Wine vs cocktails,  Is wine the winner ? of course!

These days cocktails are all the rage. Versatile, crafty bartenders around town toying with infusions, herbs, oak treatments.  I have much respect for them and their craft, but at the same time, I really can't say I enjoy cocktails more than wine. 

Maybe over the years I've become used to wine and frankly, spirits will never change. Boooring. A vodka is a vodka today  and in a hundred years (barring any lead leaching from the bottle). Sure there will be new brands and labels and etc, but a spirit has the only advantage of not changing over time.

What is more interesting, a cocktail that can be replicated over and over or a bottle of wine that can only happen on year from one region? Id rather meet one Leonardo da Vinci than 100 Justin Biebers. Im sure he is a nice kid and all, but wont have much to offer at the dinner table. Same for cocktails. 

Plus, spirits tend to make me belligerent (in a poltergeist kinda way). I contend that there is something very factual of how your body handles the absorption of wine vs spirits that is very distinctive. Lets say you had the same amount of alcohol per volume. A buzz of wine is a mellower affair over martinis, as anyone who has tried can testify to. Why is that? It couldnt be just the alcohol. There are other factors at play that we have just starting to understand.

Even a biggest irk: some craft makers that take 20 minutes to make a drink. People, seriously, we are not saving lives here!. A drink  is meant to be a beverage of pleasure and I dare anyone to tell blind if the drink was poured out of a jug or crafted one ice cube at a time. Doesnt make sense from a restaurant owner point of view, or a barkeeper in a busy spot either.

I predict that cocktails will fade away again. The rise of interesting wines of obscure regions is inevitable. And when that time comes, people wont ask for a glass of white, but instead reach into the void and take a chance.

In the debate of cocktails vs wine,  I propose you try at at home responsibly. Science is an endless pursuit that anyone can take part in. I encourage you participate in this worthy endeavour, in moderation, of course.

Adrian Marquez

Sommelier, Anthropologist.

Oh sweeet Cheesus!

How do you maximize the pleasure of the combination? get the most of your wine and cheese?


Surprisingly, the answer is to make a little mess.


Here is what I've found that works best:1. Grab an equal size piece of cheese and bread. Best bread is white, plain, no frills. Anything else would really interfere with the cheese. Science first.
(once you know what cheese and wine works best, then you can change the variable of the bread)
2. put said cheese and bread in your mouth. mush around, but keep it in your mouth. You want to make a paste, that will be warm. Long story short, this is to get the most, This is the crucial part.
3. take a sip of wine. swish it around, mixing it with the cheese. maybe take a slight intake of air, to really make the flavors 'pop'.
4. enjoy the beautiful ride. swallow the cheese / wine combo, enjoy the finish
5. repeat as needed, or until you run out of cheese. Or wine.


And if you do run out of wine, give me a call, and I'll calm you down, talk you on the comedown. It happens.
You might find that some cheese doesnt jive with some wines, but eh, what can you do. 

You might find that whites are actually better and more flexible with a wider range of cheese. Neat, innit?

You might find that some cant be helped and shouldnt be had with wine. Beer can fill in those blanks.


Yours,


Adrian M.

In praise of: Low alcohol wines

I, for one, am tired of drinking high octane wines. The difference between a 16% alc wine and a 12% is a couple shots of tequila. And we all know what a couple more shots of tequila can do to you.

  Sure, fruit and alcohol bombs are good in a tasting and they are easier to understand, but at the end of the day,  there are things that can be told in whispers and be still just as good.   Everyone goes through stages like this, but Americans (and the Canadian cousins) just seem to stay stuck in the Faster, Higher, Stronger key. Culture can work in surprising ways, subtle as a breeze.

In my teen years it was Metallica all they way, but now I need to chill out and listen to something mellower. Maybe we do change with time, our tastes change, what we know changes. Maybe that is why the end of the road in wine is wine that is pleasurable and fragrant and light yet rich:  Paradoxes are good for the mind.

Yours,

Adrian Marquez

Sommelier, Anthropologist