Basic Juice - the wine blog for my generation

Bubbleicious March 29 @ 6:30

Attention Salt Lake City-based Basic Juicers.  Come, get your bubble on...

The details:

Bubbleicious (or how I stopped worrying and learned to love sparkling wine because it goes with everything)
Thursday, March 29. @ 6:30 PM
Kimball Distributing Showroom (2233 South 300 East)
Cost: $40 (payment by cash or check due at tasting)
Quetions/RSVP by Monday, March 26 to beau[At]basicjuice[D0t]com
Class size limited to 20

Sparkling wine is a beautiful thing. It goes splendidly with almost anything you’re having for dinner tonight, or the next night, or next Tuesday, or..you get the picture. Sample various styles of sparkling wine with a host of munch-able flavors. In addition to Champagne, discover the great taste and value of sparkling wine from Spain and Italy.

Is it/Isn't It?

Let's do something a bit different for WineBloggingWednesday #30.  This month's theme is new world S[hi]yra[z]h.  My entry is most definitely new world.  But, the 100-Shiraz question is this:

Is this single-varietal wine a Shiraz or something else?

 The Entry: An old-vines (allegedly really old vines) 2004 red w/screwcap from Australia's Barossa Valley.

This deep, indigo wine offers initial scents of cedar chips and bacon fat.  However, rather quickly, these nasal treats are overtaken by big, burly berry scents of blackberry preserves (some may say, "jam") with hints of black pepper and asphalt.

In the mouth, this red Aussie wallops the tongue with hearty, shrivelly fruit flavors coupled to coffee and vanilla accents.  Even though body-wise the wine is a big-un, it still possesses fairly balanced acidity (a nifty trick) and semi sandpapery tannins.  All in all, as new world reds go, this wine is actually hospitible to food - the right food of course.  Try it with mashed potatoes slathered in truffle butter and a medium rare, dry-aged slab of steak.

So what say you, S[hi]yra[z]h or no S[hi]yra[z]h?

Reminder: SLC folks can taste more wines like this at next week's, "Wines of the Future" class/tasting.  Don't forget to sign up.  It's only twenty-bucks!

Behold the Future of Wine

Attention Salt Lake City-based Basic Juicers.  Come, taste the future of wine...

The details:

Wines Of The Future
Tuesday, Feb 13. @ 6:30 PM
Kimball Distributing Showroom (2233 South 300 East)
Cost: $20 (payment due at tasting)
Quetions/RSVP by Monday, Feb 12 to beau[At]basicjuice[D0t]com
Class size limited to 20

There has been a lot of grumbling/consternation/discussion in the wine world about how climate change/global warming might affect the world's vineyards.  For example, some researchers think it will be impossible to raise healthy, wine-worthy Pinot Noir in Burgundy within a few decades.  Perish the thought!  Join us as we explore how future wines might taste and how some of your favorite wines might exist only as memories...

Classy Reminder

A Reminder for my SLC wine peeps:

 

Undiscovered California
A Basic Juice
Wine Class
8 September, 7:30pm @ Radiance Medspa (926 E. 900 S.)

We’ve all tasted great  wine from California -  Cabernet, Chardonnay and Zinfandel.  But, have you  ever tried Californian Barbera, Tempranillo, Marsanne or Rousanne?  Learn about  these unique, undiscovered  wine-gems from the golden state.

Cost: $25/person
Hosted by: Beau Jarvis of Basic Juice
Seating limited to 25

Enjoy a unique evening of wine, sight, scents and sound.

Download the nifty, superfantastic invite here (pdf).

Technorati Tags: wine, wine class

Class for the Locals

An announcement for the local (SLC, UT) Basic Juice-ers:

Undiscovered California
A Basic Juice
Wine Class
8 September, 7:30pm @ Radiance Medspa (926 E. 900 S.)

We’ve all tasted great  wine from California -  Cabernet, Chardonnay and Zinfandel.  But, have you  ever tried Barbera, Petit  Sirah, Marsanne or Rousanne?  Learn about  several undiscovered  wine-gems from the golden state.

Cost: $25/person
Hosted by: Beau Jarvis of Basic Juice
Seating limited to 25

Enjoy a unique evening of wine, sight, scents and sound.

Download the nifty, superfantastic invite here (pdf).

Technorati Tags: wine, wine class

A Menu for Hope II

Last year, Madame Pim of Chez Pim introduced, "a menu for hope."  The concept was simple: In the spirit of the holiday season, give what you can to help victims of the southeast Asian tsunami.  Pim has asked us to give again this year to help the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan & India.  But 'a menu for hope II' is more than a drive for donations.  Once you donate $5 or more, you are eligible to win a fabulous prize of your choice.  These prizes have been donated by the ever-creative community of food & wine bloggers, of which I am part.

In addition to my daily wine blogging, I also teach wine classes.  The prize I am donating to the raffle drawing is a wine class for up to ten people.  If you live in/near any metropolitan area in North America, I'll hop on a plane and bring me, the wine and a fabulously fun wine class to your door.  You can select from any of the wine classes listed at basicjuice.com.  I am also happy to build a custom class around the interests of you & your friends.  All this for a donation of five bucks (or more)!

I urge you to hop on over to Pim's, take a look at the great prizes and then give (at First Giving) what you can.  You'll be helping someone in need and you'll also be eligible to experience one of the world's most fun and informative wine classes :)

Whacking Tony

Christian & Alder deliver le smackdown to the misinformation and blatant hooey passing for wine education at Tony's Wine Tasting Warehouse in Dallas, Tx.  Wine is interesting enough without 'experts' making stuff up.

Wait, there's more.  A companion piece in the Dallas Observer highlights the outright price gouging going on at Tony's.  The term "assclowns" doesn't seem quite harsh enough to describe the crooks behind this wine retail hell hole.

Bubbly + Food = Wow

Last night I taught the bubbly class.  It started off with a brave soul asking the question about NV - i.e. What does NV mean?  To make the point that there are no stupid questions, just stupid teachers, I related my own NV-story.

Bubbly sampled:

• Paul Cheneau Art Series Brut Cava, NV ($9)
• Mionetto Prosecco Legatura, NV ($13)
• Argyle Oregon Brut Sparkling Wine '99 ($20)
• Beaumont des Crayeres Grand Prestige Brut Champagne NV ($33)
• Marenco 'Pineto' Brachetto d’Aqui, 2003 ($16)

Flavors paired with bubbly:

The Barbera Challenge

I've made this observation before, and I'll make it again.  My wine class students are almost always initially wowed by the exuberant fruity qualities of new world wine (or the new world style).  However, given a side-by-side comparison, they return to old world wine (i.e. lighter, crisper, more subdued wine), and indicate their preference for these wines.

Last night was another example of this dynamic.  I taught a basic Italian wine class to a small group of wine beginners.  We went through the tasting process and a few Italian wine examples.  Towards the end of the class, I pulled the old switcheroo:  I gave half the students a California Barbera (Renwood Barbera "Sierra Series" 2003 [$10]) and the other half Michele Chiarlo Barbera d'Asti, 2003 [$14].  I then asked them to describe their wine to me.  Finally, I told them what I had done and asked them which wine they thought they had tasted.  To my surprise every student guessed correctly.  Moreover, after the students tasted and compared both wines, I observed that nearly all of the students asked for another taste of Italian Barbera.  They then let it be known that they preferred it over the California Barbera.

What does all this mean?  I don't feel comfortable drawing any sweeping conclusions.  However, I will say that I'm observing something interesting.  As students 'dissect' wine through seeing, sniffing, slurping, and tasting, they seem to crave wine with more nuance and subtlety.  Curious about your taste buds and preferences?  Play the Barbera Challenge at home.  Taste a California Barbera and an Italian Barbera d'Asti or d'Alba  Which do you prefer?  Why?

Juicy Facelift

Basicjuice.com, this blog's parent, is receiving a facelift.  Check out the new look and rich, Corinthian leather.  And while you're at it, check out the Basic Juice fall wine class schedule:

• Oct. 11 - bubbly + food = wow

• Nov. 15 - holiday wine