Question: What’s all the recent controversy about using oak during wine production?

Answer: Don’t know if you can really call it a controversy. Certainly there is a lot of concern out there because some producers at the lower price range are strongly seasoning their wines with oak chips. However there definitely seems to be a growing trend to let many fresh fragrant wines show their best natural fruit. This element becomes more difficult to discern if you mask the aromas and flavours by putting the wine into oak – particularly new oak. Remember also that new oak is expensive and wineries can lower their production costs by using only stainless steel, concrete and the like. Chardonnay is one variety that definitely is seeing less new oak recently which allows the released wine to have vibrancy (like Chablis) and show more individual terroir of each grower’s specific site including their distinct soils, climate, elevation … There will always be some grand wines that benefit from oak – even 100% new oak – like Chateau d’Yquem in Sauternes and First Growth Bordeaux.

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By Lachlan Hardy from Sydney, Australia (Brunch) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

What do you like to eat for a special weekend brunch? Café Medina (www.medinacafe.com) has been a brunch (plus breakfast & lunch) institution in Vancouver since 2008 and always jammed. Now they are moving to new expanded facilities opening August 12 with a brand new expanded menu. They have left off the usual mainstays of omelettes and eggs benedict for more avant-garde choices. Executive Chef Jonathan Chovancek invited a few of us yesterday to be guinea pigs trying out his Sunday Brunch new ideas. Mimosa of course but lots of sodas including root beer floats. Satisfying coffees. Liege style waffles (les gaufres) and babeurre pancakes (crepes) with diverse toppings. Blistered wood stone fired flatbread & grilled focaccia. Fricassee Champignon. Spicy lamb meatballs, merguez sausage or braised in wine short ribs with poached or fried eggs all with lots of stewed vegetable and potatoes. Great side dishes including babaganoush (eggplant), raita (yogurt condiment), mascarpone & black pepper honey, chickpea hummus, quinoa tabouleh, home cured bacon & apple gastrique, sunflower tahini and more. Innovative & delicious! Vote for your go to brunch item.

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BMK Wikimedia [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Question: Sid with all the different wine closures out there I wondered if you have a distinct preference?

Answer: You are right. What a change in wine closures on the market now. For aged wines I have been a long-time cork supporter but like everyone else frustrated by the TCA cork taint problems. Easy to use screw caps are becoming increasingly popular and certainly work well to preserve fresh fruity aromatic wines. Some reductive issues still remain. Not that keen for synthetic stoppers. Like the innovative glass stoppers and being able to recap but they need individual attention to fit the specific bottle necks. The hottest new alternative especially for more expensive wines is high quality Diam processed cork held together with a polyurethane-like glue. Recommend an excellent article on “Debating Diam” this week in Decanter by Andrew Jefford which can be  found here. Impressed to note that “three billion corks since 2005 and haven’t had a single case of TCA coming from the cork itself” and “polyurethane binder…completely neutral from a sensorial point of view…glueyness had to be imaginary”. Like what is happening so far with Diam!

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Everyone seems to know there are really only four basic things you can taste: salty, sour, sweet, and bitter. Right? Later on we added a fifth one called umami or savoury to cover those items like mushrooms, cheese, cooked tomatoes, chicken, fish etc. that didn’t clearly fit into those basic four. I have always questioned this theory of such limited taste senses. I often thought I could smell and also taste different basic elements in many foods and even some wines like the grassy herbal fresh sauvignon blanc to the kerosene petrol of aged riesling. Now there is growing research support for this premise set out in an article by Peter Andrey Smith published by the New York Times in their Well Section on July 22, 2014 titled “Beyond Salty and Sweet: A Budding Club of Tastes.”  They state that “Contrary to popular belief, there is no tongue map – responsiveness is present in all areas of the tongue.” Richard D Mattes a professor of nutrition science at Purdue University is quoted “What started off as a challenge to the pantheon of basic tastes has now opened up, so that the whole question is whether taste is even limited to a very small number of primaries.” The author mentions support for many new tastes to consider including listed soapiness, lysine, electric, alkaline, hydroxide, metallic and fattiness. This later one seems to have the most support and varies from the rich gooey texture we like to the rancid taste as a warning sign that we don’t like it. What are you able to taste? What expansion of basic tastes do you support?

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By Joseph Temple

Whether you’re grilling outdoors or cooking indoors, try some of these wine-full combinations.  Have fun with the varietals to see which you like best.

1. Merlot + garlic + thyme + brow sugar + oil

2. Chardonnay + lemon + garlic + pepper + rosemary

3. Sauvignon Blanc + apple juice + sage + honey

4. Muscat + honey + water

5. Pinot Grigio + dijon + lemon + pepper

6. Sparkling wine + sesame oil + mirin + lime + sugar + soy sauce

7. Cabernet Franc + red onion + soy sauce + red pepper jelly + parsley

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