What is it about wine? What fascinates and intrigues us to the point where everyone wants to be a wine expert? Is it the history, the infinite learning opportunities or the fact that the “research” can be so enjoyable?
Fermented beverages have been preferred to water throughout the ages: they are safer, provide psychotropic effects, and are more nutritious. Some have even said alcohol was a primary agent for the development of Western civilization, since healthier individuals lived longer and had better reproductive success.
Throughout history wine has had an important effect on the social, economic, and cultural aspects of civilization. Today wine is as popular as ever and is made all over the world and in every State in the Union including Alaska and Hawaii.
Wine is the most varied and complex beverage in the world. It is incredible that fruit juice when allowed to ferment can offer so many distinct styles. From the tingly, zesty, water-white, light and lively to the rich, purple-black, mellow and full-bodied. It comes both still and fizzy and at all points in between. It can be bone dry or syrupy sweet. One of the most amazing things is that the grape is the complete package. It has the juice that it needs, the sugar is naturally included, and the yeast which causes fermentation is right there on the skin of the grape.
The job of the wine producer is to ripen healthy grapes in the vineyard, full of grape sugar that can, by the action of yeast in the atmosphere, be fermented into alcohol. If all the grape sugar is fed on by the yeast and fermented, the wine will be dry, and enlivened by the acidity that is naturally present in grapes. The more grape sugar fermented into alcohol, the more potent the wine will be. Wine can vary from less than 8 to more than 15 percent alcohol, with 13.5 being about average.
Wine’s real distinguishing mark, the thing that sets it apart from the other drinks, is the ability of the best wines to last for decades and sometimes centuries; not just lasting but improving. I have been fortunate to taste wines up to 200 years old that were still totally thrilling and alive. Nothing else that we consume is capable of remaining healthy and evolving over such a long period, as well as coming in thousands of flavors.
In the future I will write about matching food with wine. The “white wine with fish and red wine with meat” is only a loose guideline with many exceptions to the rule. With Chef Mike’s “Rose City Style Trout” recipe a dry Riesling would complement the flavors well but, I would also recommend a Beaujolais Villages. They are light and fruity red wines with just enough tannins to stand up to the creamy sauce. Eat well!
