A Little Trip to France and Spain

Jonathan and I are taking a trip to France and Spain over the next two weeks. We’ll be visiting Paris, Bordeaux and Barcelona. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to post on the trip, but I’ll have great stories and pictures when I return!

What I’ve Been Reading

 

Photo Credit: Pawel Zawistowski

Corkscrews Up! Time to Open That Bottle: For the 10^th Open That Bottle Night, Feb. 28, get ready to share a special wine with friends and loved ones

The last Saturday in February is known as Open that Bottle Night. A time for wine lovers to open the bottle they’ve been saving for a special occasion or just the right night. Rather than showcasing an expensive or prestigious bottle, choose one with cherished memories and spend the evening re-living those memories.  A few things to keep in mind for Open That Bottle Night:

*The cork breaks easily on older bottles.

* Don’t decant – at first. Taste the wine and decide.

*Have a backup wine ready just in case your special bottle has gone bad.

*Re-live the memories and enjoy the wine for what it is.

 

Note: Jonathan and I are flying to France Saturday evening. We are contemplating how we can celebrate Open That Bottle Night. Our leading thought is to have a few glasses of wine at the airport in Chicago!

 

Cracking the Code of Restaurant Wine Pricing

Ever wonder how the same bottle of wine can cost different amounts at various restaurants? Several factors go into the price of a bottle of wine at a restaurant such as how much the restaurant purchased the bottle for, when they bought it, who they bought it from and how much wine they bought. Sometimes more-expensive bottles of wine are better deals. The markup is a lower percentage than on the less expensive bottles of wine. And if you’re looking for value, don’t order wine by the glass.

 

Consumers can find value wines at a restaurant by doing a little research. A few suggestions include visiting your local wine store and familiarizing yourself with the prices of wines you enjoy drinking. Pull out your Blackberry or iPhone and lookup the wine’s retail price. Try lesser known varietals or regions such as a Grüner Veltliner from Austria, a Pinot Noir from Australia, Malbec from Argentinaor a Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa. The best value on a wine list is never a Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Gundlach Bundschu’s Mountain Cuveé 2003

Winery: Gundlach Bundschu

Wine: Mountain Cuveé 2003

Location: Sonoma Valley, California

Purchased: Party House Liquors

Price: $23.99

 

This was yet another winery we visited on our tour of wine country. The name was interesting and difficult to say, until we were given the “cheat sheet” version, pictures of a gun, lock, bun, shoe. It suddenly became so much simpler.

 

Mulderbosch’s Chenin Blanc

Winery:  Mulderbosch Vineyards

Wine: Chenin Blanc

Location: Stellenbosch, South Africa

Purchased: The Corkscrew

Price: $14.39

 

I’ve been trying to drink more wine from other wine regions. Jonathan and I get in the habit of drinking lots of French and California wines. Although, recently we’ve been sampling several Spanish wines and have taken a liking to several. Good wine is made in so many places around the world, it’s a shame we stick to our “usual favorites.” On a discussion board, where I read and comment on regularly, I asked for recommendations for South African wines. The response I received was enormous. We tried a few bottles several years ago before we became wine regulars and nothing really struck us as fantastic.

 

What’s Next?

Photo Credit: Rodrigo Cardoso

A friend of mine recently posted on the blog how she felt worldly about 10 years ago before the Malbec craze hit. She discovered them while studying in South America and fell in love. Now, Malbec is one of the more popular South American imports and the signature Argentinean grape. It made me think, what’s going to be the next big wine or region? What area will come out of obscurity into prominence and change the wine landscape again.