1. Welcome to the MEC Wine PK!
 Tonight:
 Wine and your health
 Wine defined
 Tasting
 Pairing Wine and Food

2. Plus ...
 Tips for serving and storing
 Great values in wine
 Understanding labels

3. But first say hello to Phil

4. About Tonight
 Meant to be very fun and interactive
 Questions are welcome
 At worst, you'll try a bunch of wine
 At best, you'll participate and learn a
whole lot
 This presentation is available at … if
you feel like reviewing it anytime

5. Wine & Health
 Is it good for you?
 Yep
 How much?
 1-2 glasses per day, but it's really
between you, your doctor, and your
liver
 Resveratrol and flavenoids are both
present in wine

6. What is Wine?
 An alcoholic drink made by fermenting
the juice of fruits or berries
 Most quality wine is made from wine
grapes, of which there are thousands of
types
 Each has its own taste and flavour profile

7. FERMENTATION
 Sugar + yeast
==> alcohol +
CO2 + heat
 So, the more
sugar you start
with, the more
alcohol you can
end up with

8. What this means
 Ripe grapes (ie grapes grown in
warmer climates) produce wines with
more alcohol than grapes grown in
cool climates
 And, since body in wine is directly
related to alcohol content, warm
climate wines are usually fuller bodied
than cool climate wines

9. Examples
 Germany, a cool
growing
region, produce
s many wines <
10% abv
 Australia often
produces wines
with more than
15% abv

10. So
 Once you know
where a wine
comes from, you
can get a pretty
good idea of
how light or full
bodied it will be!

11. Labeling – How Wines are
Named
 3 main ways:
 By grape type (Chardonnay, Cabernet)
 By region (Chianti, Bordeaux)
 By brand name (Tignanello, Dominus)
 Which of these do you figure is the
most expensive?

12. Wine Tasting – Unleashing your
Hidden Wine Snob

13. Goals of Tasting
 Better appreciate what's in your glass
 Determine if it's a good deal or a waste
of money
 Figure out what aspects of wine you
prefer, so you can experiment
successfully with new styles
 Realize that it's not nearly as
complicated as many would have you
believe

14. Components of Wine
 Aromatic compounds
 Sugar
 Acidity
 Tannin
 Alcohol
 These elements, taken together, will
determine balance

15. How to Taste
 It's really just
like eating,
utilizing the
senses of sight,
smell, taste and
touch
 All we need to
do is slow the
process down

16. Step 1: Appearance
 Can give clues
as to grape
type, body, clim
ate, oak
treatment, expe
cted
flavours, and
even age

17. Appearance – Some Clues
 Whites:
Lighter Colours Darker
Colours
- lighter body - fuller
body
- more acidic - oak
- younger wine - older wine

18. Appearance – Some Clues
 Reds:
Lighter Colours Darker Colours
- lighter body - fuller body
- more acid - less acid
- cooler climate - warmer
climate
- older wine - younger
wine

19. Technique
 Hold the glass
by the stem, tilt
it away from you
and look down
at it over a white
background

20. Step 2: Aromas
 Often the most
significant impact of
taste
 Primary (from the fruit
itself) and secondary
(from winemaking
techniques)
 Will help you to form
expectations for taste
 Huge indicator of
whether you'll like it

21. Technique
 Smell the wine
 Swirl the wine
 Smell it again
 Get your nose right into the glass
 Short, repeated sniffs work best
 Aromas give you the best indication of
flavour

22. Step 3 – Taste the Wine (finally)
 The tongue can only sense 5
flavours, so it's really the nose that
picks up the majority of a wine's flavour
 However, the tongue also senses:
 Weight or body
 Texture (acids and tannins)
 Balance
 Finish

23. Technique
 Take a very small sip of wine (¼
ounce)
 Swirl gently to all areas of the mouth
 Evaluate:
 Weight
 Acidity
 Tannin (if applicable)
 Overall balance & length of finish

24. Analysis
 Do the aromas make sense based on
appearance?
 Do the flavours in the mouth follow the
aromas sensed by the nose?
 Is it in balance?
 Does it have a short or long finish?
 In short, is this a well made wine or
something less???

25. Comparing the Whites
 Which is darker in colour? What might
this tell us?
 Which smells of riper fruits?
 Which is:
 More acidic? Fuller bodied?
 Longer finishing?
 Most importantly – which do you
prefer?

26. About your tastes:
 If you prefer #1, chances are you'll
enjoy Sauvignon Blanc, unoaked
Chardonnay, Gruner Veltliner, Chenin
Blanc and other whites from cool
climates
 If you prefer #2, chances are you'll
enjoy rich Chardonnays, Fume
Blanc, Semillon and other whites from
warm climates

27. Now the reds
 Evaluate on your own, remembering:
 Appearance
 Aroma
 Taste / texture / balance / finish

28. Comparing the Reds
 Which is lighter bodied?
 Which is more tannic?
 Which has better balance?
 Which has a longer finish?
 Which do you prefer?

29. About your tastes:
 If you prefer the 1st red, you'll also
likely enjoy Barbera, Pinot
Noir, Beaujolais and other light reds
from cooler climates
 If you prefer the 2nd red, you'll also
likely enjoy Bordeaux, Chianti, Rioja
and other rich reds from warmer
climates

30. Serving Wine
 Wine can be best enjoyed when
served at appropriate temperatures
 In general in North America, we drink
our whites too cold and our reds too
warm
 The general term 'room temperature'
wasn't coined when rooms were kept
at 20 degrees

31. Wine Temperature
 More specifically, the lighter bodied a
wine is, the cooler it can (and should)
be served, regardless of colour
 So a light Beaujolais can be best
appreciated fairly well chilled
 Conversely, a full-bodied Chardonnay
can often be enjoyed at close to room
temperature

33. Wine Temperature
 TIPS:
 Never store wine in your car!!!
 Avoid storing your wine in your kitchen
 Chill most reds for 20 minutes in the
fridge before you open them
 Take your whites out of the fridge for
about 30 minutes before opening

34. Leftovers ???
 Doesn't happen much at my place, but...
 1st – store any wine (white or red) in fridge once
opened
 Oxygen is what causes a wine to age quicker,
so reduce it's impact by:
 Pouring leftover wine into half bottles
 Using Private Preserve, an inert gas that
prevents oxygen from penetrating the wine
 Pumps aren't really that effective

35. Pairing Wine & Food
 1st, assemble your plate:
 1 piece of each of the following:
 Apple, lemon, fake crab, brie, blue
cheese, plus a spoon of hot salsa and
a couple of chips

36. Pairing Wine & Food
 Just like
tasting, many
sommeliers try to
make this some sort
of mystical art that
no mere mortal can
hope to achieve
 NEVER pay heed to
the Sommelier who
dictates which wine
you'll best
enjoy, until he/she
has learned about
your tastes

37. Pairing Wine & Food
 The thing is, there's no such thing as a
'perfect' match
 Everybody's tastes are different!
 If I like 1 style of wine and you prefer
another, who is to say what is a
'perfect' match for both of us with a
certain meal?

38. Pairing Wine & Food
 The new school of wine and food
pairing focuses on individual
preferences
 We can predict how a certain wine will
react with a certain food
 So, using this knowledge, we can then
best select what will work best for us

39. Pairing Wine & Food
 The following demo will showcase how
wine's flavours change when paired
with various food flavours
 This will help you to determine how to
best pair wine with what you're eating
 One thing to consider when pairing is
the strongest flavour on the
plate, which is often the sauce or
garnish

40. Important
 To get the most out of this demo, it's
key to follow along with my directions
 I promise some of these reactions will
be quite a surprise
 Not everyone will agree on how each
wine changes with certain foods, and
that's to be expected

41. And on to the Demo
 Taste wine #1
 Take a bite of lemon, re-taste #1
 What happens?
 The wine gets sweeter!
 Who prefers it? Who doesn't?

42. The Demo Continues
 Taste wine #2
 Take a bite of lemon, re-taste #2
 What happens?
 The wine gets sweeter!
 Who prefers it? Who doesn't?

43. Wine / Food Rule #1
 Acidity in food works to minimize the
effect of acidity in wine, and this results
in emphasizing the fruit and sweetness
of any wine!
 The cool thing is any wine built like #1
or #2 will react in exactly the same way
with acidic food, be it Sauvignon
Blanc, Semillon, Muscadet or Viognier

44. And on we go...
 Take a sip of wine #1
 Take a bite of apple, re-taste wine #1
 What happens?
 The wine becomes less sweet
 Who prefers it? Who doesn't?

45. More apples
 Take a sip of wine #2
 Take a bite of apple, re-taste wine #2
 What happens?
 The wine becomes less sweet, nearly
bitter
 Who prefers it? Who doesn't?

46. Wine / Food Rule #2
 Sweetness in food works to negate
sweetness in wine, making the wine
taste more sour / more acidic
 The cool thing is any wine built like #1
or #2 will react with sweet foods the
same way, be it Gruner, Chenin
Blanc, Semillon or Fume Blanc

47. A Crazy Match
 Take a sip of wine #3
 Take a bite of apple, re-taste wine #3
 What happens?
 Not all that much – not great, but not
awful

48. Versatile Food Wines
 Wines like #3 are called versatile,
mainly because they react minimally
with a variety of foods
 Good acidity, low-moderate alcohol,
and almost no tannins
 So there's your breakfast red wine!

49. A More 'Classic Match'
 Take a sip of wine #2
 Take a bit of 'crab', re-taste wine #2
 What happens? Good, bad?
 Who finds the wine gets a bit bitter?
 Supposedly a classic match, oaked
chardonnay with crab

50. Umami
 Many seafoods contain 'umami',
isolated as the fifth taste (prototype is
MSG)
 This can cause a negative reaction
with wine
 So … squeeze some lemon on the
crab, and try again with the wine

51. Wine & Food Rule #3
 Citrus or salt helps negate the effects
of umami, and in general helps a wide
range of wines pair better with food
 Why does the restaurant often serve
citrus slices as garnish with seafood?
 Ever notice restaurant foods are
heavily salted?

52. More Combinations
 Now, sip wine #3
 Take a bite of brie, re-taste wine #3
 What happens?
 Maybe a bit better, but no big change
 Again, a fairly non-reactive wine

53. Another 'classic'
 Bury the rest of the brie in hot salsa
 Now, sip #4
 Eat the brie/salsa, re-taste wine #4
 What happens?
 Gets a little hotter, doesn't it?

54. Alcohol and Spice
 Although cheese and red meats tend
to pair well with tannic red
wines, higher alcohol levels in wine
tend to turn up the heat on spicy foods
 Rule #4 – Spicy foods are made
spicier when paired with higher alcohol
red wines

55. Maybe the best yet ...
 Take a sip of wine #4 – note the
tannins
 Now, take a bite of blue cheese, and
re-taste wine #4
 What happens?
 Smooth!

56. Wine & Food Rule #5
 Uncoagulated proteins, like those
found in certain cheeses and rare to
medium rare red meats, bind with
tannin molecules in red wine and
cause the wine to taste much
smoother
 Note – you won't get the same effect
with red meat cooked medium to well!

57. The Power of Salt
 Take a sip of your least favourite wine
 Now, eat a potato chip, and re-taste
the wine
 What happens? A little better?
 Salt in food works to enhance the
flavours of any wine paired with it

58. General Conclusions
 If a wine is too sweet for you, introduce
some sweetness to the food,
especially with a sauce or garnish
 If a wine is too sour for you, introduce
some acidity to the food you're pairing
with it

59. General Conclusions
 Look to 'versatile' food wines – namely
wines with good acidity and low to
moderate alcohol levels, as well as
very soft tannins when you're not sure
what to pair or you're having a wide
range of foods
 A bit of sweetness in a white helps
even more!

60. General Conclusions
 If you get a bitter taste in wine with a
certain food, try introducing some more
salt or citrus to the food to counter the
effects of umami

61. General Conclusions
 Remember hot foods get hotter with
high-test reds, so if you're having the
pepper steak you might want to re-
think the wine choice
 Rough and tannic reds can be
softened with blue cheeses and/or rare
to medium rare red meat

62. General Conclusions
 Salt is your friend when pairing wine
and food!
 If the wine is blah, over season your
food to get the most out of the wine

63. General Conclusions
 The previous reactions work with all
wines – not just the ones we've tried
 Any wine that is structurally similar to
the wines tonight will react in the same
way with food

64. Buying for Value
 Any wine is good, if you like it – doesn't
matter if it's $6 or $60
 That said, there are some to avoid and
others to seek out if you want bang for
your buck

65. Buying for Value
 Avoid 'super popular' grape types, as
there's a ton of demand:
 Cabernet
Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon
Blanc
 Look instead to blends and alternatives
that are similar

66. Buying for Value
 Avoid current 'trendy' regions – look
instead to up-and-coming areas or
regions that are beneath the radar
 Buy Ontario (especially if you like
lower alcohol, reserved wines) – we
get a reasonable discount on these
wines

67. Buying for Value
 Try lesser known grapes...
 Whites: Gruner
Veltliner, Muscadet, Semillon, Viognier
, Albarino
 Reds:
Grenache, Tempranillo, Primitivo

68. Buying for Value
 Buy the wines nobody else is:
 Entry level Bordeaux, Rioja and
Sicilian reds are terrific bargains
 Reds from the Cotes du Rhone have
always been fantastic value
 Spain is one of my top choices for
bargain reds

69. Buying for Value
 Look to regions that specialize in entry
levels wines:
 Chile, Argentina
 South Africa
 Australia
 Southern France

70. Buying for Value
 Pay attention to trends, check out
decanter.com for news updates:
 Australia is experiencing a wine glut
(producing more than they sell) – this'll
mean they'll be reducing prices in a
year or less
 Same thing happened in California 3
years ago and their prices have fallen

71. Thank you!!!