The Rundown on Wine Clubs!
Wondering what the differences are between winery and retail store wine clubs? Check out this video on Whisked Foodie for the rundown on wine clubs!
Wine Musings « Plonk Blog
Vino Vocab: The Dish on Fancy Wine Terms
Do you have a hard time deciphering fancy wine geek lingo? Ever wonder what in the world a sommelier means when he/she uses words like minerality, muscularity, or high-toned to describe a wine? If you struggle with vino vocab, then check out this new video I recorded for the Menusim Blog which will equip you with some great wine geek speak!
Listen to Plonk on The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis!
Click here to listen to Plonk Wine Merchants on the radio show: The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis!
How to Open and Decant a Bottle of Wine
Do you ever have trouble opening wine bottles or choosing the right type of corkscrew? Ever wonder what types of wines should be decanted prior to drinking? If so, check out this step by step video on the Menusim Blog which will teach you everything you need to know about uncorking a bottle and using a decanter!
How to Choose Wines From a Wine List
Do you get overwhelmed by massive wine lists? Need help choosing wines when you go out to restaurants or wine bars? Watch my video on the Menuism Blog for tips on how to navigate wine lists like a pro!
Where Does a Wine's Structure Come From?
I was tasting through some very elegant and interesting California wines yesterday and found myself deep in discussion about what gives a wine its structure. Think of structure as a wine’s frame or backbone-the architecture that holds all of a wine’s components together. This is a somewhat esoteric topic, but in my eyes, structure in wine is almost always derived from two main components: acid and tannins.
Acidity gives wine its shape, making it piercing, taut, and linear, if the acidity is high, or flabby, blousy, and broad if the acidity is lower. Tannins on the other hand, contribute to a wine’s structure in more of a textural sense. Wines that are high in tannin will give the impression of dryness, causing that velvety friction on your gums and on the insides of your cheeks. Wines that are low in tannins, on the other hand, will appear soft and round in the mouth-again a nod to texture.
The best wines out there strike the perfect balance between acid structure and tannin structure, which together contribute to a wine’s overall mouthfeel.
Watch this video below to see a perfect example of a wine that demonstrates what I mean by acid structure.
And watch this video below to see tannin structure in action.
Detecting Wine Flaws
How do you know if your wine has gone bad? Wondering how to tell if your wine is corked? Check out my recent video for the Menuism Blog which provides a quick rundown on the most common wine flaws!
How to Taste Wine Like a Pro
If you’re someone who takes a sip of wine and swallows it down immediately, no smelling or slurping at all, then check out this quick primer on how to taste wine like a pro, which I put together for the Menuism Blog! You’ll be amazed at what you’ve been missing all this time!
Cultivating Your Personal Wine Style
Do you gravitate towards savory or sweet wines? Tannic or soft? Mineral or fruit-driven?
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out my Squidoo lens for quick tips on how to figure out which wines strike your fancy, and which completely turn you off. Once you’ve figured out where you sit on the wine style spectrum, you’ll find the wine purchasing process infinitely easier.
Click here to start learning how to cultivate your personal wine style!
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