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

This is the weekly newspaper column. Everyday, commodity wines 11-9-2022 November and December are the heaviest wine-buying months of the year. People not into wine—or even alcohol—indulge during the harvest feasts of Thanksgiving and Christmas and the bacchanalian excesses of New Year’s. Insufferable wine aficionados may glorify the virtues of a bottling of an obscure grape. Wine you can’t pronou...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Cheap and sweet 11-2-2022 The recent death of Fred “Two Buck Chuck” Franzia, gave me pause to think about what the average, non-wine-geek enjoys in an occasional glass. I wrote a column about Franzia back in 2009. The lead: “Fred Franzia drives fellow winemakers crazy mad. At the same time, he makes wine drinkers who value value wines crazy happy.” When a newsp...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Wine and Halloween candy 10-26-2022 Every few years I recklessly throw caution and good judgment to the wind and confront pairing wine with Halloween candy. So here it goes. First, if you are a prudent person you will not pair wine with candy. But, heck, prudence is not a common virtue around Halloween, the first and most willfully foolish of the great harvest...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Champagne boom 10-19-2022 As the leaves don new colors and the great harvest feasts and festivals approach, the demand for bubbly continues to increase. A soaring trend. In 2021, Champagne exports into the U.S. increased by 69% over 2020. Those are eye-popping numbers. And Champagne was just part of the story—prosecco sales increased 25%. Cava sales increased b...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Decanting 10-12-2022 Decanting wine is a strategy you often find recommended. Here are some of the whys and whens. The main reason to decant wine is to expose the wine to oxygen. You also can decant wine if you want to avoid sediment in the bottle or to make a better presentation of the wine on your table, but exposure to oxygen is the principle reason for the...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Wine metaphysics 10-5-2022 Are wines made in the vineyard or the winery? The answer is both, but today more wine professionals say soil, grapes, and the skill of grape growers to deliver the personality of their acres is the essential component. This tracks with the debate about what makes people who they are: nature or nurture? In wine, if the grape grower del...

This is the weekly newspaper column. What does chewy mean in wine? 9-28-2022 What the heck do wine writers mean when they describe wine with adjectives like “chewy” or “crunchy” or “meaty”? Aren’t those words descriptive of chocolate brownies, raw carrots, and T-bone steaks, not an alcoholic liquid? Tannins cause the unexpected lingo. Tannins are a group of astringent, polyphenolic chemical compou...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Fermentation vessels 9-21-2022 Winemakers have a choice of fermentation vessels—wood, stainless steel, and concrete. What is the difference between them? While there are various variables, here is a general overview: • Wooden wine barrels have been used for at least 2,500 years. The barrel we know today likely was developed by the Celts around 350 BCE. The Roma...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Wine’s glass bottle blues 9-14-2022 Winemakers are among the most conscientious stewards of the environment. When vineyards pass down for generations and some of your creations will not be consumed for decades, thinking long term and big picture becomes part of your DNA. Several studies show glass bottles account for the largest percentage of the wine industry’...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Bright side of wine crisis 9-7-2022 Winemakers have a mandatory character trait: resiliency. They certainly have needed that trait in recent years while facing flattening wine sales, dramatic weather worries, global warming, Covid, rising production costs, and supply chain woes. Resilient winemakers actually see a sliver lining to all of this travail. Global wi...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Pinot noir, chardonnay blends 8-31-2022 Many great wines are blends. Red Bordeaux is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and a smattering of other reds. Southern Rhône GSM wines are grenache, syrah, mourvèdre blends. In whites, sauvignon blanc and semillon enjoy a classic marriage. When it comes to chardonnay and pinot noir, not nearly so much. In Burgundy, p...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Italian classification system 8-24-2022 Buying wine can be intimidating. How do you know if the wine is any good without buying a bottle and tasting it? Wine critics may help, but not all wines have a current score and you may find descriptors are just gobbledygook. Several wine-producing countries have labeling systems to give consumers some insight into quali...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Sparkling stemware 8-17-2022 The proper Champagne or sparkling wine vessel is a pain in the glass. Wine professionals largely agree on what glass best presents the wine for tasting, but that is not the whole story. In many ways, the glass depends on the occasion. If it is a celebration pour—a wedding or other large group—a narrow flute may be the best call. Flu...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Most searched Napa wines 8-10-2022 Napa is universally recognized as one of the world’s premier wine regions, and you pay to enjoy its exalted pours. How much and which wines get the most attention? Wine-Searcher maintains a daily updated online list of the world’s wines complete with pricing, scores, and links to reviews and maker websites. It is an invaluable...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Sauvignon Blanc summer 8-3-2022 Sauvignon blanc is versatile all year, but it particularly shines in the scorching summer we endure this year. Its crisp acidity and tropical fruit flavors complement lighter dishes and salads. Sauv blanc often is called “salad in a glass.” Nicely chilled, sauv blanc easily is appreciated at the end of a triple-digit day. Sauv bl...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Wine capsules 7-27-2022 What’s with the foil or plastic capsule at the top of a wine bottle covering the cork? More pointedly, what is the point of it in the 21st century? The capsule once had a purpose: to protect the cork from mold or nibbling critters in dark, dank wine cellars. Not really a problem today. Wine traditions die hard, and the capsule morphed in...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Chardonnay 7-20-2022 The past 40 years have been a rollercoaster for chardonnay, the most popular wine in the United States. As Baby Boomers came of wine-drinking age in the 1970s and 1980s, consumption of chardonnay soared. Growers planted everywhere possible and produced as much as possible, which does not do chardonnay flavors any favors. In the winery, make...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Smaller wine containers 7-13-2022 You demanded wine options. Winemakers heard you and new options—some might call them marketing gimmicks—are being created as fast as they can be dreamed up. Moving away from 750 ml bottles is a big trend. Wine now comes in once-rare sizes and materials: 375 ml (two pours), 187 ml (one pour) containers—and there are more sizes....

This is the weekly newspaper column. Chilled red wines 7-6-2022 NEWS FLASH: We are in the “Dog Days of Summer,” or “High Summer” as it was called in the Old South. Whatever you call the scorching time between early July and mid-August, it is time to chill your wines. That includes chilling red wines. Forget the myth that chilling reds means killing reds. Lighter, less alcoholic, less tannic, less...

This is a reader-supported publication. To receive exclusive posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This bonus material is offered to all subscribers as my July 4th gift to you. Hot dogs and July 4th Today is the 246th July 4th since the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Happy July 4th. I am going to visit food and beverage today, and I r...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Mendoza Argentina 6-29-2022 If you drink Argentinean wine—who doesn’t, given its high quality and excellent QPR (quality-to-price ratio)—you likely have seen Mendoza on the label. Mendoza is Argentina’s largest wine region—75% of the country’s vineyards. It has the most wineries—more than 1,200. It is a world-class producer of malbec and cabernet sauvignon. Men...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Open bottle tips 6-22-2022 A standard 750 ml wine bottle contains five 5-ounce pours. What do you do when you drink one or two pours and have left-over wine? There are solutions. First, let’s see what causes problems. Oxygen is a wine’s best friend until it turns into its worst enemy. We all are familiar with decanting and letting wine “breathe” to open up flav...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Father’s Day 6-15-2022 When this wine column began more than 14 years ago, Father’s Day was not a topic. Men drank beer, women drank wine. That was just the way it was. Times changed—more likely the perception of the male-female divide was inaccurate. The first Father’s Day column did not appear until the fifth year. This marks the eighth time for a dad theme a...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Wine container history 6-8-2022 Wine containers have evolved for thousands of years. Let’s examine. Earthenware provided the earliest containers—amphora and kvevri are the most familiar. They still are in use today to make wine, especially in Italy, Georgia (the country), and Croatia. Sheep bladders—wineskins—were the equivalent of today’s wine bottle. They are...

This is the weekly newspaper column. Wine and sports 6-1-2022 In the antediluvian 20th century, you likely associated beer with sporting events and athletes. Today, in the bright, shining enlightenment of the 21st century, wine can claim its spot alongside beer as a sports libation. Beer guzzlers would demure—likely with a belch—but they would be wrong. Major sports venues have upgraded both their...