I was not as fortunate as Peter Mayle, author of “A Year in Provence”, to spend a whole year in this idyllic land where vines meet the sea.  However, I did spend a week exploring the vineyards, fish markets, lavender fields, and, of course, tasting plenty of the pink nectar that flows in these parts.

With all the recent buzz about pink wines, or roses, one may believe these wines are new and trendy.  On the contrary, my travels led me down a road brimming with historical importance… literally.  As I kicked up the dirt on an ancient Roman highway that was surrounded by 2,000-year old vineyards, it became evident this wine is no flash in the pan.  

Amphorae, or clay pots used thousands of years ago to store wine, once carried rose wine, not red wine, in this area.  In fact, rose wine was reserved for the aristocrats while the red wine was relegated to the soldiers and workers, and even at times discarded.  Although both rose and red wines came from the same grapes, the juice for the rose wines produced finer and fruitier wines, while that for the reds produced heavy and harsh wines.

Provencal roses have been a classic pairing for French summer meals ever since.  Their delayed appearance on the American table has been the result of America’s past and current obsession with White Zinfandel (it still accounts for about 30% of all grocery store wine) and the small percentage of Provencal rose exported.  As the largest consumer of rose wines in the world, France has, up until recently, kept the best for itself.  Luckily, more and more Provencal roses are popping up at your local wine stores. (See below for recommendations). 

The news gets even better.  We can expect the already high value-to-price ratio to increase more in the coming years.  The world’s only Rose Research Center, created over ten years ago, is located in Provence and provides research for the area’s winemakers.  On my visit, the center’s director disclosed that the beautiful pale pink color and vibrant fruit characteristic of Provencal roses is actually technically very difficult to produce correctly.  Paradoxically, theses complex wines taste so simply delicious that you forget you are drinking wine, just like momentarily forgetting that the best actors are acting.  The simple goodness found at the bottom of a glass of a Provencal rose doesn’t make you want to ponder life, but live life. 

In these final days of summer, live the good life by sharing a bottle of Provencal rose with your friends.  The dry, but fruity palate offers vibrant flavors that refresh in the summer heat and are the perfect complement to just about any summer meal.  Below are some Provencal roses you can still find at your local stores.  Salut!

2008 Domaine Houchart, $9.99, Binny’s in Chicago, IL

2008 Mas de Bressades, $9.99, Sam’s in Chicago, IL

2008 Domaine de Triennes Rose, $15.99, Perman Wine Selections, Chicago, IL

2008 Beiler Pere et Fils,  $10.99, Sendiks in Wauwatosa, WI

2008 Chateau Grande Cassagne, $8.99, Sendiks in Mequon, WI

2008 Domaine Tempier, $39.99, Waterford in Downtown Milwaukee, WI

So I have decided to enlist the help of a travel blog that SHOULD allow me to post pics with my comments. 

Hmmmmm.... I am not sure if it will work (or rather, if my novice blogging aptitude will suffice), but if you are interested in experiencing Chilean and Argentinian wine with me (or getting a good chuckle from my defunct blogging abilities) go to

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/mkewineschool/1/tpod.html 

Santiago will be my frist stop and I hope to post something by January 12, assuming I can locate a wi-fi network. 

It is a rather light-hearted look at the food, wine and people that shape the places I will see.  I hope you will join me as I travel through a land I have longed to see for so long.

If you think this is the year you are going to escape those three dreaded words, "New Year's Resolution", think again.  People have been reluctantly improving themselves for over 2000 years! 

The tradition was started in about 100 BC when the first month of the calendar year was named after a mythical king of early Rome, Janus.  With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future, encouraging people to start anew with resolutions for the new year.  There was probably some Spartacus who reluctantly promised his family more time at home and less time revolting against Roman aristocracy. 

If you are unable to avoid making a new resolution, you may as well disguise it as something you already enjoy doing, like drinking wine.  Here are some common New Year's Resolutions you can accomplish by drinking wine.

1) Learn a New Language:

Practice your Spanish lisp or French attitude by taking MWS's Wine World Tour Classes.  We will cover several langauges of the world as we "travel" the different wine-making regions of the world.

2) Network and Develop Professional Opportunities:

Check out MWS's new Networking Tasting called "On the Grapevine" where you will meet other like-minded professionals who also like to have fun.

3) Learn a New Hobby

The 9-week comprehensive wine course offered in February is perfect for mastering the basics of wine and winemaking.

4) Spend More Time with Friends:
Check out the new calendar and make a date to hang out with your friends at an upcoming tasting.  

5) Lose Weight

Go to the chocolate and wine tasting on February 14 or April 24... Hey, that's how most diets end anyways. 

Finding old pictures can be quite entertaining, especially when the subjects are avid disciples of fashion trends.  The belly shirts of the 90’s followed the athletic attire of the 80’s, the shoulder pads of the 80’s clothed the bare shoulders of the 70’s, and the mohawks of the 70’s stood higher than the beehive hairdos of the 60’s.  In spite of their popularity of their era, fashion trends of the past often inspire laughter years later, even by those who subscribed to them.

The world of wine is no exception to experiencing trends, and their aftershocks of mockery.  Consider Madeira; an extremely oxidized, fortified and sometimes sweet wine from the Portuguese island of Madeira.  The U.S. colonists threw parties for the exclusive purpose of consuming Madeira and it is believed that Madeira was consumed at the signing of The Declaration of Independence.  Despite its popularity hundreds of years ago, its availability today is limited and its consumption mainly isolated to the occasional baking recipe, sending confused bakers to the store looking for this mysterious ingredient.  History would suggest that our preferences for wine styles can be as fleeting as our preferences for fashion styles, but what motivates us to consume or wear something that years later we mock or ridicule?

One factor is the availability of goods.  In today’s marketplace a wide variety of goods are available to us at our local stores.  Compare this to 20, 50, or 100 years ago when there were relatively few products from which to choose.  For example, fleece was not worn in the 1970s since it wasn’t invented until the 1980s, but most clothing stores carried some version of bell bottom jeans.  As a result, most pictures of the 1970s capture someone sporting the style of the time. Today, both fleece and bell-bottoms are at the local clothing store, but the consumer can choose to buy one, neither or both. Similarly, Madeira’s popularity in colonial times was encouraged by its availability relative to other wine and spirits.  Madeira, due to its fortified nature, could withstand the voyage from the Old World to the New World without spoiling, and the island of Madeira was the last stop on Portugal’s western shore for ships making the long voyage to the Americas.  Like bell-bottom jeans, Madeira is only one of a plethora of options available in today’s marketplace, allowing consumers to select that style only if it suits them.

The greater availability of diverse fashions has resulted in fewer clearly defined trends, encouraging the consumer to rely more heavily than ever on his or her personal sense of style.  Although the wine world has seen similar growth in selection, the result for wine drinkers has not been as liberating as those seen in the fashion circles.  The increased selection of wine styles has overwhelmed the consumer.  Unlike clothing, the end product remains sealed under glass until purchase and can not always be “tried on” before taking it home, or returned after opening.  The result of this increased diversity of wines has been a greater dependence on wine critics and “experts” to tell us what to like.  In doing so, people often question their own preferences, even when they know what they prefer.

Take, for example, a young woman who loved Rieslings and asked me desperately if she would ever learn to like red wine.  Obviously, this woman had been influenced in some way by wine critics, who over the past decade have increasingly favored big, red, dry, high alcohol, fruit bombs.  This comes on the heels of the 1980s, when big, white wines (i.e. oaked Chardonnays) were the wine trend of the era.  Even red wines, like Zinfandel, had to be made “white” to encourage sales, spawning the white zinfandel craze of the 1980’s.  Twenty years later, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, and there is clear backlash against oaked chardonnays, with the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) mindset and the wine press constantly criticizing “over-oaked” white wines.    

Having seen the pendulum swing in my lifetime, I advised the young woman to never stop experimenting with new styles, but ultimately, to drink what she liked.  Within a couple years, her drink of choice may not only be on her lips, but on those of the critics as well. With the momentum already swinging away from the most recent trend of big, red wines, there is a good chance it will swing in the direction of the antithesis of big red wine: Riesling, a light-bodied, white, slightly sweet, low alcohol wine, capable of great complexity and aging.

Wine choices no longer have to be the result of what has been made available, but rather what you like.  With no one but you able to tell you what you like, rely on yourself to make the decisions rather than deferring to the wine critics.  The only way to know your wine style is to get under that glass and “try on” the wines, one by one.  Although this quest for style may require more time and effort, at least it involves leisurely drinking a glass of wine instead of fighting the crowds at your local department store.

Ah, the blissful melody of wedding bells.  For my wedding this summer, I thought they would never come.  The only bells ringing were the ones between my ears.  In spite of my attempts to simplify and “go with the flow”, I succumbed to the pressure and began to suffer from WPA (Wedding Planning Angst).

In an attempt to regain control and maintain my sanity, I resolved to focus on the things that mattered most to me.  I am sure it comes as no surprise where I spent most of my wedding planning energies:  food and wine.  I soon learned the tricks to having great food and wine at my wedding without blowing the budget.

Here is what I learned…

1)       As the wine buyer for a Milwaukee restaurant, I was fully aware of the conventional wine markups of about 2-3x wholesale cost.  What I didn’t realize is that some venues especially suited for weddings tend to be on the higher end of that band and at times exceed that markup.  I soon realized that I would have to pay upwards of $30 for a bottle of wine that would cost me about $12 at a local store.  Multiply that by 250 thirsty mouths and the difference warranted a little more research to see if I could a $30 bottle of wine that tasted like a $30 bottle of wine.

2)      I began to look for sites that would allow me to bring in my own wine.  I had to to be a little more creative and do a little more leg work, but they do exist!  Good places to call include your private and public local clubs, city or county-owned sites and parks, and even churches.  Some may include a corkage fee while others will be content to charge a room fee or make money on the food.  Keep in mind, if the corkage fee is the same or more than your anticipated cost of wine, the small amount of money saved may not be worth the time you spend finding and purchasing the wine.

3)      Once you find a site that will allow you to choose and bring in your own wines, go to your local wine store and go to the “stacks”.  Almost all wine stores have them, usually near the entrance, and are displayed in their actual cases, stacked on one another.  These wines, more often than not, are great values ($10-20), crowd pleasers and available in large numbers… perfect for a wedding!  Grab 4 whites and 4 reds and invite over your friends.  You can even use the wine for a shower or the bachelor/bachelorette party.  Gauge your guests’ interest level and then pick the wines for your wedding. 

4)      When it comes time to order, estimating quantity can be a real challenge.  For a starting point for still red and white wine, consider the questions below.   First, start with a 25% rule (25 bottles total for every 100 people) and add about 5% for every question answered yes.  For example, if you answered “yes” for all of the questions below, you would have 50% and want to purchase about 50 bottles of wine for every 100 guests.  Contemplate the weather and dinner choices when deciding the breakdown of white and red.

a.       Will wine be the only alcoholic beverage available (i.e. no beer or liquor)? 

b.      Will wine be offered with a sit down dinner? 

c.       Will it be an open bar? 

d.      Will there be dancing and drinks following dinner?

e.      Are your guests heavy drinkers? (Add 10% if REALLY heavy drinkers)

5)      For sparkling wine, look for a “Cava”, a sparkling wine from Spain which tends to appeal to more palates with a slightly higher fruit content than traditional champagne and it comes in at one-fourth of the price of real Champagne (around $10-15).  With regards to quantity, if there will be an official toast, you will want about 25% of your guest count (i.e. if you have 100 guests, 25 bottles, or 2 cases should be plenty).  If there is not an official toast, 10% is usually plenty, if any.

These suggestions are by no means a guarantee to be accurate for your wedding.  Human behavior and the “forever-a-brindesmaid”s thirst for red wine are not always rational.  If you are not sure, err on the side of overpurchasing, and add an extra case of each.  Being long on delicious, value-driven wines is not a bad problem to have.  You can cork them open as you and your spouse get to work on all your thank you notes or be the fun couple that always brings delicious wines to future parties.  Cheers!

Excerpt from Alcoholmanac Article...

... None of these social gatherings require anything more than a few friends, a couple bottles of wine, a corkscrew and a mouth for chatting and swallowing (glass optional).

Around the World in Six Bottles

Tell a handful of your friends to bring over a bottle of wine from a region or country that represents something special for them.  You and your friends will travel around the world by way of the stories that ensue, and you won’t even have to wait in long security lines or pack all of your toiletries in one tiny plastic bag.  Someone may share with you that they have always wanted to visit Australia so they can practice their (horrible) Australian accent or someone else may tell you about the time she visited Italy, and almost eloped with an “Italian Stallion”. 

The perfect pairing for your world tour is a simple cheese tray with cheeses from all over the world.  Encourage your guests to try each wine with a cheese from its respective part of the world.   Regional food and wine pairings tend to develop in harmony based on centuries of matching the wine to the availability of ingredients in the area.  In the end, you will be the judge whether the French Sancerre melds seamlessly with the French Chevre or if the French Beaujolais flatters the English Cheddar (who would have guessed!)

Ugliest Label Pageant

Ask some of your drinking buddies to go to the store and choose the ugliest label they can find.  We’ve all seen the poor wine bottles that have a defunct marketing team, or more likely in the case of smaller wineries, no marketing team.  The label is just hideous!  What were they thinking?  They probably weren’t.  Often when a wine has no marketing team, they can focus all of their efforts on the production of the wine than the image.  This could be a good thing, as some of the best values on the market can keep their prices low because they are not spending time or money on advertising and market positioning.  Also, keep in mind, the wine has to be purchased by at least two other individuals, the distributor and the retailer, both of whom must believe it will sell, before you can find it on the shelf.  Either the wine industry is full of style-blind professionals, or, more likely, knowledgeable specialists who value a wine’s quality and value over its style and presentation. 

At your “Label Pageant”, dress all the bottles in their “evening dresses” (aka brown paper bags), and ask your “judges” to weigh in on the “Prettiest Wine”, or the one that tastes best to them.  Then remove the bottles from the bag, and ask your friends to decide on the “Ugliest Label”. Tally the scores and you may be surprised at the beauty emerging from a beast, and that your opinion of a frightful label is someone else’s masterpiece.

Most Confusing Label

For this occasion, send your friends to a wine store to find a bottle with the most confusing wine label.  The most confusing labels seem to be written in another language simply because they usually are.  Often the French-accented wine labels tend to be the most-likely culprit in confusing the most honest of wine shoppers.  Although there has been some improvement in recent years, the labels of French wine can lead you to wonder, where is it from, what kind of wine is it and who made it?  All answers we use to make an educated wine purchase. 

The reason for this confusion is that the American wine drinker associates a style of wine with a grape, while the French associate a style of wine with a region.  For example, Americans generally perceive Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir to be light and aromatic while the French view a white Sancerre and a Red Burgundy in the same light.  There is a good reason for this; Sancerre and Burgundy are regions of France that produce wines made from Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir grapes, respectively.  More simply, an American’s Sauvignon Blanc is a Frenchman’s Sancerre and an American’s Pinot Noir is a Frenchwoman’s Red Burgundy. 

Do your best to decipher the labels, and ask everyone to discuss who they believe to be the producer/winery, what the grape is and where the region is located based on the cryptic clues on the label.  Have a computer nearby and google all the words you think are relevant to finding out a little more about your wine.  You may have never guessed that the Bordeaux you love so much is actually made from your “least-favorite grape”, Merlot.

Regardless of the wine or your company, remember to keep an open mind and an open mouth where wine can flow in and the conversation can flow out...

...To understand organic wine, one must first pay a quick visit back to sixth grade science class.  I promise it will be relatively painless, barring any flashbacks of trips to the principal’s office.  Wine is the result of two inseparable, yet distinct processes; viticulture and vinification.  Viticulture concerns the vines and their ability to produce grapes in the vineyards, and vinification addresses the chemical reaction that converts the sugar in the grapes to alcohol, made possible through the presence of yeast.  The yeasts eat the sugar and then pass gas, quite literally!  The byproducts of the yeast’s consumption of sugar are carbon dioxide gas and alcohol, giving us the fundamental ingredient that differentiates grape juice from wine. 

When wine producers seek USDA certification for organic wine, they have to adhere to the regulations set forth by the USDA for both viticultural and vinification practices.   The USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP), created in 2002, mandates that neither chemical additives in the vineyard nor sulfur in the winery can be added to a wine for it to be USDA certified organic wine.  That seems simple enough until you realize that there only one or two bottles of USDA certified organic wine on the shelf, if any, in a culture currently obsessed with everything “organic”.

Contrary to what the shelves may be suggesting, there are hundreds of organic-minded wine producers, who limit or exclude chemical fertilizers and pesticides from their vineyards in favor of nature’s new A-list stars: manure, weeds and natural predators.   These natural protagonists not only produce grapes with far less chemical residue, but also protect the land from harsh treatments, increasing its longevity for the future production of grapes or other crops.  In spite of the proliferation of organically-farmed vineyards, there is noticeable lack of certified organic wine.  Why would these green-minded wine producers go to such great lengths to produce organic grapes, but intentionally choose not to create an organic wine?  It seems that most of these winemakers with organic grapes draw a line in their organic sand and intentionally do not comply with USDA’s vinification stipulation of adding no sulfur to the grapes and/or wine.   Although their decision prohibits them from carrying the elusive seal of organic certification, they may disclose that the wine is “made from organic grapes”.   This widespread decision to use sulfur with organic grapes may lead one to believe that sulfur isn’t as uniformly evil, as the USDA and the general have framed it to be. 

Most winemakers will agree it is extremely difficult to make a stable and decent bottle of wine without the addition of sulfur.  Sulfur quite simply, at the right levels, will keep your wine fresh and stable with its anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial properties.   Some winemakers arduously cultivate organic grapes to achieve high levels of fruit and concentration, which will only be lost if the grapes and wine can not be kept fresh and free of disease.  Similarly, a chef in a kitchen using all the best organic ingredients, would still want to refrigerate the food and wash his hands before preparing the meal to ensure the food arrives fresh and hygienic.  Sulfur, used judiciously, can act like the refrigerator and hand sanitizer in the kitchen by eliminating oxygen from the environment and killing bacteria that finds its way onto the walls of the winery and the insides of oak barrels.

Sulfur and its aqueous derivative, sulfites, are generally misunderstood by the public.   It has been used for thousands of years in wine-making and is omnipresent in wine since fermentation naturally creates small traces of sulfites.  As a result, all wine, even most organic wine must disclose that it, “Contains Sulfites”.  This warning was implemented in response to those who have adverse reactions to sulfites, such as severe asthmatics, whose reaction can sometimes be fatal.   For the rest of us, there are currently limits already in place for restricting the over use of sulfur, which are significantly more stringent in the EU (160-210 ppm) for dry wines than in the US (350 ppm), and even more rigid for “wine made from organic grapes” (100 ppm).  Even when the maximum allowable amount of sulfur is used for “wine made from organic grapes”, the wine remains 99.99% organic and there is rarely any perception of sulfur on the palate, usually detected as a burnt match aroma. 

The eternal fall guy for over-drinkers’ maladies, sulfur is often blamed for wine-drinker’s headaches and hangovers.  Although this is possible, it is more likely that the real culprits are either too much alcohol or one of several substances only found in red wines.  Although the head-ache-inducing substance in red wine has yet to be identified by scientists with certainty, they know it cannot be sulfites.  With their naturally higher level of anit-oxidants, red wines inherently have lower levels of sulfur, making it impossible for “red-wine-only” headaches to be the result of too many sulfites.

After hoeing through the weeds of organic wine, I realized that not all organic grapes make organic wine, and not all organic wines with their lower sulfite levels are necessarily “better” for me.   When available, it is nice to have the option to choose the greener wine, with hopes of making the world a better place.  However, just like a diet low in salt, fat or carbs, a wine made with no added sulfites (aka organic wines) will often seem devoid of flavor in comparison to a wine with little to moderate amounts of sulfur.  On the other hand, green wines with just enough added sulfur to ensure a safe and delicious glass of wine without compromising personal health, the well-being of the planet or the wine’s flavor (aka wine from organic grapes), give me hopes of making my world, at the end of very long day, a better place.  

“I’ll have a decaf skinny dry grande café mocha with whipcream… Thanks!”   Huh?  Ok, so most of us don’t go to such lengths to order our coffee, but “tall, skim latte” or “venti decaf cappuccino” has become a part of our daily vernacular.  The proliferation of a coffeehouse culture has created “coffee talk”.  Simply put, “coffee talk” allows caffeine-addicts to get their fix, just the way they like it, usually in less than five words. 

Similarly, basic wine vocabulary, or “wine talk” can help wine-lovers succinctly communicate their preferences to restaurant servers or wine store personnel.  With such a multiplicity of wines nowadays, advice at the table or in the wine aisle has become paramount in the process of choosing wine.  Once the simple building blocks of “wine talk” are learned, a wine drinker can be more effective in describing the wines he or she prefers, ultimately replicating favorable experiences, while steering clear of unpleasant ones.  Of course, a tutorial in “wine talk” is a lot more fun when you’ve got the “real thing” (aka wine and other people), but here goes a brief introduction of three commonly used (and misused) words in “wine talk”.

Dry:  This is the level of sweetness, or the amount of sugar in a wine.  It is common for people to mistakenly describe fruit flavors as sweet, even though the wine has little to no sugar.  For instance, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc may have tons of citrus and grapefruit flavors, but most likely will have very little to no sugar.  In fact, most wines on the shelf are dry.  Finally, do not confuse the use of “dry” with high tannin levels (see below).

Acidity:  High acidity is often described as tart, crisp, or sour.  White wines in general are naturally higher in acidity, while reds are usually lower, although also capable of high acidity.  Acidity is the key to many food & wine pairings.  Generally, you want to match acidities in your food and wine (i.e. high acidity tomato sauce with a high acidity wine).

Tannin:  Tannins are tasteless and only found in red wines. They produce an astringent drying sensation that can be irritating to some. When someone complains of a wine being “too dry”, he or she may be referring to its tannin level and the accompanying drying feeling (and not the sugar level as described above).  To better understand tannins, have a cup of joe or tea, without cream or sugar, and note the drying sensation.  Both are full of tannins.

Mastering the basics of “wine talk” make it possible for you to walk into a wine store and say, “I’m looking for a dry, red wine with good acidity and low tannins to go with my home-made spicy vegetable lasagna”.  Wine tastings can help you identify why you like or don’t like a wine (high/low sugar, acidity, tannins, etc.), so you can later communicate your preferences to others.  Before you know it, you will be navigating your way through a wine list as easily as flying through a Starbucks drive-through.

Many people believe that just because they can’t recite the top “Cult Cab” producers or describe a wine in the form of a sonnet, they know nothing about wine. Please! If you have a nose, a mouth and a brain, you already know the most important, undisputable fact – what you like. No one can tell you otherwise. When you take a sip, does your brain do somersaults and say “Mmm, give me more!”? Shrug and comment, “Eh, not great”? Or cringe and shriek, “Yuck!”?

The second most important, undeniable fact about wine is that no one can know it all. If you speak with any of the “Wine Greats”, they would undoubtedly agree that the more you delve into the understanding of wine, the more you realize you DON’T know. Wine is unique in that there are so many producers each year producing a whole new set of products for you to explore. With so many wines produced, there will always be someone who has tried a wine you haven’t. As a result, everyone can bring something to the table in the form of knowledge and experience, and if you’re lucky, literally, in the form of delicious bottle of wine.

Once you accept these two facts, wine becomes a whole lot more fun. Instead of feeling pretention or intimidation at the wine store or with your friends at the restaurant, you can relax. Look at every bottle of wine as an opportunity to learn, and perhaps, later share what you experienced with others.

Stay tuned for next month’s article on how to enhance your enjoyment of wine by pinpointing what you do and don’t like about wine. Simple vocabulary can help you better communicate your preferences to others so that you can replicate or avoid the experience in the future.

America… Home of baseball, apple pie… and a year-round holiday marketing blitz.  As soon as the trick-or-treaters leave, Turkeys start begging for reprieve.  Then Pilgrim figurines are replaced by the Three Kings.  And before Santa can return to the North Pole, New Year’s Eve tickets have already been sold.  Now, as the holiday hangover is just starting to subside, we are summoned for the next holiday ride… 

That’s right, Valentine’s Day is “just around the corner”. Instead of waiting for Hallmark cards to tell you when to celebrate those you love most, honor the relationships in your life by corking open a bottle of wine TODAY!  Every relationship is worthy of a different bottle of wine, whether you are commemorating your rock-n-roll single life or a melodic marriage.  Here are some things to consider when looking for that “perfect” bottle of wine for any kind of relationship in your life.

“Freebird” – Lynrd Skynyrd sang your anthem; you are single and content to live that way.  Unfortunately most bottles of wine are made to share since each standard-sized bottle contains over six 4-ounce glasses of wine.  Instead of completing the pre-requisite for a life of AA meetings (i.e. finishing the bottle alone) or drinking day-old wine, consider the alternative: half bottles. Half bottles are perfect for “a party of one” and are often over-looked as a viable option because of their lack of availability in stores and restaurants.  Don’t be afraid to ask for them, and if they don’t have them, ask them to order more.  As a customer, you ultimately drive a business’s wine selection, as long as they know what you want.

“Desperately Seeking Susan” – You’re single, but would rather not be.  Whether you are seeking a Susan or a Simon, a great place to meet other wine-lovers is at a wine bar.  Not only will you be able to try multiple wines, but you may also meet multiple dating prospects. 

“Girls (and Guys) Just Want to Have Fun” – You have a great friend and the thought of something romantic with this friend will never be an option.  Your wine selection should be simple and stress-free!  Go to your local wine store and get a good, cheap bottle of wine.  The Spanish wine section is good place to start.  Look for a bottle under $15, red or white, and flip to the back label.  If the bottle says the wine was selected by “Jorge Ordonez” or “Eric Solomon”, you are in for a treat.  These two men are well-known for selecting good-values from Spain.  Depending on your vice, sweet or salty, grab a block of cheese or a block of chocolate, settle in for a night of your favorite TV picks, and get ready to just have fun!

“I’ll Be There for You” – Even if you never saw one episode of “Friends”, you no doubt are familiar with its soundtrack by The Rembrandts. It conjures memories of the “Rachel and Ross” storyline of “Friends-turned-Lovers”. Just like our friends on “Friends”, you would like to reveal a crush you have on a good friend.  Make the evening special by spending a little more on wine than usual.  Quality usually improves with an increase in price.  You can get a great bottle of wine at $15, but your chances of getting a better bottle from the same region are higher if you spend $30. To help ease the nerves, follow the advice of an old Latin expression, “In Vino Veritas”, meaning “Wine Loosens the Tongue”.  A wine with higher alcohol content (13.5%-15%) may give you the liquid courage you need to spill your guts.  Just don’t overdo it, or you could find yourself spilling more than just feelings.  Some wines known for their high alcohol content are Napa Valley Cabernets, French Chateauneuf du Papes and Spanish Ribera del Dueros.  If you prefer whites, look for a Napa Chardonnay or a California Viognier. 

“Abracadabra” – Steve Miller perfectly describes the magical feeling when you’re in love.  Whether you were drinking a $2 or a $200 bottle of wine, both could seem equally delicious. The memorableness of your tasting experience can influence how much you like a wine.  This may explain why you loved a wine while sitting among the rolling hills of Tuscany, but the same wine at your kitchen table doesn’t taste quite as splendid as you remember.  Your “love dust” sprinkled on just about any wine will make it a good one, so don’t spend a fortune.  Head to the wines stacked at the front of the store where wine-buyers usually place their best deals for easy drinking wines.

“I Don’t Want to Fight” – Hopefully your fighting has not escalated to the antics of Ike and Tina Turner.  Regardless, in a situation of conflict it would be best to keep the alcohol levels low to avoid aggravating already-heightened emotions.  Although most white wines hover around 11%, some quality wines come in at or below this benchmark, including German Rieslings, Italian Moscato d’Astis, Portugese Vinho Verdes, and Spanish Txaolis (the first two tend to be sweet, while the last two will be dry).  Red wines will naturally be higher in alcohol, starting at about 12-13%.  Drink at your own risk! 

A Golden Record – Whether you have already celebrated your Golden 50-year anniversary or are aspiring to arrive there one day, you have shared life’s lifts and let downs with your significant other, and have proven you can conquer anything as long as you have each other.  For this one, you are on your own.  There is no body who knows the love of your life better than you.  Your intimate knowledge of your life partner allows you to personalize the selection by choosing a bottle you shared at a special restaurant, that has a label reminding you of one of his/her hobbies or comes from a place he/she has always wanted to visit.  Trust your instincts and choose the wine that you feel would be ideal.  Besides, those same instincts chose the perfect mate for you.

In spite of the ebb and flow of holiday marketing campaigns, remember that every day can be a Valentine’s Day when you select a bottle of wine with your loved ones in mind.

Before revealing Milwaukee’s new wine bars, I must pay homage to their predecessors. The Pizza Man at 1800 E North Ave, opened in 1970, is truly an under-appreciated treasure for wine enthusiasts in Milwaukee.  Pizza Man will open almost any bottle of wine regardless of price, as long as you order at least two glasses.  Never have I encountered such an amazing offer in any other city, including San Francisco, New York, Madrid, or anywhere in between.  Pizza Man is without a doubt the longest-standing and most unique wine bar in Milwaukee. 

Pizza Man aside I believe there is another veteran wine bar which truly deserves the title “Wine Bar”.  Unfortunately, with the increasing popularity of wine bars, many restaurants and bars decided to simply append the restaurant name with “& Wine Bar”.  This does not qualify it as real wine bar.  It’s like putting on a Packers jersey and saying you play professional football.  A real wine bar requires a dedicated staff who devote their time and knowledge to design and maintain an inventive, yet accessible wine list.  An establishment that does this quite well is Balzac at 1716 N. Arlington at Brady Street on Milwaukee’s East Side.

And if bubbles are your thing, just this winter, Milwaukee saw the opening of its first Champagne bar, Cuvee, located at 177 N. Broadway in Downtown’s Third Ward.  Cuvee’s owners, Kimberly Floyd and Kris Gorski, have a passion for sparkling wine that has bubbled over in the form of a striking, yet comfortable bar/retail store perfect for enjoying sparkling wine from all over the world.  The selection has been well executed and Kim and Kris are often on hand to discuss the intricacies of the wine.  The Milwaukee Wine School will be teaming up with Cuvee to offer a 3 part series on Sparkling Wine in February 2008.

Another wine bar, Indulge, plans to open April 2008 in downtown Milwaukee at 708 E. Milwaukee Street.  Conceived by successful Milwaukee restauranteur, Marc Bianchini, Indulge will feature over 200 wines from around the world with 50 wines available by the glass.  Mark has enlisted the help of Jaclyn Stewart, Certified Sommelier, to help craft the wine list and advise patrons on their selections.  To accompany the wine, there will be charcuterie, chocolates, and artisan cheeses. 

Sometime this spring, Juicy Wine Co. located 928 E. Brady Street, will be opened by Rodney Alex of Chicago.  Rodney first wine bar, also Juicy Wine Co., is located in Chicago, ironically on Milwaukee Avenue, where his wine and cheese bar and lounge have been well-received by Chicago natives.

Another wine venture, Vino 100, a wine retail store known for its selection of great values will be opening in Downtown’s Third Ward at Eerie and Water.  The owners Melissa Perrigoue and Craig Schmitt have made room for an indoor wine bar and outdoor seating so you can enjoy your bottles of wine at the store anytime of the year.  The Milwaukee Wine School will conduct classes at the Downtown Vino 100 wine store in 2008. 

Finally, on the west side, Wine Styles of Brookfield located at the Brookfield Fashion Center on Bluemound and Calhoun plans to open its doors as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s...  well, maybe the next day.  Winestyles owners, Rendall and Tina Thomas, are fully dedicated to offering the whole wine experience at their retail store, complete with a large tasting room and regularly scheduled tastings.  MWS will offer classes at Winestyles of Brookfield in 2008.

I hope the New Year finds you healthy, happy and… a glass of wine in hand!

With so many flavors dancing on your Thanksgiving plate, the perfect wine pairing for your turkey dinner can seem somewhat elusive.  Not so!  The key is to find a wine that flatters the sweet yams, outwits the acidic cranberry sauce, stands up to the stubbornly-savory stuffing, and addresses the turkey with respect (if only all of our guests could be so charming on Thanksgiving!)  I am referring to a “Versatile Vino”, a multi-faceted wine that that can melt seamlessly into the smorgasbord of a Thanksgiving meal.

There are several types of “Versatile Vinos”, but the following are three of my favorites for Thanksgiving dinner that are easy to find and sure to please all types of palates…

Champagne – Sparkling wine is often overlooked for dinner because we tend to reserve it for celebratory purposes.  Well, I say every meal is a reason to celebrate, especially Thanksgiving dinner!  A sparkling wine can take you from salad to main course without a major hiccup… well, only if you drink too much.  When looking for a Dinner Champagne, look for one that has a high percentage of Pinot Noir in the blend (instead of Chardonnay).  The Pinot Noir grape may not add its red hue to crystal-clear Champagne, but it will add body and complexity, perfect for turkey and stuffing. A Champagne known for its high percentage of Pinot Noir is Bollinger Special Cuvee.  The intensity of the wine demands attention at every bite without overpowering, and the characteristically mineral flavors of Champagne work magic with the savory earthiness on your plate.  The only drawback on Champagne can be its cost.  The Bollinger is about $45.  For a less expensive sparkling wine, try a New World sparkling wine from Northern California, such as Gloria Ferrer Brut NV (under $20).

German Kabinett Riesling from Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Valley – Riesling has gotten a bad rap in the past decade due to the market’s shift toward big, high alcohol, oaky red wines.  These big red wines may taste good on their own, but they will steamroll your Thanksgiving dinner, making it difficult to appreciate the meal.   On the other hand, Rieslings can make world-class wines perfect for pairing with food if you know where to look. To find well-balanced Rieslings, look for German Rieslings, specifically from the Mosel Saar Ruwer Valley, Rheingau or Rheinhessen, which will tend to have crisp citrus notes and a nuances of earth and mineral. There may be a touch of sweetness, but if it is well-made, the sweetness will be in balance with the acidity.  To illustrate this point, a glass full of lemon juice (i.e. acidity) is not appetizing, but with just enough sugar, the lemon juice becomes refreshing lemonade.   Too much sugar, and it become melted lemon sorbet.  This rule of balance is true for Rieslings; just enough sweetness will balance out the highly-acidic wine, making it crisp and refreshing.  Even better, the touch of sweetness will allow the fruit and sweet flavors in a meal to shine through without ruining your wine (sweet foods can flatten dry wines).  If you prefer a drier style, look for a Kabinett style; a sweeter style, look for a Spatlese style.  Also, check out the alcohol levels; the higher the alcohol level, the drier the wine.  For example, a Kabinett with 8% alcohol will have a touch of sweetness while a Kabinett at 11-12% should be fairly dry.  In a pre-Thanksgiving tasting with a spread of turkey-day foods, the German Kabinett Riesling I tried, St. Urbans Hoff Kabinett Riesling 2006 (under $20) performed light years better than any of the other dry red or white wines.

Washington Merlot ­–  After the debut of the movie Sideways, Merlot took a hit in favor of Pinot Noir.  Pinot Noir is also a great Thanksgiving wine, but what can I say?  I like to root for the underdogs.  Besides, most people are unaware of the ironic twist in the movie Sideways indicating that the main character, Miles, wasn’t such a Merlot-hater after all.  Throughout the movie, Miles bashes wines made from two grapes, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, but the wine he cherishes most, Cheval Blanc from Bordeaux, is actually made from two grapes.  Guess which two (hint: it’s an ironic twist).  The reason for this twist is there is Merlot, and then there’s Merlot.  When sourced from a cooler region, like Bordeaux or Washington, Merlot will retain its acidity and give life back to a wine that has acquired a reputation for being flabby and uninteresting.  The pleasant aromas of plum, spice and a touch of earth fit perfectly into a Thanksgiving dinner, and its medium-bodied, smooth mouth-feel make it a wine everyone will enjoy.  One more reason to go with Merlot over Pinot Noir, is its price:quality relationship.  Pinot Noirs on average cost more than Merlots of a similar quality level because Pinot Noir grapes are difficult to grow.  For example, the merlot I tried, Independent Producers Merlot 2005 was under $10, helping me save money for all my holiday shopping!