First, if I may demystify for anyone who thinks wine is beyond them...wine is just grape juice left out in the sun. We'll start from there and work our way forward.

 

I've been deeply involved in wine (as a restaurant professional) for decades, though only in the last ten or twelve years have i really been studying it. The beauty part of wine is that, unlike something finite like combustion engines, oenology is a constantly-changing course of which I am glad to be a student.

 

Bold statements to stake my claim in the "Ask the Expert" thread:

 

Best grapes in the world: Sauvignon Blanc for white (only nudging out Resiling), Barolo for reds

 

Best bottle I've had in the last year: 2000 Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet. Got it for free, to boot.

 

Best wine value (tie): Sutter Home Sauvignon Blanc (yes, I said Sutter Home). Great acid, light fruit that won't bowl anyone's tastebuds over, this is about as approachable as wine gets for everyone and is 4 to 5 bucks a bottle. The other one is Beringer Chenin Blanc, a varietal with natural vanilla notes that are usually imparted to whites through oak aging (I spit on the ground here at the amateurs that cask wine to mask imperfections as the result of poor growing technique) and a higher level of sweetness (plus lower alcohol), this is a great transitional wine that can move drinkers of White Zinfandel to better blends.

 

Worst wine value: Opus One. Despite having Mike Salacci, Opus One's master wine maker, come and give us a talk and tasting of the 1992 through 2000, i still think this is about as overpriced as wine can get. Don't get me wrong, the making of the wine itself is brilliant, with seamless transitions from front of the palette to back, even down the throat, but at those prices I'm sorry, it's just not worth it. Better off with other makers' top tier reds for half the price.

 

Best wine innovation: screw caps. Wine can go bad through a mold that forms on natural corks. Conservative estimates put it at 3% of all wines are bad because of this. The new screw cap design (employed by more than 95% of all New Zealand bottlings and growing in acceptance worldwide) means 100% of the wines will taste as they should. Translation: the wine makers are thinking more about the consumers of their products than image. Unfortunately, I'll only know this has been fully embraced by the wine community when I unscrew a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem.

 

Worst wine innovation: plastic corks. They don't let in oxygen the way corks are supposed to. Hence, most wine in plastic-sealed bottles is lousy. Better drink a white bottled that year if anything.

 

Okay, have at it.

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Rob Santa

Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction

and CEO of Ricasso Press