BEST RED WINE FOR A DATE?
West Island show may help you decide
I get asked lots of questions about wine. The best one recently was on Valentine’s Day. I was working the floor as a sommelier and while his date left the table, a patron asked me for a wine that “oozed sensuality.”
Go figure: he talks just like me. He wanted red, so we went through the main grapes.
It’s definitely not cabernet sauvignon. It’s too rigid, too tannic and lacks intrigue. They all kind of smell the same, and in the game of “wooing,” what kind of message are you sending?
Merlot is marginally better because of the softness of the palate, but once again, it lacks nuance. These are wines one drinks with business associates, parents and friends. I like merlot’s silky texture, but if you are making a case for “why not me?”, then you want your wine to be profoundly interesting.
Pinot noir? Good idea, but the nature of Burgundy is that while it comes close, it rarely fully satisfies. I wrote once of great Burgundy, “it’s like having the lips of my truest love so close that you could feel her breath, yet we remained separated by the thinnest of veils.” While it’s a beautiful frustration, I’m not sure that it’s the message you want to send on a first date.
How about Italy’s version of pinot? Nebbiolo does comes closer to what I would want. It’s pinot noir but with attitude. Especially when grown in Barolo, nebbiolo has intoxicating aromatics, with roses and other flowers, wild cherries and field fruits, but can be a bit “restrictive” and firm with its tannins. With nebbiolo, you are definitely sending more of a “niche” message.
So I settled on grenache. One of the world’s most popular red grapes, it can be a bit “dime-adozen.” But when it’s great, it’s delicious. Delicious is good. You get that sensual palate, enough aromatic intrigue, but the nose is much less busy than either pinot noir or nebbiolo. It has power, and the best versions show a mix of red fruit and a carnal, meaty note. But most important, there is an underlying simplicity and honesty to grenache.
Now that’s a message worth sending.
If you want to taste through all these grapes at one time, why not at a wine tasting ?
The West Island Wine Show will be held on March 22 with proceeds going to to West Island Community Shares. I will be there to meet and taste with you, and will be hosting two tasting seminars. With more than 200 different wines to taste, this is a great opportunity to expand your palate for a very worthwhile cause. Hope to see you there!
The West Island Wine Show takes place Thursday, March 22, at the Holiday Inn Pointe-Claire, 6700 Trans-Canada Hwy., from 6-10 p.m. ( VIP Tasting from 3:306 p.m.). Cost: $20 in advance, $25 at the door. VIP tickets start at $150 (free tasting sample with a $100 tax receipt). Tickets can be purchased at www.salondesvinsouest.com/en/
You can hear Bill Zacharkiw talk about wine on CHOM-FM (97.7) on Fridays at 7:45 a.m. Twitter.com/BillZacharkiw
With more than 200 different wines to taste, this is a great opportunity to expand your palate.