The Wino Club: Pinot Noir for Diabetics

Looks like people can be part of the Wino Club and be healed at the same time! According to this medical study, Pinot Noir can have some positive effects on sufferers of Diabetes. I just want to know if I can sign up to be a part of a drinking-based study.

The Wino Club In Entrepreneur Magazine

We've been busy here at The Wino Club... see us in the November issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. There's a great picture of us in the print article so check it out but we've included it here just so those readers who are more digitally inclined can enjoy the whole experience - it is a darn good picture and we wouldn't want anyone to miss it.

To read the article on line, click here: The Wino Club in Entrepreneur Magazine.

In the next couple of weeks we will be posting a TV interview we did on KZSW as well. Told you we've been busy!

Wine Tasting: Grenache Grows Up

We're taking a detour in our wine tasting at The Wino Club in November from talking about Rhone wines to jumping into Grenache. Now the departure is not a great one, since all Rhone wines contain some Grenache, sometimes up to 80%. However, Rhone wines tend to look at this grape as a blender, used to either compliment other varietals or if alone as a nice dry rose.

We have another opinion. Grenache is bold and strong without overpowering the palette. It has enough to sink your teeth into without hitting you over the head. Grenache is so much more than a blending wine and is our new favorite stand-alone varietal - sorry Red Zinfandel.

It all happened by lucky accident and a bargain shopping find. Our personal Wino Club was doing a special tasting of wines of Australia with specific instructions to avoid the traditional Shiraz. I was searching for my pick when I came across a store that was closing and everything inside was half off, including the wine. You don't have to tell me twice! I had a shopping cart filled up in no time. There was one bottle I picked up just because it made me laugh and it was inexpensive enough to buy as a joke ($5 on sale). It is a wine called Bi@#h (I'm not spelling it out because it's not a nice word). It had a pretty pink label and looked novelty for sure. It also happened to hail from Australia and incidentally was 100% Grenache.

Well this little wine went up against 13 bottles worth $17 and up and won. And not just won but was the first wine ever to be voted for nearly unanimously by all 15 women in attendance, all of whom have very different palettes. We were onto something.

Grenache happens to be the most widely planted grape varietal in the world. It is low in tannins and pale in color with a nice soft pinkish-purple hue. If picked early it is used to make rose wines. If allowed to ripen slowly in a hot and dry terrain then it turns into a soft yet spicy wine with a relatively high alcohol content of around 15% competing against Red Zinfandel. Yet unlike Zinfandel, found only in California where oak prevails, Grenache originated in Spain and then moved to be a major grape in France, Australia and yes, California as well.

As a stand alone wine it is full bodied, juicy and earthy. It has a beautiful berry jam start with nice heat and earthiness on the back end. As a blending wine, it offers a backbone to harsher varietals, lending low acid and low tannis for balance.

Wine Tasting: Grenache Tasting Tips

Look for the following flavors or scents when tasting Grenache:

Spice Black Currant Dried Fruit Pepper
Earth Warm Flesh Dried Apricot Vanilla Sweet Wood
Blackberry Smoke Toast Tobacco Cherry Raisin
Menthol Blueberry Boysenberry Plum

Wine Tasting: Super Tuscan or Chianti?

I admit it. Chianti brings to mind straw covered bottles with dripping wax candles glowing in them on a table covered with a red checkered cloth. Right? It is not a quality wine that comes to mind. That's not to say that there aren't some fine Chiantis now, but is there a difference between a Chianti and a Super Tuscan?

Chianti has a very interesting history, moving from the bastardized blend of red and white grapes in the 1970's into a wine made almost entirely from Sangiovese, changing the laws requiring white grapes to be used in the Chianti formula. The new laws provide a 15% blend of red grapes outside of Sangiovese. It is still a struggle by wine makers to decide whether to label their blend wines as a Super Tuscan or a Chianti.

Super Tuscans really do try to appeal to a more International palette. They tend to be big, bold and have a new oak flavor. These wines are not 'drink with spaghetti' style wines. They are not even what I would peg as an old world flavor due to their lack of subtlety. However a good Super Tuscan can be a great blend that I personally love sipping on when the evenings just start to turn crisp.

A traditional Chianti is meant for eating. True to the Italian lifestyle, this wine lends itself to food, thus it's drinkability and reputation as a spaghetti wine. It is high in acid, balancing out the tomato sauce, and low on tannins. It is actually compared more with a Pinot Noir than a Cabernet Sauvignon.

The blends are about the same for both wines so I guess your preference really comes down to what you need your wine to function as. If you're sitting around drinking with friends, reach for the Super Tuscan. If it's a family dinner with wine, pull out a Chianti. Either way, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Some of the Chianti's even come in the straw bottles if you're so inclined.

Wine Tasting for A Cause

It's October and that Means Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Buy The Wino Club Party Kit today and a portion of the proceeds will go directly to Michelle's Place, a breast cancer resource center supporting women under 40 so often ignored in the fight against breast cancer.

Go to The Wino Club for your kit today and help save a life!

Sangiovese Wine Tasting Tips

Sangiovese wine is all about tasting the rustic and savory flavors of earth. Look for the following flavors or scents when tasting Sangiovese:

Fresh Cherry Sun Baked Earth Spice Clove

Licorice Thyme Wood Toast Dried Orange Peel

Leather Chocolate Dried Cherry Sour Cherry