I love March Madness! Every year I tell myself I am not going to fill out a bracket, and yet here I find myself in the midst of despair once again as Duke pooped all over my attempt to win some money. Of course, it’s not the Blue Devils fault, I know it’s mine. First of all, although I love most sports, I have never been one of those guys who keeps track of players and stats. For instance, I love the Seahawks, but would be hard pressed to name all the players on either side of the ball, it’s just not the way I’m wired. My son is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to sports and sports figures. I have learned not to argue with him about sports related things because he is almost always correct. Maybe it’s because I think a bracket is fun and makes watching a little more exciting. I do like excitement, and watching this years NCAA basketball playoffs has been an emotional roller coaster. Kansas is still left for me to prove that I at least know a little about the sport. Just don’t ask me the names of the players on the team please.
Why do I write about wine? I ask myself that question daily. Like March Madness, I get excited about the subject, and unlike sports, I know a few things about the wine world. I also like to teach, that is fulfilling for me and brings me a lot of satisfaction. I have a wine group that I have been associated with for quite a few years. Some of the individuals who came into the fold knew very little about wine in the beginning. Today they are what newbies might consider wine experts! I am sure they would disagree, but the point is that I have had the satisfaction of helping each individual in my group to become a more experienced and informed wine drinker. They have learned how to understand their own palate and this has helped them in choosing wines that they will enjoy. It has also helped them to expand their palate horizons, try new things, and to become more adventurous in their wine drinking pleasure. Now that my friends is a very cool thing to be involved in.
ABC. What do those three letters stand for in relation to wine? ANYTHING BUT CHARDONNAY. Believe it or not, I still run across this term from time to time. Actually if you are in this group, please rethink. I believe it is mostly a guy thing, but I could be wrong. The #1 selling wine in the United States is, believe it or not, Chardonnay. It beats out Cab and Pinot Noir. Chard has come a long way since the seventies and eighties. It no longer packs enough lumber to build a dog house. There are still some out there, but they are few and far between. Today, you will find more and more wineries trying to emulate what comes out of Burgundy. This is a good thing, because although we can’t possibly do what Burgundy does with Chardonnay, we can get close. What you get, is a lot of Chard with good balance, more acidity and at times minerality. I love the baking spice component I find in a lot of Chardonnay from California and Washington. Chardonnay has many faces, so don’t judge it by the old school, oak driven examples of the twentieth century. If you are not at least trying Chardonnay, you are missing out on a very cool side of the wine world.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
