Faq

Frequentely Asked Questions. Here below you will find the answers to the common doubts about italian wine.

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Old wine: How much is it worth?
One of our most frequently asked questions come from folks who've been holding a wine for many years, or recently inherited, found or were given a very old wine.
In many cases, sadly, older wines are past their prime or were never intended for aging. For more information on this, see our Questionary article on "Old wine: Is it still any good?"
If your older wine is a legitimate collectible, however, and if it has been stored under reasonably good conditions, it may have value.
Although we're not equipped to appraise collectible wines on The Wine Lovers' Page, you can find good resources online.
The Chicago Wine Co., a wine-auction house, publishes the "hammer prices" of all the wines it sells at auction, and this is a good way to what other wines similar to yours have commanded in recent sales. Check its Website at www.tcwc.com and, once there, click on "hammer prices" and then on the vintage of your specific wine for a complete list of sales prices for wines from that year.
Another excellent online wine-auction house, WineBid.com, anticipates having a similar wine-price database online in the near future. If you're interested in selling your wine at auction, both of these firms will also provide approximate appraisals by E-mail.

Old wine: Is it still any good?
Although some of the finest and most expensive wines are designed to benefit from careful aging at controlled temperatures, 95 to 99 percent of all the wine produced in the world is intended to be drunk up promptly, while it is young and fresh.
Most often, when people find a dusty old bottle of wine in a cabinet, closet or basement, the best that can be said for it is that it's old. Wine that's past its time rarely turns to vinegar, as in older times, but it turns brownish, flat and dull, oxidized to the point where it resembles bad cheap Sherry.
How can you tell whether your old wine is still good? The ultimate test is simple: Pull the cork and take a taste.
As a general guide, the wines that usually reward aging are the robust reds - the better Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhones from France, their counterparts (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Syrah) from the New World; sturdy Italian reds; and the rich, strong dessert wines like Port, Sauternes and the fine late-harvest Rieslings from Germany.
Storage is also a consideration. The ideal "cellaring" temperature for fine wines is 55F, about 13C. If your wine has been kept at much warmer temperatures or subject to extremes of temperature and sudden variations, it is much less likely to have survived many years than a wine kept under constant cool conditions. If your wine bottle appears significantly less than normally full, that's a bad sign. So is evidence of substantial leakage around the cork or excessive sediment in the bottle.
If you're feeling adventurous, old wine can't hurt you. It doesn't turn toxic or unhealthy with age. But if you're planning to try your old wine for a special occasion, it's wise to have a "backup" bottle around to pinch-hit if needed.

Online wine buying: Why and why not?
I recommend buying wine locally rather than on the Web or by mail order if at all possible. In my opinion, buying online or by phone makes sense only if you're looking for expensive rarities that you simply can't get any other way. There are several reasons for this, but it mostly comes down to three:

1. Even if you find an excellent discounter online, the costs of shipping and handling and insurance add substantially to costs.
2. There's some hazard in shipping, not only because of the possibility of loss or breakage but because wine may be overheated or frozen during shipment, and this kind of damage may be difficult to prove or to collect damages on.
3. Depending on where you live, receiving wine from out-of-state sources may be an impossibility. Under pressure from the wine and liquor distribution lobbies, many states are criminalizing Internet alcohol sales, and most merchants will only ship to the relatively small number (13 at last count) of states that specifically permit it.

Punt: What's that dent in the bottom of the bottle?
Pick up a wine bottle sometime and take a close look at the bottom. Chances are that you'll find a deep, conical indentation rather than a flat surface. This dent is called a "punt" in English (just like the kick on fourth down in American football).
An obscure word, unknown even to many wine enthusiasts, its origins are lost in history. But wine fanciers have plenty of theories:

1. In the early days of modern bottle making, glass blowers learned that a deep indentation made the bottle sturdier.
2. Or, a somewhat similar explanation, the mechanism that glass blowers used to hold the bottle while it was being made left this indentation when the job was done.
3. Bottles were made this way intentionally so the sharp crease around the conical shape would form a crevice where the wine's sediment could collect and solidify.
4. Finally, if you're a cynic, you may suspect that the indentation serves the same purpose as the cardboard packaging inside a candy bar wrapper: It makes the bottle look like it has more wine in it than it really does!

Sangria, how to make it
Any self-respecting wine snob would sooner quaff Night Train Express than mix fruit juice or sparkling water into his wine. But I don't see any wine snobs around here, and there certainly are none in Spain, where folks take their wine anything but seriously and have absolutely no qualms about turning their vino into the immensely quaffable sangrķa.
Sangrķa makes a tasty quencher for a lazy, hazy summer afternoon, but there's no need to limit it to sweat season. There's still plenty of sangrķa-sipping weather left before mulled-wine time. And it's easy to prepare. In a punch bowl or similar vessel, pour one standard (750 ml) bottle of dry red wine and an equal amount (more or less, to taste) of club soda, seltzer or sparkling water. Add a generous amount of thin-sliced citrus fruit -- limes, lemons, oranges or a combination. You're adding peel as well, so be sure to rinse it well. If you want to give it a little zing, add a shot of brandy or an orange-flavored liqueur like Grand Marnier. Some folks like a little sugar for sweetening. If you're in the mood, you can even make it with white wine and substitute kiwis (peeled), strawberries and table grapes for the citrus. Sangrķa is a forgiving punch -- it doesn't care if you change the rules in the middle of the bowl.
The wine you use to make sangrķa should be palatable, of course, but it's silly to waste expensive wine on this kind of drink.

Serving temperature for wine?
White wines should be served chilled and red wines at room temperature. This is one of the most basic of the many "rules" about wine, and like most of the rules, it usually makes good sense. Most red wines seem dank and flavorless if they're served ice cold, opening up at warmer temperatures to display their aromas and flavors. Whites, in contrast, seem crisp and refreshing when they're served with a chill; many of them seem bland and almost cloying if they get too warm.
But what's "room temperature"? In the U.S., it's not unusual for it to reach 80F (27C) even when the air-conditioner is running; but I remember a trip to Scotland one fine autumn when my host's rooms have hovered around a brisk 18C (65F).
I submit that there's no harm in placing your red wine in the refrigerator for a short stay before dinner. Don't leave it too long -- 20 to 40 minutes on the refrigerator shelf is about right for most reds, up to possibly an hour for light and fruity styles like Beaujolais. An hour in a typical home refrigerator should bring your wine down to the natural temperature of an underground cellar (54F or 12C), which isn't really too cold for most reds; but don't worry if you miss the mark. It doesn't take long for it to come back up again, and the wine won't be damaged.

Servings: How many in a bottle?
If you're serving wine with dinner, you can get five generous (5-ounce) pours out of a "fifth" (750 ml) bottle. For a wine tasting, where people are taking smaller sips of several wines, count on at least a dozen 2-ounce tastes, or, if you're really stretching to share a taste of a prized wine with a large group of friends, perhaps 20 tiny tastes of a little over 1 ounce.
Tannins: What are they?
Take a sip of strong black tea, and notice that puckery sensation as it coats your mouth with an astringent fuzziness.
Now take a taste of a young Cabernet Sauvignon, and chances are you'll feel a similar sensation. What you're tasting is tannin (tannic acid), a natural chemical that's sometimes found in tree bark, wood, and the skins, seeds and stems of some fruits - in particular some red wine grapes. Tannins are used to "tan" animal hides to turn them into leather, and that's actually the process you feel when the tannins in tea or wine start to work on the proteins inside your mouth. Think about that the next time you enjoy a youthful Cabernet!
Tannins in wine come primarily from the grape, although aging wine in oak barrels can also impart a dose of the puckery stuff.
A healthy dose of tannins in a young wine can make it less than a pleasure to drink, and for this reason, certain wines - in particular red Bordeaux and other young Cabernet Sauvignons, the Nebbiolo-based reds of Northwestern Italy, and such less-widely known wines as the Tannat of Madiran - are customarily held in the wine cellar until they mature. During the maturation process, the tannins polymerize (combine into longer-chain molecules), and as a result of this process, the wine develops a bit of sediment in the bottle as its flavor evolves from harsh and astringent to mellow and complex. Tannins also act as antioxidants, naturally preserving the wine during its maturing years.
Not all tannic wines evolve into stylish maturity, however. If a wine is merely tannic without fruit in its youth, it isn't likely to become a thing of beauty with age. Balance is the key.
Finally, if you must "rob the cradle," as wine enthusiasts say of drinking an ageworthy wine before its time, this is the one case in which "breathing" - or better yet, decanting your wine with lots of splashing to mix it with air as you pour - may help soften its rough edges a bit. And serving a youthfully tannic wine with rare red meat will also go a long way to ameliorate that rough tannic astringency.
Temperature: Proper serving temperature for wines?
The customary practice is to serve red wines at room temperature and white (and pink) wines cold. Experience has shown that they usually taste best this way; red wines seem dank and flavorless at cold temperatures, while most white wines are more refreshing that way.
If it's a hot summer day, though, it's certainly acceptable to stick your bottle of red in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes to cool it slightly. Conversely, very fine whites shouldn't be served ice-cold, as freezing temperatures may "stun" your taste buds and diminish your enjoyment. Take good whites out of the fridge or ice bucket at least a half hour before serving.
Terroir: What does it mean?
The French have a name for it: "Gout de Terroir" or, more or less, "the taste of the soil;" and the most ardent advocates of this theory argue that the actual flavor of the soil in which the grapes are grown literally communicates itself to the wine. Chablis, by this line of thinking, gains a steely mineral character from the chalky soil of its Burgundian vineyards; the wines of Graves in Bordeaux acquire a "stony" quality from the region's gravelly plain.
Most of us find this a bit extreme, but there's ground for a more serious argument when we expand the definition of "terroir" to incorporate the overall effect on wines of the soil and microclimate in which the grapes are grown. Do Chardonnay grapes grown in Burgundy (for instance) produce wines with a consistent, identifiable character that distinguishes them from the same grapes grown in California, or those in turn from Australian Chardonnay? Does the vineyard matter, whether the grapes in question are grown on the other side of the road or the other side of the world?
This is material from which serious wine fanciers can build extended and joyous debates, and there's little question that the wines of specific regions - especially historic wine regions like Burgundy or Bordeaux - often show recognizable qualities that makes it possible (if not necessarily easy) to pick them out in a "blind" tasting, without the taster being aware of the specific wine being tasted.
But the wine maker's skills, and the decisions made between the grapevine and the bottle, are significant too. Should Chardonnay be aged in oak barrels, which impart strong and characteristic flavors, or in stainless steel, which is neutral? Should the wine maker put the wine through "malolactic fermentation," which reduces the wine's perceived acidity and typically adds rich and buttery flavors? These processes, commonplace in the New World but relatively rare in France, make a significant difference in the nature of the finished wine, but it's not "terroir."

Ullage, what is it?
This French term - pronounced "ull-idge" in English - refers to the air space in the neck of an unopened bottle of wine. This air bubble will be entirely within the neck of a normal bottle, but older bottles that have lost some of their contents may be described as having a "mid-shoulder fill" or even "low shoulder fill."
Unfiltered wine: What and why?
In modern times, many wines - especially mass-produced labels - are run through a fine-pored filter aimed at removing any tiny particles that may remain in suspension and give a hazy appearance to the finished wine. Some wine makers, especially those at smaller, artisanal wineries, believe that this process may strip subtle aromas and flavors from the finished wine, along with the haze, and so they make their wines by more traditional processes. The clarity may suffer (although most well-made wines come out clear even without filtering), but these wines are certainly as good, and perhaps even better, than the industrial-type wines. If you notice a small amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, don't worry - it can't do you any harm. But it's not particularly pleasant to drink, so it's a good idea to pour carefully and try to keep the sludge (if any) in the bottle.
Wine tasting:
Strategy for a large tasting event
One of the most effective ways to gain a lot of wine knowledge in a hurry is to wangle an invitation to a large trade or commercial tasting where scores of wines are being served. But the scene at such a tasting can be daunting, with hundreds of participants jammed around dozens of tasting tables, reaching out their wine glasses like baby birds demanding tidbits from their Mom.
How can you get the most out of a major event like the huge October 1999 tasting sponsored by the Schneider's of Capitol Hill wine shop at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where some three dozen importers and distributors were offering samples of more than 200 wines?
There's no practical way to taste them all, so your options are clear: Take a random walk, sampling whatever you encounter (not entirely a bad idea) ... or spend a few moments making a coherent plan before you dive in to the mob scene. Here's how I handled the Schneider's tasting:

• Scan the list of wines to spot specific items that you really want to taste. I knew my pal Peter Finkelstein would be there, representing Philadelphia-based World Shippers and Importers Co., so I made a note to drop by Peter's table and taste what he was pouring. I also added to my "must" list the fine Spanish wines Pesquera and Condada de Haza, two favorites from the Ribera del Duero; and I highlighted the Feuillate Champagnes in hopes of finding bubblies of exceptional value.
  
• Focus on broad categories. Realizing that I wouldn't be able to try all 200-plus in the tasting, I decided to stay mostly with reds - and, frankly, primarily the most expensive and sought-after items, wines that I would be unlikely to purchase on my own.
  
• Don't be ashamed to spit and dump. Being serious about wine doesn't make you immune to alcohol impairment, and a few dozen tiny sips can add up quickly. That's why professional tastings always have plenty of buckets available, and no one is insulted when you use them.
  
• Avoid the crowds that gather around the "cult" items. Unless you're desperate to try a specific wine, avoid the traffic jams at the tables with the most sought-after items and enjoy the relative calm around the rest.
• Take plenty of notes. Use the sheets that the tasting organizers provide or bring your own notebook. Either way, jot down your impressions of the wines you like, a procedure that will help fix them in your memory as well as giving you a written shopping list to use later.
  
• Finally, if you're not in the wine business, don't despair of your chances at getting in to tastings like this. While many are limited to people in the industry, other major tastings - like this one - are open to any interested wine lover. Get to know the folks at your local wine shop, express your interest in tastings, and chances are they'll let you know when the next one comes along.