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2.23.2011

I learned a ton using the Wine Aroma Wheel, check it out

Posted in News
by Tammi Ramsey

Here is a picture of the Wine Aroma Wheel

Good Morning!

At my first wine tasting class they passed out a few pieces of paper with wine facts and other stuff and one of the pages was the Wine Aroma Wheel. I am attaching a photo of this awesome tool. I actually have my wheel in my cabinet drawer with my corkscrews and bottle toppers.

What is a Wine Aroma Wheel? It was designed in the 1980’s by Ann Noble, a professor at UC Davis. This is a reference wheel that helps you figure out the aroma traits commonly found in wines. Its purpose was to facilitate communication about wine through standard terminology. It is full color, laminated plastic circular table with the relatively similar smells….You start in the center with the general wine aromas and you work your way out to help you build your wine vocabulary.

Go get one of these! I met Ann Noble last year at the Women for Winesense in Napa…she and I just had a couple of minutes together, but she is so brilliant, you will learn a ton!

I get it out often when I am stumped by many wines!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

2.22.2011

What’s up with the info on wine labels, how do I read them?

Posted in News
by Tammi Ramsey

Example of my labels for TJR Select

Good Morning!

I have the design of my labels done, or I thought I did. In the USA most of the labels requirements are pretty black and white. There are 16 items that are required (as of today). and I thought I would share what you can look for next time you are checking out the label of your favorite beverage.

1. Brand Name (TJRSelect)
2 Name of the Producer (TJRSelect)
3. Name and Address of the Bottler (Custom Crush facility)
4. Name of the Importer (My wines will not be shipped out of the country yet)
5. Name of the Shipper ( Yet to be determined)
6. Alcohol Content (example ALC 14.5% By Vol.)
7. Volume Content (750 ML)
8. Country of Origin (USA)
9. Sulfite Advisory (Contains Sulfites)
10. Government Warning ( (1) ACCORDING TO THE SURGEON GENERAL, WOMEN SHOULD NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF BIRTH DEFECTS. (2) CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IMPAIRS YOUR ABILITY TO DRIVE A CAR OR OPERATE MACHINERY, AND MAY CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS.
11. Quality of Wine (This is more easily found on labels from wines from other countries)
12. Vintage of the Wine (The year the grapes were picked)
13. Type of Wine (California table wine)
14. Appellation or Growing Region (Area grapes were grown, Napa or Central Coast)
15. Varietal designations (Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, etc)
16. Descriptive Information (Normally on the back label, story about winemaker or the blend of the wines)

These are examples of the 16 bits of information on a wine label in the USA. Start to look for these and see what you can learn about the wines and laws and let me know if you have any questions!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

2.18.2011

More wine terms of endearment…

Posted in News
by Tammi Ramsey

Good Morning!

I had a friend ask me a few wine questions and I thought I would share with you my findings.

Terms that might confuse when talking about wine.

Dry-though most folks think this means that feeling that puckers in the sides of your tongue and mouth. What dry means is the wine has gone through an entire fermentation and there is no sugar left. Meaning no residual sugar in the finished wine.

Sweet-many think of the cloying sweet wines with a heavy mouthfeel. Sweet in terms of wine means that the fermentation stopped while amounts of residual sugar is still in the wine.

Estate wine- This means that the wine in the bottle is made on the property that is owned by the company or winery who bottles and labels the wine. It is perceived that these wines are very high quality.

Reserve-this term on a wine made in the United States has no legal meaning, kinda like the word, New on a food label. But for many winemakers they are serious about using free run juice or their best grapes for these wines they label Reserve.

Free Run juice- this term is used when all the grapes are in the vessel and the grapes rupture from the weight of the other grapes and the juice flows from them…once you get the first run juice, then you start pressing the grapes and that will create first pressed juice/wine.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

2.17.2011

The best wine I had last weekend!

Posted in News
by Tammi Ramsey

Good Morning!

I wanted to let you know I found a wine that really worked for my palette… try it and see what you think!

Cellar Rat Wines are made by my pal Ryan Sciara. Ryan is also a contestant on The Winemakers season II on PBS. He makes a white and red each year to be sold in his store in Kansas City. So if you want to try this wine, you will have to find him and order from him, which is not that hard, but you can not find this wine on store shelves at Safeway, HEB or Marsh supermarkets.

I had Ryan’s white blend several weeks ago…it is a blend of 3 traditional french white grapes, he calls it RMV which stands for Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier. This wine was really surprising because, I have said this before, my palette really is more focused on wines and grapes from here in the USA and mostly more about the Northwestern part of the country.

So the RMV is crisp, round and almost has an “oily” texture…sounds weird but it AWESOME! I loved this wine with cheese, I really liked it with goat cheese and the tanginess of the cheese with the round mouthfeel of the wine…it was a winner. I made a homemade Margarita pizza and the two were awesome.

So this weekend I finally got to try Ryan’s red wine his 2008 Petite Syrah Barrel #2. I opened this wine and the nose was like POW! huge fruit and high alcohol but once the wine opened, it was rich, dark and supple. It started out very powerful and relaxed and before we knew it both of us had fallen in love with the nuances of the wine. In my normal Saturday evening schedule I made a cheese pizza and the beautiful structure of the tomato sauce and the wine worked together. It blended and worked so easily, my palette was thrilled and I think yours will be too.

To try this great wine go online find www.cellarratwine.com and contact Ryan. He is great and he even makes his own cheese, so if you are local to him, take the time to go down to the shop and check out his awesome wine vision.

Much LOVE and wine,
Tammi

Ryan's wines, RMV and Petite Syrah

2.16.2011

Roll out the barrel

Posted in News
by Tammi Ramsey

Good Morning!

Last fall I learned a lot about barrels. I learned about how they were made and it is quite a process and then I learned a ton about the affect the barrels have on the wine. Barrels and yeast are the two biggest factors in how the wine will taste in the end…well, after the grape variety.

I spent time with the folks at Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage. A Cooper is the craftsman who makes and repairs casks or barrels. Most barrels are made from either French or American Oak. Watching the entire process is really like watching a master carpenter and artist. While observing the Cooper I was able to ask questions and I learned this is not a quick study, working to mold and form the wood and then creating a vessel that most wines can live in for years.

To become a Cooper you become an apprentice for years and they really handle all the grunt work while watching and slowly being able to get hands on experience. I think I learned more from watching the assembly and heating and process. The barrels are constantly being “toasted” and heated to get the wood manipulated to the correct shape. The wood “slats” are called staves. I loved watching the Cooper toast the barrels and what I learned surprised me. I found out the less toasting of the staves, the more “flavor” would be imparted into the wine. The more a barrel is toasted the less flavors are imparted into the wine. How I understand it is that once the barrel is more heavily toasted, it creates more of a barrier between the wine and oak, so it soaks up less of the flavors.

After the entire barrel is together they fill it up with water and see if she will leak. I was there for an entire day and I only saw 2 barrels leaking, (they fixed them). The were making about 30 barrels a day that day.

So once a barrel is finished and delivered to the winery and filled with the wine, over time some of the wine will evaporate and they call that the “Angel’s share”. The winemaker, will have to top off the barrel in order to keep oxygen from having time with the wine and possibly causing oxidation.

It was a real learning experience for me. I have a few small barrels and had no idea all that it took to produce a barrel. I thought it was all machine made. I know now, that these are a piece of art, and the more “oakiness” you want to impart into the wine, the lighter the toasting on the barrel. I also learned many wines are in barrels for a very long time to create even more complexity in mostly red wines, but it can also be white wines, many of them being chardonnay.

One thing I learned while making wine at home was this, once you have aged red wine in a barrel, you should not then use the same barrel for white wine…I made Chardonnay after some Pinot Noir, I had the most beautiful rose’ colored Chardonnay ever. D’oh!!!

They say the best oak comes from France and it takes a Cooper years in an apprenticeship to even be called a Cooper.

Have a great day!

Much LOVE and wine,
Tammi

Barrels at UNIFIED booth, look at the size of this one!