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Mexican Restaurant
Buy any two
fajita dinners, get
$7 OFF
2895 North Decatur Rd
Decatur, GA 30033
Hours: 11am to 10:30pm
OR
Buy any
two combination
dinners with two
drinks, get
1 FREE
Dinner
Not valid with any other
combination offer.
Expires 8/31/21
Neuj Realm
BREWING COMPANY
THREE
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BREWING COMPANY
cm juicy, mm m.
How the wine
tasting thing goes
One of the most interesting aspects of working in wine is the process of tasting. Each
week, we sit down with purveyors, winemakers, and importers to try a series of wines,
sometimes it is 3 wines and sometimes it is 30. This may sound like all we do is sit
around and drink all day, but these tastings are used for some very specific purposes.
There are over 4,200 wineries in
California. Consider for a moment that
California makes up 60% of American
market share for wine, but worldwide
America is fourth in production level. Italy
dominates the volume of wine produced;
they make more than double the U.S. each
year. Between the two of us there are nearly
20 years of wine tasting, but we have yet to
scratch the surface of the wine world even
though we have tried thousands of wines.
In the time we have been tasting, there
is rarely an occasion when we try wines
more than once. Taking in new vintages
and constantly learning and exploring
new regions (Switzerland!) and grapes
(Kekfrankos!) to keep our guests in the
know. Absorbing as much information about the world of wine is what drives our
passion in this business; it is an endless pursuit of education.
The most complex question is do we like the wine or more importantly, will the
consumer like it? There are plenty of wines that have knocked our socks off, but we
didn’t pick them up. Sometimes, it is simply that it doesn’t fit our program, but price is
also a factor. We always want to make sure the price is appropriate for the wine that is in
front of us. Our integrity lies in the wine that we sell. There is nothing in our stores that
we haven’t tasted and deemed appropriate.
So, here is how this tasting thing goes. The moment the wine hits the glass, we are
looking at color. Is the wine clear or is there sediment? This would indicate filtration
levels. Is it pale or more golden?
This helps with type of grape as
well as age. Next, we swirl and
take a sniff. The nose of a wine
is one of the most important
factors as our brain relies on our
schnoz for much of the flavors
we receive. There is a deduction
of any noticeable flaws: wet
cardboard (cork taint), acetone,
oxidation, sulfur. Then we take
in the different aromas the wine
gives.
Katie thinks of the smells
as colors, for example is it red
like raspberries and cherries or
black like plums and leather. As
buyers, we are making sure that
the wine smells like it is supposed to; Merlot should have notes of coffee and cherry with
a slight herbaceous lift.
Then we taste. Our goal here is again, to note the quality, flavor profile including
acid, tannin, and alcohol levels. Also, we always spit the wine out. If we were to
consume everything we tasted, you would often find us on the floor! Each wine we
taste, we make a record of what we tried and often use secret code for what we like. At
VinoTeca we use hearts, the more you get the more we like it and if they are filled in
then it’s a winner! Sarah uses the heart and a star approach. Stars are for the winners,
while hearts express true love.
Katie sat down with Jenny Lemay, Sommelier at Aria in Buckhead, to discuss tasting
for work. Eler goals for tasting are first and foremost quality. EIow does the product
represent itself She states, “each wine has a unique fingerprint - does it speak to typicity
or where it’s from, but also does it show the winemaker’s touch? And how does that all
come together?”
The next question is application, how it fits into the program. “Even when you fall
in love with a wine you have to say, ‘Do we need this?’ I may love Sancerre, but I don’t
need six of them.”
Another factor is availability. Yes, we all want those unicorn wines, the ones we only
get once a year and sell out immediately, but consistency is what diners prefer at their
women + Wine
Katie Rice & Sarah Pierre
Rice owns VinoTeca in Inman Park
and Pierre owns 3 Parks Wine Shop in
Glenwood Park.
42 AUGUST 2021 | DU
AtlantalntownPaper.com