Tuesday, April 17, 2018

The Desert Wine Guy - On The Tempranillo Grape


                                                            
Tempranillo Ready For Harvest

   Today I want to talk about a wine grape that has fast become one of my favorite varietals. Today we will talk about the Tempranillo (temp-rah-NEE-yo) grape. Like most Americans I had never heard of this varietal until I went to South Coast Winery (http://wineresort.com/) in Temecula California where I did a tasting and this varietal was one of the wines included in that tasting. I immediately fell in love with the varietal as I noticed that this wine was truly different from the Cabernet Sauvignon that at the time was my favorite and that I was accustomed to drinking. This wine was peppery, had Tannins and was earthy and simply struck me as being a deep oakey red in a way that was unique in comparison to a good Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. There is a great chance that many of you guys might never have heard of this grape but I am here to convince you to at least give this grape a try as I think you will be happy. Bottom line, if you love a big red than this is your wine. For those of you who have access to a place called Total Wine & Spirits (http://www.totalwine.com/) you will find the Tempranillo in the "Other Reds" section. Let's now look a little deeper into the Tempranillo grape and it's history and we will of course start at the beginning since many of us will be learning about this grape for the very first time. By the way I will learn along with you so don't feel to bad.
Tempranillo Vineyard In Washington State
                                                
   The word Tempranillo means "little early one", this is due to the fact that it flowers, buds, and ripens around two weeks earlier that Spain's other popular red grapes. The Tempranillo is a black grape and is one of the most famous and best known of Spain's native grapes, it is also known as the Cabernet Sauvignon of Spain. In Portugal it is even used for fortified wines (Ports). Some of the characteristics this wonderful grape has are it is thick skinned, it's intense ruby red color and violet-blue undertones with weak acidity. The grape makes a medium to full-bodied red wine with full fruit flavor. The grape is also known for it's medium to strong tannin's. The wine is usually aged in Oak for 12-18 months but not always. Tempranillo is also largely used as a blending grape such as Merlot and others. I hate to say it but the Tempranillo grape is also used for "Jug Wine" as a blending grape. The grape also goes by many different names in Spain such as Tinto de Toro, Pinto Madrid, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Ojo de Liebre. When it comes to aging a red wine look no further than the Tempranillo which has the structure to age very well.  As for growing conditions the grape loves the heat but does enjoy cooler nights and is above average when it comes to withstanding cold Spring temperatures. The growing of Tempranillo has spread from Spain to California (where it first arrived in the 1900's probably in the form of seeds) to Oregon, Texas (1998) and Washington State. This spread has been at a very slow rate but if wine reviewers and writers like me keep writing about it hopefully there is a great chance that people will at least give it a try and fall in love with it as I have. I really believe that if given a try, people will be hooked and the popularity (as well as the price unfortunately) will start to climb. For those of you who are looking for a review on this varietal from me I just so happen to have a 2011 Tempranillo from ST AMANTI (http://www.stamantwine.com/About-Us/Winery) winery located in Lodi, California. When I complete that tasting I will do a review on it and post it. Till then folks get out there and try a bottle of Tempranillo and e mail me and let me know what you think.
   If you still want to know more about this varietal check out this pdf  http://iv.ucdavis.edu/files/24363.pdf. It is everything you always wanted to know about this grape....and more.

Tempranillo On The Vine
                                              
                                                                                                                 The Desert Wine Guy

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Sunday, April 15, 2018

The Desert Wine Guy - IG WInery - 2016 Rogue Valley, AVA - Riesling


   Well guys, a couple of weeks ago I did a review of the new IG Winery which is located in Cedar City, Utah and I mentioned a little bit about their 2016 Rouge Valley, AVA, Riesling that my friend recommended I purchase a bottle of. Today we will see if my friend was correct in his judgment / suggestion. Before we begin , I have a confession to make. I am a lover of simple and inexpensive Rieslings such as Chateau Ste Michelle (https://www.ste-michelle.com/) and that is a burden that I guess I and many other lovers of inexpensive Rieslings will have to bear....happily. Inexpensive Rieslings such as Chateau Ste Michelle fit into a very popular segment of semi-sweet to sweet White wines in general. To me a Riesling should be bright and fruity and yes, semi sweet yet not a "sugar bomb", after all it is not a Wine Cooler. Carbonation is not something I want in a wine either unless I am drinking a Champagne. A Riesling should also not be expensive in my opinion, it is a Summer / pool / Barbecue type wine that should not be offensive either in sweetness or price, to anyone. The Chateau Ste http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/chateau-ste-michelle-2015-riesling-columbia-valley-wa) costs $7 at my local Supermarket and earned a score of 88 points from Wine Enthusiast magazine for their 2015 vintage. Getting back to our review wine, does this review wine meet all or most of that criteria? Read on and you will see. One last item before we move on. For the sake of time, I wont get into too much about the IG Winery other than to say that the owner and winemaker is Doug McCombs who just so happens to live in Las Vegas as well. If you read my last review (https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-desert-wine-guy-look-at-new-ig.html) which I just wrote on the Winery you will learn a little bit about the winery.
   So, now the wine. Let's start off with the simplest item and that is the closure. The 2016 IG Riesling starts off visually at least, looking good. I thought the label is very clean and professional and the bottle is actually sealed with a Cork and I like that. Summer wine or not it is still real wine and deserves that amount of dignity in my book. Unfortunately for this wine, that is where the good news stops. The wines appearance in the glass was very nearly clear with perhaps the ever so slightest hue of Gold, in other words the visual appearance of the wine is not really impressive at all. The next flaw in the wine was the fact that there was no Bouquet to it. To me as I put my nose to the glass I just simply did not pick up any Bouquet. This was not an isolated instance as I went back to the glass a few times with the same results. O.K. lets talk about the Palette which I guess is the most important thing although all aspects of the wine are responsible for the final impression on your mind as well as Palette and combined helps make the final product in your glass. Upon initial tasting there was a note of Alcohol that I did not really care for. At an Alcohol percentage of 13%, which is not
an unusually high percentage for this varietal, I found this was strange indeed. This Alcohol note also didn't seem to fade right away but if it had it would have been considered a very minor flaw in my book and probably while not overlooked, wouldn't have been of too much note. Moving on with my review of the wine on my Palette, there is Green Apple and Grapefruit that are certainly present and in appropriate amounts, there is however a hint of spice on the finish that I found out of place and rather offensive on the Palette as well as being out of place in the varietal I thought. The spice note caused the wine to display a rather sharp "edge" of sorts in my mouth. Right off I also just find something "flat" or "watery" in general to the wine. I'm not quite sure what it is but there is a little something (once again a flatness) that semi to have dulled the finish.  There is a semi detectable note of Apricot as well that I picked up but it does nothing to support or rescue the wine. As for sweetness or a sugary note on the Palette I have to say that there was some expected sweetness that I picked up rather oddly as almost a tartness on the side of my Tongue. Speaking of the Tongue there is also a feeling that seems as if there was something left on the Tongue after swallowing, almost like that feeling of Tannins left by a Red wine.
   Well guys, that is about all I have to say here about this wine. While the wine is drinkable it is not something that I would recommend to you. At $25 I believe that this Riesling is way over priced for what it is and way over priced for a good Riesling. I think I will Stick with Chateau ste-michelle for a great Riesling and I think you will be happy. As a side note you can buy three (3) bottles of that wine for every one (1) bottle of the IG Riesling and save $3 while you are at it.
   On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I give this wine 75 points - " Mediocre: a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws".

                                                                                                                  The Desert Wine Guy
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Wednesday, April 4, 2018

The Benefits Of Resveratrol - A Follow-up Look At A Powerful Antioxidant


   Today we are going to be taking a little break from wine reviews. Have no worries though as we will still be sticking with the topic of grapes. Today we will be discussing an Antioxidant that is found in the red grape skin although it is also found elsewhere, The Antioxidant that we will be discussing is named Resveratrol. This will actually also be an update of an article that I wrote on the Antioxidant back in December of 2016 (https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-desert-wine-guy-whats-all-this.html). With all this increased talk today about the supposed health benefits of Resveratrol and how the wine industry has latched onto this supposed benefit and is trying it's best to make it appear that because red grapes have Resveratrol as part of it's DNA that red wine is now the healthiest drink on the planet, I thought this would be a great time to re-visit the topic. So let's go ahead and get right into this then. One thing I want to mention before I move on however is that I would like to point out that throughout this article I will try to stick to the issue at hand which is does Resveratrol and not wine provide any significant benefits to our health. I will try to stay away from the debate of whether wine is healthy or not however at times it cannot be helped and the two issues will in inter joined. You will also see in my closing paragraph that these are indeed two different topics. So, with that said, let's get on with it. The first question we need to answer is what is Resveratrol?
   Resveratrol is an antioxidant. Antioxidants are believed to help the body fight against diseases such as Cancer and Heart Disease by protecting the body against what is known as "free radicals"which damage cells and allows disease to take root inside our bodies. Using antioxidants helps the body in neutralizing and removing these "free radicals". As well as being an Antioxidant, Resveratrol is also what is called a Phytoalexin which is a class of natural antibiotic compounds produced as a part of a plant's defense system against disease. On top of all that, Resveratrol is also a stilbenoid which is a type of natural phenol, and a phytoalexin produced naturally by several plants in response to injury or when the plant is under attack by pathogens such as bacteria or fungi. Putting it simply Resveratrol is a compound that helps destroy bad cells in our body and helps our body repair itself as well. Okay now that we know what it is, let's find out where Resveratrol can be found.
   While it is accurate that Resveratrol is found in higher concentration in the skin of the red grapes as well as red wine (with Merlot being the highest in concentration) according to Oregon State University you can also find it in Peanuts (very small amounts) as well as red berries, Dark (dark) Chocolate (the higher the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate, the higher the concentration of antioxidants it will have), Bilberries Cranberries & Blueberries just to name a few. So now that we know what Resveratrol is and where we can find it, lets learn about the latest research on it.

On 2003 Dr. David Sinclair discovered the anti-aging properties of Resveratrol. Since then the topic of Resveratrol has been big news with the wine industry as they use it to promote consumers drinking more red wine and the supplement industry which benefits that industry by selling Resveratrol.  Here is some of the latest research that is available on the subject. A March 6, 2018 report by Medical News Today (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321126.php) reports that according to Dr. Shuai Cao of the Division of Biology at Kansas State University states that Resveratrol "has a good chance of inhibiting all poxviruses." According to an April 2, 2018 article in the San Diego Tribune Dr. Philip Goscienski says (http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/ramona-sentinel/news/local-news/sd-cm-ram-wine-and-chocolate-20180207-story.html) that among the health benefits attributed to Resveratrol are reducing inflammation, protecting DNA as an antioxidant, slowing down aging and protecting against cancer. According to an August 14, 2017 article in the Philly Voice (http://www.phillyvoice.com/component-red-wine-has-similar-anti-aging-effects-diet-and-exercise/) a study from The Journals of Gerontology is quoted as saying that the benefits of Resveratrol shares many of the same benefits as a drug prescribed to fight Type 2 diabetes called Metformin.
   An article in Medical Daily (https://www.medicaldaily.com/drinking-red-wine-type-2-diabetes-resveratrol-benefits-heart-health-reducing-417066) which was written on May 8, 2017 The American Heart Association on  May 4, 2017 posted a study (http://newsroom.heart.org/news/can-the-antioxidant-resveratrol-reduce-artery-stiffness-in-diabetics) where researchers found a 300 milligram (mg) per day dose of Resveratrol decreased aortic stiffness by 9 percent in type 2 diabetes patients. All is not well with Resveratrol however as a February 2018 article (https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/grape-expectations-is-red-wine-good-for-your-heart) posted by Harvard Health Publishing (Harvard Medical School shows. The article in part states "Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. All of the research showing that people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have lower rates of heart disease is observational. Such studies can't prove cause and effect, only associations."
   I will begin this closing paragraph with a study. Here is where I also must blend the two different subjects of wine health and the benefits of Resveratrol together. According to a March 5, 2015 article in Forbes Magazine (https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/03/05/can-a-daily-glass-of-wine-help-prevent-cancer/#27f469e2227a) Daryl Davies PhD who is a professor in the department of Clinical Pharmacy and the Director of the MS program in management of drug development at the USC School of Pharmacy is quoted as saying the following "Antioxidants (Resveratrol) in wine are so low that it’s a joke,” In other words compared with the negative health effects of Alcohol, the amount of Resveratrol you would get in wine is not worth the risk.To me, this sums up the article. Yes, red wine has some health benefits such as Resveratrol BUT (and it is a big but) the fact that you are consuming Alcohol which is not good for you in so many ways the negatives of Alcohol far out way the small benefits. In all actuality since there are so many negatives to Alcohol in general you could say that there are not positives since they get eliminated in the end. I my opinion if you want to take Resveratrol (and I definitely do) then don't use wine as an effective means of doing it. Eat your red grapes, Grape Juice, eat your Blueberries, Bilberries, cranberries, eat the Dark Chocolate (in moderate amounts) and REAL peanut Butter without High Fructose Corn Syrup. Here is another very interesting item to take note of. According to a study done by The US Library of Medicine National Institute of Health (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13129286) "......after 18 min of heating at 190 degrees C, between 17 and 46% of the resveratrol had degraded in the various Vaccinium species." Without getting into a discussion on the matter, raw foods are healthier than cooked or processed foods. Eating the fruits themselves also provides your body a great source of other antioxidants, dietary fiber, vitamins C and K and manganese.
Before saying goodbye, I want to remind you that there are two different subjects that seem to at times be meshed together as one in the conversation over Resveratrol. The first discussion should be about the benefits (if any) of resveratrol and the second should be the health benefits (if any) of red wine. Perhaps this meshing of the two (2) topics shows the power of the Alcohol or wine industry I am not sure. As I stated already, Resveratrol is available in more places than red wine. One other interesting thing that I found while researching this wine is that it is almost impossible to find the amounts of resveratrol used in studies or the amount of Resveratrol that a glass (or a bottle) of red wine contains. Call me paranoid but I do not believe that is done by accident. There was only one (1) article (https://www.worldhealth.net/news/resveratrol-diabetes-arteries-stiffness-cardiovasc/) that I could find that actually posted amounts of Resveratrol used in a study. That article went on to conclude in part "..... a subgroup of 23 patients with particularly high arterial stiffness saw a 9% decrease with the 300 mg dose and a 4.8% decrease with the 100 mg dose.". In my opinion Resveratrol has shown it's benefits without question and I am a believer. I have started taking 300 MG of Resveratrol a day and perhaps you might want to as well.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a Doctor and am not giving anyone any medical advice with this article. I suggest if you wish to know if Resveratrol is safe for you that you go see your Doctor before taking it.

                                                                                                                  The Desert Wine Guy

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