Experimenting With Temperature

I tired an experiement yesterday. Well, I didn't exactly use the scientific method and I'm not sure it was even an intentional experiement, but it was awfully telling, at least to me it was.

For the first time in my life, at least that I can recall and ny power of recall remains pretty good, I opened a bottle of Portugieser. 

As you might recall, and then again, you might not, Portugieser is a red grape that seemingly has nothing at all to do with Portugal. In fact, it's found primarily in east central Europe and the bottle we had (quite inexpensive I must note) was from Hungary, the Villany region right on the border with Croatia. As a wine, it shares a lot of characteristics with Pinot Noir.

This si a wine with good acidity and low alcohol content. For those who wonder why, it is likely a result of the grapes being harvested quite early so that they do not become overly ripe. Technically, as a grape ripens, the the sugar content increases (acidity decreases) meaning that there is more alcohol potential.

Now, here is where the experiement came in. I haven't had this bottle for long. It's a wine that you, generally speaking, want to drink young. So, it had been stored in overflow racking. Cool, dark, and dry, but not cellar temperature, perhaps 62-65F/17-18C. So, I cooled the wine after I brought it up. 

I think these are good assumptions, but let's assume that the freshly opened bottle was at about 63F. The wine was interesting, but lacked the richness I was hoping for. That was a small pour, very small. I poured it next at about 59F/15C and the flavor had improved. The wine had a bit more complexity to it. Finally, the wine reached its target temperature of about 54F/12C. The difference was marked. While it remained fresh and fruity, there was a bit of wildness to it and a pronounced chocolatey, cocoa type finish. It was really enjoyable.

And, the moral of the story is drink your wine at the proper temperatures.


Comments

Post a Comment

I'd like your feedback and questions.

Popular posts from this blog

Gruner Veltliner

With some time to kill and wanting to see the countryside, but obviously not able to drive ourselves, we hailed an Uber to go from northern Italy to Wachau, Austria right on the Danube (little did I know that I would need an additional credit card for this trip). We're going to drink wine from the most widely planted grape in the country, Gruner Veltliner. As we arrive on the east bank of the river, we see a number of bottles set out for us. But, something is odd. None of them are the traditional 750 ml bottle that we are used to. No, the wine sometimes affectionately known as Gru-V is bottled in chubby, almost cylindrical with their short necks, 1 liter bottles with crown (you need a bottle opener, not a corkscrew) caps. In Wachau, most Gru-V wine is grown on steep, terraced slopes that have almost no ability to retain soil. Winemakers believe that the stress from lack of soil enhances the flavor profile of Gru-V. Our wines are white with a slight very pale green tinge to them
Read more

Mount Veeder

Bordering Los Carneros and almost directly to the north, what a difference a few miles makes. Today, we are in the Mount Veeder American Viticultural Area (AVA). The ride here takes only 15 minutes and if there were a raod that would take us directly, it might be only 5, but the terrain. climate, soil, and virtually everything else about Mount Veeder makes it unique. Likely the single most unique thing about Mount Veeder AVA among the Napa Valley appelations is the slope of the hillsides. When we visit the other mountain AVAs within the broader Napa Valley AVA, we see some pretty steep slopes that grapes are growing on -- 10 degree grades, 15 degree grades. In the Mount Veeder AVA, that would be looked at as perfectly flat. And, that is what makes Mount Veeder different. The typical 30 degree grades make access difficult. When we think about what a 30 degree slope really means, consider what it is like to get mechanical equipment into the vineyards. For the most part, it's just not
Read more

Wineries and Wine Clubs

Wineries treat their wine club members well. At least most of them do. And, they should.  Think about it. A wine club member is an automatically repeating customer. And, in being automatically repeating, these are not just any wines, these are the sought after, usually higher priced, limited production wines.  Wineries have three kinds of direct-to-consumer customers: those who come by the winery or buy through the winery website and buy once, those who are fairly frequent customers, but on their own schedules, and those wine club members who get multiple bottles of wine at scheduled times during the year and frequently buy more.  Frankly, it's a symbiotic relationship. The winery gets a group of loyal customers. It gets predictable purchases from a dedicated group. The wine club member gets access to wines that other might want and some other special perks. Some give occasional gifts, some give free shipping, almost all give discounts, and if you visit the winery, you likely get t
Read more