When it comes to the sweetness level of a wine, most people think of wines as being either sweet or dry (dry is used to mean many things, but properly it only refers to the sweetness level of a wine, ie a dry wine is one that is not sweet). Actually the sweetness level of a wine takes on many forms. Sommeliers usually categorize wines by their sweetness level the following way:

Sweet – sweet and rich, like a dessert wine

Semi-Sweet – Where most wines described as ‘sweet’ fall into. Spatlese Rieslings are one example, or our ever popular Voulet Casorzo. Many of the sweet (but not dessert) wines made in Virginia are semi-sweet.

Off-Dry – Probably where the majority of wines consumed by the American public fall into. Many wines people describe as dry are actually off-dry. They have a touch of sweetness to them because that is what our palate is used to. You may have noticed that French reds tend to taste harsh, for lack of a better word, compared to California reds. It’s the sugar.

Dry – Very little residual sugar (the sugar left in the juice after most has been fermented into alcohol). This would describe many whites, such as Sauvignon Blanc, or reds such as Cabernet, Malbec, or Pinot Noir. It depends on who’s making the wine, of course, but dry wines will truly taste dry.

Bone Dry – little to no residual sugar. Not very common in the U.S., since bone dry wines are not pleasing to a lot of people (we like them). Champagnes labeled as “Extra Brut” are bone dry. So are some other styles of wine, especially from Europe, such as Rieslings from Alsace (did you think all Rieslings were sweet? Sorry for all the parenthetical statements).

These are not technical terms but terms used by retailers and restaurant operators to describe wines. If you want a good recommendation, you are better off using one of these than simply asking for a sweet or dry wine.

When tasting wine, many people will to you that the first thing you should note is the appearance. This is true, but only if you are blind tasting (ie you don’t know what kind of wine you are tasting). Otherwise it doesn’t matter. That being said, there are a couple of things to look for. The first thing is the wine’s “legs”, those clear drops on the sides of the glass. What these tell you is how high the alcohol level is. The slower the legs are to form and drop, the higher the alcohol. Second is the color. Some people will tell you that the clearer the wine, the better. Not so. Clarity depends on what kind of wine you are drinking. But color can give clues about what kind of wine it is. For example, Pinot Noir will be lighter in color than Syrah/Shiraz. Color also gives clues about age. White wines tend to gain color with age and red wines lose color.

Same goes for beer. Appearance can tell you what kind of beer you are drinking or give you clues about the richness of the beer or the carbonation. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter.

More on tasting another time.

I am often asked why we do not carry any Irish beers. It would make sense, given our store’s theme. The answer is, unfortunately, that they are all in Ireland. That is to say, an Irish beer I’d be interested in selling is in Ireland. Beers from big Irish breweries, like Guinness, Smithwicks, or Harp, are easily available. Since we don’t sell corporate beers those options are out, which leaves me with nothing.

Another part of the answer is that the Irish microbrewery business is nowhere near as large as here. In fact, it’s just getting off the ground. You may wonder why that is given Irish beer culture. Part of it is to do with Ireland’s stricter licensing laws and part of it is the fact that a lot of Irish money is new money, so I expect at some point we’ll see more Irish craft brews as more people can afford to operate one.

Even today the microbrews that do exist are brewpubs who do not sell their beers in stores. The most famous is The Porterhouse in Dublin, a few of whose beers I would love to carry. Oh well.

But, for those of you who have been to Ireland, don’t fret too much. The Irish have a talent for making sure beers you had there will not taste the same in your homeland, a common complaint about Guinness. Kilkenny, a red ale brewed by the Smithwicks brewery, is delicious in an Irish pub, with the special taps for stouts that give the beer a creamy head. I tried the very same beer in Belgium and it was nowhere near as good. There’s a good reason to visit Ireland, I guess.

On Friday, the 30th of this month we will be hosting our first ever beer dinner featuring Dogfish Head beers. Devin Arlowski, who works for Dogfish Head, will be here to answer any beer-related questions. I selected the beers based on which ones I thought were the most food-friendly and Olde Virginia Catering will be providing the food. Click here to see the full delicious menu and which beers will be paired with it. For the main course, the chef will be making spareribs that he will cook with the Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale. I can’t wait.

If you’re not familiar with Dogfish Head, check out their website. They are probably the most innovative craft brewery in America in terms of coming up with new ideas for beer styles. For example, one of the courses in the dinner will be paired with the Dogfish Head Red and White, a beer brewed with a bit of Pinot Noir juice and then aged in Pinot Noir oak barrels.

So come on out and enjoy some great beer and food. The event will be held at the Plank road store (next to Ukrops) and costs $60 per person, which includes tax and tip. You can sign up online by clicking here or by calling (540) 548-3339 (payment must be made in advance to secure your reservation). There is a limited amount of seating so sign up fast!

I have a really interesting one for you this week. Apparently I’m on some sort of a kick about British beers aged in oak casks, because another one fell in my lap. This one is from Scotland from a very new craft brewery called Brewdog. The beer is called Paradox Islay and it consists of their Imperial Stout aged for several months in used Scotch Whisky casks. Apparently this is a must-have for Scotch lovers. It’s also a very small batch beer and won’t come around very often.

The name Islay (pronounced eye-luh) comes from an island off the west coast of Mainland Scotland where a lot of Scotch Whiskey is produced. The island is, of course, part of Scotland itself. This particular (#9) was aged in casks that came from the Ardbeg distillery, for any of you who are fans of Scotch.

Also in, 5 Liter mini-kegs of Bell’s Oberon Ale. Bell’s is the only American craft brewery to put their beer in these mini-kegs. Great for summer parties.

We also have a new beer for hop lovers – Green Flash Hop Head Red. It’s a cross between a red ale and an India Pale Ale. Green Flash is based out of San Diego and I haven’t seen their beers around here so I figured we should bring some in.

Wait, don’t leave yet, I’m not finished. Finally, we have a very interesting Hefeweizen from the famous Schneider Weisse Brewery in Munich, famous for their wheat beer and the Aventinus Doppelbock. Their master brewer, Hans-Peter Drexler, collaborated with the Head Brewer at Brooklyn Brewery, Garrett Oliver to make this product, the Schneider Hopfen Weisse. I tried one last night and thought it was great. Full-bodied for a Hefeweizen, it’s rich and spicy.

I find that a lot of residents of this area are not familiar with some excellent out-of-the-way restaurants. Two in particular stand out that I thought I would tell everybody about. This first one is for the city residents who may not venture out to Route 3 too often. A few doors down from the kybecca store next to Ukrops is Laziza, a Lebanese restaurant. The owner, who is very nice to us, actually is from Lebanon and really knows what the food tastes like. Here’s a review of them in the Free Lance Star. In particular, I recommend the Tabouleh (it’s also very healthy) and the baba ghanouj. For those not familiar, baba ghanouj is similar to hummus but made from roasted eggplant rather than chickpeas. Laziza’s prices are quite reasonable, and perhaps best of all they have a very nice selection of Lebanese wine.

Second is a discovery I made yesterday based on a recommendation from a friend. Choi’s Korean Kitchen is located at 1964 William Street (Route 3). It’s near Batteries Plus, you can see it from route 3. Their menu is small but everything is good. The Kim Chi was excellent. Like Laziza, it’s a small, family-run place that really cares about food. It’s also quite reasonably priced. Here’s their review from the Free Lance Star.

I highly recommend both of these places, not only because their food is good but because they are local. It’s important that people frequent local places to eat, because otherwise the only restaurants you will see around here will be the big chains.

From the makers of Dale’s Pale Ale comes this Imperial Stout – in a can. That’s right, Oskar Blues likes to brew their beer in cans. Why? Because the can actually protects the beer better than a bottle, even though it’s not as pretty to look at.

This beer is fairly new to the area and is a big, rich stout. If you’re looking for something new to try here it is, in single cans or 4 packs, available at both stores.

Here’s a great article by Eric Asimov, the main wine writer for the New York Times. He addresses the recent studies that have been done claiming to show that prices of wines do not reflect quality.

I would add one thing to Asimov’s analysis: sweetness of the wines affect people’s perceptions of them. Dryer wines tend not be appealing to novice or casual wine drinkers because, like whiskey or beer, they are an acquired taste. For many, if not most, wine drinkers, the sweeter wine will almost always be the preferred choice regardless of the wine’s other qualities. And since a $5 Cabernet will almost certainly be sweeter than a $50 Cabernet, it stands to reason that many people will say they prefer the $5 Cabernet. This is why so many large producers (see my post below) often sweeten their wines.

Have you seen Twitter yet?Twitter is a blog site for those if us who are not talented enough to actually “write something” that is meaningful enough to make people want to sit there and read.I think of Twitter as the CNN Headline News of blog sites. I …