Criteria

I love what this blogging community has brought to my life. One of my favorite fellow writers is Stefano Crosio, whom I first met through the fabulous Italian food blog Flora’s Table, his wife’s blog on Italian and American food (an awesome resource!). Stefano is in charge of photography and wine and food pairings on the blog. His suggestions are informed suggestions because he is a certified sommelier according to the Italian Sommelier Asssociation (ISA) rules. Stefano has now started his own blog Clicks & Corks on which he shares his stunning work in photography and his love for and knowledge of wine.

Last week, Stefano posted a fabulous article and I am happy to share it with you. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle with figuring out what wines to pair with the food I prepare. I have developed some rules by trial and error, have consulted a few information sources and tried these, but it has all been a bit all over the place. I am not saying this is not fun or educational, but it was also hit and miss. Stefano has summarized and explained ISA’s general suggestions on how to pair certain types of flavors and textures with wines. It is not a “steak = Cabernet Sauvignon” or “asparagus = Silvaner” type of guide which I greatly appreciate. This guide helps me understand the qualities to look for in the food and the wines to make pairings work.

I will be using this guide in the future and see how it works out. I thought it is worth sharing! Have a great Sunday, and thank you, Stefano.

Corks & Clicks: An Overview of the ISA Wine Pairing Criteria 

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Feb 26 2013
4 Comments
2010, Germany, Mosel

2010 Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett Blue Slate

2010 Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett Blue Slate

2010 Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett Blue Slate

You have read about me drinking Dr. Loosen wines before. I also indicated before that I never drank much of their wines while in Germany, for whatever reasons. But given Dr. Loosen’s prominence in the U.S. and Ernst Loosen’s tireless promotion of Riesling over here, I am finding more and more Loosen wines and try them here. When we went to a wine store and I saw this bottle, we decided to grab it. I am very fond of the crazy 2010 vintage, and I had heard about this particular wine before.

Let me give you some background on the winery: Dr. Loosen is currently owned by Ernst (or Ernie) Loosen. The estate has been family owned for over 200 years. The winery has been a member of the elite winemaker association VDP since 1992 and it owns plots in most of the Mosel’s prestigious vineyards. It is one of the larger estates along the Mosel.

This particular wine is a non-single vineyard Kabinett wine, in the German system the lowest level of quality wine with distinction (if you are not familiar with these denominations, please check out my quick guide here). The winery describes its aim for this wine as producing a light, typical Kabinett style wine. The grapes were sourced from blue slate vineyard sites in Bernkastel, Graach and Wehlen and the wine has 7.5% ABV. You can check out the winery’s description of the wine here.

A greenish yellow in the glass. On the nose subdued aromas of citrus and yellow fruit. On the palate, I got less acidity than I expected (it’s a 2010 after all!), with citrus aromas (grapefruit and tangerine mostly), some melon and early signs of ageing. The noticeable residual sugar gave the wine a medium long finish. The wine seemed a bit thin, though (for lack of other words). All in all, this was a refreshing summer wine, but it was also a bit disappointing: I had definitely expected more minerality and hoped for a stronger expression of flavors. It did pair alright with the Asian food we were having.

Given that we bought it on sale for $15 (it seems to retail for $20 and up) I am not sure the quality to price ratio is right for this wine. Also, keep in mind that for that money you can usually get at least a single vineyard bottle of Kabinett from other established wineries. And, I hate to say it, but their entry level Dr. L Riesling, which can be had for $9 and up, would be my preferred choice, not just for QPR reasons.

The Wine Spectator apparently awarded it 90 points and called it a “smart buy” (noting apple and citrus aromas, with kumquat in the the finish). It also received a Gold Medal at the Los Angeles Wine & Spirits Competition 2012.

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Feb 24 2013
6 Comments
Something about wine..., Sunday read

Sunday Read: Seven Wine Faults

Sometimes people ask me how I can tell whether a wine is flawed or not. I don’t know about you, but I do struggle with detecting faulty notes or aromas in wines. I usually can recognize a “corked” bottle, but have had issues with other flaws. This is a touchy subject for winemakers and drinkers alike: We don’t want to label a wine as bad when in fact it was faulty which is not necessary the winemaker’s mistake: storage and other reasons can impact a wine and turn it into a bad wine. And there is hardly anything worse (in the wine world) than blasting a wine for flaws that have nothing to do with the winemaker’s skill or ability. But it can be hard to know what went wrong with a wine if you don’t know what characteristics certain flaws have.

That is where this article by Madeline Puckette comes in. She gives summaries of common wine flaws, how to detect them and what can be done about them (if anything!). I believe this can help understand what’s going on when we get across a bottle that has issues.

Happy Sunday!

Wine Folly: Seven Wine Faults and How to Detect Them

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