Dallas Wine Chick

Beyond Safe Labels: Dallasites Take the Challenge

A few weeks ago, I was shocked to read a blog comment from The Wall Street Journal’s Lettie Teague about what Dallasites are drinking. Teague visited a Sigel’s Fine Wine shop in Frisco and was told by manager Tim Farina that we only drink big cabernets and big brands.

Whaaaaatttt? While I don’t personally follow the steak to cabernet sauvignon rule, I can understand a local steakhouse having a larger selection of those wines. So, I decided to go for a sanity check. I reached out to Terri Burney, owner of  WineTastic, who told me that while she has some customers that would fit the bill, even more are trying Malbec, Rioja, Albarino and Champagne.

Brooks Anderson, owner of  Veritas, had some great insights. “To say that Dallasites drink only overpriced, big labels of Cab and Chard is absolutely ridiculous and wholly inaccurate. If that were true, Veritas would have gone out of business long ago. We do not carry Cakebread; we do not currently carry Silver Oak; we do not currently carry Caymus; we do not currently carry Far Niente; we do not carry Nickel & Nickel; etc. Instead we carry lots of fun, boutique Cabs and Chards (and other wines from around the globe) that aren’t necessarily cheap and we sell them all day long. There are plenty of Dallasites who love to explore new labels, who would rather offer a delicious wine that their dinner guest has never heard of rather than an overpriced ‘label’.”

He went on to say that “in addition to ‘not cheap’ Cabs and Chards, we sell loads of Chateauneuf du Pape, Brunello, Barolo, Barbaresco, Burgundy, Amarone, Sancerre, etc. Dallasites are trying inexpensive wines like White Rioja; White Bordeaux; Gavi; Albarino/Alvarhino; Cotes du Rhone; Spanish Garnacha; Carmanere; Malbec; Baby Super Tuscans; Nero d’Avola; etc.”

So, where do we go from here? We need to take a stand. While there is a place for Cabernets, Chardonnays and other mainstays in our lives, let’s try some new varietals.

I had the recent opportunity to meet Anne-Laure Helfrich of Helfrich wines to try wines produced in her family’s Alsatian vineyard. The price points were fantastic — $14.99 for the Noble Tier wines that were really good (Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gerwürztraminer). The Grand Cru wines with the same varietals were fantastic and priced at $24.99. The Grand Cru Riesling was elegant with orange blossom, apricot and minerality. The Grand Cru Gewurztraminer had a floral nose with honeysuckle, citrus and a floral nose. I personally am adding these to my wine “off the beaten path” selection list.

In Dallas, you can find these wines at Whole Foods, Costco, Majestic Liquors (Fort Worth), Winestyles (Arlington and Fort Worth), Vino 100 and Veritas.

Let’s prove to Tim that we’ve moved from a “safe label zone” and into wine drinkers that have the courage to put an unfamiliar bottle on the table.

Sensory Overload

“I taste tobacco with a hint of currant and maybe even some shoe leather. To me, this is a big cherry fruit bomb …”

I refused to make eye contact with my husband. I knew that I was in for the classic eye roll or perhaps the under-the-table shin kick.

We were at dinner with those friends — you know, the ones who knew so much more about wine than we did. The ones who knew about swirling, proper stemware, what flavors should be in a certain glass of wine, and were willing to spend much more than we wanted to per bottle.

On the conversation home, my husband asked me, “Did you really taste all of those flavors? I taste … wine. And, why in the heck would I want to drink shoe leather?”

Over the years and after drinking many bottles of wine, I am at the point where I can taste certain flavors in a glass. But reading tasting notes or sitting around with your friends enjoying wine is one thing. When you have to do it without notes, without discussion, and without anything but your intuition and palate, that’s another.

So, I thought I’d put my knowledge to the test at a sensory evaluation tasting hosted by Women for Wine Sense. Or as my husband, who attended the tasting with me, put it, Women, Plus One Man, for Wine Sense.

Our group met on a sunny Saturday morning and we were given one caveat — no coffee before the tasting. The organizers wanted our taste buds to be fresh for what was ahead.

Armed with four white wines and one intimidating blank piece of paper, we began our sensory journey. The first hour was spent focusing on sight and smell. We were asked to judge each wine by its clarity — was it cloudy or clear — as well as its color.

Yes, all were “white” wines, but they were different shades. Two of the wines had hints of green in their color, one was pale, and one was golden.

For smell, we were asked to swirl the wine and take a deep whiff. Grapefruit. Menthol. Green pepper. Lychee. Butterscotch. Melon. Lemon. Vanilla, or Coppertone as I deemed it.

I smelled these aromas in those four wines. They then passed out about 20 samples of various items, including small roses, butter, pear, and lemon to allow us to smell different aromas and see if this woke up our olfactory senses.

It was then time to taste — hurray!. We judged for sweetness, acidity, bitterness, and any saltiness — ew, thankfully none. You taste sweet things with the tip of your tongue.Acidity is determined on the sides of your tongue. And bitterness is detected in the back.

We sipped. We swirled. We spat into buckets. And then we repeated the process.

Finally we had to come to conclusions about the types of wine. I correctly picked three out of the four — sauvignon blanc, riesling, and gewurztraminer. But I was shocked to find that I missed the most obvious of them all — an oaked chardonnay. It was my least favorite of the bunch, smelled like Coppertone, and was uninspiring.

It was a really cool experiment and a fun exercise.

The next time you pour a glass of wine, stop for a minute. Swirl it in the glass and look at the color. What do you see?

Put your nose deep into the glass and take a big whiff. What do you smell? Take a small sip of the wine and think about the different flavors that you taste.

And finally, if you are up for the challenge, put it in a brown bag and see if your friends can figure out the varietal.

I currently don’t see a sensory evaluation class on the calendar in Dallas for March or April.  But, when one is scheduled, forego the coffee and give it a try. I promise you won’t have to taste shoe leather.