|
Wine and the open trail 
You're planning a hiking, camping or fishing trip in a wilderness area, and the thought of a glass of good wine with a dinner cooked out beneath the stars sounds like a lovely idea. But is it really practical to take quality wine along in your backpack when you're roughing it?
A correspondent raised this question last week, asking for tips on taking along a suitable wine to enjoy with the cutthroat trout that he planned to catch on a fishing trip. I advised a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and added: Taking your wine in a backpack shouldn't be difficult. Get a clean plastic bottle of the type used for mineral water, choosing one that does not contain more than 750 ml, so the wine will fill it up without leaving an air pocket. Wash and dry it well, then carefully pour the wine from the glass bottle into the plastic bottle. Reclose it tightly with the original screw cap, and you're on your way. Once you reach your campsite, if you're not packing ice, a cold stream should be plenty cool enough to bring your wine to a delightful serving temperature; you don't want to serve a good wine ice-cold anyway! It's wise to tie the bottle to a rock, stick or tree with a piece of twine, so you don't later notice it bobbing downstream. I wouldn't risk a really expensive or delicate wine with this treatment, and I wouldn't recommend keeping the wine in a plastic bottle for more than a few days. But a young, modest wine should do nicely on a weekend trip. Now, once you've reached your campsite, how can you serve the wine? It would be silly to take breakable glassware on a camping trip, but a tin cup is a poor way to show off good wine; and drinking directly out of the bottle would be ridiculous, as quality wine needs a bowl-shaped glass to show off its aroma. Fortunately, a sturdy but surprisingly functional plastic wine glass is widely available, made of a sturdy, clear and relatively odor-free plastic called Lexan. This glass unscrews at the base, permitting the stem end to be popped into the bowl to make a small, easily packed unit no larger than a coffee cup. One source for this glass is Campmor, http://www.campmor.com, where a search for "wine glass" will bring up "Lexan Wine Glass, item number 73300, $4.99." (This is not an advertisement, but I report as a satisfied customer: My glass arrived in good condition only three days after I ordered it online.) Finally, the following should go without saying: If you decide to enjoy wine while hiking or camping, be wise. Don't overindulge, and be particularly careful if you are planning challenging activity like mountain climbing or wilderness hiking. Remember also that high-altitude activities can exaggerate the impact of any alcoholic beverage. Finally, don't forget to pick up your litter. Dispose of your empties properly or bring them back home. Happy trails! What's your experience with taking wine on the trail? If you have any suggestions or advice, send me a note by E-mail to wine@wineloverspage.com. I regret that the growing circulation of the "Wine Advisor" makes it difficult for me to reply individually to every note, but I'll answer as many as I can; and please be assured that all your input helps me do a better job of writing about wine. We hope you'll invite your wine-loving friends to register for their own free weekly copy at http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor.
A crisp and fruity Spanish treat 
Martin Codax 1999 Rías Baixas Albariño ($11.99)Clear straw color, with a crackling carbonation that froths up in the glass, then falls back to a quiet ring of foam around the edge. Fresh peach and almond aromas lead into a full, peachy flavor with a crisp citric snap and slight prickly sense of carbonation on the tongue. A truly refreshing white wine for a hot summer's day. U.S. importer: Cutting Edge Selections, Cincinnati. (June 25, 2000)
FOOD MATCH: Worked very well with grilled pork loin with a light bell-pepper and ancho sauce.
Favorite white wine for warm weather?
The Wine Doctor
Wine.com 
CELEBRATE BASTILLE DAY A LITTLE EARLY!
Get a jump on France's day of celebration with 15% off all French wines on wine.com. Whether your palate is calling for a buttery Chardonnay or a crisp and racy Champagne, wine.com can help you satisfy that craving. Click now for this limited offer. Offer good through 7/29 only! Vive la France! Buy now at: http://www.wine.com/home.jsp?link_from=rgarr_adv_mail626.
You are on the subscription list because you registered during a visit to Robin Garr's Wine Lovers' Page. If for any reason you no longer want to receive this publication, simply send a short E-mail to 'wine@wineloverspage.com' asking to be unsubscribed (and, if you wish, offering us any suggestions you may have as to how we could have served you better), and we'll remove your name from the list. We do not use this list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail to anyone. If your E-mail program is having trouble handling the images in this edition, feel free to request that we switch you from the HTML to TEXT edition ... or vice versa. Please contact us in the same way if your E-mail address changes. And of course we welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. Send us E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com. All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry.
If you'd like to talk about wine online with fellow wine enthusiasts around the world, we'd be delighted to have you visit the interactive forums in our Wine Lovers' Discussion Group. If you're from another part of the world and don't feel entirely comfortable chatting in English, visit our International Forum and introduce yourself in the language of your choice. Vol. 2, No. 23, June 26, 2000
Subscribe (free) to The 30 Second Wine Advisor
|