2008 Woodie Awards
Unique wine flavors sampled at tasting
Elise Sommerfeldt
Issue date: 11/20/07 Section: Arts & Lifestyle
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The Wine Market Council reported that the wine drinking population in America has risen 31 percent between 2000 and 2005.
Part of the wine industry's new success is due to the increased amount of 20-somethings who are warming up to the idea of drinking wine on a regular basis.
Student Entertainment Awareness League hosted a wine tasting in Esker Dining Hall, led by Jim Allen, director of catering for Chartwells, to help educate students on the basics of wine.
"Wine used to be very snobby," Allen said. "Throw that out the window. Wine is supposed to be fun."
Some attended the event to learn more about a drink they already enjoy.
"The principle reason I came was so when I go to restaurants, I would know what to get," Anna Hoffman, senior, said.
Allen began the event by educating participants on how to read labels, how to identify a high-quality glass of wine and how to drink it.
A bottle's label is like the wine's identification card. The name of the wine is simply the name of the grape variety used to produce it.
The label should include the name of the winery and its address as well the appellation, or region where the grapes were grown.
Knowing the appellation is important because factors like rain, soil and humidity can affect the taste of the end product.
The year that the wine was produced is call its vintage, which is important because if a particular region experienced a bad growing season, one would know not to purchase a bottle from that year.
A common misconception is that all wines should be aged to reach their full flavor potential.
"Only very expensive complex wines are meant to be aged," Allen said.
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