Dancing Spoon

Spring Sparklers!

Wine About

by David Haley

Sparkling Wines for Spring!
Thankfully the days are growing longer and we have more daylight. Soon we will have graduations, weddings and a few more house parties. Now is the time to stock up on value sparkling wine to have when friends and family stop by. Listed here are five excellent sparkling wines from as many countries. Enjoy!

France
Chateau d’Aurille, Cremant De Loire NV
Cremant is the generic French name for sparkling wines made outside of the Champagne region of France. Seven AOC’s (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) qualify for this designation and they all produce wines of quality and value. The Loire Valley is France’s largest producer of sparkling wines made outside of Champagne. Chateau d’Aurille is a blend of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc as are many Loire Valley sparklers. (Some add Cabernet Franc to the blend as well). Chenin Blanc brings a crisp perfumed character to this wine and compliments the tropical fruit  and weight of Chardonnay. Beautifully balanced with small fine bubbles. A little hard to find. $13.00

Stress Free Wine Shopping

Wine About

by David Haley

Our lives are filled with difficult decisions made on a daily basis at work and at home. Buying wine should be a fun learning experience not a gut wrenching episode of intimidation when entering a wine store. Here are some tips to make your wine buying experience enlightening and enjoyable.

Look
Sounds easy but looks are sometimes deceiving. Good retail stores are well laid out with comfortable surroundings that lend themselves to browsing. Wines should be well merchandised with descriptions of the characteristics and attributes in an easy to read format. Your first observations are usually correct. If the store is not clean and well organized head for the door.

Last Minute Holiday Wines

Wine About

by David Haley

Okay, you have waited, like me, to make the last minute wine purchases. No fear: the legwork is done! Here are 18 easy to find wines will make great gifts for friends and family.

Sparkling wine and Champagne
Great values exist in the ten to fifteen dollar range in sparkling wine. If you want to splurge, Champagne is always a welcome item around the holidays.

Segura Viudas Brut NV (Spain) Excellent value, dry, lively, and fresh  $10.00

Nino Franco Prosecco “Rustico” NV (Italy) A bit less dry than the Segura Viudas Brut, with melon and honey on the finish. Very good. $12.00

Saint-Hilaire Semi Sweet 2004 (France) Sweeter than Prosecco but never cloying. Delicious with fruit, cheese, or as an after dinner celebration. $12.00

Thanksgiving Wines

Wines Holiday

by David Haley 
The challenge of serving wine at Thanksgiving is not necessarily matching the wine with the food (there are some simple guidelines to keep us on the straight and narrow); the greater challenge is allowing for the varied tastes of our friends and family!

Here’re some wine suggestions to keep everyone happy as you raise your glasses at Thanksgiving.

Stellar Whites
Chardonnay
We have to serve at least one chardonnay or risk “mutiny on the Turkey.” Sonoma Chardonnays have a delicious soft texture and ripe fruit. Some great names to look for: Sonoma–Cutrer $24, Chalk Hill $18.00, Geyser Peak $13, and Rodney Strong $12.00.

Contains Sulfites

Wine About

by David Haley
Many wine lovers are confused about sulfites, why they are found in wine, and what effect they have on us. So, let’s sit down, pour a glass, and try to clarify a few things about one of the world’s oldest additives.

Do all wines have Sulfites?
Yes - Sulfites are a natural byproduct of the fermentation process. According to Professor Roger Boulton, Ph.D., University of California at Davis, Department of Viticulture and Enology, even if no sulfur dioxide is added to wine, fermenting yeasts will produce SO2 (sulfur dioxide) from the naturally occurring inorganic sulfates in all grape juices. Fermenting yeasts present on all grape skins generate naturally occurring sulfites in amounts ranging from 6 to 40 parts per million (ppm.) Thus, says Boulton, it is impossible for any wine to be completely free of sulfur dioxide.¹

Chimichurri Grilled Flank Steak

Wine Food and

by David Haley

Food and wine belong together. Syrah is an especially food friendly wine. Chimichurri sauce is of Argentine origin and comes with many variations. It is used both as a condiment to be put on your steak after cooking and as a marinade. I used it as a marinade in this recipe because I like to cook the flavors into the meat. If you prefer to use as a topping on your steak set aside a 1/4 cup and spoon over the cooked sirloin before serving. Use fresh herbs and lime juice for this recipe-it makes a difference.

All the wines reviewed in my article Great Value Syrahs & Shiraz were tasted with this recipe.

Great Value Syrahs & Shiraz

Finds Wine

by David Haley

As we enter the autumn season we move away from lighter whites and look for fruity, slightly heavier reds that accompany our seasonal foods. In this article we found four delicious reds that deliver excellent body, flavor and all around balance.

Liberty School Syrah 2005 Central Coast California
The Hope family traces its wine growing heritage in Paso Robles back twenty five years to a time when the area was known for fruit production. Wine grapes were barely found in the area. Farmers first, the Hope family typifies the great wine families of the early California wine industry. Austin Hope, third generation farmer/first generation winemaker, oversees all the wine production for Treana Winery and Liberty School wines. Austin also travels the country promoting both Paso Robles and the Hope Family wines.

Lovable Syrah…or is it Shiraz?

Wine About

by David Haley

On the ladder of most overlooked and least understood grapes, Syrah is on a rung near the top. Evidence of this is abundant as I am often asked at wine events “What’s the difference between Syrah and Shiraz? It’s a question I never tire of hearing… the answer is that Syrah & Shiraz are the same grape. 

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Acquired

News Wine

by David Haley

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Marchese Piero Antinori of Italy To Acquire Winery
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars (www.cask23.com), one of the world's most highly regarded winery estates and currently owned by the Winiarski family, is being acquired by the joint venture partnership of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates of Washington State (Ste-Michelle.com) and Marchese Piero Antinori of Italy (Antinori). 

The sale includes the estate's extraordinary brand, spectacular Napa Valley winery, and its signature Napa Valley estate vineyards, S.L.V. and Fay. The Winiarski family looks forward to continued grape growing and will retain its Arcadia property to furnish grapes for the winery's estate Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Oak Barrels and Wine Prices

Questions Wine

by David Haley

Does "Unoaking" Chardonnay Affect Its Price?
One of our readers has asked what impact the cost of oak barrels has on the price of a finished bottle of wine and, would a winery make Unoaked chardonnay (see Naked Wine) based solely on cost?

Wineries make production decisions based on many factors but primarily on consumer demand and purchasing trends. Market factors such as grape supply, competition and total production costs will affect the shelf price of wine much more than oak as a factor. Is there a savings with Unoaked wine that can be passed along since the “raw material” production cost is lower? Absolutely. Depending on the percentage level of oak used in a wine and the quality of oak barrels the savings could be $.50 to $.80 per bottle (at production). That translates to a savings of approximately $2.00 per bottle at retail price. Not insignificant, but Unoaked Chardonnay is only 5% or 10% of total production of most wineries.

All other fixed costs remain the same: labor and overhead, sales and marketing, packaging and financing costs. These factors all affect the final cost of wine. I hope my column helps you find wines that you enjoy in the price range you are comfortable with.

Salute,

David Haley

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As president of Haley Marketing Group, a New England based wine brokerage, David Haley travels to wine regions around the world to discover exceptional wine values. (He calls it work, but that’s debatable.) His background in wine spans sixteen years in the wholesale and wine import business with some of the most prestigious importers in America.

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