Have you ever heard anyone refer to the “legs” of a wine, as part of it’s “body”? Have you ever taken a second to wonder what the heck this means? Have you, like many others, also thought this was a rather annoying way to describe a beverage?
Sommelier Nicolás Reines explains what some mean by saying this and the misconceptions surrounding the phrase, during the sweet wine tasting recently held at the Entaste office. Check it out here:
At last Friday’s tasting of sweet wines, Entaste tried the 2001 Vinum Regnum Rex Vinorum Tokaji Aszú 4 Puttonyos, one of the two Hungarian Tokajis out of three that made it through Munich’s doggone airport security on the way back from a recent trip to Budapest, Hungary. Sommelier Nicolás Reines lead the tasting of three sweet dessert wines (the Argentine Santa Julia Chenin Dulce Natural and Etchart Torrontés, and this Hungarian Tokaji). He explained the process of using “noble rot” to produce the very unique flavor this wine is known for. Check out the videos below to learn more about the production and quality of this wine!
I have a dirty little secret to confess: I don’t really like wine tastings.
I’m not talking about the get-your-friends-together, open-some-funky-wines, drink-and-discuss-while-you-nibble-on-charcuterie kind of DIY tasting, but rather the put-on-a-blazer, go-to-a-convention-center, taste, spit, and shmooz-your-way-around-the-room industry events. Many of my non-wine friends jealously yearn to attend, but my colleagues and I are all too familiar with the manic chaos that generally comes with the territory.
Class is in Session: The Tasting Room at Lo de Joaquin Alberdi
A few weekends ago, I popped into one of my all-time-fave wine boutiques in BsAs, Lo de Joaquin Alberdi, in the beating heart of Palermo Soho, just a few blocks from the always-busy Plaza Serrano. 90% of their customers are tourists who, checking the mate, leather gaucho belt, “artisanal” alfajores and fileteado bathroom sign off the obligatory Argentine souvenir list, flow out of the plaza, straight into Lo de in search of that last item, the famous Malbec, to take home to the fam. Señor Alberdi and his three expert sommeliers work tirelessly in educating (mostly re-educating) these customers, explaining that the Malbec is not ONE specific wine, falsely implied by the what-to-buy section of many travel-to-Argentina magazines, that there is in fact a grand variety among the Malbecs with the unique traits of each depending on the region it hails from. Gathering info about the tastes of their customers through personalized and thorough (sometime a half an hour to an hour long!) wine-tastings, conducted in their colorful tasting room, the team at Lo de makes sure that each customer leaves smiling and satisfied with not just any-old generic “Argentine Malbec”, but one specifically geared to his or her preference.
tasting a 4 Puttyonyos Tokaji){kind=link}
