NYC and Paradis (Pronounced "pair-ah-dee")

Fun Stuff:

My brother Brian and our long-time friend Ben were in town visiting last week. Prior to their visit we had been into New York City three times, but while our guests were here we visited some of the major tourist attractions. We saw the statue of liberty, the museum of natural history, Times Square, the Neue Gallerie, and a few other small attractions. The statue of liberty was as impressive as you might expect, but I really liked the sculpture (on 6th ave, near 59th street), based on the 1932 photo of construction workers having lunch, taken by Charles C. Ebbets. Claudia is in love with the city, and I would rather live in Berlin ;)




Wine Stuff:

I liked the idea of my recent post which gave a brief bite of information as well as a blurb on a recently quaffed wine. I am going to try that again, and I would like to hear/read your thoughts on this style.

Oak… The final frontier… Just kidding. You are probably all dreading my exciting dissertation on cork, so I will save that for another day. Instead I will chat a little about oak.

What is the mystery with the oak barrels that are used to age wine? There is a ton of interesting (to me) information on this subject, but let’s distill it down to the most important factors. Oak is used for two things in the wine aging process:

• To change the character of the wine, i.e. taste, texture, aroma, color.
• The porous (though not too porous) nature of oak allows the slow oxidation of wine

The flavors, aromas, mouth feel, and color of wine can all be affected by oak because the oak barrels release substances into the wine during aging. The oxidation process assists in all of these things. There is, however, a lot of chemistry involved and not only are the details a little dry, but I am definitely no expert.

The last word is devoted to the battle between French and American oak. French oak barrels typically impart a more subtle oak flavor to the wine, and less vanilla flavor, while American oak is generally considered to add a more aggressive wood flavor. This is slowly changing in favor of American oak due to changes in production that help decrease the harsh flavors that American oak tends to produce. This is good for wine makers because American oak is a lot less expensive than French.

On to what I drank today

Tonight I had a 2005 Chateau Paradis that is made from 50% Sauvignon Blanc and 50% Grenache Blanc. The Sauvignon is aged in stainless steel while the Grenache sees some oak. My palette is probably not discerning enough to know, but my guess is that the wine is aged in second-use barrels for a fair amount of time. The oak is subtle but helps round out the aromas and gives the wine a nice creamy finish. The pairing of the two varietals is pleasant because I think the fruit forward tart character of the Sauvignon is well balanced by the less acidic, round, soft/sweet flavors of the Grenache. I think a wine like this goes well with grilled fish or chicken. I would recommend against sweet or spicy marinade because the tannins in the wine will be the only thing that stands up to the marinade. A glass full of tannins is no fun.

happy drinking,
-PMo