ffirs.indd ii 3/13/09 12:40:30 PM the wine, beer, & spirits handbook ffirs.indd i 3/13/09 12:40:30 PM ffirs.indd ii 3/13/09 12:40:30 PM the wine, beer, & spirits handbook A Guide to Styles and Service Joseph LaVilla, Ph.D., CEC Photography by Doug Wynn John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffirs.indd iii 3/13/09 12:40:30 PM This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2010 by Education Management Corporation. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. 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For general information on our other products and services, or technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at 800–762–2974, outside the United States at 317–572–3993 or fax 317–572–4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our Web site at http://www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: LaVilla, Joseph The wine, beer, and spirits handbook: a guide to styles and service/Joseph LaVilla; photography by Doug Wynn. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-13884-7 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-470-52429-9 (custom) 1. Wine and wine making. 2. Wine service. 3. Wine—Flavor and odor. 4. Drinking of alcoholic beverages. I. LaVilla, Joseph. II. Wynn, Doug. III. Title. TP548.N45 2010 641.2'2—dc22 2008042640 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ffirs.indd iv 3/13/09 12:40:32 PM Contents Preface vii PART ONE: Introduction to Wine 1 1 What Makes Wines Taste Different? 3 2 How Wine Is Made 19 3 The Science of Wine Tasting 43 4 Wine Storage and Service 61 5 Food and Wine Pairing 83 6 The Health Aspects of Alcohol 105 PART TWO: Wines from International Grapes 111 7 Chardonnay 113 8 Pinot Noir 123 9 Cabernet Sauvignon 133 10 Merlot 143 11 Sauvignon Blanc 149 12 Riesling 157 13 Syrah/Shiraz 167 14 Grenache/Garnacha 175 PART THREE: Wines from White Grapes 183 15 The Aromatics 185 16 Light and Crisp White Wines 197 17 Fat and Full 209 ftoc.indd v 3/13/09 12:41:46 PM vi CONTENTS PART FOUR: Wines from Black Grapes 217 18 Light and Fresh 219 19 Soft and Juicy 231 20 Full and Tannic 239 21 Rich and Spicy 245 PART FIVE: Sparkling and Fortifi ed Wines 251 22 Sparkling Wines and How They Are Made 253 23 Fortifi ed Wines 277 24 Sparkling and Fortifi ed Wine Service 307 PART SIX: Beer, Spirits, and Liqueurs 319 25 Beer 321 26 How Spirits and Liqueurs Are Made 339 27 Fruit-Based Spirits 349 28 Grain-based Spirits 359 29 Vegetable-Based Spirits 371 PART SEVEN: The Role of the Sommelier 379 30 In the Dining Room 381 31 Wine List Creation and Menu Matching 391 32 Cellar Management and Product Research 409 33 Understanding Wine Faults 417 Appendices Appendix A: Maps 425 Appendix B: Label Terminology 433 Appendix C: Legislation 447 Glossary 465 Bibliography 499 Index 501 ftoc.indd vi 3/13/09 12:41:50 PM Preface An important aspect of hospitality education is the study of wine and bev- erages. Beverages have become an important aspect of the industry, not only in the overall dining experience, but also for chefs and restaurateurs who wish to enhance the enjoyment of their food. The recent emphasis on food and wine pairings in print and in menus exemplifi es this trend. Two recent trends—emphasizing food, beer and cocktail pairings and the rise of the “bar chef” using savory ingredients—suggest the trend is expanding beyond wine. Learning about wine can be an imposing challenge and has some obstacles to easy learning. First, unlike teaching culinary arts, the frame of reference for the stu- dent is often limited. Students cannot begin their actual wine education until they are twenty-one, yet have eaten all their lives. Discussion of cooking technique and fl avors has some familiarity, while wine is often a completely unique experience. Second, wine education is constantly changing. Every year, when a new vintage is released, new wines need to be learned. Considering there are thousands of winer- ies, each producing multiple types of wine, the task can be overwhelming. It’s akin to standing on the 50-yard line at a professional football game and expecting to learn something about every person in the stands. Finally, the instructional orga- nization brings its own challenges. Much of learning about wine begins in France, after whose traditions most wines are produced. However, studying French wine is simply condensing the wine world into a smaller portion. It is still chock full of grapes, styles, techniques, and so on. More advanced classes just delve deeper into the same material. That makes the initial learning curve steep and subsequent learning repetitious. Audience The need for a new, comprehensive approach is the motivation behind The Wine, Beer, and Spirits Handbook. Most of the wine texts do not address the integration of wine into the hospitality experience. Wine is treated as an isolated subject, occasionally vii fpref.indd vii 3/13/09 12:42:46 PM viii PREFACE with a reference to basic food and wine pairing. Culinary and hospitality students and professionals will fi nd this book useful for the emphasis on food and wine pair- ing as a stand-alone topic as well as comments on how grape varietals and wine styles interact with food. For a hospitality student or wine professional, the book focuses not only on the making and fl avor profi les of wine, beer, and spirits, but also on the business of wine service. Basic service needs are discussed, as well as management tasks such as inventory control, pricing, menu matching, and storage. Functional skills such as determination of wine faults and understanding the health and legal implica- tions of wine consumption are also addressed. The Wine, Beer, and Spirits Handbook is perfect for classes in food and beverage management, wine appreciation, spirits, or advanced restaurant and culinary classes utilizing food and wine pairing. Organization of the Text The Wine, Beer, and Spirits Handbook approaches the subject from the modern view of varietal labeling and stylistic similarities. Each part can be used as a stand-alone section to be explored deeply, or the book can be used as a whole to give an overview of the subject and kept as a reference. The material covers both a breadth of topics as well as a depth not found in any other single text. Unique to the text is the inclusion of a large section on food and wine pairing, as well as food and beverage interactions in each part. The Wine, Beer, and Spirits Handbook is also not restricted just to wine, but also includes beer and spirits and their interactions with food. The fi rst part covers the general topic of wine: what makes wines taste differ- ent, how they are made, how to taste them, how to store and serve them, how they interact with food, and their implication on health. The second part focuses on the important grapes in the market today. These are discussed regarding the special circumstances of their growth, wine making, and food interaction. Also discussed are the locations of the best examples of wine from these grapes. Parts three and four look at secondary or up-and-coming grapes (white grapes in part three and red grapes in part four). These are often single- region wines, but they are grouped by style similarities. After the discussion on table wines, part fi ve is dedicated to specialty wines, namely sparkling wines and fortifi ed wines. In these sections, production is dis- cussed as well as styles and food interactions. Part six focuses on other alcoholic beverages, namely beer and spirits. The spirits are divided into fruit-, grain-, and vegetable-based spirits.