|
That wine's got 'legs'! 
Swirl your wine glass once or twice, holding it firmly by the stem, so the wine forms a nice vortex that climbs up the sides. Then watch closely as the coating of wine flows back down the sides of the glass, and chances are you'll notice it forming into droplets that start as small "tears" and then extend into long vertical trails as they drip down into the wine.
This phenomenon is called "legs," and it's a wine-appreciation concept that I believe enjoyed more attention during earlier generations than it does today. Here's why: The appearance (or non-appearance) of "legs" in the glass doesn't really tell you anything that you can't determine better by tasting the wine. It shows the presence of some viscosity in the wine, which may be the result of sugar, glycerin or alcohol. But since the sense of taste is a better way to gauge the wine's texture than merely watching it drip down the glass, checking "legs" is really not a very useful exercise. If you follow tasting notes by the experts (or even mine!), you'll notice that few modern wine reports mention this. Looking over my older wine books, I find both Frank Schoonmaker ("New Encyclopedia of Wine," 1988 edition) and Michael Broadbent ("Pocket Guide to Wine Tasting," 1982) give short shrift to "legs." Schoonmaker notes that they reflect primarily alcohol and are "not a useful guide to quality." Broadbent writes, laconically, "I have never been a 'leg' man myself." Why mention the topic at all, then? Two reasons: First, the term is so widely known that one of the most frequent wine questions I hear is, "what are 'legs'?" Second, as I have sometimes pointed out about checking a wine's color and clarity, although it's true that we don't learn too much by merely looking at wine, I find that the simple act of pausing to observe the wine rather than grabbing the glass and slugging it down helps me get into the frame of mind to slow down, take my time, and fully enjoy the wine. It doesn't hurt to look before you slurp! Do you find it useful to check a wine's "legs"? If you have an opinion on this not-so-pressing matter, tell me about it in an 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 delicious California dessert wine 
Andrew Quady 1997 Essensia California Orange Muscat Sweet Dessert Wine ($13.79)Clear bright amber color, with a delicious and heady scent of fresh juice oranges, this fresh, appealing dessert wine follows through with a tart-sweet, intense bitter-orange flavor structured by crisp, bracing acidity. What it may lack in complexity, it makes up in exuberance: It's a fine, affordable sweet wine, well suited for dessert or brunch.
FOOD MATCH: Personally, I prefer dessert wines as dessert rather than with dessert, but this one would do nicely with fruit or caramelized-sugar desserts like crème caramel or crème brûlée.
Favorite national or regional cuisine?
'Behind the Vine' vineyard tours
Wine.com Munch a warm handful of lightly salted Black Jewel popcorn, then take a sip of chilled Laurens Brut ... once you discover how well bubbly pairs with popcorn, it may become your standard fare for watching movies at home, game nights, or elegantly down to earth hors d'oeuvres. Wine.com invites everyone to enjoy this perfectly matched pair. The extraordinary Black Jewel kernels start out black, then pop into amazing snow-white puffs with black centers. Click on: http://www.wine.com/sku/gift_sku.jsp?sku=0p22293&link_from=rgarr_adv_popcorn.
_468x60.gif)
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. 24, July 3, 2000
Subscribe (free) to The 30 Second Wine Advisor
|