Wine: Buy the Numbers
by Jonathon Alsop
Sometimes, wine is a math game.
It's hard to believe that before super-critic Robert Parker came up with his 100-point wine scale way back in the 1980s, no one in the previous 8,000 year history of wine had thought to do it. Since then, the world of wine — from consumers trying to buy good wine to salespeople trying to sell it — have adhered to scores with the kind of affection accountants must have for numbers in their figurative world.
In a way, sadly, we've all dug ourselves a hole that I'm not sure we know how to get out of. Wine retailers complain that if a wine doesn't score in the 90s, they can't sell it, but then if it does, they can't even get it. You and I are as suspicious of mainstream wines with unimpressive scores as we are of outrageous wines with irrationally positive numbers. When we go for 90+ point wines, they either become very literally hard to find or their prices are off the wall, another style of unavailability.
I'm not Pythagoras, so I have as hard a time as anyone understanding wine scores and using them to my advantage. Like all of us, I've had $8 wines I've absolutely loved and $40 wines that really made me wonder. Wine numbers are the same. Ninety-five-point wines have left me lukewarm, and I've been flabbergasted to find that a wine I'm in love with scored in the low 80s, pretty much the kiss of death.
Of all the numbers on a bottle of wine, I think two of the most unexamined are ironically the most important. For instance, the year the winery was founded is almost always on a bottle of wine somewhere: all else being equal, go with the older winery. And at a more micro level of detail, in tiny type on the back label, some wineries list crop yields in tons per acre. This is a gross generalization, but less is more: two or three tons per acre is luxury range.
I believe if you shopped for wine with only those two numbers to guide you, you could get at least very good wine every time. Once you factor in the most important number on a bottle of wine — its price — all bets are off. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle applies to wine: the more aware you are of the price, the more it effects the taste.
2006 Root 1 Cabernet Sauvignon (about $15, available nationally, distributed by Click Wine Group, www.ClickWineGroup.com)
I'd love to be able to explain phylloxera to you without going all wine geek, but I don't think I can. Let me cut to the last page instead: 99% of the world's grapevines are physically grafted to roots not their own. Above ground, fancy French wine grape — below ground, roots derived from Concord grape stock.
Chile, where this Root 1 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from, is one of the only places on the planet where wine grapes still grow on their own roots, and that's one thing that makes it interesting. What keeps me coming back to this wine are the rich chocolate flavors, and the way the Root 1 feels simultaneously light and intense, like how an old-school Chianti feels. There's much toasted oak, and people love that. 2007 Root 1 Sauvignon Blanc (about $12) is also very good, zippy and citrusy, tropical but not overblown, delicious with an edge.
Forty Cloves of Garlic Chicken
(Serves 6)
1 bottle dry white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons dried chervil
1 whole chicken, cut into eight pieces
40 whole cloves of garlic, peeled (two or three bulbs of garlic)
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1. Open the wine. If you want, pour a whole glass and drink half. Save the rest of the wine.
2. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken pieces and sprinkle evenly with the chervil.
3. Brown the chicken, skin side down first, about three or four minutes on each side. Remove to a plate.
4. Add the 40 cloves of garlic and saute until they turn golden brown. Form the garlic into a little mound in the middle of the pan and arrange the chicken pieces on top and around the garlic.
5. Add the rest of the bottle of wine, cover and cook for about 30 minutes. You can drink the rest of the glass of wine while you wait.
6. Turn off the heat and remove the chicken pieces to a serving dish. Mash the garlic gently in the pan to form a sauce. Add a little water if needed to make the sauce the consistency of gravy. Pour the garlic sauce over the chicken, garnish with parsley, and serve immediately.
Tips & HINTS You don't have to be a huge garlic fan to enjoy this dish, but it helps! After the garlic has been poached in the wine and liquid from the chicken, it is very mild. For an extra flavor kick, use the smoked French garlic currently available at Whole Foods Market and gourmet shops.
Jonathon Alsop is a wine writer covering wine, food and travel since 1988. He is author of the wine column In Vino Veritas as well as many articles for the Associated Press, Frequent Flyer, La Vie Claire, Beverage Business Magazine, Mobil Travel Guides, Fodor's Travel Guides, Boston Globe, and others. In addition to writing about wine, Jonathon founded the Boston Wine School (BostonWineSchool.com) in 2000 where he teaches wine and food classes.
Have a wine question? Ask
Sponsorships and advertising are now available on Dancing Spoon for video, events, articles and more. for more information.
Recent Comments