Welcome back. Now that we’ve explored the stronger stuff, we’re going to tone it down a bit and get into the smooth, mellow rhythms of old-school wines. Most wines that are in this taste range come from Europe, but there are a couple defectors found in the USA and Australia. To find these wines, the one thing to pay attention to is to think about the climate:

Hot weather = rich, full-on grapes
Cool climate = medium, mellow, crisp grapes

Chile may be a hot place, but all their vineyards are found way up in the hills, meaning they grow in a cool climate, which produces these nice, steady wines. Same goes for Australia and the USA; the Mclaren Vale & Napa Valley may be hot but don’t think for a moment that you’ll get the same rich wines in the cooler areas of Southern Victoria or up above California in Oregon or Washington state.

So if you are hooked on Chile and find the powerful wines we described last week a bit overwhelming, you should head on out and explore cool-zone wines. You have to be a bit more careful in picking wines here, cooler-zone areas don’t have rock-steady climate and so the quality of the wine can vary greatly year-to-year, but there are a few areas where you can find affordable bottles with little worry on what lies inside.

Washington/Oregon

To the North of California, in the cooler Washington & Oregon states lie several hundred wineries that produce toned down, yet still classically American wines. Like their Californian Napa Valley/Sonoma cousins, wines from up here lean toward fruity and can have a bit of vanilla oak infused in them. However because of the cooler climate the wines never reach the same intensity as Cali. The grape varietals Merlot and Chardonnay do especially well up here, and if you like your reds slightly herbal, you can check out Cabernet Sauvignon as well. Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamete Valley or Washington Walla Walla are world famous as well but pick carefully. Pinot Noir is a very fickle grape to grow, meaning it’s expensive and quality can vary wildly year to year. Like other American wines, Pinot Noir from here is more fruity/strawberry in flavour than their European counterparts.

Italy

If you’re looking for something with less fruit flavour and more spice/herbal/earth check out the wines of Italy. Since Europeans have their own way of doing things, when you are browsing the Italian wine aisle you’ll notice that there are few to no grape varietals on the labels. Instead you’ll need to rely on place-names to pick out your wines.

Tried and true regions to pick from are Piedmont, Brunello di Montalcino and with some footwork Chianti can produce some reasonably priced wines.

Down in Piedmont, you’ll find bank busting wines from Barolo & Barbaresco, but since those are for people who have seriously come down with the wine bug, we’ll check out the simpler, more accessible wines. Keep an eye out for:

Dolcetto d’Alba (Dolcetto from Alba)
Light, dry, moderately fruity red with enough tannin in it that makes it better suited for drinking with food.

Barbera (or Barbera d’Alba)
Richer, more dark-cherry flavoured and goes well with tomato based dishes.

Nebbiolo (Nebbiolo d’Alba)
Comparable with Barbera in terms of fruit and richness but it’s a bit lighter.

Moving up north you may come across wines from Brunello di Montalcino. Brunello is more nutty, earthy, with light cherry/berry taste. Some of these can be expensive, ranging from US$25-$50 (HK$200-$400) but most wineries from here make a second line of daily wines called Rosso di Montalcino. Rossos are made from the same grapes as the premium lines and are priced around $15-25 (HK$120-200) and are a good way to test the waters before upgrading.

Chianti is another very famous wine area where they make tart cherry filled wines ranging from light to medium and floral in character that is best drunk with food.  Quality can vary, so try a few bottles before deciding whether or not you like this style. Avoid cheaper bottles and anything wrapped in the aptly named “fiasco” or straw basket like the plague

Next Week:
Step 4 - Keeping it Mellow, Moving on through Europe: Spain