Ever Wonder About the Italian Wine Soave?

Fifty years ago, Soave was the most popular Italian wine in the U.S., it even outsold Chianti.

Soave (“swah-vay”) is an Italian white wine made of Garganega (“gar-GAN-nehgah”) grapes grown around the village of Soave in Northern Italy.

Soave means "soft" in Italian, and the soft floral bouquet and fruit flavors help it to live up to its name. It is considered the most famous white wine in Italy.

Soave is a light-to-medium bodied white wine, with fruity flavors and moderate acidity. Overall, it falls between a Pinot Grigio and a Chardonnay.

By Italian regulation, Garganega grapes must make up at least 70 percent of a Soave wine, while a maximum of 30 percent Chardonnay and Trebbiano di Soave (Verdicchio) are allowed.

Common flavors of Soave wine include Peach, Pear, Honeydew, Citrus Zest, and sometime a bit of saltiness.

Depending on the aging process, Soave can taste either lean or rich. The more affordable wines are typically aged in stainless steel tanks. These wines have brighter fruit flavors. Soave that is aged in oak barrels tends to be rich with notable nutty flavor.

By the way, there is also a bubbly Soave Spumante version and a very sweet version, produced by drying the grapes slightly before fermentation, which is labelled as Recioto di Soave.

Soave wines are very affordable. So next time you see one, pick it up and give it a try! Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Ravines Wine Cellars White Springs Dry Riesling

2017 Ravines Wine Cellars White Springs Dry Riesling ($22.95)

Ravines Wine Cellars is an artisanal winery in the flourishing, world-class wine region of the Finger Lakes, located in upstate New York. It is the passion of Morten & Lisa Hallgren, a European Winemaker/Oenologist and his Chef wife. Together, they have created a small, distinctive winery, crafting elegant and expressive wines using Old World winemaking practices.

The White Springs Vineyard is a unique site with protected slopes of limestone soil. The vineyard is located in the northern part of the Finger Lakes region and was one of the first farming sites in western New York to have a sophisticated irrigation system installed over 150 years ago. With many older vine-plantings, significant slope and perfect eastern exposure, this large 59 acre vineyard site produces ripe, pristine grapes with nuances and complexity.

This White Springs Dry Riesling is golden yellow in color with pear, apricot and tropical fruits on the nose. On the palate it has bright fruit flavors, good acidity and a wonderful finish. At 12.5 % ABV it is indeed a dry Riesling.

Having received multiple 90+ point ratings, this Ravines Wine Cellars White Springs Dry Riesling is a good one!

• 92 points Decanter

• 91 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

• 92 points Vinous Media

• 91 points from Wine & Spirits Magazine

• 90 points from Wine Spectator.

If you are in the Finger Lakes area be sure to check out their two tasting rooms, one in Seneca Lake and one in Keuka Lake. Or, simply checkout their award winning wines at RavinesWine.com

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sample Provided by Ravines Wine Cellars

Ever Wonder About Cooking Wine?

When a recipe calls for wine, one option is to use ‘Cooking Wine.’ But, have you ever wondered if ‘Cooking Wine” is the same thing as drinking wine?

Well, there is such a thing as Cooking Wine. You’ll generally find it in the grocery store near the salad dressings, the cooking oil and vinegar. But like so many products, Cooking Wine can be many things. It can range anywhere from what you might call an inexpensive table wine to a product that is called “Cooking Wine” that includes salt, sugar and other artificial flavors.

Depending on the dish you are preparing, the salt, sugar and other flavors might work. But, in general, when a recipe calls for wine, I’d suggest using something from the wine aisle, not the cooking products aisle.

A common recommendation is that you shouldn’t cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink. This doesn’t mean you need to spend big bucks on a wine for cooking. There are plenty of wines, generally on the bottom shelf, that sell for $5 to $10 and are plenty adequate for cooking.

My guess is that the recommendation to cook with a wine you’d like to drink has more to do with the quantity of wine used in most recipes. If your recipe calls for a half-cup (4 oz) of wine, that would mean that you’d still have approximately 21 oz of wine left in the bottle. And, since you can’t put the opened bottle back on the shelf or keep it for more than a few days in the refrigerator, you’ll have the rest of the bottle to enjoy with the meal!

So, next time a recipe calls for wine, skip the “Cooking Wine” and choose something from the wine aisle. Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc work great for recipes that call for white wine while a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Merlot will give nice flavor to a recipe calling for red wine.

Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Ravines Wine Cellars Dry Riesling

2017 Ravines Dry Riesling ($17.95)

Ravines Wine Cellars is an artisanal winery in the flourishing, world-class wine region of the Finger Lakes, located in upstate New York. It is the passion of Morten & Lisa Hallgren, a European Winemaker/Oenologist and his Chef wife. Together, they have created a small, distinctive winery, crafting elegant and expressive wines using Old World winemaking practices.

This Ravines Dry Riesling is estate grown, 100% Riesling from the Finger Lakes AVA. Its grapes come from the White Springs Vineyard (52%), and the 16 Falls Vineyard (48%), with the vineyard on each side of Seneca Lake.

The hand-harvested grapes from both vineyards were whole cluster pressed. The machine harvested fraction from the White Springs vineyard were given substantial skin contact prior to fermentation. All were fermented at low temps (54-60 F) in stainless steel tanks to preserve the bright fruit flavors. After racking, this wine was aged on lighter lees throughout the winter until April and was bottled in June 2018.

While Rieslings may be pale straw in color, this Ravines Dry Riesling is golden - likely due to the extended skin contact. On the nose, it has lime and green apple along with apricot, melon and tropical fruits. On the palate, the bright fruit fools you into believing that it has sweet tendencies, but at 3 g/l residual sugar it is indeed a dry Riesling. The mouthfeel is soft and slightly oily. It has medium acidity and finishes light and refreshing.

This Ravines Wine Cellars Dry Riesling has received 90-point ratings from Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate. And, at this price, it perfect as a Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week.

Learn more about Ravines Wine Cellars at https://ravineswine.com

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sample Provided by Ravines Wine Cellars

Wine Fun Fact: Blanc de Blanc versus Blanc de Noir

Having just wrapped up the holiday season when a lot of Champagne and sparkling wines are enjoyed, I came across a Blanc de Blanc Champagne. At first it seems that ‘Blanc de Blanc” is just a fancy name for a French Champagne. But, this is just another example of something in the wine world that is seemly complex or confusing that is really rather simple.

If you took high school French, which I didn’t, you’d know that ‘Blanc de Blanc’ literately translates as ‘White from White.” Okay, you might ask, but what does that have to do with Champagne? The answer to that question requires a very quick review of how Champagne is produced. French Champagne is traditionally produced from three grapes - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (Pee-noh Mehr-n'yay). The Chardonnay is a white grape, while the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes are black.

So, you may have already gotten ahead of me. A ‘Blanc de Blanc’ or ‘White from White’ means that this type of Champagne is made solely from white grapes, namely Chardonnay.

Conversely, a ‘Blanc de Noir’ simple translates as ‘White from Black.’ Thus, it is a Champagne made from black grapes - Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. And, as we’ve learned, the juice from all grapes is clear - it’s the grape skins that give it the red color. So, in a ‘Blanc de Noir’ the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes are pressed but the juice is not given any time in contact with the dark grape skins and therefore remain ‘white.’

So, in summary, you can have Champagne in three different styles:

• Traditional Champagne - Produced with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

• Blanc de Blanc Champagne - Produced with Chardonnay

• Blanc de Noir Champagne - Produced with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier