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Question: Confused at the 40^th Vancouver International Wine Festival featuring Spain & Portugal by several red wines made from the same grape variety but using different names. Can you clarify?

Answer: Noticed that too but need more specific information from you to answer your question definitively. Tempranillo the well-known grape variety from Rioja in Spain was very prominent. But it was called Tinto Fino (or Tinta Del Pais) for Ribera Del Duero wines. Similarly Tempranillo was going by Ojo De Liebre (and Ull De LLebre) in the Penedes of Catalonia, Tinta de Toro, and the name Cencibel from the Valdepenas wine region of La Mancha. Moreover in Portugal Tempranillo wines are called Tinta Roriz (and sometimes Aragonez). Yes this is confusing! Other less recognized grape variety “nom de plumes” you may have encountered include Garnacha (Grenache), Mazuelo (Carignan), and Monastrell and Mataro (both Mouvedre). Hope this helps clarify.

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Question: Quite confused by the names used for different sizes of wooden barrels used in the cellars. Please help.

Answer: Yes it is confusing and there are so many different names and unique sizes used that I can’t deal definitively with all of them here. Important because smaller barrels usually impart more oak or other wood elements plus oxygen into the wine but the age of the barrels and racking are also important factors. However these are a rough guide of some key sizes that are often used that are good to be aware of:

225 Litre: Barrique Bordeaux

228 Litre: Barrique Burgundy

300 Litre: Hogshead – Often found in Cognac but also use bigger Tanks & Vats

600 Litre: Demi-Muid – Bigger French oak size used in the past for boat transport

650 Litre: Pipe of Port – Longer narrower shape

700 Litre: Large Rhone use

1000+ Litre: Very large sizes becoming more popular often called Botte, Botti, Foudres or Butt used in more wineries – like Piedmont. May be referred to in hectoliters (100 litres equal I hectoliter)

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Question: When dining recently at a highly regarded Paris restaurant the waiter poured out the last of my Champagne order and then inverted the bottle into the ice bucket neck down. Is this proper wine service?

Answer: Yes this question is an interesting one. I have had several times the same experience as you did. Personally I don’t like it and feel it is a rather lazy way by the sommelier in a busy restaurant to easily see you have finished your wine. Also it almost seems like they are giving you a sign of encouragement to order another. It also deprives you sometimes of the last pour of a few precious delicious drops after the remaining liquid settles at the bottom. Etiquette questions such as this can be quite subjective and therefore are difficult to give you an unanimous answer. Your thoughts or those of others?

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Question: What wine do you serve on Valentine’s Day?

Answer: Happy Valentine’s Day! Lucky me because the wine I have served most often is Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses (in French means “lovers”) – particularly the delicious 1989 Drouhin. Another always go to choice is Chateau Calon Segur Saint Estephe with the drawing of a heart on the label. Remember well enjoying the 50th anniversary of their long distance runner 1966 in 2016. However, unless you were fortunate enough to buy these expensive wines early on they are now rather out-of-touch elitist choices. Nevertheless choose any wine you think signifies romanticism and love where the label message on this special day can be just as important as the contents. Enjoy.

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Question: Are the wine terms steen and stein interchangeable?

Answer: You must be from South Africa. No not the same. Steen is the local word there for the grape variety Chenin Blanc. Stein describes a semisweet white wine usually a blend of different grapes but often does contain some steen grapes.

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