German wines are wonderful, but the entire topic can be, well, hard to learn. The ancient looking wine labels, hard-to-pronounce German names (hard for some of us, anyway), and words like “kabinett” or “trockenbeerenauslese” can send the faint-of-heart running toward a bottle of Chardonnay. If this is you, it’s time to screw your courage to your sticking place and learn about German Rieslings. In this video, we take the entire subject and break it down into small morsels, and then focus on just two of the many styles. If you learn them one or two at a time, you’ll be an expert before you know it. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think by leaving a comment!

We all know that Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV is the 800-lb gorilla when it comes to wine blogs and podcasts. Heck, he even gets to do his show from Epcot at the Food and Wine Festival.

So, it was with great satisfaction (and a hint of giddiness) that I happened to see the “most popular podcasts” in the iTunes Arts/Food directory. There’s Wine For Newbies 2.0, ranked number five, with Wine Library TV ranked number three.

And ahead of Martha Stewart’s podcast.

Speaking of Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, I’m going to be there from November 4 through the end of the Festival on the following Sunday. Maybe a meet and greet with anyone that may be in the area on Thursday or Friday, the 5th or 6th? Leave a comment and let me know!

For decades, maybe even centuries, the Champagne flute has been touted as the best way to enjoy Champagne. Fortunately, this way of thinking may be on the way out. Dr. Vino has a post about comparing Champagne served in a flute with Champagne served in a white wine glass, among other topics. It’s refreshing to see this issue raised, and I find hope in the fact that one of France’s major Champagne houses, Charles Heidsieck, is pushing the idea of changing to a standard wine glass.

Of course, this all begs the idea of whether wine glasses really do make a difference. The answer is a definite yes. I did a little experiment one time to find out. I poured some Australian Shiraz into a wine glass, and poured another portion in a regular water glass. The differences were very noticeable. And, in my view, the wine in the wine glass tasted better.

Longtime readers know that I’m a proponent of “freeing the grapes.” Indiana, among other states, has some ridiculous wine shipping restrictions that make it impossible for me to join various wine clubs. I can’t even order wines that I can’t get in my local area. Although I haven’t tried, I suspect that it’s easier for me to buy a gun over the Internet than to buy wine online.

Two articles on this topic came to my attention over the weekend. The first, from Palate Press, talks about the silliness in general. It’s a must read. The second (also a must read) comes from the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, and shoots down the red herring argument that wine shipping restrictions is all about keeping wine out of the hands of minors.

A bottle of 1999 wine from Washington State offers up some good lessons on aging your red wines and what a “meritage” is (plus how to properly pronounce it!). Enjoy!

Winemakers have been aging wine in oak barrels as long as anyone can remember. California Chardonnays are often described as “oaky.” So what is it with oak and wine, and how does oak affect a wine’s characteristics?

There are countless facts that answer these questions. Our friends over at Snooth, however, have condensed these facts down into an article for their Wine 101 series: There’s Oak and then there’s Oak. What I particularly like about this article is that it gives you excellent examples of how oak has created a signature style for a winery such as Silver Oak.

One of the most frequently asked questions about wine is, “How do I know what wine will go with a specific food.” Fortunately, it’s not as hard as many people think, and Jules Clancy has written a terrific article to share with us.

7 simple rules for food & wine matching success

a guest post by Jules Clancy from stonesoup | minimalist home cooking.

When I was first getting into wine, I remember being a little scared of the whole food and wine matching thing. It just seemed so complicated. How could you predict which wine would be best? So I decided to start a life long experiment. After all, I was pretty sure no one had ever died from a poor food and wine match – how bad could it be?

After many a good (and not so good) bottle, and a few years working as a winemaker in some of the most beautiful wine regions in the world, I’ve developed my own philosophy on how to maximize the pleasure in your food and wine partnerships.

I’ve summarized them in the form of some basic ‘rules’. Please enjoy and feel free to add in any of your own tips for making the marriage between wine and food a rich and rewarding one.

the 7 simple rules for food & wine matching success

i. There are no rules
OK – I know this sounds a little Monty Python-esque but the most important thing with putting food and wine together is to use your imagination. There are no rules that work for every situation and every person so relax and don’t waste your time worrying about breaking them.

As long as you and your guests are having fun then your food and wine matching has been a success, regardless of what the traditional rules would have us believe.

ii. Match wine with people first
Just as some people always have and always will hate anchovies, some people just don’t enjoy certain styles of wine, regardless of the quality of the vino. Sometimes this may be based on a bad experience with a poor quality example, and if the person in question did actually try a decent Sauvignon Blanc they may find that they love it. But forcing people to try new things may do more harm than good.

If you suspect that your guest may be open to giving it another chance, by all means make the offer but please, please do not insist they try your perfect match. No matter how well those oysters and that minerally fresh Riesling go together in your mouth, to someone who just loves to drink big reds it’s unlikely to taste any good.

Respect that everyone’s palate is different. Think about your guests and their wine preferences first and think about the food matching second.

iii. The food and wine must both taste great on their own
Sure duck and Pinot Noir have been known to make a little magic on the taste buds when the two are united, but it’s not always the case. A watery, insipid cheap Pinot is still going to taste sad and bland even if it is teamed with the most succulent duck confit.

The same goes for the food, if it’s not going to taste any good on its own, it is very unlikely that your wine match, no matter how delicious, is going to make the food taste better.

iv. Weight is important
Lighter, more delicately flavored food generally works best with lighter style wines. Heavy tannic reds tend to be best with more robust meaty dishes but of course there will always be times when a light wine could team marvelously with a heavy rich dish (see rule number v.)

v.Wine and food can contrast one another
Contrast is something that we personally love to play with. Using a light acidic wine like a Sauvignon Blanc to cut through the oiliness of fried fish and chips is always a winner. Unless of course you’re with someone who hates acidic wine (see rule ii).

vi. Wine and food can compliment each other
Sometimes finding flavor similarities can result in a harmonious food and wine matching experience. The earthiness of mushrooms in a mushroom risotto can work a treat with a funky earthy Pinot Noir. A fresh, minty Cabernet Sauvignon to compliment classic roast lamb with mint sauce can also be a flavor explosion.

vii. Trust your own instincts.
Like most things in life, if it feels like it’s a bit dodgy and it isn’t going to work then you’re probably on the right track.

It isn’t the end of the world if the food and wine are more at the divorce end of the relationship spectrum as long as you follow rule number three, you’ll be able to enjoy each on their own. A judicious sip of palate cleansing water in between mouthfuls can make all the difference.

[read more from jules at her blog stonesoup | minimalist home cooking]