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TAKING THE STRESS OUT AND BRINGING IN THE FUN TO HOLIDAY WINE SHOPPING

Ah, the Holidays. New York is full of festivities and gatherings and friends and family. Everyone is shopping for someone (and a little for themselves…don’t lie…you know who you are) braving the crowds and the cold to find that perfect gift.

Speaking of the perfect gift what about wine. People have been coming into the shop as of late wondering what to do about certain situations. I have put these sitches into three categories.

Wine is already pretty confusing. What do you do for the categories of the holidays?

There is the intimate dinner with good friends or family. There is the ubiquitous holiday bash with too many people too hone in a single type of wine. Then there is the “Secret Santa” sitch where you are buying wine for an employee, boss or a client.

Well there is a solution. It is not iron clad because everyone is different but there are some comfy generalities that can be locked down and relieve some stress.

It is similar to Thanksgiving in that the flavor party on a holiday table can be various and hard to pin down one wine to it. So if you are looking to save some pennies in this, “economic climate” then go for an affordable Montepulciano from Abruzzo. These wines from the eastern coast of Italy are round and medium bodied with a nice fruit depth and a little bit of spice thrown in for good measure. The soft tannin structure of Montepulciano is medium and not at all intrusive so it one that everyone at the table will like. The prices of these wines are usually very reasonable ranging from $9 to $12 or $15. And usually the label looks very old school and Italian. Aesthetics always help.

If you want to spend a little more on friends and family you can go for a Bordeaux which is always a nice looking bottle and says Chateaux something on it with a classic font on the label. The thing about Bordeaux is they don’t have to be expensive to be good. They are all pretty much blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot. Some are Cabernet Sauvignon based (meaning the majority of the blend is Cab) and some are Merlot. It just depends on what you are looking for and your wine merchant should be able to help you find the right blend for your get together. The price for a really nice, affordable, well rounded Bordeaux can cost anywhere from $17 to around $40. The friends and fam will love them because they are smooth and elegant and go great with all kinds of food.

For white wine it is always nice to bring some bubbles. Prosecco is a fun one to bring because it can be on its own or mixed. Prosecco is a late ripening grape in the Veneto in Italy that is made into a semi dry sparkling wine and a little bit of a bite and a hint of sweet. On its own it is a great aperitif. You can also mix it with some Campari and a lemon twist for a spritzer or pour half of a flute glass with Prosecco and the other half with peach juice for a Bellini or OJ for the famous Mimosa. Prosecco can be very affordable as in $13-14 a bottle but you can also spend in upwards of $20 or for a nice one.

If you want to bring a still white wine maybe try to keep it minerally, crispy and fun. For friends and fam I would go for a Gavi Di Gavi from Piedmont in Northern Italy. The grape is actually called Cortese but is most known for being produced in the town of Gavi. Cortese is a light crispy wine with hints of citrus and sometimes subtle almond notes on the finish. It goes great with food (especially seafood) and is not too pricy. These bottles are found in that wonderful sweet spot of between $10-20. It can either say Cortese on the bottle or Gavi. Either way it is the same grape.

For the ubiquitous holiday bash one must decide how well one knows the host of any given event. You don’t want to bring a bad bottle but you also can assume that it will be emptied in no time at all and there is a chance you may not even get a glass or even a sip.

So the safe bet is to go for the Garnacha wines of Spain, which are always well priced, and medium bodied and spicy with deep soft fruit. These are definite crowd pleasers that won’t break your wallet. Garnacha wines range from $9 to about $20, which is a nice range that can fit any bash whether you know the peeps, or not.

For white wine I always like to bring a bubbly. They are festive and fun and make for great background noise at a holiday party with the popping of the cork and the short, excited yelps of everyone within range of that cork happily ducking out of the way but staying near to get a glass of it.

Cava is Spain’s celebratory sparkler and is usually consumed for baptisms and such. They are always well priced happily in the, “sweet spot” and dry with hints of sweetness. Don’t worry too much about the brut, extra brut, dry, extra dry indications on the label. You are going to a party where everyone is probably bringing some sort of bottle of alcohol there will plenty for people to choose from. If you really want to know the differences between them you wine merchant will be able to explain it but for Cava if you are in a hurry just grab it and go. It will be appreciated. I promise.

And now the category creates the facial stress lines. I call it the Secret Santa category because that is essentially what it is: a gift for an employee or a boss or a client etc. Someone that you like and appreciate but don’t want to spend too much money on but want to get something reasonably nice for as thanks. It can be a tough one. And the reason I know is having a wine shop for only two holiday seasons now and seeing the large number of people looking lost in the sweet spot. They want something nice but not expensive. They want the receiver to feel it was a thought out gift and not some useless tchotske.

Well it is always a good start when I see bosses and co-workers in the shop at the holidays. Wine is a wonderful gift.

Stay with red wine for this category. There is a perception that white wine especially in the winter is not as expensive and as much of a financial commitment as red. This is not the case but it is cold outside and a bottle red fits the whole scene more than white generally.

And within this pocket of holiday shopping I would slip in Southern French wine. These wines are some of the most affordable wine in all of France and are delicious blends with all kinds of comfy flavors that all kinds of people are going to like.

The areas to consider are the Cote Du Rhone, The Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence and Southwest France. There is no need to go into too much detail right now because if your reading this you are just looking for a nudge in the right direction but I will say this:

They are most always going to be blends of a plethora of “indigenous” grapes form the area. They may or may not have the blend specified on the label. They getting batter at it but there is still some résistance to this day to telling the consumer what is inside the bottle. Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Carignan, Cinsaut, these are the most popular grapes of Southern France and vignerons (French winemakers) play around with them in the cellars to create their own identities. In general these wines are going to be earthy with hints of spice and herbs but with very deep fruit and soft yet prominent tannins. They are un-intrusive and perfect for a cheese party or for a proper dinner as they go great with all kinds of food. They are also light to medium enough to drink by themselves if desired. All in all they are very versatile wines.

And the labels are all over the place too. This part of France is kind of going through an identity crisis right now trying to figure out how to present themselves so you might see one bottle with the classic chateau in a sketch with fancy script them right next to it a minimalist modern oval of a label with nothing but one word on it. So with the help of your wine merchant you can find the right blend with the right label for the right employee, boss or client. The price range of these awesome, peppery, earthy wines is right in the sweet spot of $10-20. Happy shopping! Maybe buy a bottle for yourself.

The most important advice I can give beyond the quick general guide to good holiday wine is TRUST YOUR WINE MERCHANT. A good relationship with a wine shop is the best way to give and receive good wine. Shop owners are there to provide not only wine but personalized service. They should love all their wines. If a wine merchant put a bottle on the shelf they should know something about it. Try to find a passionate wine shop that cares about their product. Then you are assured a great wine and a relationship of great sound advice for many future bottles to come.

DI WO NI SO JO

This little project of mine keeps getting crazier and crazier. I am overwhelmed with information and trying to keep focus.

I am going to take this opportunity while I am researching the history of Greek wine culture to talk about the god they associated with the vine: Dionysus.

Tracing his origins have led me down an ancient messy hedonistic path that is full of mystery and decadence.

The stories of Dionysus are very cool. And the history of his associations is an adventure film in the making.

There are various stories of how Dionysus came to be but first lets talk about how far back his name goes.

“DI WO NI SO JO;” this is how the Ancient Minoans called their god of the vine. This is as far back as history has given us as to his origins. The name has been found on Tablets in the ruins of Crete and there are indications of his presence in the Mycenaean civilization following the Minoan’s demise.

What is interesting about this is that he was thought of as an alien God by the Greeks we know of today that created the Olympian Pantheon (Pan was another).

They believed that he was an import from afar arriving late to the Olympians, hailing from the west from place called Nysa. Nysa is what is thought to be Ethiopia today. Some also believe it to be Arabia among other far-off lands including Egypt. There are actually definite similarities between Dionysus and a handful of gods from other cultures.

This idea of a foreign God making his way into Greek culture is supported by the plethora of stories about Dionysus and how he came to be according to the Greek myth.

Generally this is what happened:

Dionysus was born of Zeus and either Persephone, queen of the underworld or Semele daughter of a king. Either way Zeus got one of them pregnant. And Hera, his wife, went APE.

According to the many stories a couple things happened here but generally Hera went out for vengeance and tried to have baby Dionysus killed. In one story Hera came to earth from mount Olympus disguised as nurse and befriended Semele gaining her trust so that she would spill the beans about being preggy with Zeus’ bundle. After succeeding Hera (the nurse) pretended to not believe her and sewed the seeds of doubt in Semele’s mind.

The doubt got to Semele and she called upon Zeus to show his true self to prove he was the baby daddy. He was sad to do so but did anyway knowing that to show a God’s true self to a human would mean the humans immediate death. When he exposed his true self in all his lightening bolt glory she was overwhelmed and died.

Zeus took the unborn Dionysus from her belly and sewed him into his thigh. Months later he was born from Zeus’ thigh on a mountain far away called Pramnos.

Pretty wild stuff.

The other version has Persephone as the mother. When Hera finds out she sends her Titans to the underworld to lure the baby Dionysus after he is born with toys and rip him to shreds and eat him.

The succeed but right before they destroy the baby’s heart Zeus arrives with bolts of lightening and…Zeus driving the Titans away and takes the heart and gives it to Semele to eat to impregnate her and recreate Dionysus in the womb.

WOAH!

Crazy.

Pretty cool.

But why is he the God of Wine?

When Dionysus grows up he learns how to cultivate the vine and extract wine from the juice of the grape. This becomes his attribute. What solidifies him as the god of wine is how he spreads the knowledge to the human world.

A couple things happen here.

Fist of all Zeus put the care of him in the hands of Hermes the messenger God to hide him from the still-pissed Hera. Hermes takes the infant to Nysa (a far off land) to be raised by rain nymphs also called Hyades. After he has grown Zeus rewards the Nymphs with their own cluster of stars called the…wait for it… Hyades.

There are also stories of him being raised as a girl to hide him from Hera. This explains the many depictions of Dionysus as very effeminate.

Hera finds the boy in Nysa and strikes him with madness sending him wandering around the world. In Phrygia, which is part of Anatolia; now modern day Turkey, he meets the Earth Goddess Cybele. She teaches him how to control the madness and sends him on a sojourn across India where he teaches humans how to make wine.

Bear with me…

His travels at some point finally take him to Greece where he comes in the form of a human. A man named Icarius and his daughter Erigone take him in and in return for their hospitality he gives them the secret of winemaking.

He holds his promise to Dionysus to spread the craft among his fellow humans and in turn teaches the Shepards living near him who love the drink but eventually fall into madness (get drunk) and believe Icarius has poisoned them.

In a rage they beat him to death and hide his body. For days Erigone cannot find her father until their dog Morea leads her to his body. She hangs herself in despair but earns her place in the sky along with her father and their faithful dog.

And here is where wine spreads itself into Greek culture. History and mythology tell us various versions of these stories. I just tried to generalize and sum it up for you guys. I hope I didn’t confuse you.

I am learning as I go myself and am having a great time. I think it is time for a Dionysus tattoo.

Next post I might veer off my Greek course and do a little science of tasting. I have ADD wine love. Cheers!

MY TURKEY DAY TWO CENTS

Are you ready? Have you prepared? Are you staying where you are or are you traveling to your past for a couple of days to revisit a childhood you may or may not want remember in full?

If you are going to see mom and dad are you ready to digress into prepubescent stages? Are you already telling yourself you are so going to the gym on Friday before shopping? Did you tell yourself you are not going to over do it this year knowing deep down that when it comes to it…you will? We all will.

If you are staying where you are going? To a mutual friends pad…can they cook? Does it matter (when wine is involved)? This is that time of year. We eat ourselves into a coma and walk it off at the gym or shopping the next day.

What about wine? I am sure that we have all read about wine for the holiday and what is best to be paired with the plethora of flavors on a Turkey Day table. So I am just going to throw in my two cents to round it all off.

There are so many thins happening on the table on Thanksgiving Day that is down right impossible to pair it with one wine. My rule is this: any wine that is medium bodied with a good amount of acidity and medium fruit with a tannin structure more on the softer side (they can be there be not overwhelmingly so).

These are some of my favs:

Montepulciano D’ Abruzzo:

Medium bodied earthy red with smooth tannin that get a little deeper as it opens. Un-intrusive and inviting for a crowd. The medium fruit depth is a welcome compliment to all the flavors you will scarfing down on Thursday.

Pinot Noir:

This one we all know. It is smooth and round with subtle spicy berry fruit. It sings by itself but pairs wonderfully with all flavors on the table. It is also a great red for the vegetarian in the farm.

Corvina:

Indigenous Venetian varietal and the primary grape in the Valpolicella blend. This wine is perfect for the holidays. It’s medium bodied and round with vibrant acidity and a deep but lively dark cherry fruit. It is a comfy wine and goes perfectly with all Turkey Day flavors.

Orvieto:

This white blend from Umbria in Italy is my favorite Thanksgiving Day white. It is a white wine for red wine drinkers and it has nice complexity that holds up to a lot of flavors. Deep mineral fruits with a hint of honey running through the middle to give the wine some back bone is this one rolls. It has a grip to it that holds up to any flavor on the table from the turkey to the yams to the cranberries.

So there it is: my two cents. I hope all is well in the planning and that everyone has a safe and fun Turkey day. The day when it is okay to indulge is here. Just run with it. Cheers.

APOLOGIA

Apology:

"from the Greek word Apologia, meaning explanation or defense. Not to be confused with apologizing."

Again, I am happily overwhelmed.

I wanted to do a post on the festivals of the Ancient Greeks that were dedicated to Dionysus, the God of wine, mystery and ecstasy. I was going to talk about how important the festivals were to the evolution of wine culture in Greece and breakdown the different festivals and their crazy rituals to get an understanding of how deep wine was embedded into their lives.

In doing this I started researching the God himself and by the time I had finished taking notes I realized that I am really obsessed with Dionysus and his origins. Not just in myth but in reality. I found that his cult had been around since the Minoans and that he was a sort of Johnny-come-lately deity to Athens via rural cults celebrating him in the vineyards outside the big city.

But what is even more intriguing and mysterious and a bit weird in an awesome sense is the unique associations he has to woodland creatures primarily big cats such as leopards and panthers but also the serpent, the bull and the ivy; all potential agents of danger. This shines a whole new light on the God with the grapes in his hair.

The story is so cool that I feel I need to write about it.

I want to get to know this God and the people that worshiped him. Where did he come from and, in myth, how did he come to pass?

Once I understand the God then I may have a better understanding of the festivals which will lead me to a better understanding of the importance of wine in Greek culture which will lead me to the next chapter in their history which gets a bit dark and depressing.

But worry not there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it involves great wines on the market for us today with complexity and character and finesse and aromas handed down from the ancients.

So I apologize for the no-in-depth-post havin’ this week but next week I will be introducing you guys to Dionysus. So get ready for the craziness. Cheers.

GREECE PART II: THE NEXT STEP IN THE WINE CHAIN. THE MYCENAEAN EPOCH

As my research winds its way through the Ancient world of Greece I am finding this wonderful movement from Crete and the Minoans gradually towards Athens over centuries to secure the ancient Greeks we all know from our childhood. That’s how far back this goes. The Greek wine culture has been around for so long it is almost hard to grasp.

In my previous post I spoke of the beginnings of wine culture in Greece; which is pretty much the beginnings of wine culture in general. I worked my way through the Neolithic Era into the Bronze Age speaking of the Minoan Kingdom on the island of Crete. This is where it all began.

The Minoans were so successful in trade of all goods including wine and were such a balanced society (or so I have read) that they were the envy of surrounding cultures that in turn attempted to follow their lead. Some of it worked and some of it didn’t.

It came to a close when volcano eruption devastated the Aegean Sea. The, “Thera Eruption,” as it is known (it also has other names) Destroyed everything around it not only by the sheer mass of the eruption but also the tsunamis and earthquakes it created in the aftermath. I have read of other cultures being affected by this disaster long distance from ground zero. This devastation left the Minoans weak and vulnerable and eventually they were conquered by the mainland Mycenaean culture which is where our next chapter in Greek wine begins.

Troy, Homer, Zeus, Dionysus, festivals, Theater; this is the era we all understand. This is when Homer was telling his tale of Troy. The Mycenaean epoch gave Greece its grip on the world. Where as the Minoans were mercantile and peaceful the Mycenaean’s built their ideals through conquest. They took full advantage of the Minoan vulnerability conquering them and setting up a main city on the coast called Knossos. They were intrigued by the Minoan culture from their Goddess worship to their trading skills (grapes, grains, oil). They then brought these influences to the mainland and spread them across the ancient world.

And they also brought with them wine.

The wine culture of Greece makes its shift. It becomes an industry and sews itself into the religion of the people through a God given to them by a cult in the rural areas.

Just reading about this time in Greece one may get excited; a lot was happening and at a rapid pace. This was the time of Homer and the intrigue of interactions between man and deity. Mount Olympus sat in the distance invoking fascination and fear as the home of Zeus and his children.

The Mycenaean culture began to grow and from 1600 BC to 1150 BC they spread their culture around the ancient world through conquest and migration.

Linking all of this information is a bit difficult not because there is a lack of knowledge but an instead overwhelming amount of it. If I am not careful I may loose my focus and confuse the hell all of us. So let me try to put this in perspective.

In the urban centers of the civilization there was a swell of wine culture. Archeologists have found ancient scripts with references to appellations, vineyards, and merchant sales info as well as references to the God Dionysus. Also Mycenaean cellar notes have been found as far as Sicily and Tuscany.

Outside of the urban environments wine making was moving along steadily with attention to vineyard management as well as techniques in the wine making process itself. There is evidence of people crushing grapes with their feet to the sound of a flute as well as indications of a treading system used to transport amphoras through the facilities and cellars. Although most winemaking was on a small scale there were a few large-scale estates boasting their pedigree.

As far as trade is concerned this is one of the most interesting aspects of ancient Greek wine culture. Mycenaean amphoras have been un-earthed in Egypt, France, Tuscany and Turkey. Although science has not been able to link vines grown in ancient Greece to the verities of today the vines that are flourishing in Italy we know from Roman writings that there was an observance of the quality of Greek wines and there are varieties today in Italy that are believed to be from the Mycenaean civilization such as Greco Di Tufo and Aglianico and probably Fiano.

This is a brief overview of how the exciting idea of wine embedded itself into a culture and spread throughout the world. In my next post I will go back to the urban centers and talk about how wine influenced celebration and how Dionysus came to Athens. Cheers.

GREECE PART I: UNDERSTANDING HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Here we go…

Wine has been embedded in Greek culture since the Neolithic era. Festivals were created around it and it was even given its own God, Dionysus, with a theater dedicated to him on the slopes of the Athenian Acropolis. The wine trade in Greece to the rest of the ancient world was immense and very important for the spread of vines and rituals of wine culture across the globe. In modern times the global market has been slow to accept Greek wines and there are reasons for this just as there are reasons it took a while for Spain, Southern Italy and other once unheard-of wine regions to grab hold of the merchants of the world.

In this series I will search for a deeper understanding of this ancient culture and their influence on my favorite drink.

The information I jot down in this and the following posts are the results of some extensive research but by no means am I an expert in the ancient history. I am just trying to connect the history to the wine so that I have a better understanding of Greek wine and where it came form. If at any point in my journey to grasp this immense subject I miss something by being too general please comment and let me know. I want to have a complete understanding of this part of wine history and would love input.

I love history and even more how wine is almost always present throughout it. The Greeks have always been a fascination of mine. When I was a kid in school I never did well but when it came to memorizing Greek Gods or building the Parthenon out of paper mache for a project or learning my columns I was all over it.

Another culture I truly dug was ancient Egypt. The way they saw the world and the customs they followed were so deep and mysterious it infected me.

With Greece it was more of a wow factor. They had these lively gods and goddesses with wandering heroes enduring impossible tests, slaughtering sheep for the Gods before a feast even in travel (they brought the livestock with them sometimes).

And they had wine.

The Egyptians had wine as well but they usually got it from the Minoan kingdom on the island of Crete, which was one of the fist major trading hubs in the ancient world. The Egyptian culture veered more towards beer and lotus or date wine.

Lotus wine Keith?

Yes Lotus wine. I have an idea of what that might taste like and as much as I would love to try it for giggles I don’t know if it is even made these days and what it might do to my palate ( I am thinking a mouthful of bath & Body Works products).

Anyway, the Greeks didn’t do a lot of buying of beer because to them beer was a drink for savages. This belief solidified the wine culture even more. And it even went a little beyond that. When the Greeks drank wine they always diluted it with a bit of water. This gives an indication as to how primitive the wine making process was. To not water down the wine a bit before consumption was also a savage act and those poor souls who did so were put into the beer club.

So with these general statements in mind let me refocus and talk about how it all began. Or should I say lets begin with what we know.

The following is a discussion on the beginnings of wine in this ancient culture and how it will eventually play a vital role in everyday life.

The vine has been recorded as being cultivated in as far back as the Neolithic Age in ancient Europe. This was a period where human technology really started to appear and develop. Farming and livestock became the norm. From 10,000 BC to about 7000 BC people started to settle down with yearly crops becoming a source of survival.

Among these crops were grape vines.

By the time the Bronze Age hit around 2000 BC the grape vine was being cultivated. And in ancient Greece the Minoan Kingdom, named after the mythical king, Minos was the at the center of trade in the Mediterranean. The kingdom was located on the island of Crete just south of the Peloponese. It was the perfect middle point for ships trading to the west and vice versa.

The Minoan society was known throughout the ancient world as a very organized mercantile civilization. Their organization and focus was probably a result of their way of life. It was a very inclusive society with men and women participating in sports and other public activities. The Minoans were farmers and artists dabbling in pottery, frescoes and cultivating a plethora of fruits and grains. I know all civilizations did have these things but when you read about the Minoans you get a sense of calm confidence. One really cool thing is their religion: it was based on Goddess worship. There is evidence of male Gods but very few and they were seemingly insignificant. There is also an idea of the, Minoan Peace” which is often disputed among historians but the idea is great in that there was not much in fighting among the Minoans. There was a general peace among them that other civilizations tried to emulate. Although some slightly disagree with this theory apparently more evidence is being looked at to prove the, “Minoan Peace” but there is also some possible evidence of human sacrifice. Who didn’t do that back in the day? I hear it was all the rage.

Crete became the most important trading hub for all types of textiles and grains and fruits including grapes and vines and amphora filled with wine.

I have read that excavation efforts have found strong evidence of how important wine was to the Minoans with traces of grape seeds and amphora found as well as winemaking technologies. Traces of their wine culture have been found in Egyptian archeology on pottery and in other parts of the near east.

Then around 1600 BC…. gone. The Minoan civilization disappears. The most popular theory is that of one of the largest volcano eruptions in the history of civilization occurred in the Aegean Sea on the island of Santorini then known as Thira.

I wanted to talk about this civilization because if you think about the way they lived with art and farming and equality binding the people, of course wine was going to be involved.

This was the beginning. Human life began to find a center. People started to settle into their spaces and civilizations were formed.

Wine and human history is parallel and as we will see in my next post how the two begin to evolve together.

The Minoans were one of the major influence of the ancient world with smaller surrounding islands following their lead in production, cultivation and trade (most notably Santorini to the north). This influence will gradually lead into the next phase of Ancient Greece were the wine culture of the Greeks will solidify and become religion and not just a luxury.