Purple Teeth Tales

A hearty welcome to Tavia Babb, our newest (and first!) contributor to STX LS! Tavia will be spreading the gospel to Crucians every month here. You can also get her expertise nightly at Salud! Bistro.

Ms. Babb

The Purple Teeth Tales “I Am Not a Wine Snob…Ok Maybe a Little”

Cork dork, wine snob, cognoscenti, grape nut, collector, connoisseur…I would not use any of these words to describe myself. I claim no official expertise, I do not wear a tastevin hanging precariously around my neck, and at my restaurant, I do not claim to be a sommelier. That term demands a respect not often appreciated. I am simply an oenophile, a wine lover.

Sure I love a pricey bottle, a properly aged rare gem, a stain your teeth big boy. And in my past and present work experiences I have been lucky enough to slowly sip (ok gulp in some instances), some real treats.  After an extended tour of Italy’s wine-growing regions, I was lucky enough to share a bottle of Bertani Amarone 1976, my birth year, on my 30^th birthday.  It was full of cherry flavors and leathery textures, and had a history as old as me.  I have sipped ten-year old (young?) First Growth Bordeauxs, and I have decanted and waited impatiently for the collectible Mollydooker Velvet Glove to finally open up its velvety Shiraz. I have even popped open my favorite Champagne, Krug Grande Cuvee, and let its perfect little bubbles pop in my mouth, with take-out Chinese, pretending all the while, that I could afford to do this every night!

When drinking these wines I try to be thoughtful, and appreciate their nuances, history, and impact on my wallet. Part of the fun in being a wine lover, is to tease out a bottle’s aromas, as seventy-five percent of what we perceive as taste is actually smell. Swirling and sniffing, while looking rather pretentious, opens up these aromas, a wine’s bouquet if you will, and gives us layer upon layer of all those silly descriptive words that actually do help us appreciate our wine on another level then say, a vodka soda. “Leather, cherry, tropical fruit, chocolate, barnyard, etc” are all things we can smell, that help identify the magical levels of taste that fermented grape juice can bring us.

Alas, I can’t afford these wines nightly, and I do drink wine nightly (daily sometimes as well!).  So I am always on the lookout for great values. By this I mean a wine that if you blindly tasted you would find layers of aromas and flavors, a texture in the mouth with some weight, and a balance between alcohol, acidity, tannins, and fruit.  In short, a bottle you would happily have paid $30 for, but only spent $12. Usually, though there are exceptions, these do not come with a cuddly animal on the label, nor are they stacked 30 cases high on a pallet.

I like to look for interesting values on the shelf and on a restaurant wine list. I tend to search for wines from Chile or Argentina, where superb grapes are grown and carefully nudged into vino by winemakers trained in France, Italy, and California. Look for wines from the Montes or Casa Lapostolle wineries of Chile, and Terrazas de Los Andes, Catena, or Vina Cobos of Argentina. I look for second labels from famous wineries. For example, the Italian Super Tuscan Ornellaia is $200+ on most wines lists and is worth every penny, but its baby brother Le Volte, which is made from some of the same grapes, and aged in the same oak barrels, runs about $55 on a wine list. I also look for obscure grapes. Often a varietal that hasn’t garnered international acclaim yet, can still be affordable.  Look for Torrontes from Argentina, Arneis from Italy, or Spanish Grenache, Bobal, or Mencia.  And lastly, if you can’t afford Champagne with your Chinese takeout, try a bubbly from a less expensive part of the world, Spanish Cava, or Italian Prosecco may not have the caché, but are a great bang for the buck.

But do give me a call when you pop open the Krug with your General Tso’s, I may claim not to be a wine snob, but I’ll swirl and sip with the best of ya!

Wine Suggestions:

If you can’t drink Ornellaia every night, try its baby brother: Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Le Volte, a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 40% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon from Tuscany. About $55/bottle on a wine list.

If You Cant Drink Krug Grande Cuvee every night, try Segura Viudas Reserva Heredad, a Spanish Sparkling wine, or Cava, made the same way as Champagne. About $45/bottle on a wine list.