There’s a rule of thumb that more alcohol contributes to a fuller body. Well, as a living example of that maxim, I could have told you that without demonstrating it with a wine tasting, but then, what fun would that have been? At our class on May 17, we explored body types again with a 2006 Rauen Riesling Spatlese (German with 8% alcohol) and a Gentil “Hugel” Alsace Riesling (12.5% alcohol) for our two white selections and a 2003 Chateau Tour Puyblanquet Saint Emilion (a merlot-based Bordeaux with 12.5% alcohol) and a 2005 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Merlot (California with 13.5% alcohol) for our red selections. Wow, could we see and taste the difference in the two Rieslings! The German Riesling was much more delicate in smell and taste and lighter in color and weight. The Alsatian was darker and fuller, with stockier legs and a much bolder flavor. You could almost feel the higher alcohol content from the smell. In our blind tasting of the reds, we had difficulty trying to guess which was which because they were so much closer together in alcohol content.[*]

Our next class will take place on June 21 – late this month because June started on a Friday. So remember, it’s the Thursday after the book club meets, not the night before. In our samplings then, we’ll taste for butter and grassiness. Before you let that scare you, be sure to read at least up to page 63 in Chapter Three of the book, Great Wines Made Simple by Andrea Immer Robinson, concentrating on the tasting notes on pages 61 and 63. To learn about buttery characteristics, we’ll try a French white Burgundy and a chardonnay from the “New World”. For grassiness we’ll taste a French sauvignon blanc and a “New World” sauvignon blanc. Don’t forget, we have a copy of the book on loan at the Club Bar if you don’t have a copy of your own. It’s informative and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

We’ll get started with the tasting at about 7:00 p.m. We all usually stay for dinner and have a little more wine, of course.

It’s never too late to join the fun (and we do have fun, especially after tasting and retasting four wines!). Classes are $10 per person per class – a real bargain considering the amount of wine you may try.

Hope to see you on June 21!

Suzy Marquard

[*] By contrast, the other night I was served a pinot noir with filet mignon. Now pinot noir is generally thought to be the lightest bodied of the big four red grapes and therefore not likely to enhance, or be enhanced by, a big red meat. But this one had 13.9% alcohol content and was much closer to a cabernet sauvignon or even a syrah without the spice and held up wonderfully. What a little alcohol can do!