Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [101]
Every week I get letters, calls, and e-mails from around the country, from readers of my magazine column, guests I have served, trade colleagues, and so on, seeking advice for common wine-buying dilemmas. Although you know a lot about choosing wine, some no-brainer answers can be handy when you don’t have time to think about it.
When You Want to Impress
The first strategy applies when you don’t know the preferences of your dining partner, or the recipient if it’s a gift; the second if you know you’re dealing with a wine lover.
GO WITH THE ALL-STAR TEAM They may not be the hippest and newest kids on the block, but on my wine radar screen, these winery names are a permanent fixture; they offer excellent wine, year in and year out, at fair prices. They anchor (or should) most wine lists and wine shop shelves, and probably will for years to come. Here are some of my favorite all-star winery names:
California Cakebread, Simi, Robert Mondavi, Beringer, Frog’s Leap, Jordan, Iron Horse, Chateau St. Jean, Franciscan, Ridge, Ravenswood, Joseph Phelps, Sonoma-Cutrer, Trefethen, Chalone, Stag’s Leap
Washington State Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Winery
Australia Penfolds, Lindemans, Rosemount
France
Champagne—Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, Perrier-Jouët, Moët et Chandon, Bollinger, Krug
Rhône—Chapoutier, Jaboulet, Guigal
Bordeaux—Château Lynch-Bages, Château Talbot, Château Pichon Longueville-Baron, Château Leoville-Barton
Burgundy—Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Bouchard Père et Fils, Louis Latour, Faiveley, Olivier Leflaive
Alsace—Trimbach, Hugel, Zind-Humbrecht, Weinbach
Italy
Tuscany—Antinori, Banfi, Badia a Coltibuono, Castello di Gabbiano, Frescobaldi
Piedmont—Pio Cesare, Ceretto, Marchesi di Barolo, Produttori del Barbaresco, Prunotto
BOUTIQUES WITH ROOTS If you know your dining partner or gift recipient is into wine, a boutique bottling might impress them. It seems like a new crop of boutique wineries emerges every day, but when it comes to impressing someone, I’d stay with boutique wineries that have a track record, such as these:
California Kistler Vineyard, Au Bon Climat, Qupé, Shafer, Rochioli, Far Niente, Chateau Montelena, Etude, Williams-Selyem
Washington State Woodward Canyon, L’Ecole No. 41
New Zealand Cloudy Bay, Martinborough
Australia Leeuwin Estate (LEE-win), Cape Mentelle, Henschke, Clarendon Hills
France The Alsace, Rhône, Loire, Burgundy, and Bordeaux estates at the “impress” level are essentially all boutiques with track records. (Refer to Chapter 6 for those recommendations.)
Italy
Tuscany—Fonterutoli, Castellare di Castellina, Selvapiana, Monsanto, Castello di Ama
Piedmont—Gaja, Giacosa, Giacomo Conterno, Marchesi di Gresy, Scavino
Pleasing a Crowd
The two issues here are varying preferences when you have a large group, and budget. Obviously, the “deal” categories above are the place to start, but here are some specific suggestions for the big gatherings people ask me about again and again:
Cocktail parties I have found that the best “cocktail” wines are fruit-forward styles, which don’t need to be served with a meal to show their best. For whites, I prefer California Sauvignon Blanc or Australian Chardonnay; for reds, California Zinfandel or Australian Shiraz.
Thanksgiving I get dozens of frantic calls every November, because the traditional Thanksgiving spread is a huge array of flavors with which to pair wine. I tell everyone, “Don’t sweat it.” Just get a good-tasting wine that goes well with lots of foods, and be done with it. I have found that reds go better overall with Thanksgiving food, but you need something for the white wine drinkers—Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc