I went to college with four of those fellows, I have not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cisco.
Posted on 03/29/2014 7:20:12 PM PDT by nickcarraway
What every wine drinker should know about Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Riesling
"I KNOW NOTHING about wine—where do I start?" is perhaps the most frequent question I am asked. An obvious starting point is with grape varieties, which each have their own distinctive character and flavor.
There are more than 5,000 varieties of wine grapes planted in the world. Luckily, for those new to the subject, only 100 or so have enough appeal to be deemed commercially viable. Luckier still, it's a relatively small number that have found international recognition.
Jean-Manuel Duvivier These used to be referred to as the Noble Grape Varieties, a term coined by the British wine trade to describe the classic grapes of Europe (though it's no longer used in professional wine exams). Nicholas King, research and development manager at the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, says it drifted out of use in about 2003. After using "common" or "international," the educational body has now settled on the term "principal" grape varieties.
Whatever the term, it refers to the eight classic varieties—Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Grenache and Riesling—whose flavor and character have led to them being exported around the world. Their success has, in many ways, been detrimental to their reputation: the level of planting being such that quality has inevitably been diluted.
Wherever you are on the wine journey, whether a connoisseur or a novice, an understanding and appreciation of these varieties will benefit you enormously.
I rather like the old term for them as, in their finest form, these grapes are capable of producing wines that are among the very best in the world. Here's my guide to what every wine drinker should know.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Interesting version. I like Dossie Terry’s, from 1958.
I went to college with four of those fellows, I have not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cisco.
ya know I saw this photo in a search I just did but it was made of five seperate images pasted side by side....
Cisco...looks like a new label...
the others I encountered in my much much younger years
I've never tasted a Spanish wine that I didn't like. I've had wine from Australia, but not South America, although I've read that Chile produces some good wines.
“What’s the word? Thunderbird!”
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Ahh yes, and here is a very fine review of that elixir from the gods: http://www.bumwine.com/tbird.html
I went to grad school with Gallo Hearty Burgundy--$1.39 a bottle during the Gerald Ford presidency.
Bota Box.
It never goes bad.
Because it never achieves good to begin with.
Where’s Boone’s Farm?
"Taste predominantly of blackcurrant" might mean something to me if I actually knew what a blackcurrant tasted like.
Then you have all those talk about French towns that have funny characters sitting on top of certain letters in their names. I'd show you an example here but I can't find the characters on my keyboard.
Wait a minute, maybe "cut and paste" will work... Côte-Rôtie - there, did it! Now how do you pronounce it. Kotay-Rotay? Or more like Coat-Rodie? Those French words make my eyes glaze over.
It's almost like these article are intended to make the rest of us feel like unsophisticated rubes. By the way, the same kind of highfalutin approach is taken with classical music. Has there ever been an article about classical music that made sense to anybody who did not do six years at the Julliard School?
Don't get me wrong, I'm a regular wine drinker and I love classical music (especially Bach, Mozart and Beethoven). However, I had to acquire my tastes for wine and classical music pretty much on my own because I can't make heads or tails out of articles like this.
Of those “four fellows”, Thunderbird is probably the least offensive to the senses.
But that ain’t saying much...
If you like Moscato (white, light and on the sweet side), check out Barefoot. Good value.
Mr. GG2 and I enjoyed a nice bottle of Alamo Malbec last night at our local Italian eatery.
"It's a naive domestic Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption."
Thurber died in 1961 but the cartoon may date from much earlier in his career.
Pinot Grigio is my go-to, but I have come to appreciate Malbec. It’s one of the few reds I enjoy. I also use it in pasta/lasagne/spaghetti sauce. Perfect!
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