|
Heat's on
We're locked in the worst heat wave of this summer in these parts, with temperatures soaring into the upper 90s (over 35C) and a mean sun blazing from a cloudless sky. Yesterday when I opened my sun-baked car and leapt in to the drivers' seat, I screamed twice: Once when my bare legs hit the seat, and a second time when I clutched the steering wheel, a sensation akin to grabbing a hot black-iron skillet with both hands and no potholder.
And on a somewhat more trivial level, if you go wine shopping during weather like this, you'll also want to take steps to protect your wine. The dangerous heat inside a closed car on a torrid summer day can damage wine (and melt your ice cream and TV dinners) in a very short time. There's some mythology about "cooking" wine. As I demonstrated in a cheeky experiment a few years ago (June 18, 2001 Wine Advisor), leaving a bottle of wine in such an environment for several hours will literally push the cork out of the bottle; yet, perhaps surprisingly, although the wine is changed by the experience, contrary to the conventional wisdom, it does not immediately turn dank, brown and Sherry-like. You can, in fact, still enjoy it, although it's best to let it cool down first. But within weeks to months, the cooked wine will shed its flavors and turn dull and worthless - a particularly sad outcome if it was a bottle of pricey, cellarworthy grape juice. But suppose you have to make a quick stop - to pick up the dry-cleaning or a prescription, say - on your way home from the wine shop? Is there any way to minimize your exposure to damage? Prompted by a conversation in one of our biweekly live wine chat sessions, I did a little semi-scientific research. With the outside temperature at 92F (33C), I parked the family jalopy in the sunlight, rolled up the windows, and put an accurate thermometer (OK, it was an instant-read meat thermometer) inside. Fifteen minutes later, I took a reading. Yow! It was just a hair under 140F (60C) in there ... hot enough to hurt, and, to hammer home the point, hot enough to kill Fluffy or Fido. Touching the wheel gingerly, I moved the car under the shade of a huge magnolia tree. The temperature inside the closed car almost immediately dropped to 120F (just under 50C), still alarmingly hot but not as dangerously so. Back in direct sunlight, cracking the front windows open an inch reduced the heat to 119F, an improvement but still too hot for comfort. Further experimentation revealed that moving the goods into the trunk (escaping the "greenhouse effect" of heat trapped under glass) was slightly more effective still: It was a relatively "mild" 114F (45C) back there in direct sunlight, and dropped to 109F (43C) in the shade. So here's my advice, if you must make a brief stop with wine in your car on a steamy summer day: Put the wine in the trunk, look for a shady parking spot, and try to get in and out in five or 10 minutes. Or buy yourself considerable extra protection by taking along a large cooler stocked with several containers of frozen "blue ice" to stash your wine safely. That won't work for children or pets, though. If you're transporting that kind of precious cargo, don't stop. Not even for a minute. Just don't do it.
PRINT OUT TODAY'S ARTICLE
TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.  California Wine Club: Celebrate summer! The California Wine Club has an exceptional Napa Valley two-winery selection this month! They are offering a St. Supery, 2000 Merlot paired with a Girard Winery 2004 Sauvignon Blanc. This Merlot is rich and complex but approachable, and has earned nine awards in nine separate competions. The Girard is a quintessential summer wine: Crisp and very refreshing!
Call the California Wine Club now at 1-800-777-4443 or visit them on line at I had the opportunity to taste the St. Supery Merlot from California Wine Club's selection and was quite impressed. I've loved St. Supery's Meritage, but this was my first exposure to the Merlot. It won't be the last. Here's my tasting report:
St. Supery 2000 Napa Valley Merlot ($24)
Never mind what the twitchy guy in Sideways said with his trash-talk about Merlot, this is one fine example of the grape. Very dark garnet in color, it breathes fresh aromas of black plums and bing cherries with back notes of dark chocolate and a pleasantly earthy whiff of leather. Fruit-forward flavors follow the nose, so luscious that the first impression is soft and plushy, but mouth-watering acidity and smooth tannins quickly fill in, building a wine of serious structure and balance. Very fine Merlot, holding up well five years after the vintage, and still capable of further development under good cellar conditions. (July 24, 2005) FOOD MATCH: Fine with red meat or roasted or grilled poultry; it was particularly enjoyable with a selection of cheeses from the recent American Cheese Society convention here. VALUE: The $24 winery retail is priced artificially high to avoid competing with retailers; it's widely available for less and can often be found in the upper teens. It's a particularly good buy when paired with the impressive Girard 2004 Sauvignon Blanc as part of this month's selection from The California Wine Club, which offers both wines together for the $32.95 monthly club price. WHEN TO DRINK: As noted, this wine is fully mature and ready to drink, but its full fruit, excellent balance and still-perceptible tannins suggest that it could evolve into an even more elegant wine with time in a good cellar.
WEB LINK:
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
To compare prices and find vendors for St. Supery Merlot on Wine-Searcher.com: Cast your vote on wine shipping There's a noisy legislative battle going on in Michigan in the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court decision on wine shipping. Stung by its loss, the wine-liquor wholesale lobby is reaching into its deep pockets to persuade the state's legislature to ban all direct shipping to consumers, both within the state and out of it, a move that's not just irritating to consumers but potentially disastrous to the state's strong and growing commercial winery and vineyard industry. The Detroit News is running an online poll, inviting readers to "vote" for either allowing all businesses to sell wine directly to consumer or barring all direct wine sales. The current tally is close, and there's no requirement that participants be Michigan residents or News subscribers. Need I say more?
To vote, click
Michigan consumers (and others interested in this battle, which may be joined in other states before long) should also check in at the new Website of Wine Consumers Across Michigan (WineCAM), an advocacy group founded to organize consumers on the other side:
Another advocacy group, WineMichigan, represents the state's wineries but is also open to consumers:
Finally, the national pro-consumer advocacy group, Free The Grapes, is the No. 1 portal for information about wine-shipping issues, legislative and judicial battles across the nation: This week on WineLoversPage.com Here are links to some of our recently published articles that I think you'll enjoy:
• Reports from our Readers: Luscious Loire visit
• Schaefer on Wine: A new name for artisan Pinot Noir Last Week's Wine Advisor Index The Wine Advisor's daily edition is usually distributed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (and, for those who subscribe, the FoodLetter on Thursdays). Here's the index to last week's columns:
• Cartlidge & Browne repeats (July 22, 2005)
• Don't cry for me, Malbec (July 20, 2005)
• Wine on vacation (July 18, 2005)
• Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive:
• Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Learning to smoke (July 21, 2004)
• Wine Advisor Foodletter archive:
SUBSCRIBE: Administrivia To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, or for any other administrative matters, please use the individualized hotlink found at the end of your E-mail edition. If this is not practical, contact me by E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com, including the exact E-mail address that you used when you subscribed, so I can find your record. We do not use our E-mail list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail address to anyone. I welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. To contact me, please send E-mail to 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.
Monday, July 25, 2005
|
