The One Minute Wine Master Quiz

One day, hanging out at Barnes and Noble, Melissa came upon a book called "The One Minute Wine Master."  Inside is a quiz to help pinpoint some wines you may enjoy.  We took the book home with us, and Melissa and I took the quiz.  I have been using the suggestions to help guide my wine choices for the exchange.  Given that some of us are "wine selection" challenged, (not naming names) I thought I would post the quiz.  All credit for the quiz goes to Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan, MW, author.

Note: These types of quizes rarely work out well for me - I frequently don't fit into one or more of the categories perfectly, but it was fun to take and see which season I mostly fit into. According to the quiz, I am a Spring and Melissa is a Fall.

The reason I like this quiz is because it introduced me to some new wines that I had never heard of before. I used the results for my last selection, the Grüner Veltliner, and now I am a fan of that wine.  Since one of the purposes of our wine exchange is to broaden our knowledge of wines, I figured this quiz was a good starting point for new wines.

Enjoy!

The One Minute Wine Master Quiz

Question	3 points	2 points	1 points	0 points
1.How do you take your coffee or tea?	Black/nothing added	A little milk or cream	A lot of milk or cream	I don’t drink coffee or tea
2.  How much sugar do you add to your coffee or tea?	None	A teaspoon	Two or more teaspoons	I don’t drink coffee or tea
3. What type of chocolate do you prefer?	Dark, bitter chocolate	Milk Chocolate	White Chocolate	I don’t eat or like chocolate
4.  How often do you put lemon on your fish?	Never	Sometimes	Always	I don’t eat fish
5.  What is your favorite juice	Apple	Orange	Lemonade	I don’t drink juice
6.  How spicy do you like your food	Extremely hot	Medium	Mild	None
7.  If you compare the body of a white wine to the body of heavy cream, whole milk, or skim milk, which would you prefer?	Heavy cream	Whole milk	Skim Milk
8. If you compare the body of a red wine to the body of heavy cream, whole milk, or skim milk, which would you prefer?	Heavy cream	Whole mile	Skim milk
9. What type of perfume or cologne do you like?	Spicy/Intense	Sweet/candied	Floral/fresh	I don’t like perfume or cologne
10.  What type of gum do you prefer?	Spicy (cinnamon)	Bubble gum or fruity gum	Fresh (mint, violet, etc)	I don’t chew gum
11.  What is your favorite snack?	Something rich like a chocolate or a candy bar?	Something savory like chips or crackers	Something light like a piece of fruit or carrot sticks	None of these

 Total Points:

Key: Spring: 1 - 13 Points

        Summer: 14 - 19 Points

        Fall: 20 - 25 Points

        Winter: 26 - 33 Points

Based on the season, the following wine recommendations are made (sorry, Jennifer, but I couldn't reconstruct the colorful, nifty answer wheel in your book, so we are reduced to a list)

Spring: Riesling, Savignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Albariño/Alvarinho, Grüner Veltliner, Marsanne/Roussanne, Anything Rosé, Beaujolais, Berbera, Pinot Noir

Summer: Soave, Chenin Blanc/Steen, Torrontés, Viognier, Dolcetto, Bonarda, Monastrell, Nero D'Avola, Cabernet Franc, Merlot

Fall: Chardonnay, Gewürztraminter, Pinot Gris, Carménére, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Pinotage, Syrah/Shiraz, Garnacha/Grenache, Primitivo/Zinfandel

Winter:  Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, Nebbiolo, Melback, Petite Sirah, Amarone, Aglianico, Touriga Nacional, Merlot, Zinfandel

Hold Your Sipping Horses

Through trial and error these last few weeks we have come up with a system for tasting our wine. We don't just crack open the bottle and gulp it down... At least we aren't supposed to. The Smeals like to prematurely sip their wine when they think no one is looking, but usually it goes something like this. After everyone is ready, the initial chit-chat is out of the way, and the wine breathes as necessary we begin. Melissa, as the designated person of the group, asks us what we see in the wine (yes we do really follow the 5ish Ss of wine tasting) and she dutiflily writes diwn our winy thoughts as we go along. Then we smell the wine and discuss which notes we notice. We swirl and resmell as needed (Sherry and Brit at this point usually prematurely sip their wine before everyone else. I can't decide if it's because they just love wine that much or they really want to be first.). Finally, when we all declare that we are ready, we sip the wine together. As we sip and savor Melissa writes down our thoughts on the wine. We note what we taste as Melissa gives us taste options from her book. We score the wine based on a five star system but Brit has his own wine scale based on four stars which will hopefully be posted sometime soon.

Brit Scale

Hello all! I would like to share Brit's Drinkability Scale with you. Please feel free to editorialize to make it better!  The scale is a simple 1-4 - no middle ground for those who can't make a firm decision!

1 = NEVER DRINK OR BUY AGAIN!
2 = Underachiever - not pleasant to sip alone but salvagable with the right food pairing
3 = Tasty! Enjoyable to sip, significantly improved with the right food pairing
4 = Superior culinary event in every way!

I fortunately have had only one '1' that I can recall, that was last week, unfortunately. The vintage was French, so there goes that stereotype... a 2005 Superior Bordeaux which shall remain nameless (I lost my notes on that one).  I suspect a defective cork, actually.

Recently I have enjoyed two "4's", though I have to admit I usually limit myself to under $20 and my tastes are not very refined.  Nonetheless, I found a nice Spanish red wine, Peter Lehmann of the Barossa "Layers", 2009.  Very complicated, noticable berry fruit, medium purple color and legs. Perhaps a borderline 4 but worth trying, great deal for under $15. The other was French, 2010 Chateau Belleview Cholet.  I won't give it away, let me simply recommend it and see what you think!

Cheers!

Coming Together Across the Miles - Our Story

Mission – To have a wine tasting once a week; sounds easy right? But this weekly wine tasting is between siblings and their families who live in three different states; New Jersey, Florida, and Texas. 

How to complete the mission: Enter the miracle of the internet. Courtesy of skype, these three siblings (plus spouses and children) have discovered the joys of virtual wine tastings.  Each week someone picks a wine and then sends the wine information (name, type, vintage, etc.) to everyone else. We then gather around our computers with wine glasses in hand.  Though we’re thousands of miles apart, we can exchange ideas about bouquet, appearance, taste and pairing, but really it’s just an excuse to enjoy good wine and even better company. 

How did the mission start? It started simply, with Brit and me talking about our enjoyment of wine and viola, the idea was born.  It now includes my family, Brit's family and Sherry's family. Some of us are more serious, some of us are just there to heckle the group and make "the wine face." Regardless of motives, we are all there to find a way to cross the miles and bring our families closer together.  In the pursuit of careers and earning a living, we now find ourselves spread out all over the country like so many American families.   Sherry and her family live in Florida, Robin’s family lives in New Jersey, and Brit’s family is in Texas. Posts will be made by any one of us to share our experiences and maybe some pairings or recipes - Melissa and I are also fans of cooking with wine.

Disclaimer – we are not wine experts. We are amateur wine lovers who are trying to learn more about wine and our family.  You need no wine knowledge to read this blog, just a willingness to try anything once. 

Where this will go is anyone’s guess. The world is filled with great wine and we aim to discover and explore as much of it as we can. Despite the fact that we are separated by state lines, time zones, and climate, Virtual Vino is one easy and enjoyable way to keep the family together.