Our wine club would like to have a champagne
tasting. With 4 champagnes and 12 guests,
must I buy 48 champagne glasses? Is it
bad etiquette to use just one glass per
person for the entire tasting? Thanks,
Allison
Thank you for your email and for reading
the Wine Skinny! Technically, it's probably
better to have a different glass for each
Champagne -- but honestly, don't worry
about it. I go to (and host) lots of tastings
where each person uses the same glass
for all wines poured. This is true even
when it's a mix of red & white &
sparkling! I say if it makes it all too
much hassle or expense to have multiple
glasses, then it's not worth doing. Just
enjoy the tasting! O.
++++++++++
I have been left two bottles of burgundy,
which I am worried that I should have
drunk by now: a 1992 Haut Cotes De Nuits,
and a Baron De La Charriere Cuvee St Vincent
2000. Do you think they will have aged
too much by now? I am less worried about
the latter, but would appreciate your
thoughts on the former. Kind Regards,
Andrew
Well... The 92 Cotes du Nuits probably
shouldn't age any longer. Without knowing
exactly which bottle it is, it's hard
to say for sure -- but that vintage was
not exceptional, and those wines are generally
"drinking now."
The 2000 Charriere is not a particularly
expensive wine -- I believe it retails
under $20 -- and 2000s were fairly soft
wines. Not meant for long aging, for the
most part. If they were my bottles, I'd
go ahead and open both sooner than later.
You never know with wine -- sometimes
they surprise you and still show a lot
more fruit and life than you might have
expected. Good luck! O.
++++++++++
I am having my first wine tasting party
at the end of this month. I was wondering
if you could tell me how many wine tastings
can I get out of 1 bottle. Thanks, Glo
If
you really pour just a taste of the wine,
you can easily get at least ten tastes
out of each bottle. Twelve if you're really
good! Hope this helps -- Cheers! O.
++++++++++
I have a bottle of Parra liqueur port
with the date 1947 vintage on the lable.
On the label it says B Seppelt & Sons
Ltd South Australia. The main label has
PARA liqueur on it And there is a smaller
circular label on the neck with PORT 1947
VINTAGE on it Is it worth much? Thank
you. Brian
Seppelt
is the key. They have been producing various
types of Port-style wines (including,
it seems Para -- one r, not two!) in Australia
for a while. Here is the link to their
website: www.seppelt.com.au
There's a Contact Us link on their site.
Your best bet may be to drop them an email
and inquire about your bottle's value.
Good luck! O.
++++++++++
A Beef Daube Provencal recipe I have calls
for a cup of red wine. Do you have any
suggestions on what specific wine I should
use for this hearty stew? Thank you in
advance for your help. Sandra
I tend to try to use the wine of the region,
when it's a regional dish like that. In
your case, a Provence red wine would certainly
include a wine from the Rhone region just
"next door." If I were you,
I'd use something like a $10-$14 Cotes
du Rhone. Bottles from producers like
Guigal and Chapoutier are widely available
and reliable. (Buy an extra bottle to
sauce the cook while you're at it!)
The nice thing about cooking with "Old
World" wines (France, Italy, Germany)
are that they have a higher natural acidity
because of the cooler climate that does
what you want cooking wine to do -- tenderize
as well as add flavor. Plus, they typically
don't have all the heavy vanilla oak flavors
that "New World" wines (U.S.,
Australia, South America) usually have,
which can add an odd, unexpected note
to the dish. Cheers! O.
