Dan Berger on Wine from Creators Syndicate

Dan Berger on Wine, July 12 for 07/12/2008

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Pairing wine with food is a mystical process, and I use the word "process" because there are no fixed rules. It's possible to argue that a wide variety of wines would work just fine with most dishes.

Moreover, how a dish is prepared dictates the sort of wine that works with it. To say a dish is "chicken with garlic" isn't very specific. Done with a concentrated red wi ...

Updated: Sat Jul 12, 2008

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The Underrated for 07/19/2008

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Just because a wine gets a high score doesn't mean it is automatically great. People taste differently and I have often tried some 92-point wine and found it to be flawed. Using the same exact reasoning, low-scoring wines might very well be exceptional, but simply not to the liking of certain reviewers.

Why would an excellent wine not be liked by all reviewers? There are multiple answers ...

Updated: Sat Jul 19, 2008

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"Wine" With Grilled Foods for 07/26/2008

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Tossing steaks on the coals is the ultimate goal of the summer day or weekend cookout. But choosing the wines, though it seems simple (dark red for the steak), entails a number of side issues.

Like side dishes.

No one eats just steak at these parties. The patio shindig starts with chips and dips, continues with nuts and crackers and cheese, and olives, and finger foods, and brusch ...

Updated: Sat Jul 26, 2008

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"Manufactured" Wine for 08/02/2008

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

One traditional definition of wine is a beverage with moderate alcohol that is derived from the fermented juice of grapes. (No disrespect to dandelion wine, mead, perry or barley wine.)

In theory, grape wine doesn't contain water except for the tiny amount of incidental water that gets into it when the grape crusher is being rinsed.

Yet there are products on grocery store shelves ...

Updated: Sat Aug 02, 2008

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Rating Rieslings for 08/09/2008

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Decades ago, I drank my first bottle of Riesling and I loved the flavors, but the wine was too sweet. It was a domestic Riesling, and there was no indication of how sweet the wine would be. So although I liked the wine, it certainly didn't go with food.

Years went by and I learned about German Rieslings and how classic they could be. I learned about how dry Australian Rieslings were, and ...

Updated: Sat Aug 09, 2008

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Cool Climate Wines for 08/16/2008

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Grapes grow in different ways depending on what soils and climates they grow in. And in the last few years, a number of California winery owners have expressed irritation that their growing regions' wines aren't as highly rated as are wines of other, warmer areas.

Many of the growers who seek a better public image say they are in cooler climates, and their wines are not as full-bodied an ...

Updated: Sat Aug 16, 2008

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Wine And Health for 08/23/2008

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The Chicago Sun-Times did a courageous thing last week: It suggested in an editorial that the legal drinking age be lowered from 21 to 19.

In an editorial on Aug. 21, the paper responded to a report that at least 100 university presidents "are open to the idea of lowering the minimum drinking age to 18." The paper said that lowering the legal drinking age would be realistic in ...

Updated: Sat Aug 23, 2008

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Sauvignon Blanc for 08/30/2008

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I think of Sauvignon Blanc the way I think of an eccentric relative who gets less respect that he deserves.

He is underappreciated because he is so odd, but I have never lost my love for his erratic, persnickety behavior. He's like your nutty uncle who comes over occasionally, bringing with him odd and eclectic gifts and bizarre witticisms that don't make much sense until you think about ...

Updated: Sat Aug 30, 2008

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Gadgets for 09/06/2008

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Wine gadgets seem to be the snake oil of the industry. At least with snake oil, you could lubricate the buggy.

I have seen many of these things advertised with all sorts of thrilling promises. I have tested many of them, and my conclusion is that they are as real as those letters from Africa promising millions if you just pass along your bank account number.

In both cases, your be ...

Updated: Sat Sep 06, 2008

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Riesling for 09/13/2008

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Chardonnay has long been one of the favorite wines in the country. Despite the popularity of red wines in the last decade, the growth in Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc, the high demand for Pinot Noir, and the popularity of Merlot, we buy more Chardonnay than any other grape variety.

Wines labeled Chardonnay still represent one bottle in every five varietal wines sold.

So it's cu ...

Updated: Sat Sep 13, 2008

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Aykroyd for 09/20/2008

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Personalities often get roped into "making" wine.

Jerry Garcia, Olivia Newton-John, even Elvis had wine labels created for them. So did Greg Norman, the Australian-born golfer turned mega-company with his own line of sportswear.

It's hard to know how many of these wines were legitimately created by the personalities themselves, but it's a fair guess that the impetus came ...

Updated: Sat Sep 20, 2008

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Riesling German for 09/27/2008

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I love German Riesling.

Indeed, I love Riesling as a grape variety and appreciate the wine it makes from many locations, almost regardless of where it grows. But there is a special nature about those that come from Germany, even those that are not from the politically correct districts.

The problem with writing about German Riesling is that after I type out the names of a half doz ...

Updated: Sat Sep 27, 2008

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Zinfandel for 10/04/2008

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The passion that Zinfandel elicits in some people is hard to comprehend.

I recall when the amazing versatility of this grape was its greatest appeal to wine consumers. It made a delightful dry near-pink wine, it made light sparkling wine, and best of all it made a light red wine that had all the charm of Beaujolais, the full-rich berry flavors of strawberry punch, and the crispness to wo ...

Updated: Sat Oct 04, 2008

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Spain for 10/11/2008

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In today's fractured economy, wine buyers are looking for a great value, and without doing a lot of homework, you may not be able to find better value than a bottle of wine from Spain.

It is true that Italy, France and Australia are competing to deliver great value wines to Americans saddled with a weak U.S., dollar. However, for the last decade, despite the decline of the dollar, Spain ...

Updated: Sat Oct 11, 2008

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Teeth for 10/18/2008

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

All of the scientific studies that have strongly indicated the healthful benefits of consuming moderate amounts of wine on a daily basis are great news for wine makers.

Although the federal government prohibits winery owners from publishing anything that in any way refers to the health-related properties of wine, the owners may tell you about such studies in person.

I assume that ...

Updated: Sat Oct 18, 2008

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Dry Or Sweet for 10/25/2008

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Regular readers of this column are nothing if not inquisitive, and a recent paean to Sauvignon Blanc brought in a couple of letters asking for more details.

In particular, both letter writers alluded to the fact that some of the Sauvignon Blancs they had were slightly sweet, and they wanted to know why they couldn't find a really dry wine.

This hits at the heart of a much larger s ...

Updated: Sat Oct 25, 2008

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Context for 11/01/2008

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Imagine you are sitting on a patio in late summer with the temperature hovering around the century mark and you're hankering for something to cool your fevered brow. Besides a cold beer, the wine that works best in this setting is anything that's cold. Usually that's white or rosé wine or perhaps a bubbly.

Red wine clearly would be an interloper in this setting.

By contrast, in th ...

Updated: Sat Nov 01, 2008

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Meaning of a Vintage Date for 11/08/2008

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

When a wine consumer buys mainly by brand and moderate price and sticks with one or two brands, he or she rarely looks at what vintage is being bought.

And at lower price points, such a strategy is often safe. Most large wineries creating these lower-priced wines do some sophisticated blending from year to year to make certain that the “house style” of a wine is about the same as it was ...

Updated: Sat Nov 08, 2008

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Beaujolais Time for 11/15/2008

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

It's nearly that time of year when the snobs among us cringe and hide. It's the one time when a wine becomes part of the broader culture, especially with people who rarely drink wine.

As they'll say in Paris on Thursday (Nov. 20), “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!”

A lot of pretension goes with a lot of wine expertise. Beaujolais Nouveau will have none of it.

Among wine sn ...

Updated: Sat Nov 15, 2008

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Balance in Wine for 11/21/2008

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Gaining entrance into the world's most exclusive wine society is expensive, but there are no dues, no silly rituals to undergo, no costumes festooned with gewgaws, no gold medallions to polish, no bacchanalian icons requiring genuflection.

All it takes is a sealed case of some very expensive and already-famous wine, preferably red and preferably impossible to get.

Once you get it, ...

Updated: Fri Nov 21, 2008

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