Tampa Examiner Wine Pairing

Quick Tips for Restaurants and staff on Training and Selling Wine to your eager Guests!

By in Tampa Bay Wine Pairing, Tampa Examiner Wine Pairing, Wine and Food Pairings, Wine Chatter and Blather

Because our industry attracts a diverse workforce, we cannot expect a universal level of wine knowledge from our employees.  With so many wine training programs – what approach is best?

Because the world of wine is so broad and can be intimidating for many, wine training works best as a continuing process, broken down into small, easily digestible bites.  

A “boot camp” approach,  that is a lengthy and intense training session, may work for new hires already conversant in wine, but will be overwhelming for a novice, and probably soon forgotten. 

“Boot camps” do nothing to reinforce the knowledge of long time employees.

Try this…


By incorporating ongoing training into the weekly or bi-weekly routine, information is more easily retained by the staff.  A great time to do this is during pre-shift meetings.  

By focusing on specific subjects, and doing controlled, limited tastings (small pours and spit cups required!), your staff will remember concrete talking points that they can relay to the guest and can use to sell your list.

Also, enrolling wine wines classes taught by one with some experience such as the FDRP, WSET, SWE or CMS is a plus. An outside tutor for example. Establishing a relationship with a wine expert that can be a conduit to your staff. And don’t forget to see if your vendor(s) can host a session on upcoming wines!
Certification should be encouraged as incentive for higher earning potential. Especially if it results in the extra 2 or 3 bottles sold nightly.  Everybody wins! The restaurant wins, the server wins and of course… the customer wins too!

So… selling wine properly is not only very profitable to the business. It keeps your existing customers base happy and it attracts new customers constantly. It really does! …and it helps when you take the small rewarding steps with thoughtful training.

We often lose track of the fact that the service staff is also the sales staff and arming the staff with knowledge is the smart thing to do.

Do German Wines seem imtimidating??? Here is what to look out for to make it easier…

By in German Wines, Tampa Examiner Wine Pairing, Wine Chatter and Blather, Wine Sensory Guide, Wine Speak Glossary

A friend of mine is going to Germany this fall and asked me to give him some info on German wines. I asked him if he preferred dry wines or sweet wines. He said “dry”. So, I told him;  “if you see the word ‘Trocken’ on the bottle, It means it is a dry wine. It will say it right on the bottle.”

But there is a whole lot more too German wines. The labels are gothic with long never-ending words, but really it’s not too hard to get a hold of the basics. But like most wine labels; all the information is packed in there.

I will give you some tips that I hope helps… Anyways it’s Springtime and that which is the time for tasty whites.

When you first look at a German wine. I as I said earlier; check to see if the label has the word ‘Trocken’… If it does… it’s a dry wine. Also, check the alcohol level. If the alcohol level is 11%, 12% or higher; it is most likely a dry wine.

There are many regions in Germany. Those regions have their style and nuances. It is almost a profile…

 Let’s get started by comparing the regions:

Mosel, Saar, Ruwer: An exciting wine, with peach, minerality and from time to time has floral notes; it also has a real zippy acidity.

 

Pfalz, Baden, Württemberg: Full bodied and fatter wines, with ripe, sharp fruit and a strong backbone of acidity. You see more good Pinot Noir (Spatburgunder) from these areas because it’s a little cooler.

 

Nahe, Mittelrhein, Franken: The wine is clear and clean, it’s vibrant with some mineral and likely to have steely metallic notes.

 

Rheingau: Elegant wines that are sleek, smooth and measured and some-times very serious.

 

Rheinhessen: a wine brimming with fresh fruit and wet stones, mineral and sometimes strong metallic and iron-like tones.

 

The German’s are also sticklers for Quality and have developed a system for Quality. But the old and out of date system is essentially flawed;…so you can’t always rely on it. It is more of a loose guide to go along with the profiles and styles just discussed earlier.

 

There are four quality levels;

 

Qualitätswein, or QbA(which is seen the the USA);

 

and the supposedly superior, Prädikatswein, or QmP.

 
If you the letters VDP. That is a level that is completely different

Members of the VDP, or Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter, a group of wineries, that rebelled against the system and created their own. The results up to debatable.

…remember, Generally, the VDP-logo itself indicates superior quality at all levels.

The VDP categories are:

 Gutswein: are the estate wines, dry

 Ortswein: are the village wine (from dry to sweet)

 Erste Lage: are first growth (which can be from dry to sweet), and they are from a single classified site

Grosse Lage: basically means grand cru (from dry to sweet), from a single classified site. Dry wines from a Grosse Lage can be labelled as Grosses Gewächs. The top-class dry wines have the VDP logo and the phrase Grosses Gewächs. Remember the VDP-logo means superior quality at all levels.

Take note of another main thing to look out for…The “Ripeness” of the wine. The German’s track that too (remember “Ripeness” does not necessarily mean sweetness):

 

Sometimes QmP, the label will include a Prädikat, one of five levels of ripeness level at harvest which might help you with picking a style you like.

 The Five Levels of Ripeness are:

 Dry Riesling are, from least ripe to most ripe: Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese.

 Kabinett: Light, with delicate structure, lots of fruit, noticeable aromas and lower alcohol.

 Spätlese: a lot more textured, rounder with more full-bodied mouthfeel than Kabinett.

Auslese: Much bigger in body and substance, often powerful and textured, but no fat. These can cellar for 20 years or more!

Beerenauslese:Which really means ‘berry select’ such as harvested berry by berry which brings the wine up to desert wine category,

Trockenbeerenauslese: here is where you need to bay attention…The ‘Trocken’ means ‘dry berry select’, shriveled with botrytis…so it is a intensely sweet wine and complex dessert wine.

Bonus:

There are the popular and famous frozen grape wines Eiswein…

They are real sweet and have so much of that acidity. The sweetness levels are like the Trockenbeerenauslese (you might see halbtrocken on a bottle, which means half dry, when they play with the sweetness levels…)

I am sure I’ll hear from my friend after this. But go ahead and take this out for a spin and seek some German wines today!

 

 

Toasted Pheasant, a nice little Tampa French Bistro…(Unfortunately this restaurant closed its doors in 2012)

By in Bistros Eateries & Cheese, Tampa Bay Wine Pairing, Tampa Examiner Wine Pairing

…Unfortunately this restaurant closed its doors in 2012, enjoy the review nevertheless
There’s a great little Bistro in Tampa. A no-frills French Bistro no less. It’s called the Toasted Pheasant. It’s nestled in between the Tilted Kilt and the Red Elephant on North Dale Mabry . Easy going yet full of great food that is smartly prepared by Chef Peter. With a simple wine list and some great foods like Escargot, Foie Gras, Quail, Pheasant, Duck Confit, Sea Bass, Beef Burgundy, Short Ribs and Rack of Lamb. How can you go wrong?!?

There is a cork fee of $15 if you bring your own wine bottle. It is very worth it. Bring a nice French Chardonnay from Beaune and Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux. If you can’t bring those, a value Bordeaux , Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon and Unoaked Value Chardonnay will work(or just stick to their wine offerings for a good match). Why do you ask? because you will be able to match up the foods. They offer up small plate dishes that allow you to eat several items.

Furthermore, it is one of the only places in Tampa that you can take in a French inspired meal with a bottle of smashing wine in a setting where you can be totally comfortable and kids are welcome too! The staff is very friendly and eager to please. Let’s hope that place like this can thrive and improve and not get complaisant.

You can join them for Sunday brunches and cooking classes on the First and Third Monday of Every Month that includes a live demonstration in their dining room by Chef Peter. On some Saturday afternoons there are hands on classes in the kitchen. This week on Thursday, July 22nd, there is a 4 course wine dinner and on August 13th and 14th is a ‘Gone Wild’ weekend.

Toasted Pheasant is located in the heart of Carrollwood, immediately south of Ehrlich Road. 14445 N. Dale Mabry Highway. Tampa, Florida 33618 Telephone: 813-265-6700 www.toastedpheasant.com

Wine Scores and Reviews – It’s Good to Keep Notes

By in Tampa Examiner Wine Pairing, Tastings, Wine Scores and Reviews

Reviewing wines always come with a little trepidation. But generally to keep things straight it is good to jot a few reminders down. Many think it is not viable to talk about a wines worth without some kind of scoring system. Wine tasting is totally subjective.

For Example, wine scoring systems such as Robert parker’s 100 point scale or the 20 point scale that Clive Coates uses can be very detailed and influential to a wines price and success; Yet the ratings are meaningless unless readers actually try some of the wines recommended and see whether their appreciation or enjoyment is similar or not. It only really carries any great weight if there is agreement on certain wines.

Some people are totally against scoring; It is a respected point of view due to the fact that wine shouldn’t just boil down to single number because so much goes into it. The goal is to inform the readers of thoughts on certain wines for the plain reason that tasting experience brings strong insight, information and preferences which can be pretty useful to pass along.


WINE CORRESPONDENT 5 POINT SCALE
5 – GREAT
4– ABOVE AVERAGE TO VERY GOOD
3– AVERAGE WELL MADE WINE
2- EVERYDAY WINE NO MAJOR DISTINCTION
1- UNDESIRABLE
S-SLEEPER WINE
V- EXCELLENT VALUE FOR THE PRICE
L- LAVISH
E- EVERYDAY WINE

To help illustrate, the 2004 Martinat Epicurea – Cotes de Bourg: lush and velvet concentrated, complex, cherries, good body and admirable; scores a “5-VS” as a great wine where there is an excellent value for the price along with being a sleeper wine( which is all around surprise and should be seeked out).
On the other hand, the 2006 Chateau Montviel – Pomerol: which is rich with a lot of minerality, and is vaguely interesting scores a” 2 “because it is questionable and does not really provide a great value.
A good scoring system and some notes to remember what you like is helpful in enjoyment of wine. Eventhough there are arguments that wine critics have preferences for flavors and that wine makers are striving to please the critics for high scores. The joy of wine is to find the one that pleases.

Should you always trust wine rating and scores? How do you know a wine is worth buying? How much should I buy? Is the wine good for a gift? All great questions that can be answered by taking some notes and using wine reviews and scores as a shorthand study of the critics thoughts while tasting.

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