When the cold winds are blowing outside, there’s nothing like a glass of big, dry, red wine. Cabernet Sauvignon fits the bill perfectly.
A well made Cab is deep and rich in flavor. It’s usually got just enough complexity without being annoying. And a good Cab goes with most of those rich comfort foods like soups, pasta dishes and breads that seem to taste even better when it’s cold outside.
A lot of people are intimidated to try to pick out a wine if they are unfamiliar with them. Don’t be. There are lots and lots of wineries in the world which means that everyone is faced with dozens and dozens of choices when they are searching for wine. That there are so many also means that even the most educated wine geek doesn’t know them all. In other words, no one knows for sure that this or the other wine is the absolute best choice.
When buying wine for the first time:
Read the labels - winemakers typically write honest, if a little flowery, descriptions of their wine on the bottle. They don’t want to misrepresent and they want consumers to have a clear choice.
Ask for help - the clerk at the wine shop is there for just this reason. Having been one myself for a few years in the nineties, I can tell you that a really interested customer with lots of questions is the highlight of the day. I would always much rather talk about wine then go into the backroom and work on inventory!
Experiment - the only real way to learn about wine is to taste it!
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I’m not going to get into the whiskey v. whisky thing again, I think I already stepped deeply enough into that one.
But when thinking of cold weather booze I have to mention this beloved brown liquor. When it comes to whiskey, it’s all good - Irish, Scotch or Bourbon.
Each one has it’s own tradition and the difference in flavors is remarkable, as much among the three distinct styles as among the various distilleries that make them.
I like to keep it simple with whisky. I typically drink it over ice but when I’ve just had enough with the cold, I just add water at about 50/50 proportions. Simple, tasty and warming.
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Hardly a cold day passes that there isn’t some form of black beer in my refrigerator. These rich, dark beers with notes of chocolate, coffee, and dark roasted grain are perfect for cold weather sipping.
The difference between stout and porter is almost indistinguishable these days. There are so many variations on each - chocolate, coffee, sweet, imperial, etc. - that both styles manage to cover the spectrum of dark beer tastes. One general truth remains - porters, like most other beer styles, rely on hops to balance the natural sweetness of beer while stouts include a type of dark roasted barley that contributes a particular sort of bitterness along with hops. It’s a subtle difference that’s difficult to distinguish in the glass.
Dry stouts, of which Guinness Extra Stout is an example, are my favorite. Many breweries brew a dry stout all year long but even if they don’t, they often will introduce a seasonal dry stout in January or February in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day in March. So, I have plenty of dry stout options to choose from during these cold months.
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I’m not typically a fan of fortified wines like port. Fortified doesn’t mean that vitamins have been added. Instead, the wine is fermented as usual until a particular alcohol content is reached. Then a distilled spirit - brandy in the case of port - is added. This increase in alcohol is toxic to the yeast and kills them. This leaves a drink that is sweeter than typical wine but with a much bigger alcoholic kick, usually twenty-something percent. Fortified wines also usually have a very boozy quality in the flavor.
Like I said, I’m usually not a fan of port. When the weather is warm or even mild I find it too sweet, even syrupy, for my taste. I like dry drinks and savory foods. You can keep your hot chocolate and cookies; I’m just not interested.
But when the weather turns frigid one of the first things I do is run out and grab a bottle of port. There’s something about that goopy sweetness mixed with the pronounced booziness of the wine that’s just perfect during the winter.
“Real” port used to be called porto. I said real because it comes from the region and the makers that originally developed the drink in Portugal. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t good ports out there without the o, it’s just an interesting note.
My port of choice is most often Sandeman. Sandeman offers vintaged ports but I’m usually perfectly satisfied with their more affordable blended versions.
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I don’t know about you but Old Man Winter has definitely found me in my corner of the world. It’s been crazy cold most of this month and all I want to do is flop in front of a fire with a stiff drink. So, for the rest of this month - and maybe some of next - let’s talk about cold weather drinks.
First on my list is brandy. Nothing makes me feel more protected from the ice and snow than warming a few ounces of silky brandy in my hand. As the stuff warms, it releases great aromas that remind me of late summer gardens and autumn leaves.
Now, I’m agnostic on the issue of cognac v. brandy. I’ve never found cognac to be remarkably better than brandy; it just seems like one is paying more for a booze because it comes from a particular region and therefore has the stamp of rarity. Not that I deliberately avoid cognac, I just would rather spend my money on quality instead of, well, I suppose one could call it a brand.
My favorite mid-range priced brandy is Asbach Uralt from Germany. It is a great, aromatic drink with lots of depth of flavor. There’s hardly a better way to pass a winter evening than slowly sipping a glass of this rich, tasty drink.
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