Great article featuring our friend Doug Frost, who holds both titles as Master Sommelier (MS) and Master of Wine (MW). Why Your Red Wine Tastes Green
A new generation of wine lovers are trading big, fruity wines for lighter wines with more herbaceous and savory flavors.
Doug Frost, MS and MV knows a thing or two about pyrazines. / Photo by Daria Marchenko
Happy Wine Wednesday!
Cheers!
Team WineStyles
Please join us in honoring our American Heroes!WineStyles will donate $1.00 to the Purple Heart Foundation for each glass of “Purple Heart” wine served or bottle purchased between September 1 through November 11, 2017.
Join us on Veteran’s Day, Saturday November 11th, for a special tasting event honoring our American Heroes – hope you can join us!
ABOUT THE WINEPURPLE HEART WINES, Napa Valley, California: Each year, Purple Heart Wines makes a generous donation to the Purple Heart Foundation, an organization dedicated to serving the unmet needs of military men, women and families.
This noble red wine blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon is made under the close stewardship of the Peter Mondavi Sr. family, whose patriarch is a proud veteran of World War II. Join us as we lift a glass and pay tribute to our brave military heroes and thank them for their profound contributions.
For over 50 years, Purple Heart Foundation has been supporting and honoring the sacrifice military veterans have made for our country. Last year alone, they helped over 19,000 veterans secure over $300 million in VA benefits. With continued support, the foundation will be able to provide desperately needed programs to assist veterans with new service dogs, educational scholarships, resources to help cope with post traumatic stress, and necessary funding for research to heal those suffering with traumatic brain injuries. To make a donation directly or learn more about their programs, please visit www.purpleheartfoundation.org
Available at participating WineStyles Tasting Station locations.
Shopsgiving Weekend (Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday) has become as much a tradition as Thanksgiving itself. The two go hand in hand – much like a tall glass of wine and a nice spread of artisan cheese *puffy heart*.
As you sift through endless piles of coupons and prepare your family’s Shopsgiving game plan, remember to visit WineStyles.com for 10% OFF ALL GIFT CARDS bought online Black Friday through Cyber Monday.
Our Wine Club Members already enjoy 10% savings on all wine purchases in-store, as a perk of being in the club. With this offer, that total savings DOUBLES to 20% OFF!
Beer Club members already receive 5% OFF in-store beer purchases. Combined with this gift card offer that savings TRIPLES to 15% OFF! Now that’s a deal!
Give the gift you’d want to receive. Treat yourself, family, and friends for the holidays and the year ahead with a WineStyles gift card.
Join Wine or Beer Club and earn $10-$20 in Bottle Bucks to spend on MORE #wine and #craftbeer!
When you #shopsmall this weekend at WineStyles, you’ll be rewarded with BOTTLE BUCKS! Now through December 31st, each time you spend $100 in-store, you’ll get $15 back in Bottle Bucks! That’s 15% back to show we appreciate you, our customers.
So stock up and enjoy the beginning of a beautiful holiday season ahead! Participating locations only. Void where prohibited. View promotional details here.
WineStyles stores are locally owned and operated, by real people in your community. They are passionate about great wine, craft beer, gourmet foods, and sharing their experiences and expertise with their customers (YOU)!
At WineStyles, you can find your perfect bottle of wine by following the Style guides above each section – CRISP, SILKY, and RICH for white wines, and FRUITY, MELLOW, and BOLD for reds make up 6 of the 8 wine “styles” our stores are segmented by. The other two – particularly appropriate for the Thanksgiving holiday – are BUBBLY and NECTAR (fortified wines).
These style sections make finding the right wine for your occasion a breeze. Looking for a food-friendly red, check out the Fruity section. Love those dry whites, try the Silky section. See? EASY!
Bryan and Andrea McGinness, store owners of the WineStyles in West Des Moines, Iowa and CEO and COO of WineStyles Tasting Station.
Choose from hundreds of wines and craft beers that have been sorted for you by style and taste, which complement our selection of handcrafted chocolates, artisanal cheeses, and gourmet food.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. WineStyles team members will help you select the perfect wines, craft beers, gourmet foods and gifts for any occasion, big or small. What you’ll find at WineStyles is genuine help, led by genuine experience. Our team is well-trained in their craft (AKA we drink a lot of wine and beer!) 🙂
If you’re looking to quench the thirsts of friends and family this holiday season (not to mention your own after long hours of holiday shopping) visit your friends at WineStyles. PLUS the more you spend, the more you’ll earn with our special BOTTLE BUCKS promotion going on now through December 31st.
Thanks for reading, and happy shopping!
Dust the dining room. Count the chairs. Polish the wine glasses. Thanksgiving is almost here! #happythanksgiving
Are you ready to prepare all the trimmings for the table? Or perhaps you’re visiting family or friends and don’t want to show up empty handed! Either way, we’re here to help.
Shop WineStyles, Earn Bottle Bucks!
First things first – remember you can earn Bottle Bucks for your Thanksgiving shopping! Throughout November and December, spend $100 at participating WineStyles stores, and you’ll get $15 back in Bottle Bucks to use on more goodies! WineStyles is your one-stop shop for premium wines, craft beers, artisan cheeses and gourmet foods perfectly suited for your Thanksgiving feast. View details here, and find your local WineStyles store here. Offer void where prohibited.
What to serve before dinner:
Wine: Bubbly is perfect for a pre-dinner apéritif. Plus it starts off your feast on the right foot. It is a celebration after all! Toast your guests as they come through the door and make them feel right at home. It’s even a good idea to keep out some bubbles for an in-between courses palate cleanser. Bubbly does a great job at cutting through fats and sweets.
Food: Put together a simple yet stunning cheese and charcuterie board in no time at all. To please everyone’s palates, opt for a diverse selection of tastes (smoked, tangy) and textures (hard, soft, grainy) so there will be plenty of variety for your guests to nosh on. Once your cheeses and charcuterie is cut and displayed, add some colorful cheer! Colorful pickles, mustard, olives, cherries and nuts will make your board look tasteful and polished. Pick up all the artisan cheese and charcuterie you need at your local WineStyles store.
Above: Cheese board with variety of cheeses
Above: Charcuterie board with baguette, pickles, olives
What to choose if you want 1 or 2 wines to go with the whole feast:
Choosing just one or two wines to go with your Thanksgiving feast is possible. Granted, each dish on your table may not be the perfect “match made in heaven” pairing to your wine, but we can get pretty close. Here are our best red and white wine picks for you:
Red: Fruity Pinot Noir
A high-acid, low-tannin Pinot Noir, such as from the Willamette Valley in Oregon is your best bet for a red wine to pair with Thanksgiving dinner start to finish. The key-word here is “fruity”. A dry red can lose its presence among all the fruity, sugary, and salty dishes on the table. The fruit-forward flavors of cranberry and cherry in a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir will complement your turkey dinner and all its dressings. Hint: At your local WineStyles store, ask for help selecting the perfect Pinot Noir for your dinner under the Fruity style section.
White: Semi-Sweet Riesling
A semi-sweet Riesling such as Weingut Geierslay from Mosel, Germany is your best bet for a white wine that can stand up to the turkey and all its dressings on the big day. You may remember this particular wine from your October Wine Club selections! (View Wine Club details and our special holiday sign-up offer here.) Riesling is incredibly versatile with typically low alcohol content and high acidity. It will complement just about anything you pair it with, and the touch of sweetness may be welcome by friends and relatives who aren’t wine connoisseurs.
Thanksgiving-friendly wines at your local WineStyles store
What to pair with ___insert dish here____
Ask your local WineStyles staff to help you pick the perfect wines to pair with all your Thanksgiving dishes, whatever they may be. If you want to branch out and try a little something different that will pair perfectly with each and every dish from ham to pie, we commend you! WineStyles is here to help make your Thanksgiving one for the memory books. 🙂
Thanks for reading, and Happy Thanksgiving!
We’re so glad people have come to the conclusion that wine can pair with anything and make it more enjoyable – we couldn’t agree more! The good news is you don’t have to go blindly into the cauldron of pairing Halloween candy with wine – we’ve found the perfect info-graphic for you!
Below is a chart from VinePair that details exactly what type of wine, beer, or other alcohol you should pair with your Halloween candy (or your kid’s leftovers!) Cheers!
Don’t worry, there’s still time! Here are a few last-minute wine-themed costume ideas you could pull off:
Bacchus – Roman god of wineDrape a white sheet over yourself Toga-style, and add grape and vine embellishments as you please! Try a crown of grape leaves. Don’t forget your prop – a delicious bottle of wine!
Find a large box and cut out the bottom, then cut arm holes in the sides and a place for your head to peek out the top. Print out some Franzia labels and tape them to the box. Bonus points for adding a pour spout!
Wine snobThis is an easy one for the gentlemen. Wear a white button down shirt with a nice blazer. Add a neck scarf (ask your wife or girlfriend for help). Slick back your hair. And, carry a big glass of wine (the bigger the better!)
Your favorite bottle of wineGo as your favorite bottle of vino! Just print off a photo of the wine’s label and tape it to the front/back of your shirt. Wear all white (if it’s a white wine), pink (for rosés), red or purple (for red wines). Bonus points for incorporating corks! Try adding a cork garland, or make a cork hat!
Stop by your local WineStyles store to find the right wines for your Halloween activities – whether that’s handing out candy while watching classic horror movies, hosting a costume party, or trying out some of those wine and candy pairings once the kids have hit the sack! Find your local WineStyles store here.
BY DOUG FROST Special to The Kansas City Star, October 12, 2016 Sitting in my usual dim sum restaurant, I noticed Christmas decorations overhead. I was so horrified I almost stopped chewing on my chicken feet. Is it really that time? Not quite, but the media are pivoting to the holidays, and entertainment guides have…
Charcuterie (French, pronounced: shahr-koo-tuh–ree) is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, ballotines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork. Originally intended as a way to preserve meat before the advent of refrigeration, they are prepared today for their flavors derived from the preservation processes. (Source: Wikipedia)
The history of charcuterie, in the sense of salting, smoking, and cooking to preserve, may date almost to the origins of Homo sapiens. It has been carried on in many forms through virtually every culture, and it has been one of the foundations of human survival in that it allowed societies to maintain a food surplus and therefore helped turn early peoples from nomads into clusters of homebodies. Sausage recipes date to before the golden age of ancient Greece. Even before that, the Egyptians were fattening geese for their livers-and possibly making the first pate de foie gras. (Source: Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn).
Choose one, two, or a few! There are endless options of cheese and charcuterie boards. Have fun picking one that suits your style. Hint: check out the selection at your local WineStyles store.
When choosing charcuterie, opt for a diverse selection of tastes (smoked, tangy) and textures (hard, soft, grainy) so there will be plenty of variety.
Make it colorful! Add some pickles, small dishes with brightly-colored jams, olives, mustard, nuts, the options are endless!
This main food group completes the picture. Best to stick with simple baguettes. Toast with olive oil for a gourmet touch.
When in doubt, stick to bubbles. Bubbly pairs great with charcuterie because the acidity will cut through the fattiness of the meats. Try a semi-sweet option to please everyone’s palates.
In this Wine and Beer Boot Camp class, you’ll learn the ins-and-outs of pairing charcuterie and wine – a gourmet tasting and learning experience! Attend this class so the next time you order a charcuterie board, you’ll know exactly how to enhance that experience with the perfect wine pairing. As part of our Boot Camp series in 2016, the more you LEARN the more you EARN in delicious wine tastings! Join us for multiple classes and you’ll be rewarded:
Please RSVP at your local WineStyles location. Seating space is limited, so make your reservation as soon as possible!
*Please note: Classes and Boot Camp rewards may vary at different WineStyles locations. See your local WineStyles Tasting Station for details. Find your local WineStyles store here.
Thanks for reading,
As Labor Day Weekend is fast approaching, let’s take a deeper look into the world of winemaking.
Wine makers must answer an array of questions to produce a distinct and delicious vintage, making the process both an art and a science.
There’s a lot that goes on between growing the grapes and bottling the wine. Let’s take a peek into the labor intensive world of winemaking through five most common steps:
Step 1: Harvest the grapes
Harvesting is more than just picking grapes. Wine makers must decide how much human interaction the grapes will have. In other words, will they be hand-picked or picked by machinery.
Additionally, not all grapes are picked during the daylight. In warmer climates, it’s common for grapes to be harvested at night. This is so workers who are hand picking grapes can beat the heat, and wine makers can be sure to capture the grapes while they’re at stable sugar levels.
Once picked, grapes must be sorted by hand for quality. Remember, it’s entirely possible to make bad wine from good grapes. Leaves and rotted or raisen-like grapes are removed from the bunches.
Step 2: Crush the grapes
The grapes are now ready to be completely de-stemmed and crushed. Grape clusters are put through mechanical de-stemmers which do exactly what they say: de-stem.
Crushing the grapes was traditionally done by men and women stomping grapes with their feet. Nowadays, there is more modern machinery for this task. The resulting freshly pressed grape juice is called ‘must’.
White wines are crushed much more quickly than the reds, and then immediately pressed to separate the juice from the skins. This is to minimize the amount of time the seeds and skins are in contact with the juice. For red wines, the seeds and skins are left during fermentation to add flavor, color, and tannins to the wine.
Step 3: Ferment the juice
Wild yeast can ferment the juice, however, most wine makers prefer to intervene to have more control over the fermentation process, and ensure desired results in the wine.
During fermentation, sugar is converted into alcohol. This can take anywhere from a week, to a month, or longer.
When fermenting red wines, carbon dioxide is released, which causes grape skins to float to the top of the fermentation tank. To keep the skins in contact with the wine for added flavor and tannins, and prevent growing bacteria, the red wine is repeatedly ‘capped’ or turned over multiple times daily.
Once fermented, red wines are pressed, removing the skins and seeds from the wine before aging.
Step 4: Age the wine
Wine makers have important choices to make at this stage. Different aging procedures will impart different intensities of flavor in the wine.
The wine can be bottled right away and left to age, in oak or stainless steel barrels. The source of barrels (American or French oak) or whether the barrels are new, used or toasted (charred), all have an impact on flavoring the wine.
Typically, aging in oak will produce a smoother, more mellow wine. Stainless steel tanks are commonly used to age crisp white wines.
Wines can be aged anywhere from 6 months to several years before bottling.
Step 5: Bottle the wine
Another step in the process that can be done either by hand, or entirely by machine. To seal the wine, a choice of natural or synthetic cork, or screw caps. Finally, labels are added, and the wine is boxed and ready for sale.
(Step 6: Enjoy the wine!)
You’ve made it to our favorite step in the process!
As you can see, wine makers have many duties managing their grapes from vine to bottle. A day in the life of a wine maker can range from performing quality control, blending decisions, hosting tastings, marketing, selling, and everything in between.
So what’s the secret ingredient that makes a bottle of wine taste just so good?
A whole lotta love.
And, maybe a little blood, sweat, and tears. 😉
As you enjoy your wine this Labor Day Weekend, remember to raise a glass to the wine making artists and their teams who made it possible.
Stop by your local WineStyles store to stock up for the long weekend! Cheers!
View store locator here.
Thanks for reading,
As you walk into a wine store, the varietals and wine label descriptions can be a little bit overwhelming.
What on earth is a “Blaufränkisch” and why is every French wine called “chateau this” or “chateau that” you whisper to yourself.
You’re perusing the red wines thinking, “OK, pinot noir, I know that one” and suddenly you see it – the coolest wine bottle label on the shelf. You pick it up and look it over with great intrigue.
Find unique and fun wine labels at your local WineStyles store!
Ah yes, this one has all the right components – striking colors, an illustration that reminds you of that one art class you took in college, and how you keep meaning to visit more art galleries (some of them have free wine tasting!). You think how your friends will comment on the label when you invite them for dinner or snap it on Instagram.
Then, suddenly, the store associate comes your way and asks, “finding everything ok?” You scramble to remember anything about the wine you’re holding that doesn’t have to do with its appearance and spit out, “yeah, pinot’s the best!”
Do you feel like a wine fraud? Let us be the first to tell you, it’s OK to love that bottle just because you like the label.
There’s no shame in wine shopping based on aesthetics! Appreciating wine is like appreciating fine art, and if you happen to appreciate the art on the label, then we say all the better!
Let’s take a look at what you can do with that beautiful label after you’ve tasted the grapes inside. There are so many ways to re-purpose wine bottles.
Below are a few of our favorite wine bottle crafts for preserving those quirky or funny wine labels. So go on, pick a wine based on your favorite label design. The point of wine drinking is to enjoy the whole experience!
And after you’ve been inspired with crafty tutorials, check out our upcoming class on How to Read a Wine Label! That way you can choose great wines by the grapes inside, and by the cool labels. 🙂
Want to enjoy that wine label and all the beautiful birds it attracts? Make a DIY wine bottle bird feeder! Find instructions on The Garden-Roof Coop blog:
Photo: The Garden-Roof Coop blog
Make an easy centerpiece from empty wine bottles simply by adding candles! For a bigger centerpiece, use a few bottles grouped together. Enjoy supper as you watch the wax drip down the bottles representing time passing and an evening enjoyed with friends and loved ones:
Wine bottle centerpiece with candles
Remove the label from the bottle to save in your wine journal, or to re-purpose later. This tutorial by blue i style will help you peel it off with ease:
Photo: blue i style blog
Light up your outdoor gatherings by using small solar lights (the kind meant for sticking in the ground) inside old wine bottles! This project was found by happy coincidence from blogger Our Crafty Mom. A fun and simple way to add a little wine charm to your backyard summer BBQs:
Photo: Our Crafty Mom
Check out WineStyles on Pinterest for more wine craft ideas!
Learn how to read wine labels in our upcoming Wine & Beer Boot Camp Class this August! We won’t judge if you still want to choose your wines based on the fun and pretty labels, but just in case you’d like to impress your friends and know what all those markings on wine labels mean, we’ve constructed the perfect 101 class for you!
Please RSVP at your local WineStyles location. Seating space is limited, so make your reservation as soon as possible!
*Please note: Classes and Boot Camp rewards may vary at different WineStyles locations. See your local WineStyles Tasting Station for details. Find your local WineStyles store here.
Thanks for reading, cheers!
May your grills be hot and your wines be true – be they Red, White, or Blue!
Wine is officially “all-American”, now donning all colors of our beloved American flag. Have you seen the latest news in wine innovation? We’ve been hinting at it… BLUE wine! As in, Red, White, and BLUE! (We just cannot get over it.)
A Spanish wine company, Gik (pronounced “geek”) is making their wines blue by using a special quality found in grape skins combined with naturally cultivated indigo.
Gik works with grapes from different areas of Spain to make their wine blends using both red and white grapes. The company’s wineries are located mainly in La Rioja, Zaragoza and Courthèzon. In case you’re wary of the blue coloring, Gik’s website assures that quality control checks are thorough, and everything used in wine making complies with EU food regulations.
Watch this brief interview of Taig Mac Carthy, Creator at Gik Blue Wine, at the ProWein Trade Fair in Germany this March. ProWein is the world’s leading trade fair for wine professionals, hosted annually in Germany.
Taig discusses how the innovative blue wine is going over at the German wine professionals trade fair, and how its radiant blue color is made:
For curious minds, Gik has answered the question – Why blue?:
“We are not vintners. We are creators. So we sought the most traditional and closed minded industry out there. Once having selected the wine industry as our battlefield, we set about creating a radically different product, changing the color to a vibrant blue and making the wine sweeter and easier to drink.When we started to work on our project we came across a book called The Blue Ocean Strategy. This explained that there are red oceans, full of sharks which have torn the little fish so much that they’ve tinted the water red. Then there are blue oceans, where there is no competition and fish swim un-harassed. Thus the poetic idea of transforming a red ocean into a blue ocean through changing the most traditional red liquid into blue was one which greatly appealed to us.
Apart from that, in psychology blue represents movement, innovation and infinity. It’s also a color frequently associated with flow and change.” (gik.blue)
Image from ProWeinTradeFair YouTube video “No red wine, no white wine, but blue wine!” Watch video below.
Before you go rushing to the store, know that Gik’s radiant blue wine is not yet available in the US. Until we are able to raise our glasses of Red, White, and Blue, we send our support from afar.The WineStyles concept shares Gik’s goal of demystifying the wine world for our customers. After all, wine tasting can (and should) be fun! And if you ask us, the more colorful, the better! #GikBlueWine
We know you’ll be out and about grilling, drinking wine and beer, and having a grand ‘ol time this 4th of July weekend celebrating America (and we support you in that endeavor!)
Please RSVP at your local WineStyles location. Seating space is limited, so make your reservation as soon as possible!
Thanks for reading, cheers!
WineStyles Tasting Station 