Taste this!

I didn't know there was a vineyard in Cupertino, California. A couple of weeks ago a good friend of mine introduced me to a a vineyard called "Ridge" at Cupertino.

The "Premier" (read: most visited by tourists) place for wine making in California is actually Napa Valley, where the more well-known winemakers there include Robert Mondavi, V. Sattui and Sterling. Not many people know that there are vineyards in Cupertino (me included until two weeks ago).

Now I am definitely not even close to knowledgeable about wines. However, I do consume quite a bit of red wine, enough to know just a little about the general taste of red wines. To me here is the breakdown of different wines:

Merlot:

Probably the "softest" of wines - has a pleasant, soft taste. If you've just started drinking red wine, Merlot is probably what you'd go for. It's like driving a Honda Accord - you know it's reliable and consistent, but there's no vroom to it at all. Worst of all, if you bought a really cheap bottle of merlot, it probably tastes like pink soda lemonade. Solution: Don't buy a really cheap bottle of merlot.

Cabernet Sauvignon:

You know how in the movie The Matrix they described how chicken tastes? Well, same for Cabernet Sauvignon, in my opinion. Cabernet Sauvignon is the "chicken" of red wines. It tastes like everything. Heck, sometimes I mistake pork for chicken, just because chicken tastes like, you know, everything.

Syrah/Shiraz:

A pretty dry wine - tastes a little like dirt (I think the wine lingo is "it has an earthy taste", i.e., it tastes like dirt). If you've bought a good bottle of Syrah, it tastes really good though. Seriously, I think Cabernet mixed with Syrah is quickly becoming my favorite wine :) Syrah and Merlot are probably on the opposite ends of the niceness/excitement scale of wines. Single guys and gals, it's kind of like dating - would you prefer a nice, polite date who will open doors for you and laugh at your jokes, or would you prefer a ..ahem... anyway, I think I'm getting sidetracked.

Zinfandel:

Hmmm... I don't really drink a lot of Zinfandel (and that is why I bought a bottle at the Ridge vineyard). I do know two things about Zinfandel, though. (1) The name sounds cool (hey, how many wines start with a "Z" eh?) , and (2) Sometimes that kind of grape is also made into "White Zinfandel", which is a sweet table wine that wine connesseurs avoid like a plague.

So, what types of wines go with which types of food? Well, the general rule is: the heavier the food, the stronger the wine. So, if you're having a vegetarian fare, or maybe fish , you would probably go for white wine. But, if you're like some people that can't stand white wine, you can go for a softer, girly red wine - like a merlot! On the other hand, if, in a showcase of manliness, you're eating a 25 ounce ribeye steak, then you should probably go for something 'harsher' - maybe a cabernet, or syrah. Rawr!

Anyway that's my understanding of red wines. It's probably 50% accurate, at most. It also only covers mainly the wines made in California. So if you go to France for example, where wines are labelled by where the grapes come from, you won't see any hint of these names on the front stickers. That's another story, though. Anyway, wine always tastes good with a meal, and is something I occasionally (okay, frequently) indulge in. Have fun!