Buying a bottle of wine... part 3 : Size matters!

Of course now all of you keep wondering about the headline of this post and must have some hidden agenda while reading this.... Guys/Ladies! Of course size matter! Not to big and not to small.... a 0.75 l bottle is the right size!!.... What else were you thinking of?

Indeed after now figuring out what kind of wine (red or white) and from which country (maybe France?) it is now important to consider what size the bottle should have. However so far what I have seen in the Scandinavian area most of the wine selling shops have 0.75 l bottles, which is a general standard for wine bottles. 

But why should you consider now the size and what kind of different sizes are actually available on the free market? Good questions to be honest. There are 0.375, 0.75, 1.5, 2.5 and 5.0 liter glass bottles available. The latter two are normally not so easy to be found in general wine shops and requires either to be bought directly from the wine Mansion or from a specialized shop, e.g. the Internet. The 0.375 bottles I have seen in some French Mensa / lunchrooms and on airplanes. Nevertheless you can buy them also in wine shops but you might not seem them so often, because 0.375 l is just enough for two glass of wine. Plus you might find a good or excellent wine from good wine maker regions not in this size category. The reason? It is just too expensive for wine Mansion to fill up the bottles in these small size bottles. Also most of the people who wants to have an excellent wine consider also to store it over a long period of time - 0.75 bottles are best for this. 

You might realize now where I wanna go. So actually what is best size? If you ask me I would definitely say it's 0.75 l. You can store them easily in a wine cellar. When stored over a long period of time the surface/volume ratio is best for the surrounding temperature to influence the development of wine compounds. The bigger the bottle the surface/volume ratio is less good for this. Another point is the handling. If you are having guest and you want to serve them with a 1.5 liter bottle or more the handling will be quite thought to serve in an appropriate way. Also while serving you will definitely start to sweat, that is SO perfect for the start of an romantic evening.... One more point is if you want to buy a bottle as a present than the probability is higher that the person who receives the bottle will share it with you. Very important when you buy a good wine... so vice versa if you want to avoid to have a share buy a bigger one.

Two different sizes for wine bottles:
Right: 0.75 l, Left: 1.5 l

So why are there bigger bottles than 0.75 l when 0.75 l actually is best. Pff... bon alors... again it depends on the situation for which you are buying the bottle, putting most of the points aside why I see 0.75 bottles as best. So if you would go for a nice evening of two to four friends you can definitely go for one or two 0.75 bottles. Also you can chose two different wine bottles and enjoy some variety. (Note: if you know or think that your friends are more into wine then buy a third one. There is always someone who is thirsty). 

In the case you know that there will be more guests than 4 or 6 (all of them wine drinker) you should go for a 3 l wine case (3 l plastic bag behind nice cardboard boxes). This is especially important if you definitely know that there will be a pack of wine-thirsty French or Finnish friends and you don't wanna be broken because of buying wine... However I must say I don't like so much these 3 l boxes 'cause you rarely find a good wine in these. Even tho I have to say some of the Australian wine's (yeah I know I have forgotten to remember the name, again) in these boxes are of good quality. Please bear in mind these boxes are not for storage and more for immediately drinking.

Also when you go and buy a present for someone, think if the person is into wine and know what is good and what is not so good, or to make it even more complicate you don't know his/her taste. Then you should consider buying two different bottles of wine (e.g. one with more and the other with less tannins, or white and red wine). I think you somehow might have now an idea when and why you should go for bigger wine sizes or more bottles of the-best- size-for-wine 0.75 liter. 

And ouais ouais I don't have clearly answered the last question why are there bigger bottles than 0.75 l available. The answer: Well I don't know. I would guess they are a nice old relict of the time before the plastic wine boxes came along and so far have remained. 

Bon mes amis! Now you learned why size matter when it comes to wine. I hope you had a nice weekend! So far à bientôt!

PS: On my first trip to Sweden I encountered something which really shocked me and made me laugh. Remember the 0.375 l bottles? They actually do have 0.25 l bottles tetra packs! Mon Dieu! Ca c'est un vrai sacrilège (this is a real sacrilege). What's next? Wine out of can's? But to save the Swedish people from another 6:1. Finland also made a hit into my world view of wine...when I was on Friday having Dinner with a good Finnish friend of mine at Amarillo we had to order on the bar 'cause the restaurant was to full. When we were asking for a list of wines they said that they only have draft wine.... draft wine like draft beer? Yeah right - right out of the tap. I had to taste it... i-m-p-r-e-s-s-i-v-e taste... *gasp* Okay now I believe that there must be also wine in can's available...oh là là là... 

A side story of "The Two Poster"

What a week this and and last week is/was. I just realized now how fast time flew the last week since I haven't had posted anything new like as I promised it to do. Yeah well I have currently quite a lot of work and last week was not less filled work either. Actually I wanted to continue with the "Buying a bottle of wine". However since I am short this week of free time I have to skip it and thought it might be also interesting to you if I tell something that happened in my life about wine. So something like "mis en bouteille par de la vie" (filled into the bottle by the life). 

What was actually happening the last week? Ben, ppfff. I had some more work to do and also to prepare a poster and presentation which I had to hold in a full week seminar. I wasn't able to do anything for the presentation & the poster until Friday morning. So I worked on Friday until midnight for the presentation because I was going on Saturday to Birthday of a Club of my voluntary service. And I still needed to finish the poster on Sunday. Even tho the Friday and Sunday where filled with work I really enjoyed my time in Vihti. The club was having his 1st year Birthday so of course a lot of people were coming to this event, also some of my friends. It was a nice day which was helping to forget about the work and the upcoming seminar even tho I was very tired. Funnily I wasn't the only one who was tired like hell. Seemed like January had his toll on a lot of people, guess all the work which wasn't done in December before Christmas needed to be done right now in the week before the 1st Birthday party. Anyway we were hosted by the members of the local club in a nicely renovated old school building next to a lake. There was also a sauna which we visit in the evening, I also jumped after the sauna into the cold lake....brrr....c'etait froid!!!! But it was awesome and helped me to relax and enjoy every moment even more although the run back to the sauna was one of the longest so far that I have ever experienced. It took me more than 2-3 min in the Sauna until I felt warm again. Nice experience!

View from the Sauna over the Frozen lake, Moksi, Vihti

So after Sauna we were having a nice dinner with party games and some shows as well which the guest had to organize in some way. However during the dinner I was quite surprised that some of my Finnish friends which I haven't seen for 6 or more months were having some red wine (we had to bring our own drinks to the dinner). I doubt that I was having an influence on that or with my blog so I was quite curious about which one they would have chosen. It turned out that they just had picked up randomly and somehow I must say their choice was pretty good. Nevertheless I hope in the near future they might be not anymore relying on pure luck when going to buy a wine. 

Naturally (sounds weird but it started to become more natural to me to talk with people and friends about wine..) we talked about wine and my blog. When I was having a closer look on the bottles (I didn't taste the wine before that) I also read the posters - naturally - and read that the Australian wine (mince alors didn't wrote the name down!) was suppose to taste also like cacao......Cacao.... Cacao?? o-k-a-y. It happened that I read quite nearly about every kind of taste, I also tasted a red wine which smelled and tasted like a freshly cooked steak (Je crois au Dieu! More about this in another post!) but cacao was definitely never under one of those tastes. But I must say it was a nice cacao after-taste when having a glass of wine. It tasted like dark and bitter pure cacao. Not an very intensive taste but light and nicely around the tongue. I was positively surprised and after that of course I helped my Finnish friend to empty the bottle a little bit faster...well she wouldn't have finish the whole bottle by herself all alone, so I tried to be a gentleman in this moment... 

The interesting part about this bottle which was fascinating me a little bit, was the fact that the back poster actually gave me an idea about the aromas in the wine and was even able to taste it. I have encountered quite many wine where aromas were describes on the backside an I still was not able to taste them properly. I guess I am still not good enough to taste all of the different kind of aromas. So I am happy that I learned by coincidence something new by my friends!

Bon thats for today, I hope and will try hard to write one more post this week! So far - à bientôt mes amis!

-“Wine & Chocolate: your heart will hum, and your soul will sing.” Jim Trezise -

PS: I will post in the future also from time to time some nice saying about wine, which I found in a pdf-file from the "Word on wine" - New York Wine & Grape Foundation Revised 10/6/2005. Since they have gather a lot of word on wine or sayings about them, and I really like them, I see it right to mention that I got them from their pdf-file which was available for free on the website (which I cannot find at the moment). But anyway thank you very much for this!!!

Buying a bottle of wine... part 2 : The two poster

Before I continue with "Buying a bottle of wine" I have to tell that I will try in the future to update my blog at least twice a week. Since some of my friends has been asking me the last week. However the last week was quite busy for me and on the weekend I did something good for my health by attending a Winterseminar from my Martial Arts... so therefore this post will be a little big bigger (I hope you won't fall asleep while reading sooooooo much..) So back to the wine:

Last time we faced probably the most difficult decision: To choose between between white or red wine. Fortunately we figure it out (I hope at least for the one who reads this..). So now we can focus on some more important things. The information on the bottle itself. Actually when you are having a bottle of wine you find to 99% two poster on it. One on the front and on the back. Since most of the people who are not into wine (and also some who are a little already into wine) think that the front poster is for PR and attraction of the eye and of course also contains some information. The back poster contains often a small text about either where the wine comes from and/or what the composition (also called blend) of different grapes is and/or what kind of aromas and also the color of the wine. So of course someone would assume that either both poster containing most information or even just the back poster. Et ben...pfff... bref.... partially right I have to say. The back poster is definitely good to get a better idea about the wine before tasting it or if someone wants to buy it as a present. BUT to be honest personally I see that the back poster even more for PR and a "suggestion" why you should buy this bottle than the front.............

A French red wine from an Alko shop, Finland

You might now start to realize that actually the front poster contains more information than thought before. But what can an "untrained eye" actually decipher from all the data, numbers and words on it? Lets rather first have a look and tell what a so called "untrained eye" can immediately understand. I have marked some numbers on the two pics so it might be easier to follow (yeah now it looks like a medical study book about anatomy, but it can't be helped since I can't point my finger onto it...)

A French red wine from an Alko shop, Finland

So 1) tells us the name "Chateau Le Vieux Chantre" (if it is possible to translate into English, if not a name: "Castle The old chorister"), 2) From which region the wine comes from, 3) the alcohol amount of the wine, 7) a nice pic most probably of the mansion or the castle, 8) the vintage, 10) the number of the bottle. Ouais ouais pas mal. But what do 4),5),6) and 9) tell you??

4) Grand vin de Bordeaux ("Great wine of Bordeaux") actually tells you how good the wine is ranked.

5) Appellation Puisseguin St. Emilion contrôlée is a sign that the wine has been produced and proceed and controlled according to the rules to preserve the originality of wine making. So in shorts no extra added conservatives or any other stuff which is not supposed to be in the wine!

6) Mis en bouteille...: Where the wine was filled up. Normally when it is filled up from the Mansion, the Chateau or by a person (the Name of the person is then indicated) you can assume that is a good wine. There is also "Mis en bouteille aux Domaine", but however I personally don't go for these wines.

And last but not least 9) "Elevé en Fûts de Chêne" means rested in vanila oak barrels. That is actually a very good sign and normally prices for these bottles are a little bit more expensive. Nevertheless the wine is resting in barrels made out of oak wood which will give the wine a slight and very smooth vanilla taste to the wine. Honestly I was only able to taste and smell it once where it was a little bit stronger, but I really liked it. These bottles often do have a number on it (to make it also a little bit more special..). Btw the oak wood of the barrels are from oak trees in France which have been planted in the 14th or 16th century. So one more point why special.

Et bien mes amies ca sera tous pour aujourd'hui (Well my friends that should be it for today,) I hope you enjoyed getting all these informations at once and a new post will come latest at the end of this week.

Buying a bottle of wine... part 1 : The choice is yours

An Alko Shop from Finland 

As I wrote in my last post it seems that I started to write something like a wine book which wasn't the way I wanted to talk about wine. So I will try now to imagine I would tell a friend about wine. So imagine yourself with me now in a wine shop (ALKO for Finland) and lets see what kind of choice we have.... A huge amount of different bottles, different prices, and also what is the text on the bottles actually tell me?? It is sometimes no wonder to me that people got scared of buying the first bottle of wine. Okay nowadays you have the clerks in the shops who are freely helping you in any question so far and also in the Alko Shops under every bottle there are some additional information (e.g. how strong concerning the tannins and also for which food it is suitable). So what should you choose, red or white, what is your taste and what's not? Honestly you will never know until you try and trying takes time and also that you spent some money.

So the white wine, red wine choice. There is still a big discussion between wine people which is better and which one you should try first if you want to get into the wine world. Some say first white wine because of the intensive red wine taste from the tannins might have a bitter after taste. On the other hand some say red wine because the white wine has to many strong acids which can be overwhelming in the beginning. Personally I would say it really doesn't matter. When it comes to taste, everyone has a different taste. Me for example, I started with red and never regret my decision. I tried also white wine but I don't know why I like it less than red. Most probably some will say now because I didn't started with white...

If you would go for a red wine for example you might should choose a wine which is in the middle. That means not too many tannins but also not too less. You can ask one of the clerks for one of those. I would say you could also go for a wine from the Bordeaux region, France (okay what else should I suggest than a wine from France...). If you feel like after having you first glass it is too strong, then you can go next time buying a red wine with less tannins and vice versa. Of course it will take some time to get used to the taste and you might think of not liking it or having difficulties. Then I could only suggest you to have some cheese, if you like it, to cover your taste buds and get slowly used to the strong taste of a red wine. If, however you are allergic to lactose or milk products you can also go with bread with butter or meat. But however do not tend to forget the most IMPORTANT thing while having a glass of wine.... THE COMPANY! You will understand after a while why company is important when having a glass of wine.

One more thing for today when you go and buy a bottle of wine never go for the most expensive ones first. When it comes to wine prices doesn't matter. You can get a good bottle of wine for a relatively cheep price as well for high price.

Next time I will explain a little bit more about the information on the bottles itself. So far et à bientôt mes amis! 

Let the "tour du vin" begin..

Hei,

so why do I start to write this blog? Well I am half-French and moved nearly a year ago to Helsinki, Suomi. Of course to fit the prejudices I also like wine, especially red wine. I have some basic knowledge and experience in consuming and tasting wine. For me having a glass of red wine or to share it with friends and some good food (e.g. cheese) is the best way to relax after a long work-full week and/or to enjoy company.

So when I came the first time to Finland I started to invite my Finnish friends, which I met thanks to my voluntary service club, to some good food and wine over. What else should I have offered them for a drink than a glass of red wine? One thing came to another and despite the first skeptical look and taste some of them now love red wine. And visit me now frequently... Whenever they visit me it happens that I talk about wine or food (another typical prejudice that I full fill as a French guy: I love cooking). Since it seems that most Finns (at least when it comes to my friends) don't know much about wine they started to listen quite focused and on my pikkojoulu (a Finnish Pre-Xmas party) they came up with the idea that I should start writing a blog about it. Voilà!

But what is so interesting or fascinating about wine? Honestly a good question, well there are many things that make wine so special and somehow I have now difficulties to start... I think the easiest way to explain my fascination about wine is if I just write about some simple things first and the go step by step into more detail:

First of all: Every wine is different - the taste, the color and the smell.

Second of all: Everything is possible when it comes to taste, color and smell. From the best to the worst smell and taste...believe me I have experienced some extremes and I still think that I barely scratched the surface.  

The taste and smell depends on many factors: Vintage, weather condition, the grapes, soil condition, the yeast which transform the sugar into alcohol, the time of resting and developing within the barrel and... You see when it comes to wine there are so many things that influence it that someone might end up confused. Putting that aside and making it as simple as possible the wine depends on the grape(s). Some wines are made out of one grape type (e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon) or by a specific combination of 2-3 different grapes (e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache...). The content or better the "capability" of every grape type to produce different kinds of amount of organic substance like sugar(s) and phenolic compounds (e.g. tannins) depend on the environmental conditions. The conditions can be the weather (sun, rain, dryness, wind, insects, microorganisms...) or soil condition (a lot of nutritions or rare nutritions). Due to the combinations of different grape types a wine maker can produce a specific but also unique wine.

I start to realize while writing this, that my explanation looks more like a study book. Mon Dieu! Thats not the way I wanted to do it!... Oh là là ... Okay I will come up with an idea how to make it better and easier to read. Therefore more will follow soon.

À bientôt mes amis! 

Chez Nic - welcome to my blog and some important information

Hei, yeah well now it's also time for me to start a blog. 

First of all I would like to welcome you personally on my blog. About what can you read here? You will read about wine in general.

But the very important things first now before we can start our "tour du vin". I have to mention these things because I see it as my responsibility to make you personally aware about what I write here and also to make things clear for other people:

1) I do not suggest you to start drinking wine or any kind of alcoholic beverage!

2) Please always consider if drinking alcohol: TO DRINK WITH MODERATION!
3) I am not a wine sommelier, wine maker or had any kind of training as one. I achieve some knowledge of wine during my studies (I am a biologist) and by reading about it. All of my knowledge here is basically what I know and can interfere with other people information or knowledge.
4) I write this blog basically for my Finnish friends. However I am also delight if you find this blog good enough to mention and share with your friends. Please go ahead to do so.

So that this has been now mentioned we can start out "tour". So please relax and make yourself comfortable. Just as you would visit a friend. Chez Nic welcomes you....