The 2015 American Wine Society National Tasting Project

The 2015 American Wine Society National Tasting Project

Wines of Austria and Hungary

The wines of Austria sound like German wines; look like German wines; come in bottles that we associate with German wines; and are often made of grapes that Germans use for their wines. But across the board, the wines of Austria are as unlike German wines as any wines could be. 

When it comes to Hungarian wines, it's Tokaji that comes to most minds first. However there is much more to be discovered.  Did you know that the "nectar" from the grapes of Tokaj is mentioned in the national anthem of Hungary?  Hungary is also known for its "Bull's Blood," (Bikavér in Hungarian).

Join us on Wednesday, September 16, at 7:00 for a tasting of the wines of Austria and Hungary, as part of the AWS National Tasting Project.  For this adventure through a little known part of Europe, our expert guide will be Barbara Johns, with her Faithful Companion Jeff Wagner.

What is The National Tasting Project?

The NTP is a wine education and tasting opportunity for AWS Chapters across the US.   Each year the NTP committee chooses a theme and selects several widely available wines that show different styles within the theme.  Chapters hold tastings to sample the wines and then see how their ratings compare to other AWS chapters.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR WINE GLASSES.  

The cost for members is $20.  The cost for guests is $25.

Please reply before September 9 to:  aws.pittsburgh@gmail.com

Or you may reply to Kathleen Simpson at 412-657-1861

Mail your check, payable to AWS to:

Dr. Dennis Trumble

1302 Arch St

Pittsburgh PA  15212

Don’t forget to visit the website for directions, useful tips, and recipes at

aws-pittsburgh.blogspot.com

How Do They Make Mass Produced Wine Taste So Great?

Winemaking may bring to mind images of sun ­dappled vineyards and grand Château, but a typical ­bottle of Napa Cabernet owes more to lab coat ­wearing chemists than to barefoot grape stompers. Like most food, wine has been thoroughly industrialized. ­Million ­gallon batches are cooked up in ­giant factories in Australia or California’s Central Valley and made of grapes that come from anywhere.

Vintners are under constant pressure to find new ways to save money. California grape prices have gone up 46 % in the past decade. That leaves ­little room for error. If something goes slightly wrong in a 350,000 gallon tank, winemakers can’t afford just to dump it. So they’re turning to science and chemical additives to doctor their product into something more drinkable.

Here’s a look at the secret ingredients and behind the scenes manipulation that go into crafting the perfect, consistent glass of wine.

WHAT’S REALLY IN YOUR WINE?

Vat produced wine can be coaxed into drinkability. You just need the right additives.

Sulfur Dioxide: The most widely used wine additive. It kills microbes and prevents oxidation. Few vintners dare to bottle a wine without it, but overuse can make a wine smell like burnt matches.

Ammonium Salts: A touch of diammonium phosphate revives dying yeast and keeps it from producing too much sulfur.

Water: If a batch ends up a bit too alcoholic, just add some water.

Oak adjuncts:  Oak barrels can make wine taste drier and lend it notes of vanilla, but they’re expensive. There is a cheaper alternative. Oak chips, sawdust, or “essence” (a liquefied wood product) can be added directly to an otherwise finished wine.

Tartaric Acid:  A naturally occurring acid found in grapes, it’s particularly critical in white wines, where tartness gives each sip a pleasing snap. Wines with insufficient acidity can get a boost from powdered tartaric acid.

Powdered Tannin:  Naturally present in grape skins and seeds, as well as oak, tannin creates texture and astringency. Typically made from a growth on oak trees called a nutgall, powdered tannin can punch up lackluster wine.

Sugar:  If grapes aren’t ripe enough when picked, adding cane or beet sugar to the must can help them ferment. There is a catch: Adding sugar, called chaptalization, is illegal in California, Italy, and Australia. (It’s legal in New Zealand, Oregon, and parts of France, though allowed amounts vary.)

Pectic Enzymes:  Complex proteins that can be used to alter color, improve clarity, release aromatic compounds, and speed up aging.

Gum Arabic: Made from the sap of the acacia tree, gum Arabic softens tannins to reduce astringency and make the wine’s body silky. This can make a tough and somewhat bitter red wine ready to drink immediately.

Velcorin (dimethyl dicarbonate): First introduced in the 1980s, though increasingly controversial this microbial control agent can kill a half-dozen wine ruining bacteria and yeasts when added in minute quantities. It’s also widely used in fruit juices.

Mega Purple: Made from the concentrated syrup of Rubired grapes, Mega Purple is a thick substance that winemakers rely on to correct color issues. A few drops can turn a bottle of wine from a weak blush to an intense crimson and to make a wine look consistent from batch to batch. In a 119 liter wine barrel, just 200 milliliters is enough to do the trick. Mega Purple is made by Constellation Brands, the company behind famous labels like Robert Mondavi and Ravenswood. While on the record no one will admit to using it (or any other additive), industry insiders say that even high end winemakers have employed it to deepen the color of their wines, a trait that connotes richness and quality, earns better ratings from critics, and commands higher bottle prices.

Rubired is an ascendant force in California’s vineyards. In 2013 it accounted for 5.5 % of all grapes crushed in California which is dead even with Pinot Noir.

Wine Collecting Tips

10 WINE COLLECTING TIPS FOR BUDDING WINE COLLECTORS

The thought of spending inordinate amounts of money on a wine collection might seem a little crazy to those of us who get excited about spending the cash for a special $60 bottle of Napa Cabernet once in a while. But we still collect in our own modest way and, in truth, there are many out there, quietly squirreling away one or two prized bottles at a time for growing collections.

For those of us with limitations (like budgets and available storage space), starting a wine collection isn’t really about finding the perfect resting spot for prized bottles of obscenely costly auction wines. It’s about figuring out what we like enough to want to buy a bottle, even a case or two, to put away for a special day. A wine collection is about “going deep” and buying not just a single vintage, but multiple years of a winemaker’s best wines; and it’s about creating a cellar (or just a nice closet full) of wines that you want to enjoy for years.

1. Decide on a Budget
Decide how much you can spend on this hobby. This is not always an easy thing. Telling someone how much to put aside to start their wine collection is like telling them how much they should spend on their first car. However, aspiring collectors may be surprised to know that as little as $300 or $400 can be enough to buy some excellent bottles that will last for the next 20 years. For more flexibility, a great starting place is about $1,000. If you’ve just broken into a cold sweat, don’t worry! You can spread out the spending over months or even years.

You’ll likely spend more on some bottles that are highly collectible, but wine there are plenty of great values in the $25 to $30 range. Good California cabernets, not cults, are available in that range, as are Argentine Malbecs, a few Oregon and New Zealand Pinot Noirs and Washington State Merlots. French Bordeaux dubbed ‘cru bourgeois’ are great deals too. With $1,000 you can really do some nice things.

2. Buy What You Like
Having a wine collection is about enjoying your wine. Think about which wines you like to drink. Are they Old World wines, like those from traditional regions in Bordeaux, Burgundy or Italy, or do you enjoy bright, fruity New World wines from California or Australia? Ideally your collection should be varied, but to start, stock what you most enjoy. Keep in mind that Old World wines often are made to be aged. New World wines, while sometimes made for aging, are often best enjoyed within three to seven years.

Also think about whether you’re a white or red person. A few white wines, some Sauternes and Gewürztraminers, will age for a decade or more, but whites don’t typically age as long as reds, which can take decades to reach full potential. In your collection, generally think reds for long-term storage and whites for short-term drinking.

3. Professional Refrigeration Isn’t for Everyone
Do you want to collect for fun or investment? If it’s just about having some nice wine to pair with dinners or share with friends, without long term cellaring, you probably won’t need to invest in heavy duty refrigeration or a storage locker. If you plan to cellar for years, or possibly sell your bottles down the line, you’ll need to make sure you’re storing the wine at its optimum temperature: a constant 55 degrees. Wine likes to be stored at a cool temperature. Fifty five degrees allows a wine to develop and age gracefully. Too cool slows down the aging process; too warm makes for a short life span. But the most critical factor is that a wine is kept at a constant temperature; spikes and fluctuations are what kill wines prematurely.

If you’re serious about long-term storage for a large quantity of wine, consider a wine storage locker. Small units start at about $40 a month, and your wine will be professionally maintained. The drawback is that there are no last minute trips to the cellar. You’ll have to plan ahead, because most keep business hours. You can find a list of storage lockers in several states online.

4. Storage, Storage, Storage
Before you buy that first bottle, you need to figure out where you’re going to store your stash. A good rule of thumb is to estimate the number of bottles you plan to collect, and then multiply that by three. Often a basement will maintain the steady temperature your wines will need, though you should take some temperature readings at different times of the day to be safe. Whatever you do, never put your wine on top of the refrigerator or above the stove or laundry area, where heat and vibration will wreak havoc on your collection. Humidity’s also a factor.  If a space is too dry, the cork will dry out and ruin the wine.

Purchase some inexpensive wine racks or build your own. There are several reasonably priced kits available. You may also want to buy a small refrigeration unit for your kitchen to store bottles you want to serve.

5. Ready, Set, Taste
You’re almost ready to start buying.  Almost.  The next step is to taste to see what you like. If you live in a region with tasting rooms (and wines you want to collect), make an appointment with the winemaker or go to public barrel tastings to see how the wines are shaping up. If not, local wine stores usually offer tastings where you can sample their wares. Avoid buying wine based merely on scores or tasting notes because they’re based on someone else’s palate, not yours. It’s a starting point, but certainly not an end all.

If you find a winery you really love, joining its wine club or mailing list is sometimes a good value. But proceed with caution. Unless you are totally committed and want multiple vintages, you can sometimes get stuck with clunkers.

6. Triple Up on Favorites
The price of a case of wine can sometimes be prohibitive for new collectors, ranging from a few hundred to nearly $1,000. But here’s why cases are good if you can afford them.  Knowing the perfect moment to open a bottle of wine can be a tricky thing. If you open it too early it might not show well. If it’s too late, it might have lost fruit and character. If you have a case, you can try a favorite wine over the span of its life. An alternative, if you can’t afford a case, is to buy three or four bottles at a time.

7. Find the Deals
Here’s where winery clubs or mailing lists come in handy. Before wines are bottled, wineries often offer discounted “futures,” selling their upcoming vintages at 10 percent or 20 percent below the final bottle cost. If you’re willing to take a chance on a wine, not knowing its true bottled character, this can be a great deal.

Local wine auctions and the Internet can also be a source of great values, but be wary; you can’t always be sure how the wine was handled (if it got too warm or the cork was jostled) when ordering from folk you’ve never met.

8. Go Deep
True collectors want to show breadth and diversity in their assemblage. Try to gather multiple vintages of a single wine (like the ’97 through ’01 Caymus) to see how a wine develops over time, through different winemakers, growing conditions and hang time. Yes, you’ll annoy your friends with your encyclopedic knowledge of a single vineyard or wine, but if you’re a collector, they’ll understand.

9. Think Twice About Trophies
The crowning jewels of any collection are rare, hard to find trophy wines. Their appeal comes from incredible care in cultivation and bottling, limited availability or the star status of the winemakers (sometimes above all else). These are wines that collectors are willing to spend anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars for.

In California, Screaming Eagle, which is almost impossible to acquire, and if you do get it, insanely expensive is a good example of a trophy wine. But you don’t have to think that big. Wineries like Williams Selyem or Colgin Cellars are also considered trophy wines. You may have to wait several years to get a bottle, but it will be worth the wait.

10. Keep Learning
Remember that the fun in collecting isn’t just the purchase, but everything leading up to it. Do the research, read reviews and books, taste, talk and ask questions. When you do end up pouring that first glass from your newly created collection, you’ll enjoy it all the more, whether it’s a $10 chardonnay or a rare German Riesling, because you put the time and effort into finding it.