Hey Bartender

IT'S THE BEGINNING of a brand new year. Most everyone usually starts each year with big plans and resolutions that may or may not be completed or resolved. 2012 is no different unless you factor in the Mayan calendar ending in a few months leaving everyone wondering if that means the end of the world or that the Mayans just got tired of adding days to their calendar because they knew that they wouldn't be around when the last day came and went. I'm sure that this time next year we'll all be here, but just in case I'm going to start emptying my inbox. Let's see what kind of questions we have this month.

What was your favorite holiday cocktail?

After careful consideration, the overwhelming winner in this category was the Mistletoe Mojito. It was developed by one of my co-workers and it embodied everything you would want in a holiday drink. It was aesthetically pleasing, easy to make, and delicious. To give you an idea of what it looked like, imagine a tall drink with a medium cranberry tint that appeared to have holly leaves in it. To make it, place fresh mint leaves and fresh cranberries at the bottom of a Collins glass. Fill the glass with ice, then add three quarters of an ounce each of Bacardi Limon and Bacardi O, an ounce of cranberry simple syrup and a half ounce of cranberry juice to the mix. Shake vigorously before topping with two ounces of Sprite. You don't have to take my word for it, the crowd at our bar enjoyed this cocktail more than any other that we came up with for our holiday list. I'm sure that it will make the cut next year as well.

Why didn't you do a post on Stone Vertical Epic 11-11-11 last year?

I didn't think that anyone noticed. I should have known better. The reason that I skipped it was because 11-11-11 came and went without me getting the beer. Due to some shipping mishap, I didn't receive my case until almost December. It was delicious and I did enjoy drinking one or two of them, but I didn't think that doing a post a month after the fact made sense because the hype had died down by then, or so I thought.

The 11-11-11 release is awesome! It's a deep amber ale with a lot of fruit and Belgian yeast on the nose. You'll also get a hint of cinnamon and Anaheim chilies, which are the surprise ingredients in the 11-11-11 brew. The taste reminds me of the strong Belgian style ales I know and love so dearly. At 9.4% ABV, the balance of alcohol, Belgian yeast, chili, and cinnamon is remarkable. The delicate carbonation and texture gave me the mouth-feel of any of the fine Belgian ales. Overall, I found it to be an interesting interpretation of this classic ale style. The quality is unmatched and the sensations on the palate cause a pleasant sensory overload.

To sum up 11-11-11, it is just as good as all of its predecessors. The most significant thing to note about the latest release is that it's the penultimate release of this epic limited edition series. On December 12, 2012, the last epic edition will be released giving us eleven beers to vertically sample just before the end of the world. I have one from each year, so I can't wait. It will never be brewed again, so if you see it, try it. It's definitely worth it.

What is a vale?

You may recall from geography class that a vale is a wide river valley, usually with a particularly wide flood plain or flat valley bottom. They commonly occur between the escarpment slopes of pairs of chalk domes where the domes have been eroded, exposing less resistant underlying rock, usually clay. For the escarpment impaired, they are steep slopes or long cliffs that are formed by erosion or from faults separating two relatively level areas of differing elevations.

I'm guessing that you were enjoying a bottle of wine from McLaren Vale. McLaren Vale is located in southern Australia and with a population well under 3000, it is internationally renowned for its wine. It's named after either David McLaren or John MacLaren. No one knows which and neither is related to the other. Both men we very prominent figures during the early days of McLaren Vale, so they both get full credit. The Mediterranean style climate, with a clear delineation of the four seasons allows McLaren Vale to be an ideal area to grow grapes. It is best known for its Shiraz, which is by far the most important grape in this region, accounting for about 50% of all grapes grown. Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Tempranillo, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Viognier and Zinfandel are also grown there. Those of you familiar with the Layer Cake brand no doubt know that this wine is made in McLaren Vale. The Layer Cake Shiraz is amazing. If you're a fan of shiraz or red wine in general, this wine will blow you away.

So, there you have it, secrets revealed!!! I love the excitement that the New Year brings. New goals, new challenges, and new beginnings. I hope that this year brings you all the joy and happiness that you dream about and work so hard for. As always, whether enjoying a holiday cocktail, a Belgian ale, or an Australian shiraz, please do so responsibly. Until next time...prosit!!!

As 2011 comes to a close and the excitement and expectations of 2012 approach, many people feel the need and/or desire to celebrate. What better way to celebrate a then with a bottle of Champagne. But, what is Champagne anyway?

Let's just cover the basics since it's way more fun to drink Champagne then it is to sit around reading about it. First, all Champagne is sparkling wine. However, not all sparkling wine is Champagne. In order to be designated as Champagne, sparkling wine must come from the Champagne region of France, located 90 miles northeast of Paris.

All sparkling wines and Champagnes are made by employing a very complex series of processes, most notably a secondary fermentation during which natural carbon dioxide is trapped inside the bottle. The trapped gas is what eventually becomes the all important bubbles. All Champagnes are created by blending thirty to sixty separate still wines. The varietals that are used to make Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. Yes, two out of the three grapes used to make Champagne are red wine grapes. Pinot Meunier is used to give Champagne its body and fruitiness while Pinot Noir contributes to its texture and aroma. Champagnes that are called Blanc de Blanc are made exclusively with Chardonnay. Blanc de blanc literally means white of whites and is used to describe both sparkling wines and Champagnes made strictly using Chardonnay grapes. Another term to look out for is Blanc de Noirs, which means white of blacks. This refers to white wines made entirely with black (red) grapes. Some of these wines tend to have a slight tint to them.

Now that we have the basics, what else should we look for? We should at least have an idea about what the liquid in the bottle might taste like. In order to do that you should look for the following terms on the label: Brut Natural, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Sec (Extra Dry), Sec, Demi-Sec, and Doux. These terms describe the sweetness or amount of sugar added after the second fermentation. Brut Natural means that less than 3 grams of sugar per liter were added and that the contents of the bottle will be really dry and not very sweet. Doux means that more than 50 grams of sugar per liter were added and that the contents of the bottle are very sweet. Your particular experience and palate should help you determine what you might like. Brut is by far the most common sparkling wine consumed and is probably what most of us are use to.

One other thing to look for is NV or Non-vintage. This means that the contents of the bottle were produced by blending grapes from multiple vintages (or years). The base consists generally of about 85% from a single vintage while blending 10%-15% from older vintages. If conditions are favorable, a wine producer will make a Vintage Champagne that must contain at lest 85% of grapes from the vintage year. In other words, if this was considered a favorable year for grapes, then 2011 would be declared a vintage year and any Champagne made would have to be made using no less than 85% of grapes from the 2011 harvest. The vintage year will appear on the label as opposed to the NV designation.

I like Champagne, but definitely not as much as Marilyn Monroe who was said to have bathed in a tub filled with 350 bottles her favorite bubbly. Here is a list of a few that I've enjoyed over the years: Janisonn & Fils, Veuve Clicquot Brut, Veuve Fourny & Fils, and Michel Arnould Et Fils. These are all really nice Brut Champagnes. They are also reasonably priced. Here is a list of American made sparkling wines: Domaine Carneros Brut Blanc de Blancs (California), Argyle Blanc de Blancs Dundee Hill (Oregon), Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Noirs (Washington), Gruet Methode Champenoise, Rose NV (New Mexico) and Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs Sonoma County NV (California). All of these wines retail for less than $50 and they are all great tasting and great values as well. Check your local wine shop to see what's available. Once Upon A Vine, Barrel Thief, and River City Cellars have great selections if you're in the Richmond, VA area.

So, there you have it! Champagne and sparkling wines -- partially uncorked. I hope that you had a great Christmas holiday and I hope that you have a Happy New Year. Until next year...prosit!!!

A FEW WEEKS ago, my employer decided that we would do weekly wine-tastings. The idea was to give those unfamiliar with our wine offerings a chance to sample a few of them paired with hors d'oeuvres from our menu for a reasonable price. We invited a couple of our wine vendors to participate. This would ensure that we had an expert vintner to present the wines and answer questions. It was also a great opportunity for me because I'd be the expert vintner in the event that none of our vendors were available.

I immediately wondered what it would take to be the expert. Our vendors spend all day every day selling wine. It's their job to know the different grapes, growing regions, and wine-makers. They know how wine is made and they know the people that make it. I've spent time studying these sorts of things as well and I know a few wine-makers, but I was sure that I needed to know more. This became evident when my first turn at being the expert vintner came just two weeks after we started our wine-tastings.

The first order of business was to select wines. Our format is to offer two white wines and two red wines. I looked at our list with the intent of selecting four interesting wines that I thought people would enjoy. Once I made my choices, I wanted to make sure that I had enough information about them so that I seemed knowledgeable without sounding like one of those wine geeks that I despise when I go to wine-tastings.

The first wine that I selected was Infamous Goose. The most interesting thing about this wine is that it's named after a legendary extinct flightless bird called the Moa. It existed on the South Island of New Zealand until the late 1400's when man arrived and hunted it to extinction. The Moa had one predator, the Haast Eagle. It died out immediately after the Moa because its diet consisted solely of this 500-pound flightless herbivore. Infamous Goose, the wine, is also a product of the South Island of New Zealand in an area known as Marlboro. This region, on the northern tip of the South Island, is the largest and best known wine region in New Zealand. Infamous Goose is made from sauvignon blanc, a green-skinned grape that comes from the Bordeaux region of France. The cool temperatures in Marlboro allow this grape to ripen evenly, giving them lots of acidity. The end result is wine referred to as dazzling. These wines have been compared to Sancere, a wine that is made from sauvignon blanc grapes grown in the Loire Valley in France. Infamous Goose is a crisp dry wine that has fresh lime and grapefruit on the nose and palate. It pairs well with chicken, fish, crab, sushi, pasta and salads and is definitely not your average sauvignon blanc.

Next, I selected Cono Sur, a white wine made from viognier grapes. Viognier grapes have grown in France for hundreds of years, but no one knows how they got there. It is thought that they were brought to that part of the world by the Holy Roman Empire, but that cannot be proven. Its name is also shrouded in mystery. It is thought that it refers to the French city of Vienne, a major Roman outpost, but no one can say with absolute certainty that this is the case. The Cono Sur vineyards are located in Chile. In wine growing terms, Chile is a virtual Eden, isolated and virtually untouched by the outside world. It is located on the west coast of South America. It is 2700 miles long and, at its widest, just 109 miles wide. To the west it is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. To the east it is bordered by the Andes Mountains. To the north it is bordered by the Antacama Desert. To the south lies the Southern Ocean. The southern tip of Chile is just 400 miles away from Antarctica. Cono Sur is known for its innovation. They've developed unique irrigation techniques to help their grapes grow. They were also the first South American vineyard to use screw-caps for their wines. This viognier has hints of apricots and peaches. It's very fruity and very complex. It pairs well with tuna, salmon, sword fish, sweet and sour stir-fry, and desserts that have fruit and vanilla. It's a difficult, finicky, grape to grow, but Cono Sur does a consistently good job.

Four Vines Zinfandel was my first red wine choice. I chose it so that I could talk about zinfandel in detail. Zinfandel is a red wine grape. It was thought to be from Italy, but it actually originates from Croatia. It is closely related to the Italian grape Primitivo and has been the cornerstone of California viticulture since the mid-1800's. Zinfandel has a rich, dark color with medium to high tannins. Four Vines is a small vineyard located in Paso Robles, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. This region is known for long hot days and cool nights during the summer months. This is perfect for zinfandel. The high sugar content of zinfandel allows it to be fermented into wine with alcohol levels that exceed 15 percent. It's also the reason that white zinfandel exists. This pink-colored blush wine is an abomination that should never be mistaken for zinfandel. Zinfandels are described as jammy, mouth-watering, and big while white zinfandel is sweet, soft, and low in alcohol. Four Vines zinfandel displays characteristics of blackberry, cherry, plum, raisins, spice, black-pepper, and anise on the nose with berries, anise and spices on the palate. The finish is rich and velvety. It pairs well with barbecued beef, grilled chicken, lamb and roasted game. This particular wine is labeled as old vine cuvee. Cuvee refers to very special blends of a particular wine. For zinafandels, old vine refers to grape vines that are at least 50 years old.

This four wine tour ends with Goughenheim Cabernet Sauvignon. This vineyard is located in the Mendoza growing region of Argentina in the foothills and high plains on the eastern side of the Andes mountains. It's location is nestled 1000 meters above sea-level, making them the highest vineyards in the world. It's sunny there about 320 days per year, so the water used to help the grapes grow comes from an irrigation system that uses water from the snow-capped peaks of the Andes. Winter comes late to this region, allowing the grapes to fully mature. This produces wines that are an intense ruby red color that hints of plums, wild berries, spices, chocolate and tobacco on the palate with a vibrant structure and hints of black-berry and boysenberry as well. These wines are aged for just 3 months in oak barrels and are 100% cabernet sauvignon. They pair well with roasted meats served with grilled vegetables. Prime rib would be an ideal choice.

Just for fun, I thought about interesting questions to ask participants. What do three of the wines have in common? Goughenheim, Cono Sur, and Infamous Goose come from the southern hemisphere. Can you name the wine that I refer to as the abomination? White zinfandel is the abomination. Is New Zealand part of Australia? No, New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprised of two main land masses: the North Island and the South Island. Which country is further south: New Zealand or Chile? Chile's tip is further south than New Zealand. Which vineyards get sunlight first? New Zealand is located just west of the International Dateline, so they receive the first sunlight of every day.

So, there you have it, my first wine-tasting -- dissected! I enjoyed my first ever adventure as the expert vintner. Rumor has it that I didn't sound like one of those annoying wine geeks I despise and everyone genuinely had a good time. No one even noticed that it was my first time in the driver's seat and I felt no pressure or anxiety while presenting wine to the masses. It was a win-win situation. If you weren't there, you missed a good time. The good news is that this event happens every Tuesday, so you can join us the next time it's convenient. As always, whether tasting wine with friends or tasting them alone, please do so responsibly. Until next time...prosit!!!