Gus Clemens on Wine explores and explains the world of wine in simple, humorous, fun posts

This is the weekly column If you go into almost any wine shop, liquor store, or supermarket wine section in the United States—and now in most places in the world—you will find wine bottles arranged and named by the variety of grape used to make the wine. When the bottle contains a predominant percentage of a single grape variety (generally 75% in the U.S., 85% in Europe) it can be labeled as a var...

This is the weekly column Winemakers: To oak or not to oak, that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take up oak to craft your wine to shake the spheres of ordinary. Oak and wine were made for each other. The wood and how it is treated introduces flavors compounds and textures. Oak barrels allow slow oxygenation, which engen...

This is the weekly column What makes a great wine? There is a hard and fast answer: “great wine comes from great vineyards.” What makes a great vineyard? • Terroir. This is big net answer because the French term includes soil composition, climate, topography, even the culture and experience of the vineyard-winery workers. • Soil. Different grape varieties thrive in different types of soil. Merlot...

This is the weekly column Wine is your friend, especially when sipped with friends during a convivial meal. You are obliged to protect it from its enemies. Classic factors that negatively impact wine quality: • Oxygen. Exposure to oxygen can be wine’s valued friend or its mortal enemy. The key is moderation. Readers know of my advocacy of decanting—exposing wine from a freshly opened bottle to air...

This is the weekly column Wine snobbery is a detestable trait. But you can be a “good” wine snob. Here’s how. • Respect the preferences of others. Never be condescending or judgmental. Basically, don’t be a jerk. Good advice for many situations. • Be a life-long wine learner. Wine knowledge is vast and ever-evolving. Anyone who claims to know everything about wine just proved they do not. That app...

This is the weekly column Even if you only dip your big toe into wine wonkiness, you likely encounter the term “malolactic fermentation” or MLF. What is that? Well, this being wine, it actually is not fermentation, which involves yeast. It is a conversion, which involves bacteria. The primary bacteria is Oenococcus oeni—try saying that three times in a row after a couple of glasses of wine (or eve...

This is the weekly column Commercialization defines wine 8-21-2024 Wine is fermented grape juice, an agricultural product like green beans and corn. But that is not how we think about wine. Why? We think of wine as a consequence of culture rather than agri-culture. Wine is treated like an aesthetic product, similar to the arts, with special terminology, in-depth discussion and analysis, reviews by...

This is the weekly column Did the extinction of dinosaurs play a part in the creation of wine? While it may sound far-fetched,  according to an article in the prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Plants , there is scientific evidence to support the theory. Researchers discovered fossil grape seeds in South America dating back 60 million years. Fossil grape seed evidence in India da...

This is the weekly column August. For many, triple digit degree days. Time to beat the heat with chilled rosé. Except, what exactly is rosé? Surprisingly, in the often rigid, rule-ridden world of wine, there is no consensus definition of what is a rosé. Are not wines divided into red, white, rosé, and amber/orange? It might be nice, but they are not. Turns out, only white wine has a strict definit...

This is the weekly column Tasting science used to be so simple. Alas, no more. Back in 1901, a German scientist opined various taste receptors were orderly segregated on your tongue in specific places. Sweet on your tip, salty on the sides, sour behind them, bitter in the back. Nice, neat, wrong. Modern science—the flawed German study is from 1901—confirms the perception of taste is remarkably com...

This is the weekly column Direct-to-consumer (DtC) wine shipping enjoys exponential growth. This is a great and welcome boon to wine makers, especially smaller ones who effectively are ignored by mega wholesalers. But the trend rattles those same near-monopoly wholesalers—Southern Glazer’s and Republic National. And they are fighting back by lobbying to restrict DtC in state legislatures and makin...

This is the weekly column A miracle is happening right now in vineyards throughout the northern hemisphere. “Véraison” is the French term for the time when a wine vine’s tiny, tight green nubs morph into plump, tasty, colorful globes. Red grapes transition from green to red, purple, blue, or black. White grapes transition from green to translucent yellow, orange, or gold. Olivier Lemoine In additi...

This is the weekly column As the Nat King Cole song goes, “Roll out those lazy, hazy days of summer.” But instead of soda and pretzels and beer, it is so much nicer to sip well-chilled rosé. The rosé cliché is that it is only a summertime wine. Not remotely true, but rosé certainly is a lovely libation—both in taste and color—as we endure the trials Sol slings at us. Rosé is light-bodied, fresh an...

This is the weekly column We celebrate the 248th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence tomorrow. There may be fireworks and parades, but most of us will simply honor the Fourth with family and friends. And barbecue, or at least outdoor time. What wine do you pair with backyard festivities. Some ideas: • The day is very likely to be hot. While heavy, bold, high alcohol red...

This is the weekly column Pét-Nat or Pétillant-Naturel. What the heck is that “next big thing” in wine? The “next big thing” designation is ironic because, in truth, it is the oldest thing in sparkling wines. It was how sparkling wine was made before the development of the methods you know today. In English, Pétillant-Naturel simply means “naturally bubbling.” Pét-Nat is made using a technique—“mé...

This is the weekly column There is panic and turmoil in high dollar wines you and I do not buy. This is not about big dollar wines we could buy—Caymus, Jordan, Daou. You can purchase them at higher-end grocery stores. The turmoil is with wines you only can buy from an allocation list or very high-end wine stores. Covid and an influx of wines competing at pompous price points upended everything. A...

This is the weekly column Most of us drink a bottle of wine soon after purchase. From an hour after we get home to a couple of days or weeks. Wine storage in such cases basically is unimportant. But what about those who actually age wine. Maybe you bought a case at a winery and want to savor it over the next year or two. Or you open one bottle a year on a special day for the next dozen years. Or,...

This is the weekly column “If you could only drink one wine for the rest of your life, what wine would that be?” I get that question often. As a Catholic, my tongue-in-cheek answer: “Consecrated communion wine because I am in Hell.” Related question: “What is your favorite wine?” As a humorist, my quip: “Whatever you are pouring.” The answer to the base question: I enjoy all competently-made wines...

This is the weekly column In an opinion survey by YouGov, Americans claimed “bottle or label design” was the least important factor in their selection of a wine. That might be an expected response to an online questionnaire. Few people confess to being lured by clever critter names and images, or campy convict references, or hernia-inducing bottle weights. But, come on, you are influenced. If you...

This is the weekly column What do Americans think about wine? 5-22-2024 What wines do Americans prefer, how much are they willing to pay for it, and what are their general views about wine? YouGov, a British market research and data analytics firm, recently surveyed 1,117 U.S. adults to gain insights. Their results are very detailed; we will give a simpler-to-digest overview. There is a plus/minus...

This is the weekly column The world has a glut of wine. In some ways, a good thing for wine buyers. With supply up and demand down, wine makers have to make sacrifices to move their product. The old seller’s adage applies: “I would rather have 50% of something than 100% of nothing.” Maybe that higher-end, higher-quality wine of your fantasies will move into your pocketbook possibility zone. But da...

This is the weekly column This is the final episode of our adventure into the world of wine descriptors. • Spicy: Various grapes contribute spice—syrah, zinfandel, petite sirah, malbec, grenache, gewürztraminer, riesling, and viognier typically are cited as being spicy. Oak barrels also impart spice. Common spice flavors are cinnamon, pepper, anise, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and mint. For most sipper...

This is the weekly column Continuing our adventure in the world of wine descriptors. • Tannin: Tannins come from grape skins, seeds, and oak barrels. Tannin creates puckery, black tea-like sensations in your mouth that some people hate and others love. Tannic wines do well with fat-rich red meat because tannins cut through the fat coating your tongue, enhancing the beef experience. Tannins also ar...

This is the weekly column In our continuing investigation into the world of wine descriptors, we move to common terms. • Acidity: Key component of wines that “clean the palate” and affect how wine looks, tastes, and ages. The two main acids are tartaric and malic. Hot years/climates reduce acidity. Cold years/climates increase acidity. Acidity preserves freshness and keeps wines lively—very good t...

This is the weekly column In our investigation of wine descriptors, we continue our plunge into wine’s weird words. • Petrol/diesel: Associated with riesling. Aroma is not the smell you get filling your farm truck, but does suggest diesel or gasoline. It is caused by good-thing antioxidant TDN (1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene if you are a chemist geek), which forms from beta carotene and lu...