Author: Evan Williams

As a wine writer, and a peddler of the juice too, I’ve often felt the urge to get defensive when it comes to the much-maligned “tall bottles”: German and Austrian Riesling, Alsatian Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Gris, Gewurtztraminer, and sometimes even Muscat. The amount of visceral and intellectual satisfaction that I’ve pulled from these kinds of wines rivals any other stylistic category, yet whenever I try to get people to take some home, nine out of 10 will stonewall me. So, what gives?

Well, I suppose it’s easy to place blame on those big blue bottles from the ‘90s, wrapped in striking packages that held unbalanced, cloying, one-note wines inside. Believe me, I’ve done my fair share of blaming. The preponderance of these wines, which obviously sought to cash in on Americans’ (and others’) sweet tooths, did a tremendous disservice to a generation of wine drinkers’ perceptions of Riesling and its kindred varietals that we still battle today. True, there are always good and bad examples of every style of wine, but few seem to have created such a misdirection that it soured countless consumers on anything with a little residual sugar.

As with any style, though, the key lies in balance. The great white wines of Germany, Austria, and Alsace never lost theirs, but as with the oak backlash in California, they were unfairly lumped in with the bad apples. And then, a few years ago, Riesling started surging again around the world, as though a new generation was discovering it for themselves. Will history repeat itself? Not if we can help it.

The balance and harmony between sugar and acidity is something akin to a dance—or, perhaps more accurately, a swordfight. This is true of any style of wine—whenever you taste a wine and it seems “flat” and muted, it’s likely because of both low sugar and acid levels. These are the elements that create interest on the palate; they bring electricity and depth and life to a wine, but just as an overly-acidic wine can pounce on your palate like Sour Patch Kids, a cloyingly sweet wine without the acid on the other side of the ring can leave you with, well, a bad taste in your mouth.

Our charge, then, is to find the balanced examples, whether they’re sweet or not-so-sweet. On the nose, sugar is not always apparent, but when it splashes across your tongue, don’t be afraid of it. The acidity oftentimes plays cleanup on the finish, and some of the best examples go from a slick, rich front to a bone-dry, clean back end. Where to start? Riesling from Germany is a perfect place to start, with such classic powerhouses as Donnhoff, Monchhoff, and Dr. Loosen making wines of impeccable balance and depth. For Alsatian Riesling, Ge-
wurztraminer, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris (nothing like the Italian “grigio,” by the way), Albert Mann, Ernest Burn, and Zind-Humbrecht deserve your undivided attention. And in Austria, look no further than Nikolaihof for some of the most brilliant wines on the planet.

Now, what to do with these wines, then? The other thing that has held them back is that so few people really seem to utilize them to their full potential when it comes to pairing with dishes. Well, the first time you pair a balanced Spatlese Riesling with good spicy food, you fully understand what you’ve been missing. Spicy food is, unsurprisingly, one of the most difficult types to pair wine with—the spice tends to overwhelm, or at best, clash inelegantly with almost any red (often due to the tannins), and many dry whites are not up to the task either. What you need is striking acidity, as well as palate-coating residual sugar. Hmm, I wonder where would we find wines with acidity, and sugar, and no tannins?

For the pairing, nothing compares to Thai food. Most restaurants will let you choose your own level of spice (as a general rule, stay away from “Thai hot,” as no amount of Pinot Gris or Auslese Reisling will put out that fire!), and their traditional herbs and spices really work perfectly with Rieslings and the like. Now, we may be a relatively small city, but there are actually plenty of options for Thai food: Downtown Thai, Lime Leaf, Thai 99 and Monsoon are all close by, as well as Thai Siam Takeout, hidden on a country road in Arrington (down Route 29, south of Lovingston). It’s a trek, but well worth it. Try the spring rolls and beef drunken noodles (with a medium spice level), open a bottle of the Monchhoff 2012 Riesling Spatlese ‘Mosel Slate’ ($30) with it, and you will be transported to another dimension of wine-food pairing. The plush fruit and almost oily texture of the Riesling bounces off the basil and peppers, and your palate will never be the same.

For something a bit closer to home, Downtown Thai’s green curry (try it with chicken or seafood) can’t be beat. Pair that rich coconut-driven curry with the intense (but dry) Alsatian Pinot Blanc (2010, $20) from Ernest Burn. The bright, crisp (but not too light) wine cuts through the milky coconut curry sauce, and the lively, spicy finish will linger for as long as you can wait before taking another sip.

What’s your favorite dish to pair with sweet wines?

As Wine Guild of Charlottesville co-founder, I taste a lot of wine.

There’s a lot of great wine out there, and some not-so-great wine too; after awhile, though, I end up with a substantial list of wines that I love, or that are overperformers in their category, or both. So, with the holiday season upon us, I thought it would be nice to furnish you with a wine buyer’s cheat sheet.

These are some of my top picks of 4Q 2013 for value, quality and character—the three most important things to look for at this point in the season:

Louis de Sacy ‘Brut Originel’ Champagne NV ($35): Great Champagne, that with both classic styling and unique character, is a relative rarity under $50. There are a handful of producers, though, that have really started to make inroads into bringing affordable yet worthwhile entry-level juice to the marketplace, and Louis de Sacy is one of them. This dry bubbly, made with nearly 70 percent Pinot Noir, is bright, fresh and lively up front, with a bit of lemon curd and vanilla. As it develops on the palate, a richness and a touch of toast comes through; it displays a nice bit of weight and seriousness towards the end.

La Meuliere Chablis 2011 ($20): No Thanksgiving table should be without Chablis, and the La Meuliere is a fine example of why. Another classically styled wine, a bit reserved, but with very elegant fruit and the aroma of wet stones and cellar must just below the surface. A balanced, food-friendly wine that will complement nearly any complex meal.

Stolpman Vineyards ‘Golden Point’ White Blend 2011 ($24): This is a wine of purity and light (hence its name and label…a golden point of light), while still having a modicum of richness to keep the edges nice and soft. It’s undoubtedly a feminine wine, and it is comfortable in its own skin. The juicy pineapple and white chocolate that Roussane embodies is front and center, and the balance between that opulent side and its leaner, more acidic side is ultimately what makes this whole package work.

Tselepos Mantinia Moschofilero 2012 ($18): The perfect wine for Sauvignon Blanc fans who are looking to branch out, the Mantinia is a unique cobbling of both juicy passionfruit and subtle herbaceousness. It’s a very giving, expressive wine, never shy; there’s a little more weight to this bottling, yet still it maintains enough acidity to stand up to food (or just refresh the palate on its own).

Chateau Chamilly Bourgogne 2009 ($20): Great, inexpensive red Bourgogne is my “white whale,” and this is a new favorite. A feminine wine at its core, the Chamilly has the elegance and grace that Challonaise Pinot should, but it also has weight, and substance, and color…and it’s actually assertive. At the same time, it’s fresh and vibrant, full of red sour cherries and plums. Finally, there’s real character and interest, like eucalyptus, sage, oatmeal cookies, and old wood.

Podere Castorani Cadetto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2010 ($15): This Montepulciano retains all of the dusty, earthy, dried-fruit-and-red-stones-and-old-leather qualities that are the foundation of great dry Italian table wine, but it’s what happens beyond that that makes the wine exceptional. A very big herbal component is up front, with garrigue and eucalyptus and sage that recall memories of great Bandols and intrigue your palate right off the bat. Beyond that, there’s a slight touch of sulfur (in a very good way), sanguine iron, fruit that’s a touch riper than you’d expect, and subtle baking flavors like allspice. The texture is ripe and soft in the center, but is flanked by assertive acidity and dusty tannins that hold the balance. Perhaps the perfect Italian table wine?

Castillo del Barron Monastrell 2010 ($10): One of the best values in everyday red wine that I’ve tasted all year, this Monastrell (a.k.a. Mourvedre) is bursting with sun-drenched red fruit and a pleasant earthiness. It comes across a bit like northern Rhone Syrah, with a healthy dose of black peppercorns, and finishes with some gentle acidity to leave your palate clean and wanting more. This is something to buy by the case and drink with your friends through the season.

Honig Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2008 ($55/375mL): This makes the list not just because it is one of the only American dessert wines that, for me, has ever stood up to the classic greats of France’s Sauternes; it also is one of the best sweet wines that I’ve tried this year. Like Sauternes, its grapes fall victim to a natural fungus in the vineyard, which concentrates the sugars and flavors. It is dominated by notes of caramelized orange peel, a touch of dusty wood, golden raisins and wildflower honey; it has the expected richness and a viscous texture, but it’s never cloying, and it actually finishes quite clean. A tour de force in American dessert wine.

If you’re interested in purchasing any of the wines above, contact The Wine Guild of Charlottesville (www.wineguildcville.com), or reach out to your favorite local wine shop.

There’s undoubtedly something special about this time of year in this part of the world, and with the right wines and the appropriate food, it becomes pure magic. One of the most perfect of those pairings? Smoked meat and Provence reds.

Situated in the far southeast corner of France, Provence straddles the Mediterranean and benefits both from mistral winds and intense sunlight. As a result, the grapes tend to ripen well and, depending on micro-terroirs, can produce reds to rival the best of the Rhône. It is the home of “garrigue,” and gives us red wines of power, grace, and so much earthy intensity that it’s getting harder and harder to ignore them.

These lands have been growing wine for over 2,500 years, and there is a staunch vein of traditionalism (without much of the accompanying bureaucratic tape that more prestigious regions often enact) running through their wines. With so much of the wine-producing area being situated in close proximity to the Mediterranean, and thus maritime cuisine, it seems almost counterintuitive that their best wines would be red.

Indeed, you probably know Provence for its rosés; the dry pink wines it is most famous for are often both dirt-cheap and exceptionally drinkable (especially with the right foods). Yet they are, by and large, “time and place” wines: When it’s hot outside, when you’re eating ceviche or mussels, Provence rosé is the wine of choice. The red wines of Provence, on the other hand, seem to call for fall, for cooler weather, for heartier dishes and the smoke of a fire pit wafting by.

Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Carignan comprise most of the red wines of Provence. Much like the Rhône to the north, these grapes tend to produce spicy, earthy, rustic wines with considerable backbone. Most of Provençal wine comes from the general areas of Cotes de Provence and Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence. These wide-reaching areas allow for greater leeway in terms of style and quality, and are where the great values are usually discovered.

Bandol, a small coastal subregion between Marseille and Toulon, is the crown jewel of Provence. These are massive, dark wines comprised primarily of Mourvedre (not too many places in France can claim the same). They are often heavily tannic, brash, and in need of cellaring of a decade or more. That wait will almost always reward you greatly, though, as the brashness softens up and transforms the wines into a complex panoply of earthy, heady power.

So, that’s Provence. Now, about that smoked meat. Few foods seem to capture the spirit of this time of year better than those grilled/smoked. Smoked pork rests firmly atop that list, and while traditional pulled-pork BBQ is a classic, one dish that lends itself to purer flavors is the smoked pork chop. A thick-cut, bone-in chop, seasoned with merely salt, pepper, and oil, and smoked over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, then seared quickly until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees, is a revelation. Paired with a eucalyptus-laden Provence red, it is irresistible.

The 2011 Mas de Gourgonnier Les Baux de Provence (currently on the wine list at Bizou and l’étoile) pairs well with a smoked chop. It exhibits pure, gruff Grenache character, but is mature enough to have softened up considerably, thus allowing you to focus on its spicy, rich fruit and earthy, woodsy core. The smoke and spices from the pork will complement it well.

Lamb, on the other hand, was seemingly created solely to pair with Bandol. The earthy, gamey, spicy character of a generous boneless leg will stand up to Bandol’s herbal, meaty tendencies. Both the wine and the meat are naturally ostentatious and intense; the flavorful rendered fat from the lamb comes up against the jagged yet unwavering acidity of the wine to produce a true synergy. The lamb should be sourced well (locally if possible), rubbed with salt, pepper, mustard, and rosemary, and smoked or grilled until it reaches 135 degrees. Slice it thin, and serve it with its own juices alongside grilled, uncomplicated root vegetables.

The 2010 Restanques de Pibarnon Bandol ($32) is the more-affordable (and more-approachable-when-young) little brother of Chateau de Pibarnon’s flagship Bandol. It is, however, no slouch, and has perennially represented Bandol for drinking now. Dripping with eucalyptus, mint, stewed fruit, and cellar must, it benefits from 6-plus hours of decanting and pairs perfectly with pungent yet simple dishes like lamb leg.

Evan Williams is a co-founder of The Wine Guild of Charlottesville. Find out more at wineguildcville.com.

There’s long been a saying (half-jokingly, of course) in the wine industry: “To make a small fortune, you need to start with a large fortune.” While it may not always be the case, the reality is typically that many years and much capital must be pumped into a fledgeling wine growing operation before the first bottle is sold. Vines don’t grow overnight, and even after they do start producing usable grapes, it normally takes few vintages before the fruit is “wine-worthy.” All that talk you read on wine labels about “old vines”? Turns out there’s something to that.

Unsurprisingly, the delay between the initial outlay and the first realistic stream of income creates a significant barrier to entry in the industry, especially when the land and/or winemaker isn’t a proven winner and thus can’t command significant investor commitments. So what’s an aspiring winegrower to do?

If you’ve got the cash (and can afford to lose it on a yet-unproven investment), then you can simply float it for the first few years; but for everyone else, contract winemaking (also known as “custom crush”) is a valuable stepping stone to full operation. While many established wineries engage in some informal “contracting,” both to help utilize extra capacity and bolster the bottom line, the upsurgence of smaller “garage winemakers” in concert with larger contract winemakers has lowered those barriers significantly.

“Custom crush has been around for a long time, all over the world,” explained Virginia Wineworks’ Michael Shaps. “It helps wineries that have capacity issues, but mainly it’s a way for start-up wineries to get a going without the capital intensive demands of building a winery.”

Shaps, who started Virginia Wineworks in 2007 with partner Philip Stafford, never envisioned their rather traditional winemaking operation becoming a regional leader in contract winemaking; in fact, says Shaps, “we had no plan to do contract winemaking, we were just making the Michael Shaps and Wineworks brand; but I saw a need for this service and we started with a few customers.”

Today, Virginia Wineworks’ contract winemaking customer list (which includes custom restaurant labels for the likes of Keswick Hall and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts) has blossomed to over 25, with most of those clients producing between 1,000 and 4,000 cases every year. While the focus of the operation remains the estate’s VWW and Michael Shaps brands, the efficiency of using their existing equipment for “insourcing” is a no-brainer for Shaps and his team.

What does a contract winemaker actually do, you might wonder? Well, excluding growing the grapes, almost anything you need: “[Contract winemaking] allows clients to focus on the two most important aspects of the business: grape growing and marketing,” said Shaps. “Winemaking is really the least important aspect of the business. You can’t make good wine without good grapes and you can’t survive in this business no matter how well the wine is made unless you can market it. So we are really the bridge that brings those aspects together.”

While the client’s emphasis is directed towards growing grapes and marketing, the contract winemaker focuses on making the wine. Shaps said the clients can be as involved as they choose in that part of the process.

“We work hand in hand with them on a production plan and winemaking style,” said Shaps. As any aspiring winemaker will tell you, this type of experience is invaluable; it’s a hands-on masterclass in bringing the juice from vineyard to bottle. Clients also learn when to say “no” to subpar fruit. “We tell them that we reserve the right to refuse their grapes if they deliver fruit that does not meet our standards for quality winemaking,” Shaps said. “We have turned away a lot of fruit over the years.”

Far from a generic winemaking service, the business is designed to not only assist but also educate potential independent winegrowers.

By offering the expertise, experience, and equipment that is so difficult to come by for the aspiring winemaker, contract winemakers like Virginia Wineworks are lowering the financial and logistical barriers to entry into this industry. In an area like Virginia where so much of the land is yet to be explored by vintners, that can only be a good thing.

Evan Williams is a co-founder of The Wine Guild of Charlottesville. Find out more at wineguildcville.com.

Is there a more misunderstood and utterly disorganized style of wine than “sparkling”? (Alright, maybe Riesling, but that’s another discussion entirely—stay tuned!) Sparkling wine is, by all accounts, the patron wine of “special occasions” and celebration, and has thus been cast about, bastardized, and otherwise abused to the point of utter confusion and caricature. Let’s untangle this web a bit, then.

For some, the first hurdle is understanding “Champagne.” For many, champagne (with a lowercase “C”) is sparkling wine, but this is owed largely to the success of its origin, much like “chablis” and “burgundy.” True Champagne (uppercase “C”) is from a storied region in northeast France, and while it might be a victim of its own success, there has been a concerted (and worthwhile) effort in years past to distinguish between “Champagne” and sparkling wine from elsewhere. So, when you’re ordering from a restaurant menu or talking to a store clerk, remember that “Champagne” is a particular designation of sparkling wine amongst many others. If you truly want Champagne, ask for it, but if you’re looking for a full range of bubbly, simply inquire about the sparkling wine selection.

A quick note about “vintage” versus “non-vintage” bubbly: As with Port, vintage Champagne (and some other sparkling wines) are only produced in growing years that have been deemed exceptional. These cuvées are often considered the best of the best, and can command hefty prices. Non-vintage wine, on the other hand, is a wine that is blended continually from vintage to vintage, and is far more typical.

With all of that cleared up, what exactly are the differences between different “bubbly” designations and styles? Let’s start with Champagne, and how it’s made. The wines are typically made up of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, or Pinot Meunier, or some blend of the three. Most houses produce cuvées (which can be any combination of those varietals), while many also produce blanc de noirs (white wine from red grapes), and blanc de blanc (white wine from white grapes). Additionally, rosé Champagne is produced from red grapes and extended contact with the grape skins.

The traditional process of making Champagne, dubbed “méthode champenoise,” is a labor-intensive effort that accounts for at least a bit of the typical premium the wines command. It is comprised of a traditional fermentation, followed by a secondary fermentation in the bottles (additional yeast and sugar is added), which produces the carbonation that originally distinguished the style. The bottles are then carefully “riddled,” stored upside down at an angle and turned slightly every so often until the yeast and sediment have settled into the neck of the bottle. Once this clarification is complete, the “disgorgement” takes place: The necks of the bottles are frozen, then uncapped to expel the ice plug containing the sediment, and quickly recapped.

While this process is steeped in the history, tradition, and lore of the region of Champagne, it is often regarded as a “premium” for some wines outside of the region, and is sold as such. You will often see wines from other areas with “Methode Champenoise” or “Champagne Method,” and while this is not necessarily an indication of high quality, it may hint at closer attention to detail. Other methods of carbonation include carbonating the entire batch in a large tank before bottling under pressure, or simply injecting carbon dioxide into the wine.

Outside of Champagne, many areas around the world produce sparkling wine (yet, due to successful lobbying by the producers in Champagne, almost none are allowed to call it “Champagne” anymore). Within France alone, you will find a great many “Crémants” from regions such as Bourgogne (Burgundy), Loire, and Alsace; the Crémant designation refers to non-Champagne sparkling wine made via méthode champenoise (“Mousseaux” refers to those made by other methods). Generally, these wines can represent a great value relative to Champagne because you aren’t paying for the “wine of kings”—prestige the region has worked so hard to cultivate.

Cava is sparkling wine from Spain, typically from the Catalan region. Generally speaking (with some notable exceptions), these wines are dry, citrus-driven, and not terribly complex—though, they can be tremendous values and usually pair well with a variety of Mediterranean dishes.

Italy has a long tradition of sparkling wines much like France; perhaps the most famous is Prosecco, a wine mainly from the Veneto region made via the “charmat” method (carbonated in large tanks prior to bottling). These are, as with Cava, often dryer wines (though many producers have shifted this bar to a richer style to accentuate its complexity); they can also represent tremendous values, though the sickly sweet examples are often just attempts to prey upon our sweet tooth, and should usually be avoided. Additionally, Moscato D’Asti (which has seen a popular resurgence as of late) is an oft-sweeter version from Asti, while Lambrusco is a much-maligned (sometimes quite unfairly) red sparkler from the Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy regions.

Outside of Europe, the organized regional and stylistic designations start to break down very quickly. In the U.S., there are a great number of California producers (such as Domaine Chandon and Roederer Estate) whose parent companies are producers in Champagne (Moët & Chandon; Louis Roederer). This has resulted in a relatively strong check on the quality of production, and to some very lovely wines that compete on the world stage. However, with most of the producers in the U.S., Australia, and even South Africa, sparkling wine is merely one more wine in a lineup of mostly still wines.

With so much to choose from, the world of sparkling wine should be an adventure worthy of any wine lover—just don’t let the bubbles go to your head. As with any wine style, paying for big-name labels and ignoring the quirky terroir-driven farmhouse producers is no fun, and sparkling wine should be nothing if not fun.

Evan Williams is a co-founder of The Wine Guild of Charlottesville. Find out more at wine guildcville.com.

Alright, admit it: Despite how much you think you know about wine, you’ve invariably found yourself in an unfamiliar restaurant with a daunting binder of wines in front of you, and recognized not a single bottle. It’s O.K., we’ve all been there. This is a precarious situation for anyone, but it becomes even more dicey if you let your “wine ego” get in the way of proper selection. Best to leave that ego with coat-check, and get some help along the way.

There’s mixture of art and science that goes into getting the most out of a given wine list, but the very first step is to seek out a restaurant with an interesting, eclectic list. This is not always feasible, and the majority of the time, your plans will determine the wine list rather than the other way around, but at the very least you should develop a mental list of restaurants in your hometown that fits this bill.

Once you’re seated and handed the wine list, though, the dance has begun. The next thing to remember? Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s almost certain that the sommelier (or an informed waiter) knows more about his wine list than you do. Maybe you have a vertical of that one Burgundy at home and are an expert on that producer—but in that case, do you really want to pay restaurant markup for something you already have? Also be sure to ask the sommelier specific questions about the wines, like their style and what they pair well with, as well as for personal recommendations.

Depending on your outing, your best bet for a starter (or lunch) wine just might be a “by the glass” offering, but beware: More often than not, these are their primary money-makers and thus are stretched to the brink in terms of cost and time. If you recognize a mediocre wine that you know is otherwise $10 per bottle being sold for $8 per glass, be wary. Beyond that, though, always ask for a taste of the wine beforehand, and do not be afraid to ask them to open a fresh bottle. By-the-glass wines are routinely left open for a day or two; the constant pouring (and resultant sloshing) of the bottle means that they’re often severely oxidized and stale when they hit your glass. There is no shame in acknowledging this and requesting a new bottle!

Now you’re into the meat of the selections. The first rule is simple: Don’t order the second-least expensive bottle on the menu. Typically, restaurateurs know that most people will psychologically gravitate towards the cheaper end of the list, but then take a step away from that extreme low-end to make sure they don’t look like a cheapskate in front of their date/friends/boss/etc. As such, this spot on the list (especially smaller, sparser lists) is often unofficially reserved for wines that they’re either trying to unload, or are marked up beyond normal ranges. While this is not always the case, it’s prudent to be wary of this place on this list.

The same goes for the most expensive end of the list. Too often, wine lists will leap up in price on the last two or three wines, mainly to appease the occasional day-trader show-off. This end of the list isn’t necessarily bad, but more often than not, you’re paying for name recognition rather than actual quality. In terms of value, big names are a no-no.

By this point in the evening, hopefully your sommelier (or knowledgable waiter) has gotten the hint: You’ve taken control of your wine fate tonight. Yet, there’s one thing that you haven’t yet conquered—pairing the perfect wine with your entrée. While this is a great time to rely on your sommelier, the unfortunate reality is that the vast majority of restaurants do not provide such luxuries as an all-knowing wine master. If that’s the case, now would be the time to conjure up some sage pairing advice.

While whole books have been written on the subject of pairing wine with food, the thing that you need to do (right now) is homework. You should have a veritable arsenal of regions and grape varietals that you know you like from personal experience, and that play well with certain foods. Obvious examples are Bordeaux with steak or Muscadet with oysters, but other subtle, more personalized pairings are important to stash away for nights like this.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to branch out beyond your safe zone. Too many people who drink nothing but Chardonnay are astounded when they try Chenin Blanc with herbed trout or old vine Chilean Carmenere with a simple steak. You should approach every dinner out as an opportunity.

Just don’t get taken for a ride in the process.

Evan Williams is a co-founder of The Wine Guild of Charlottesville. Find out more at wineguildcville.com.

Normally I try to avoid pigeonholing and categorizing wine too intensely; the thing about winemaking and viticulture is that they’re seemingly built to buck trends, to defy the accepted knowledge, to alter the industry’s trajectory one barrel at a time. And yet, one of the most overused categorizations in the wine world, “old world/new world,” still has tremendous traction in the minds of wine professionals and consumers alike. For better or worse, this distinction continues to dominate the zeitgeist: It shapes palates, affects prices, divides households, and fundamentally calls into question the motivations of many a winemaker.

So what is “new world” and “old world” wine? Broadly speaking, it’s a geographical distinction between regions that have been making wine for centuries (mainland European nations, primarily), and those that are much newer to the viticulture scene (the Americas, Australia/New Zealand, South Africa, for example)—relatively speaking, of course.

But wait: Why should it matter which side of the pond your wine comes from? As long as the growing conditions are right, good wine is good wine…right? Well, yes and no. The two sides of the “pond” represent fundamentally different approaches to winemaking, with a caveat that cannot be overstated: This is a general statement, and scores of wines break the mold and “jump the pond” every year. Not surprisingly, though, the youngness of a region’s wine tradition often plays a fairly large part in how modern its approach is.

Old world wines, those primarily from mainland Europe, have a glaring advantage in terms of viticulture: The continent is relatively small, and the collective area that is any good at producing quality wine is even smaller. At the same time, much of Europe has been worked and reworked by agriculturally driven societies for centuries, and wine has played a central part in the continent’s development.

Finding the right growing site, with the right soil and the right weather, and then determining which grape varietals, growing techniques, and vinification strategies produce the best wine on that site, have historically been the biggest challenges in the process of making great wine. Traditionally, it’s been trial and error, and due to the amount of time it takes vines to mature, this process has always been a lengthy one. So, after centuries of this experimentation, Europe has, in large part, uncovered all of its best properties, and determined the optimal varietals and techniques for those places.

What all of this means for wine from the “old world” is that the classic styles have typically been determined organically, and often focus more on expressing the land, the terroir, than on the “hand of man.” Traditions in Europe, especially France, are nothing if not persistent and sacred, and this is reflected in the winegrowing and legislation.

New world wines, those from areas that were largely colonized by Europeans, come from a different, more modern era and, not coincidentally, represent a fundamentally different approach to winemaking. Rather than focus so intently on displaying the place and trying to organically determine the limits and potential of that place and various grapes, the approach here is more about modern science and what the winemaker can do. Rather than endure centuries of plodding, determined testing, modern “new world” winemaking techniques focus on how the winemaker can affect the grapes in a certain area, and which grapes produce the best wine in that area on a more scientific basis.

This approach provides many more opportunities to make great wine quickly, and tailor the product to a market that demands certain styles. Biochemistry, rather than the traditions of yore, is the mechanism, but not the driver. As with traditional old worlds, the focus is still on producing great wine; the difference here is found in the methodologies, which in turn inform the styles of the wine.

Whereas traditionally styled European wines are often intent on what the earth does, this style is not so limited. Higher alcohol, more sugar, more oak, added enzymes, etc., are just a few of the ways that new world wines tailor themselves more towards the modern consumer’s desires.

But here’s the big question about old vs. new: Why should you care? The reality is that there are plenty of wines from the old world that are new world in style, and vice versa, so looking at a label may not always be enough. The distinction between new world and old is not so much geographical anymore, especially with so many “flying winemakers” consulting on multiple continents at any given time.

This stylistic distinction matters, then, because it’s so often used to describe wine by reviewers, wineshop employees, etc.—the ones who you often trust to pick wine for you—and wine is not only about which fruits and spices you can pick out of a sniff or a taste. Every consumer should confidently know what they like, and why. Concentration on terroir is lovely, but can sometimes ignore the all-important fact that wine should be delicious. At the same time, too much human manipulation can strip a wine of its uniqueness, its soul. Above all, though, these two ‘distinct’ approaches to wine simply highlight a much larger reality in the world of wine: style matters, place matters, but there are no absolutes.

Evan Williams is a co-founder of The Wine Guild of Charlottesville. Find out more at wineguildcville.com.

The first thing that pops into your mind as an everyday wine drinker who’s looking to start laying down a few bottles is, inevitably: “Don’t I need a big temperature-and-humidity-controlled dungeon, replete with rustic stone walls, candles, and old first-growth Bordeaux?” The answer is “No.” Cellaring wine is, really, all about understanding the rules and knowing when to break them. Truth is, a nice cool place to store your aging wine is all you need. Well, that, and a few choice tips on the types of wine to buy, how to manage it, and when to drink it.

Let’s start with a few basic questions, shall we? What are the benefits of cellaring? Why bother? Realistically speaking, most wine is ready to drink right now, today, yesterday, so why do you need a cellar? Well, because that small percentage of wine that is built to age has something in store for you that no young wine can deliver. Tannins, which preserve the wine, soften up and become another layer in the wine’s expression. Flavors and aromas that were abrasive and unkempt at an early age tend to develop, mature, and mellow, leaving a fundamentally more complex and interesting wine than what you started with.

(Also, on a practical level, it’s just really nice to have a personal collection of hand-picked wine that reflects your palate and personality.)

Now, when it comes to cellaring wine (and drinking aged wine), there are a few general rules that should be followed. Temperatures in a cellar should generally range between 45 and 60 degrees; the higher the temps, the faster the wine will age (which is not always a good thing), but for most cellars, mid-50s is a good benchmark. Humidity is also an important factor in your cellar: If the environment is too dry, the corks can dry out relatively quickly and lead to leakage. While the optimal humidity for a cellar is around 70 percent (this is, again, a good goal), most basement cellars should strive to stay above 50 percent as often as possible. Additionally, you want to avoid any direct sunlight, so a basement corner is ideal.

Achieving these conditions on a DIY-scale is not impossible, but, depending on the investment tied up in your wine cellar, you may want to consider a professional consultant who specializes in cellar design. While smaller cellars can utilize standalone fridges, as your love of aged wine grows into an obsession, those fridges fill up very quickly.

Next on your checklist is finding a solution for managing your inventory well. Sure, when you have three or four cases in your basement, it’s easy to know everything about each one of those bottles. When did I buy it? Where? How much did it cost? How many do I have?

But as your collection grows (growing your cellar can easily become an obsession), wine inevitably gets “lost.” For many, this is their management strategy: put it in an unmarked box and forget about it for a while…out of sight, out of mind. Too haphazard for an investment like this; wine can be forgotten, the perfect meal missed, the special occasion spent with the wrong bottle.

In this arena, technology is our friend. There are many proprietary cellar management software suites, but a free, cloud-based solution such as CellarTracker (www.cellar tracker.com) is actually functionally more useful for most collectors. Not only does it keep your live cellar inventory “in the cloud,” accessible from anywhere (even your phone, via such apps as Cork.z), but it also utilizes professional reviewers and other users to give you ratings, reviews, and (most importantly) recommended drinking windows for your wines. When you have 150 bottles of Cabernet, it’s extraordinarily helpful to be able to sort those wines by “when to drink.”

O.K., so you have your cellar management strategies down; now what wines should you buy? Of course, this is a question to which there is no one answer, but as a rule, you should buy wine that has the tannic and/or acidic structure to last. Predicting “ageability,” to be frank, is a skillset that is both subjective and fraught with hits-and-misses; however, most wines that are built to last for an extended period of time in your cellar will typically have substantial tannic structure (that gritty, sandpaper-esque texture that many reds exhibit), and/or sufficient acidity to make it seem a bit brusque upon release but which will preserve it for many years to come.

Last but not least, buy at least three bottles of everything. This is a mistake that everyone makes early on: buying a single bottle of something. It’s expensive. I can’t commit to any more than just one. We’ll savor this one bottle. No, absolutely not. Years later, when you haul that dusty bottle out of your cellar and discover that it’s pure magic, nothing will sting you more than realizing that there’s no more left…and since it’s years later, you can’t get any more. Two bottles is better, but having at least three is what you should strive for. One bottle to try after a few years; another just in case the wine’s not ready, and a third (or more) to enjoy when you can be sure it’s ready.

Oh, and never forget: Don’t be afraid to open a bottle. It’s just wine, and sometimes, a special bottle can turn a workaday weeknight into a special occasion. That’s what your cellar should be all about.