Answers on oak treatments and wine temperatures

We love it when we get questions from our readers.

Not only does it let us know folks are still enjoying the column, but most times, many wine consumers have the same questions so it helps all of us.

Here are a few that have recently come in.

Right now, we are featuring a Viognier from the Rhone Valley in France in our wine club.

In describing the wine to our members, I talk about how white Rhone grapes do best without the use of oak barrels during fermentation or ageing.

One of our club members asked “Is there anywhere on the label where you can find facts about the oak treatment in the wine?”

It is very unusual to find any commentary about how the wine is fermented and aged on the label.

Occasionally on the back label you may find some brief tasting notes from the winemaker about their methods, but it is by far the exception.

Every wine label has to be approved by the federal government — and in some cases, state governments — before the wine is labeled.

There are many restrictions on what can be said on the label, but one requirement that must be there is the alcohol level in the wine.

The actual percentage of alcohol can vary a half of percentage point in either direction from the stated alcohol on the label.

Your best bet for finding out about the use of oak barrels or other oak products during fermentation and ageing (as well as other parts of the winemaking process) is to ask the wine professional. Here at the shop, we taste every wine before we put it on the shelf or feature it in our wine club, so we will know the specifics on each wine.

This also allows us to better direct you to a bottle you are likely to enjoy.

There is widely-held axiom in the wine world that here in the states we drink our white wines too cold and our red wines too warm.

One of our regular customers and wine club members asked about wine temperatures for storage and for drinking. Ideal cellar temperature for storage is around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Having said that, wine is far more tolerant of temperature than we give it credit for.

Unless you are ageing very expensive wines for years and years, you should be fine storing your wine where it does not get above 70 degrees or below 40.

Most of us do not have a wine cellar or even a wine refrigerator, so a dark closet not exposed to an outside wall or under a bed in an unoccupied bedroom are both great choices.

Avoid storing your wine near heat sources, like above appliances in your kitchen or next to water heaters in your utility room or garage.

When it comes to drinking temperature, the general guideline for whites is 50 to 60 degrees.

If you get any wine too cold, the temperature will strip the wine of all the fruit flavors, and you end up tasting only alcohol tannin and any oak treatment in the wine.

The cold in effect steals all the complexity from the wine.

For whites, keeping it in your home refrigerator will be fine, remove it about 15 minutes or so prior to serving and it should be perfect.

For red wine, 60 to 70 degrees is generally considered the best temperature for consumption, with a bit of variance based on the red varietal.

Again, if the wine is too cold, the fruit will be diminished, and if the wine is served too warm, the structure nuance and complexity of the wine will also be lost. If you are storing your reds at normal room temperature, you can pop the bottle into your kitchen refrigerator for 15 minutes prior to serving and it should be close to ideal.

Keep sending your questions in or stop by the shop and ask, we will be happy to get answers to your wine questions in a column.

After all many of your fellow wine consumers probably want to ask the same thing!

If there is a topic you would like to read about, or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d’Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner (with his wife Mary Lancaster) of the dinner party, a wine and tabletop décor shop by Costco in Coeur d’Alene.

George has also worked as a judge in many wine competitions, and his articles are published around the country.

You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles and other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.