Please educate me on claret.
December 27, 2005 9:00 AM
What can you tell me about claret? My boss gave me a bottle of it for Christmas - I'm not a drinker usually, but thought this New Years Eve I might try it. What do I serve it with and how is the best way to enjoy it?
Can you tell us what's on the label?
Otherwise: room temperature, open it and let it breathe about 30 minutes before serving, swish it around a bit in the wine glass before drinking it the first time, the second drink is usually better than the first.
posted by gimonca at 9:11 AM on December 27, 2005
Otherwise: room temperature, open it and let it breathe about 30 minutes before serving, swish it around a bit in the wine glass before drinking it the first time, the second drink is usually better than the first.
posted by gimonca at 9:11 AM on December 27, 2005
drink it - it's just a red wine.
posted by andrew cooke at 9:32 AM on December 27, 2005
posted by andrew cooke at 9:32 AM on December 27, 2005
For a mature claret, the bottle should sit undisturbed for a day or more so any sediment can settle to the bottom. Keep the bottle unshaken when you open & pour, and leave the last spoonful (with sediment) unused.
posted by anadem at 9:38 AM on December 27, 2005
posted by anadem at 9:38 AM on December 27, 2005
Roquefort cheese is good with red wine.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:47 AM on December 27, 2005
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:47 AM on December 27, 2005
sorry, that was a bit dismissive. some people seem to be afraid of wine, others invent all these silly rules.
if you don't normally drink (i assume that means any kind of alcohol) then you may prefer to have it with food, as otherwise i guess it (wine in general) can be a bit overpowering at first. traditionally red wine is drunk with red meats and cheeses. it's also normally drunk at room temperature, but you might prefer it a little bit chilled (20mins in the fridge, say), since that again kills some of the flavour (which some might say is a bad thing, but again i'm thinking it makes it more palatable if you're not used to it).
things you don't need to worry about are leaving it to "breathe" or decanting it. as long as you don't shake it around much you don't need to worry about deposits - if you see some in your glass just leave the last mouthful.
you should really try to drink it within, say, half a week. again, this is a terrible thing to say to a "serious" wine drinker, but you might find you like it more after a few days. i don't know how good that particular wine is, but some rougher reds seem to mellow out (i've read it may be simply that some of the alcohol evaporates).
but really, it's just about taking it easy and enjoying it. if you don't like it much, use it in cooking, or knock up a quick sangria.
ho hum. now i'm worried i'm being too condescending instead of too dismissive. hope that helps, anyway...
posted by andrew cooke at 10:20 AM on December 27, 2005
if you don't normally drink (i assume that means any kind of alcohol) then you may prefer to have it with food, as otherwise i guess it (wine in general) can be a bit overpowering at first. traditionally red wine is drunk with red meats and cheeses. it's also normally drunk at room temperature, but you might prefer it a little bit chilled (20mins in the fridge, say), since that again kills some of the flavour (which some might say is a bad thing, but again i'm thinking it makes it more palatable if you're not used to it).
things you don't need to worry about are leaving it to "breathe" or decanting it. as long as you don't shake it around much you don't need to worry about deposits - if you see some in your glass just leave the last mouthful.
you should really try to drink it within, say, half a week. again, this is a terrible thing to say to a "serious" wine drinker, but you might find you like it more after a few days. i don't know how good that particular wine is, but some rougher reds seem to mellow out (i've read it may be simply that some of the alcohol evaporates).
but really, it's just about taking it easy and enjoying it. if you don't like it much, use it in cooking, or knock up a quick sangria.
ho hum. now i'm worried i'm being too condescending instead of too dismissive. hope that helps, anyway...
posted by andrew cooke at 10:20 AM on December 27, 2005
Steak with au poivre sauce...coat both sides of a steak with sea salt and coarse ground black pepper. Use a heavy cast-iron pan, put a big slab of butter in the pan and cook the steaks. Leave the pan with the butter and fat and salt and pepper remnants on the stove. Put a couple tablespoons of dry vermouth in the pan, then maybe a half cup of whole milk. Bring the liquid to a rolling boil while vigorously scraping the bottom of the pan. You can add more butter, too if you want it a bit thicker. I had this with a bottle of claret last week and it was fantastic. Use rib eyes if you can get good ones.
posted by vito90 at 10:22 AM on December 27, 2005
posted by vito90 at 10:22 AM on December 27, 2005
Apparently, in the US the word claret can refer to bordeaux style wine. Not so in the UK - it is my understanding that it specifically means Appelation Controle Bordeaux red wine, though it is more convention than a trade mark or other state regulated term.
Having said that, it is likely that the grapes used to make what we know as claret are almost always blends which include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with sometimes small amounts of Malbec and Petit Verdot. The distinct regions within Bordeaux promote their own styles and reputations, and within the regions, the distinct 'wineries' (the French say chateaux) do the same.
Other than that, the above comments are apt.
posted by dash_slot- at 10:33 AM on December 27, 2005
Having said that, it is likely that the grapes used to make what we know as claret are almost always blends which include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with sometimes small amounts of Malbec and Petit Verdot. The distinct regions within Bordeaux promote their own styles and reputations, and within the regions, the distinct 'wineries' (the French say chateaux) do the same.
Other than that, the above comments are apt.
posted by dash_slot- at 10:33 AM on December 27, 2005
If you write out what is one the label letter for letter (even if you don't know what the words mean) I'm sure someone here (not me...) can tell you more about the wine than just where it comes from in France. As I recall French vinyards are rated and they are required to list their rating on the bottle (maybe that was just a part of French vinyards not all...)
posted by pwb503 at 11:22 AM on December 27, 2005
posted by pwb503 at 11:22 AM on December 27, 2005
French vineyards are rated
Bordeaux Wine Classifications.
posted by ericb at 12:02 PM on December 27, 2005
Bordeaux Wine Classifications.
posted by ericb at 12:02 PM on December 27, 2005
For a mature claret, the bottle should sit undisturbed for a day or more so any sediment can settle to the bottom.
Are you kidding? Do you seriously think her boss gave her, say, a bottle of '82 Latour? For pete's sake, I'd be surprised if it's older than the millennium and the appellation is classier than Médoc or Graves. In my experience, bosses tend to hand out Mouton Cadet like candy; it's cheap and the name sounds impressive to people who know nothing about wine. (And how bad can it be if Shane MacGowan likes it?) In any case, it's not going to have sediment, and all you have to do is uncork and pour. You might want to let it sit open for half an hour before drinking to give the tannins a chance to mellow a bit (tannins are the reason andrew cooke says "you might find you like it more after a few days"), but it doesn't really matter; just have it with meat and enjoy.
posted by languagehat at 12:39 PM on December 27, 2005
Are you kidding? Do you seriously think her boss gave her, say, a bottle of '82 Latour? For pete's sake, I'd be surprised if it's older than the millennium and the appellation is classier than Médoc or Graves. In my experience, bosses tend to hand out Mouton Cadet like candy; it's cheap and the name sounds impressive to people who know nothing about wine. (And how bad can it be if Shane MacGowan likes it?) In any case, it's not going to have sediment, and all you have to do is uncork and pour. You might want to let it sit open for half an hour before drinking to give the tannins a chance to mellow a bit (tannins are the reason andrew cooke says "you might find you like it more after a few days"), but it doesn't really matter; just have it with meat and enjoy.
posted by languagehat at 12:39 PM on December 27, 2005
(do you have any real evidence about tannins/oxidation while in an open bottle? because i've looked and found little that meets my sceptical eye. certainly oxygen is important in the (extremely complex) evolution of wine over time, but if it were as simple as you seem to imply then techniques like micro-oxygenation would be more like a magic bullet than an interesting tool. i wish i could find the article arguing it was evaporation of alcohol, as it was pretty sensible...)
posted by andrew cooke at 1:01 PM on December 27, 2005
posted by andrew cooke at 1:01 PM on December 27, 2005
No, I'm just going by general consensus; if you've looked into it, I defer to your judgment. All I know is that Bordeaux does tend to taste better after it's been open a while, and it does have tannins. I realize that's correlation and not causation.
posted by languagehat at 1:06 PM on December 27, 2005
posted by languagehat at 1:06 PM on December 27, 2005
ah well. if you ever do find evidence, i'd love to know what the real answer is... stops whispering.
posted by andrew cooke at 1:09 PM on December 27, 2005
posted by andrew cooke at 1:09 PM on December 27, 2005
The thing about mellowing a bottle of decent red for a half hour is that, for the wine newbie, they may want to pour a glass immediately after uncorking and sip it for a half hour, or just wait to have the second glass a half hour later. There's no way to tell how air mellows wine unless you experience it firsthand. And
posted by kcm at 1:20 PM on December 27, 2005
posted by kcm at 1:20 PM on December 27, 2005
*waits*
posted by languagehat at 3:32 PM on December 27, 2005
posted by languagehat at 3:32 PM on December 27, 2005
More about 'breathing'...maybe it doesn't make such a difference after all?
In my entire life, I've never felt the need to decant a wine.
posted by gimonca at 4:26 PM on December 27, 2005
In my entire life, I've never felt the need to decant a wine.
posted by gimonca at 4:26 PM on December 27, 2005
More ClaretFilter: some people in California and elsewhere are starting to call their Bordeaux-style wines Meritage.
posted by gimonca at 4:30 PM on December 27, 2005
posted by gimonca at 4:30 PM on December 27, 2005
in that article they're drinking some pretty old wines (by my standards, at least). i've heard elsewhere that older wines tend to lose their fragrance/boquet quite quickly once opened (which is what they are experiencing); i've never had the pleasure of being able to test such things...
but it's not so clear that this applies to what is probably, in this case, a much younger wine. having said that, i'm somewhat sceptical myself for different reasons - i don't see how simply opening a bottle and letting it stand gets anything like enough oxygen into the wine to make a noticeable difference to the chemistry (and i guess using a straw and blowing bubbles through it before serving wouldn't impress the dinner guests much).
on the other hand, if languagehat reckons he can taste a difference, then you might think something happens.
i should add, for the original poster, that none of this really matters. it's just the kind of thing people argue over when they enjoy wine. but that assumes that you already have the basics - just enjoying the stuff - sorted.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:01 PM on December 27, 2005
but it's not so clear that this applies to what is probably, in this case, a much younger wine. having said that, i'm somewhat sceptical myself for different reasons - i don't see how simply opening a bottle and letting it stand gets anything like enough oxygen into the wine to make a noticeable difference to the chemistry (and i guess using a straw and blowing bubbles through it before serving wouldn't impress the dinner guests much).
on the other hand, if languagehat reckons he can taste a difference, then you might think something happens.
i should add, for the original poster, that none of this really matters. it's just the kind of thing people argue over when they enjoy wine. but that assumes that you already have the basics - just enjoying the stuff - sorted.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:01 PM on December 27, 2005
none of this really matters. it's just the kind of thing people argue over when they enjoy wine
Exactly. And now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've noticed any difference after letting a bottle stand open for a short while; I may be thinking of times when a bottle has been finished off after a day or two, giving it much more exposure to oxygen. And then there was the bottle of '87 Domaine Dujac grand cru Burgundy that had been sitting open almost a week and... but now we're getting into serious wine wankery.
posted by languagehat at 5:22 PM on December 27, 2005
Exactly. And now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've noticed any difference after letting a bottle stand open for a short while; I may be thinking of times when a bottle has been finished off after a day or two, giving it much more exposure to oxygen. And then there was the bottle of '87 Domaine Dujac grand cru Burgundy that had been sitting open almost a week and... but now we're getting into serious wine wankery.
posted by languagehat at 5:22 PM on December 27, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
wine ain't about rules.
posted by kcm at 9:05 AM on December 27, 2005