Welcome to another edition of Barrel to Bottle with Binny's Beverage Depot. I'm Jeff Carlin with Kristen Ellis from Binny's Beverage Depot. Hey, Kristen. Hey, how are you? I'm good. What's on the docket today? Today, we're going to talk about wine words. Words that's speaking the language of wine. I'm going to teach you how to taste professionally. That means you're going to have to spit. Uh-oh. I hope you're okay with that. For you, I'll spit. I've seen all kinds of spitters. If you dribble on your beard there, I've seen it before. I feel it coming. I'm sure I've done it before. Yeah, absolutely. We're going to do that, teach you how to taste, talk about ageability in wine. What makes a wine age? Debunking some myths about old wine, what you should do, what wines you should store or can store for long-term cellaring. Then we're going to talk about what makes those wines age worthy via climate and style. We've got two wines to exemplify that. Wines that are very famous at most people, well, maybe have heard of at least down the line, and that's that. Excellent. And if, of course, if I want to learn more about wine in general, what's my best plan? Your best plan is to come on in, and first, if you're shopping, ask one of our knowledgeable sales associates on the floor, wine consultants. That's your best bet for in the moment when you're at a Binny's. But obviously, you can come and see us. We've got seminars happening every week at a lot of our locations. We have a program called Continuing Education. You can come. We've got winemakers, different guest speakers. And like I said last time, sometimes you even get me teaching seminars on all things wine. But we do add in spirits and beer as well. Excellent. Well, let's get started. What do we got this week? So when we're tasting professionally, you've got two glasses in front of you, Jeff. I do. Left to right. That way we don't get... Cheers. That way we don't get confused as to what we're tasting. So pick up your glass on the left. I've got my glass on the left. So when you taste and you're looking for a good wine, what are some things you're looking for? Well, for me, a lot of times it's the color. That's the first thing I usually notice outside of maybe where it's coming from or the price or the label. But if I've got a glass in front of me, I usually look at the color and I usually look for something I think is darker. Okay. So you're looking for deeply colored wines, which you have here. This is a Cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley. It's Groth 2012. And you can see it's very deeply colored, right? Very deep, ruby color. The depth of color comes from grapes that have really thick skins, generally, or come from warm climates. A lot of these red grapes really need a warmer climate to ripen properly. So we're going to find that they come from warmer areas around the globe. So you're looking for that depth of color. Sometimes we refer to a red wine that's really deep in color, really big and chewy. You might call that brooding. Now I know for brooding, you kind of think of somebody sulking in the corner. Sure, writing my memoirs, smoking a cigar. Oh gosh, yes. Just totally into it and a little bit melancholy. But in this sense, we're not thinking that, we're thinking depth. So deep wine, bigger wine, mouth coating wine, this is what we're going to refer to as brooding. So you could say that this wine is a brooding wine, this big old California cab. So what am I tasting for? How should I taste even? The first thing, before we get into actually tasting, we need to smell it, right? You have to give it the old smell test. So do you smell things like feet or cardboard or horses? I hope not. Yeah, exactly. But do you? No. You smell delicious black fruits. So we're going for the clean test, right? Is it good or bad? And if your wine smells like kind of faulty, could smell like nail polish or nail polish remover or vinegar, which is what you don't want to drink, you know, reserve that for your salad, then we say this wine is off. Yeah, but this guy isn't. This is perfect. So we're going to call this wine clean. Clean. Clean is good, right? So then beyond that, once we know we have something that's good on our hands, because wine can go bad, just part of the game. So what happens? It's not personal. It's just the wine. So go ahead and take a sniff and then try to come up with, you know, three different aromas that you're smelling here. I'm smelling something like a pepper. Nice. I like that. A little bit of a white pepper here. I get a lot of dark fruit flavors, black cherry, blackberry, that sort of thing. Yeah, I'm getting that too. There's a little bit of a kind of a green peppery, herbaceous sort of note on here. It's lovely. When you get these sorts of clusters of aroma, this wine is going to have what we call complexity, right? So we're hitting on all kinds of different heads here. We've got some herbaceousness. We've got some spice. You can smell the vanilla because this thing was aged in new French oak. And so when we have those aromas layered on top of each other, we associate that with complexity in wine. Oh, okay. Yeah. So now we're going to taste. The best part? Best part. So when you taste wine professionally, it's not like just imbibing at home or when you're out to dinner. I call it sexy mouthwash because it's wine. So you want to get it, Jeff, all over your mouth. So we're talking about in the cheeks, on the tongue, in front of the teeth, by your lips, all over. And then spit it out, open your mouth, and breathe. Spit it out, you say. You don't have to. So we're looking structurally for a few things. First and foremost is the wine sweet or dry, right? This was a dry wine. Now it's fruity, but it's not sugar sweet. But then let's talk about body. Body is this term we use to describe how big a wine feels in our mouth. A lot of people that talk wine, that teach wine, use the primary example of milk. Everybody's had milk before. And milk with varying degrees of percentages of fat. So we all know skim. But think of skim milk as kind of light-bodied, right? Then move to 2%, kind of more of a medium-bodied, I would say. And then a full-bodied milk heavy cream. So when we're talking about wine, light, medium to full-bodied, think of it in that regard, and you're going to kind of understand how mouth-filling is it. Things that add body to a wine are alcohol. So the higher the ABV, the fuller the wine is going to feel. So the more alcohol in the glass, the bigger the wine is on the palate. And then things like sugar as well are going to add to that weight and to that mouth feel. Let's take another sip and kind of refresh. Do you feel your sides of your tongue watering? I do. I can. It's kind of hard to talk to you right now, but I'm going to fight through it. That's acidity. So that's where we judge acidity. It's the mouth watering on the sides of your tongue. What do you think? How much acid is in this wine? How acidic is it, I should say, for you? I mean, compared to like an orange juice or something like a citrus, it's mild, but compared to like a water, it's definitely, I can taste it. I can feel that. Absolutely. So that watering, the more it waters, the higher in acid the wine is. So I would call this a medium to medium plus acidity if I want to split hairs. Is there any correlation between an ABV and the acidity of a wine or is that just a myth? There can be. Yeah, absolutely. because of the ripeness of grapes, right? Ripening a fruit means that as you go through the process, sugar levels rise and acid levels drop. Have you ever eaten an under ripe apple? Sure. What does it taste like? Yeah, not good. Super tart though, right? Super tart. That's because it's really high in acid. As that thing becomes riper, the apple, actually the sugar level rises and the acid level drops. So we're talking about different climates. So cool climate wines are going to be naturally higher in acid and then lighter in body because there's less sugar in the grape. They're less ripe than grapes from hotter climates. So there is an inverse relationship oftentimes between acid and alcohol. But we have to take into consideration the grape. Not all grapes are created equal in terms of acidity. So Riesling, for example, has screaming high acidity. But Gewurztraminer, which is just a really fun grape to say, is known for lower acid in wine. You judge it by that watering in the sides of your tongue. Interesting. So when I'm buying wine, should I keep a map in my head of where I'm buying stuff from? So if I buy something that's from Napa versus something in Oregon, should I expect something to be sweeter in a different region? Or is it really more about the grape? It's a bit too broad to say that a region all the time is going to produce sweeter wines. If we're taking in to consideration the entire globe, it's a big example. But when you're talking about region, you're talking about style. If you know the climate of where that wine is coming from, you'll have a good idea what that's going to be like. And you can learn that for yourself by focusing on one grape from two drastically different climates, and you'll see how they perform. Really good example of that is Chardonnay. You can buy a Chardonnay from Chablis, which is in Northern Burgundy in France, and then buy a Chardonnay from a really hot climate like Australia. Super hot, right? You're going to find what Chardonnay from a cool climate versus a warm climate is going to taste like and feel like both in terms of acid, body, and flavor. That's a great plan. I've never thought of that. Yeah. Binny's Wine Tip Number 23. The region where a grape is grown is an important, determinative factor in how a wine turns out. Soil nutrients, the amount of sunshine, temperature variations, and the amount of moisture, fog, and other conditions deeply affect the wine's flavor. Happy tasting. Let's talk about myths. So the myth you want to talk about today is that wine gets better with age, right? You don't have to know everything about wine, but you can know this and you're a step ahead of the game here. Just because the wine is old doesn't mean it's better. No? Yeah, man. I would say about 96 percent of all wines produced in any given year are not meant to be cellared long-term. So that 2003 box of wine I had isn't getting any better? It is not getting any better. Actually, I double dog dare you to drink a glass of that and finish it. I'll get back to you on that. That is just not built to last. It's a great example, right? So yeah, so absolutely if you're going to find something that you've forgotten about under your bed for a long, long time, then it's not going to be better. Not all wines are created equal. So very few are meant to or should be cellared for a long period of time. So what takes wine down the road? What gives it longevity? Well, we've got this red wine here. It's tannin. Let's pick up actually your second one. This is a wine that's made from the same variety, Cabernet sauvignon, but it comes from bordeaux, a place called Saint-Esteffe. It's very well known for very powerful, very tannic big wines. So when we tasted that groth, it was relatively soft. Let's go ahead and taste this. I want you to taste for tannin. Where you judge tannin is between your teeth and your lip. It's that drying furry feeling. So sexy mouthwash, Jeff, don't forget. Get it all over and spit it out and then tell me how dry it is. All over my cheeks. Got it. Do you feel the drying on your teeth? Almost. It's almost bitter. Yep, they can. Like if I was like the same sensation as if having a lemon or a lemon drop something in my mouth. A little bit bitter that way? Yeah, my mouth is being pulled forward towards the front of my teeth. Sure. And tannin is going to give you that. So that's that furry, that grippy feeling. And we call that grip. That's what we mean. If a wine is grippy, we have a good amount of tannin. And tannin actually works as an antioxidant. So if the wine has a good amount of tannin in it, it's a wine that can potentially be aged for a little bit longer than your standard bottle of wine would be. So this could age anywhere between 10 to 20 years. If you'd really like it to, you can lay it down. Now, 20 years down the line, that wine is not going to taste the same because wine evolves in the bottle. So be prepared when you're drinking wine that's 20 years old. It's not going to taste anything like that wine that was just made a few years back. If I went in to Binny's and I said, hey, I'm looking for stuff to stock a cellar, I just bought a new home, would you guys be able to push me towards something that might be cellarable or something you'd recommend that's safe? Of course. Yeah. I mean, we're talking about bordeaux varieties. That's the number one example. I think a lot of people come up with your cabs, domestic and of course from France, from anywhere, really depends on the winemaker. But obviously, those are going to be wines you age. The most famous would be Barolo, comes from Italy, super tannic. I mean, those wines actually drinking young Barolo, it's really not fun. They need time because that wine is what we call tight. Explaining tightness of a wine, it's just kind of how giving it is. So this is what I want you to do. Take and just clench up every muscle in your body. Can you do that for me? Do it more. Now try to breathe. How easy is that? Not easy. It stinks. Now relax your body. Relax. Now breathe. Yeah, that's what tight wine is, right? So it just means that all the muscles, everything is just so tightly wound. It's not breathing. It's not giving you any aromatic. So over time, that wine is going to loosen up. It's going to relax itself. It's going to give you aromatic compounds. You're going to smell, taste, and it's going to be a better experience for you. So if a wine is too young, we call that tight oftentimes. Binny's Wine Tip Number 37. In general, the color of wine comes from the grapes used. Reds are usually made from purple or blue grapes, while whites are made from greener grapes. However, wines aren't just red or white. Some unique wines are golden, pink, or even orange. All right, Kristen, as we wrap up this week's Barrel to Bottle with Binny's Beverage Depot, I know we've got a Q&A. We like to get it. Yes, we have a winner of a $20 gift card. So if you send your questions on Twitter, at Binny's Bev, you could be as lucky as Bernadette from Naperville is today. Well, congrats to you, Bernadette. Yes. So she writes to me, she says, Kristen, I found a bottle of Behringer White Zinfandel from 1994 down in my basement. And she asks, how much is it worth? Now talking about ageability in wine, I don't know. Next to zero, Bernadette. Unfortunately, that wine is just not built to last. Taste it. I'm interested to know what it tastes like. But unfortunately, that wine isn't going to be worth very much to you. So go ahead and pop it and see where it is. But I have a feeling it's probably what we would call dead at this point. It's okay. We're going to make it up to you, Bernadette. You have 20 bucks to come get in, come get something fresher and easier to drink today. Fantastic. Congrats. That'll do it for another week. I enjoyed today. I feel like you've learned a lot. Yeah. I got a lot in my mouth today. Yeah. You tasted old world, new world wine. We'll get into that someday, but you learned what acid is, what tan it is. Tight. Tight, brooding, gripping, grippy, and what makes a wine age-worthy and what doesn't. Go ahead and drink your 94, bear your whites in. Well, for Binny's Beverage Depot, you're Kristen Ellis. Yes, I am. Thanks for tuning in today to Barrel to Bottle with Binny's Beverage Depot. I'm your host, Kristen Ellis. Looking forward to seeing you next time. Until then, keep tasting.