whine.es weekly

I’ve been getting asked lots of questions this week. Some of them are tremendously tedious, some of them plain stupid and some of them actually interesting. Well, one of them was vaguely interesting. Either way, I think I'm going to make this a new reoccurring thing called ‘Your Questions Answered’. YQA catchy. Every time I get asked a (seemingly, possibly) interesting question, I’ll remember it (write it down) and then every 5 (or so), I’ll answer them.

Questions for this week:
Wines on tap/pump, good or bad?
Can you recommend me a wine to go with duck?
Should I treat this malbec like a Rioja?
These big elaborate bottle openers, are they any good?
Hi young man, do you know about wine?

In essence, all of these have a predictably short answer, but in general, all were asked in such a way that lead me to want to answer it more fully.

I was working at The Alex, and a rep came in from Cabana, a drinks company asking where we get our minerals and fizzy pop from and whatnot, they offer such classics as Dr Pepper, Sunkist, Irn Bru and Virgin cola, and their (excellent) own brand Cabana Cola and Cabana Applause (a refreshing fizzy apple drink apparently). All of this was irrelevant anyway, but the parting documents included something that really interested me and should have been his primary focus for the venue The Alex is. A really attractive 2 tap font and a unit to dispense wine on draught. The unit looked great from the pictures and they provided equipment and installation for free as well. The only downside was the range of wines available. Cabana Dry White or Cabana Fruity Red just doesn't sound appealing to me or a consumer. I’ve also seen the same thing in Wetherspoons, Echo Falls mertlot, chardonnay and pinot grigio don’t sound like something I’d drink on a night out, or in a pub. The idea behind having a wine on tap is great. Just like draught beer, cider, ale, coke and orange juice. Its good for the bartender, being a quicker way to serve glasses of wine and it’s good for the environment (less packaging and less waste of glass bottles) I’m confident that it’s not the wines fault, it doesn’t taste any different than a bottle of Echo Falls or a bottle of Cabana Dry White. I’m sure that they are unpopular due to the lack of any decent wines being made available for use with the pump system. Get a better wine producer on board, get some excellent venues on board and I think that (with better marketing, and a better company rep) people could really appreciate this method of wine delivery. I’m not saying its ever going to replace the bottle, just that it could really be much better.

Right, I get a lot of food matching requests in the wine shop, loads in fact. A white for pork (something with a bit of body an oaked Australian or South African chardonnay), a red for pasta bolognaise (northen italian, tuscany, chianti). As a general rule, I usually recommend something country specific, Spanish food goes with Spanish wine, French wine goes with French cuisine. Still, this chap that came into the shop spent some time wandering around on his own, happily browsing the shelves before asking me “Can you suggest a red for a roast duck dish I’m cooking tonight”. My usual starting points are price and what style they prefer in general. So then I know what they normally like and if any of them fit already and I know where to start with something they haven’t tried before. So he answered that he usually preferred big spicy reds and that he was looking to spend about £10. So, a quick think and I came up with an excellent Syrah, Gouguenheim Syrah, 2008, peppery, fruity, dense and definitely a match for hearty game dishes. The customer replied instantly with “not that one...”. Brilliant. I confirmed he’d not had it before and that it would really be a great match for the dish, but he was adamant that he didn’t want that particular wine and opted for his own choice of a wine.

What's the difference between a Rioja and this Malbec? This seemingly innocent but scarily obvious question struck a chord with me for some reason. I was so baffled by the obviousness of the question posed by a customer I assumed knew what he was talking about, asked in such a way that almost made me look like the idiot, that I fumbled my answer and let my manager cut in and say exactly what i was trying to get out. Basically, everything and nothing. They’re from different countries for a start, Rioja being a region in Spain and this (and a lot of) malbec(s) being from Argentina. They are completely different grapes, Rioja being mainly tempranillo (and a malbec being malbec). Also, trying to compare one Argentinian malbec to a whole region of Spain is incredibly difficult. Think about regional blending of grenache grapes, different vintages, different ages (a young Rioja differs wildly from a wine that has been aged for 2 years) and then try to sum them up into one taste to compare to a different wine.

The taste between these wines however have their similarities though. I think this is the answer he was looking for. “They are both fruity and deep purple in colour, but the malbec will be more tannic and a higher concentration of fruit, a similarly aged Rioja would be more earthy and a little more lively. I’d have the Rioja with food and the malbec with friends”. So you can go buy both wines if you want. The malbec was the Adnams Selection, El Dominio, malbec, Argentina, 2009 and a comparitive rioja would be something like Perez Burton, Rioja, 2007.

Has anyone every used one of these Bottle Openers ? Do you like it? Did it break? Did you realise after you’ve paid £50 for it that it isn’t any quicker than a spoon? The elaborate, gift fodder style bottle opener, with a separate faff for a foil cutter (use a knife), they frustrate me. When asked direct I was honest and said No. Why? 3 reasons.

They are usually pretty heavy, so even for an elderly person or someone with weak wrists or someone incredibly LAZY they aren’t that much extra help (a screw cap is much easier).
Even as a gift for someone who likes wine they are useless. They’ve probably either already got one or know that are cumbersome. I’ve been given them as a ‘Free Gift on orders over £1’ and as birthday presents and they sit dusty on my shelf.
They are a pain to use, and every make and brand I’ve tried, they break. No matter how simple they claim, they are elaborate and over-engineered pieces of equipment to do a rather simple task.


Get one of these Pulltaps waiters friend, they are the absolute best, I’ve got 3.

So, on reflection, here is a quick round up of the questions I’ve dealt with this week.

Q: Wines on tap/pump, good or bad?
A: It depends on the wine.

Q: Can you recommend we a wine to go with duck?
A: Gouguenheim syrah, 2008, Argentina.

Q: Should I treat this malbec like a rioja?
A: No.

Q:These big elaborate bottle openers, are they any good?
A: No.

And finally...

Q: Hi young man, do you know about wine?
A: Of course I do. I work in a wine shop.

That’s it for now, you can follow me on twitter @whinesblog and you can come and see me in-store at the Adnams Cellar & Kitchen Store in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Should you wish.