# The SBHonline Community Daily > Restaurants Wine & Food Off The Island >  >  The New Rules Of Wine Drinking

## andynap

*The (Totally Fun, Not-At-All Stuffy) New Rules of Wine* 

Credit: Alex Lau






              November 18, 2015 / Written by Belle Cushing 



 The first rule? There are no rules. No vintage charts, no snooty swirling, no pretense. Thanks to a new wave of offbeat, downright chuggable bottles from upstart winemakers and importers, theres never been a better time for the average food lover to buy, drink, and even collect wineno occasion needed. Pop one open and taste for yourself.


Photo: Danny Kim
1. Choose your Wine
 If you remember only one thing from this story, make it this: *Find a good wine store*. Were talking about a small, focused shop with a staff who has probably tasted most of what theyre selling and who genuinely want you to find something greatin your budget. Head to a spot like *Maine & Loire* in Portland, ME, or *Bay Grape* in Oakland, CA, and make the salesperson your new best friend.
No killer shop in your town? Theres an app for that: Banquet by Delectable, out soon, lets you buy directly from boutique shops. Or, buy wine from your bed through an email subscription like Pour This, curated by sommelier *Ashley Ragovin*, which brings hard-to-find bottles to your door.

2. Drop These Names
 Want to get a sommelier excited? Skip the vertical tasting of Opus One and name-check one of these unusual categories of wine.
*Island Wine*
Its a thing: Think whites and reds from Corsica, Sardinia, Santorini, the Canaries, or Sicily (specifically from around Mount Etna). These wines are bright and high-acidtaste the sea breeze.
*Try:* Domaine Comte Abbatucci Ajaccio Cuvée Faustine, $15, a deep red from Corsica
Viñátigo 2014 Rosado, $25, a funky rosé from the Canary Islands
*Jura Reds*
 Burgundys quirky sister, Frances Jura is known for its oxidative whites (almost like Sherry), but it also has racy reds with a little funk. Expect lesser-known grapes such as Trousseau.
*Alto Piemonte*
 This Italian Alps region grows the same grape, Nebbiolo, that put Barolo on the map. Its other wines have finer tannins, higher acid, and affordable prices.
*Try:* Conti 2006 Boca Il Rosso Delle Donne, $30

3. Why Natural Wine Is Important
Alice Waters made us think about how our food is grownthe same should be true of wine. Just as with my fish or my tomatoes, I want to know where my wine comes from. *Pascaline Lepeltier*, wine director, Rouge Tomate Chelsea, NYC



Photo: Illustrated by Oscar Bolton Green
4. Ask for the Loire Valley
 Sure, you love (and can pronounce!) Sancerre. But the Loire region is also one-stop shopping for other wines: from briny Muscadets to rich reds from Chinon, as well as fruity Gamay rosés and approachable sparkling _crémants_. And theyre usually affordable, too. Its been an overlooked region for years in the States. Not anymore. (Oh, and its pronounced _Lwar_).
*Try:* Thierry Puzelat Le TelQuel 2014, $15



5. Take a Trip to Georgia
 Georgia (the country) has the oldest winemaking tradition in the world. Discover its nutty, citrusy wines that are fermented underground in clay pots called _qvevri_.
*Try:* Pheasants Tears Tavkveri rosé 2013, $20





6. Find The Finger Lakes King
 Housed in a warehouse on Cayuga Lake in upstate New York, tiny Bellwether Wine Cellars is bottling the best German-style Riesling outside of Germany (plus tasty cider, too). Its quickly becoming a cult wine, so if you find it, stock up.
*Try:* Bellwether Sawmill Creek Vineyard Dry Riesling 2013, $22



7. Head of the Glass
 Before you raise the glass of the moment, take a minute to see how we got here.
9000: B.C. Ceramic mug

700: B.C. Leather wineskin

1250: Spanish porrón

1995: Balloon glass

2000: Stemless glass

2008: Mason jar

2010: ISO wine-tasting glasses

Now: Zalto Universal (a.k.a. the only glass youll ever need)



8. Listen to Your Bottle
 From (screw) top to bottomand the back label, toowhat your wine is telling you:



9. Dont Fear the Riesling
 Lets just get this out of the way: Not all Rieslings are sweet. And German wine labels can be so complicated, its hard to tell a dry from a sweet. (Hint: Look for the word Trocken on the label. This means dry.) To avoid the guessing game altogether, just go Austrian. These Rieslings are food-friendly, and you dont need to learn German to tell that 99.9% are very dry.
*Try:* Bernhard Ott Riesling 2012, $29



10. Memorize the New Importers
 Importers are to wine as Anna Wintour is to next seasons styles: They find the gems. Weve always relied on the big shots (Kermit Lynch, Neal Rosenthal, Terry Theise), but now a new class of upstarts has got us clamoring after their hand-selected wines. So look to the back label. Even if youre not sure whats inside, if you see one of these names, youll be drinking well very soon.
*Natural*
Louis/Dressner
Selection Massale
Jenny & François
Zev Rovine
*Spanish*
José Pastor
*German*
vom Boden
*Australian*
Vine Street Imports



Photo: Alex Lau
11. Know Your New-Wave Wines
 So you can understand the sommelier when she starts spouting off about her cherished fringe bottles.
*Orange Wine*
 White wine made with the skins left on, resulting in an orange-hued wine thats nutty and tannic.
*Try:* Paola Bea Santa Chiara 2012, $40
*Biodynamic*
 A method of growing grapes pesticide-free that syncs harvest to the lunar calendar. Its weird, but some growers swear by it.
*Try:* Le Sot de lAnge Vin de France Rouge 2014, $22


*Natural*
 A catchall for low-intervention wine, which may be made with native yeasts and little to no sulfur.
*Try:* Tentenublo Rioja 2013, $25


*Pétillant Naturel*
 The wine style of the moment, this low-alcohol, funky sparkler is often called pét-nat by the kids.
*Try:* Les Capriades Pet-Sec NV, $25



12. Producer Trumps Vintage
Dont get hung up on vintage. A great producer makes good wine in any year, so spend your time finding the winemakers you love. Take it from the pros: I strictly buy producers, I dont just buy vintages, says *Helen Johannesen* from L.A.s Jon & Vinnys. A producers skill is in how she handles all of the hardships and nuances in any year.

13. Less Is More
 Alcohol levels are falling, from that 16% Red Zin of the 90s to a refreshing Pinot Noir now clocking in at 11% or under. Why? Many reasons, including an interest in wine from cooler climates and a backlash against adding sugar to up the booze. The takeaway? You can drink more.



Illustration by Oscar Bolton Green
14. Learn the New Wine Lexicon
 Still using words like mouthfeel? Stop. Throw around this vocab instead.
*Glouglou* _[glu-glu] n._ wine so delicious you can drink it by the bottleful. _Is it Friday yet? Some glouglou would really hit the spot. Its my new beer._
*Juice* _[jus] n._ slang for wine (if you like vinyl and surfing). _Have you tried Michael Cruses wines? That dude makes some sick juice._
*Minerality* _[mi·n·ral·i·tē] n._ a buzzword that typically connotes high acid and zinginess. _This Muscadet is brimming with mineralitylike licking a rock, in a good way._
*Crush* _[kr] v._ A stage of winemaking but also a method of easy-drinking. _Im gonna crush this liter of pét-nat in no time._



Photo: Kyle Johnson
15. Collect Wine Like You Mean It
 And you dont even need an inheritance to do so. *Matthew Kaner* of L.A.s Augustine bar explains.
*1. What*
 There are three components essential to aging: acid, tannin, residual sweetness. Any wine with two of these can age.
*2. Where*
 Keep it cold (45 degrees is ideal) and on its side. The German car of cellars is the Euro­Cave. An old fridge gets the job done too.
*3. How*
 Nerds will rotate aging bottles a quarter-turn every weekwere not kidding. For everyone else, just remember not to drink it.
*4. When*
 If you want to age a wine, buy three bottles: one for now, one for five years, and one to open in ten years. Watch it change.



16. Meet the New Dom
 Grower Champagne, the farmers sparkler for the artisanal set, is the new status symbol among those who drink for a living. Unlike most Champagnes, which essentially contract out for fruit, grower bubbly is made by the people who farmed the grapes. It carries the same cachet as the big houses, without the second mortgage. The ballerness comes from scarcity, not price. Seek out wineries like Bérêche, Agrapart (pictured), or Chartogne-Taillet, and start celebrating.



17. Read All About It
 Forget ratings and boring tasting notes and dive into these (fun) wine writers instead:
*The encyclopedia:* Jancis Robinsons _Oxford Companion to Wine_
*The book:* Jon Bonnés The New California Wine
*The blog* Marissa A. Rosss Wine All the Time



Illustration by Oscar Bolton Green
18. Go Long on Beaujolais
 This old-school French wine is here for you no matter what. Skip the Nouveau and stay stocked in classy, easy-drinking Cru Beaujolais all year round. Remember: Beaujolais is the region, Gamay is the grape, and while all wines from here are low-alcohol and high-acid, different crus (or vineyards) range in body and flavor.
*A Beaujolais Cheat Sheet*
_From light and fruity to bolder and more tannic:_
 Chiroubles
 Brouilly
 Régnié
 Fleurie
 Morgon
 Moulin-À-Vent

19. Status Worth Seeking
The most sought-after bottles arent all about price anymore. You have $30 wines that are extremely hard to find. *Aldo Sohm*, co-owner, Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, NYC

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## cassidain

Interesting article.

"The first rule? There are no rules. No vintage charts, no snooty swirling, no pretense. Thanks to a new wave of offbeat, downright chuggable bottles from upstart winemakers and importers, theres never been a better time for the average food lover to buy, drink, and even collect wineno occasion needed. Pop one open and taste for yourself."

Perhaps a bit hyperbolic. The world of wine has always been a fascinating adventure, but it's true that there are more players than ever now. Some attempting to create worthwhile products in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. Bravo to them, but I doubt they envision the fruit of their efforts being "chugged" or that one wouldn't bother to swirl and release their wine's aromatics and smell before chugging. And vintages? Vintages _always_ matter. That's an essential part of nature and part of why nobody but nobody can ever know all there is to know about wine.

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## stbartshopper

Is wine from the Finger Lakes really worth a try?

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## KaraBrooks

> Is wine from the Finger Lakes really worth a try?



 Yes and yes.  

I wrote in the Dinosaur post in this forum about Anyela's Vineyard on Skaneateles Lake.  Really good.  Head to Seneca and taste the Lamoreaux Landing, Wagner Estates, Atwater and Dr. Konstantin wines.  They have the advantage of the research being done at Cornell and they have found the grapes that work.  Some really interesting wines are being made in the Finger Lakes although most are sold there.





> Zalto Universal (a.k.a. the only glass youll ever need)




I LOVE Zalto wine glasses but your life is not complete if you settle for the Universal - You NEED the Zalto Burgundy glasses in your life.

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## andynap

Some of the wines on the North Shore of Long Island are good too. New York has some very good wines.

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## KaraBrooks

> Some of the wines on the North Shore of Long Island are good too. New York has some very good wines.



Agree completely.  I heart NY!

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## MIke R

> Interesting article.
> 
> "The first rule? There are no rules. No vintage charts, no snooty swirling, no pretense. Thanks to a new wave of offbeat, downright chuggable bottles from upstart winemakers and importers, there’s never been a better time for the average food lover to buy, drink, and even collect wine—no occasion needed. Pop one open and taste for yourself."
> 
> Perhaps a bit hyperbolic. The world of wine has always been a fascinating adventure, but it's true that there are more players than ever now. Some attempting to create worthwhile products in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. Bravo to them, but I doubt they envision the fruit of their efforts being "chugged" or that one wouldn't bother to swirl and release their wine's aromatics and smell before chugging. And vintages? Vintages _always_ matter. That's an essential part of nature and part of why nobody but nobody can ever know all there is to know about wine.



And lets not forget Wine Trails book exposed how completely full of s**t many self appointed wine snob experts are..... :cool: 


Majority picking a 12 dollar Chateau Michelle Sparkling  Wine over a Dom ....tsk tsk.....and that's one of many blind tests they failed miserably to identify the expensive wine......tsk tsk 

i still want to test you guys and see who is a talker and who  is a walker

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## cassidain

Well, I've suffered through a few Ch. Ste. Michelle wines over the years . . .

But, to the point of the article, check out this Jancis Robinson, MW, review of Champagne and English sparklers in a mixed tasting. Quite revelatory. KS, brace yourself. :)

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articl...e-festive-fizz

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## KevinS

No worries. There are a couple of nice Proseccos in my wine fridge, and an equal number of bottles of VC. 'Course there's no Prosecco in the basement, but there is a half-case of VC. I restock at the end of February when VC goes on sale after Christmas, New Years, and Valentines a Day.  In many years, but not all, I've been able to get really close to my SBH price, and I've sometimes been able to beat it.

English sparklers I know nothing about, but I'm not opposed to learning. I've likely got a London trip happening in Q1 2016.

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## MIke R

Kevin....you just missed the sale ....,it was 36 bucks til Nov 30

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## KevinS

> Kevin....you just missed the sale ....,it was 36 bucks til Nov 30



EOM February is the fun one.  The store that I visit has multiple different varieties of packaging, all for the same price.  I can find swag to share with the people who share swag with me. Last year I shared a bunch of mailboxes.

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