Dear Dr. Wine:
My partner and I love to experiment with different wines. We both enjoy dry rieslings but have a difficult time locating them. Most that are recommended are too sweet. Could you suggest some others?
S.N., Chicago
Dear S.N.:
Some of the best dry rieslings made anywhere come from Alsace. Some producers to look for are Trimbach, Mann (yummy) and Lorentz. Also, more and more German winemakers are making what they call trocken and halbtrocken rieslings (dry and half-dry). Some of these can be quite austere, so be sure to eat with them.
Dear Dr. Wine:
My father passed away and as we were cleaning out his belongings we came across a 3-foot-tall, 1 gallon, corkscrew-shaped bottle of Stefani Chianti, vintage 1972. I was wondering if this bottle of wine has any value. My son wants to open it, dump out the wine and use the jar to cellect pennies.
G. H. Barrington
Dear G.H.:
Pennies. Pennies from heaven will save you from drinking awful wine. These decorative bottles of Chianti were popular in the 1970s, but the wine in them has long soured. Your son has the best alternative use.
Dear Dr. Wine:
What's the best red wine for steak?
W. S., Hyde Park
Dear W.S.:
Good question, because not just any red will do. If you grill your steaks properly—and that means medium rare or rare— there remains a good amount of blood protein in the meat. The best match for that kind of meat is a big, tannic red wine because the blood mollifies the tannin and softens out the wine, while keeping the wine's fruit alive.
A softer red, say a pinot noir, can get 'washed out' by the same blood proteins and be a shade of itself beside a medium rare steak.
So go for cabernet sauvignon from just about any country (except, perhaps, from South America; cabs there tend to be fairly withdrawn and feel less tannic), or Australian shiraz, some northern Rhones, and a lot of Tuscan reds made from combinations of cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese.
Dear Dr. Wine:
Does any wine match with chocolate and chocolate dessert?
P. D., Edgewater
Dear P. D.:
If the dessert has a lot of cream and sugar, in addition to chocolate, no, not easily. But if there is a high proportion of dark chocolate (or the dessert simply is dark chocolate), sweet red wines seem to do the trick. Try a Banyuls from the Languedoc-Roussillon district of southern France. Made from Grenache grapes and slightly sweet, it's a fine match. So is young port, for the same reason.
Dear Dr. Wine:
I started collecting wine several years ago. Now that I have gathered dozens of cases, I'm not sure what to do with it all. I have had several bottles go bad while stored in my kitchen. I keep the majority in my basement, but am I doing enough to properly preserve them? What are the proper conditions under which to store wine?
E. C., Andersonville
Dear E.C.:
You should keep wine the same way you'd keep a teenager: cool, on its side, in the dark and free from vibration.
That means you're smart to store your wines in the basement—the northeast corner is best, with a year-round temperature about 55 degrees—free of vibrations from nearby freezers or woofers, with as much humidity as possible and in total darkness.
If you do not have a basement, find some place—a closet, a small room—in the north end of your dwelling and insulate it. If nothing else, use an empty (and inoperative) fireplace, because the downdrafts will help keep things cool.
More than anything else, steady temperature matters. Severe fluctuations in temperature (say, in the 80s in the summer and in the 50s in the winter) prematurely age wine.
Self-standing wine storage units can solve a lot of problems for most homeowners. You can check them out at www.wineenthusiast.com, a comprehensive site.
Benefit Sips:
Beginning May 6, 2003, and continuing on every first Tuesday of each following month, at T's Bar & Restaurant (5025 N. Clark), the Renslow Family and Abstone Communications, in connection with T's Bar & Restaurant and Metro Premium Wines, Inc., will host a Wine Tasting Benefit to benefit four local charities: Lambda Legal, Chicago House, the Leather Archives and Museum, and the Human Rights Campaign.
A donation of $20 will allow guests the opportunity to sample 10 different wines from multiple vineyards, both domestic and foreign. Additionally, T's Bar & Restaurant will be providing hors d' oeuvres. Metro Premium Wines, Inc., will be providing the wines for the commencing event. There will also be staff members from the wine supplier in attendance who will offer information about each wine.
Call (773) 814-5091.