WINE LINGO

Chardonnay? Chablis? Is that wine a Pinot Noir or a Pinot Grigio? We’ve heard all of these words before, but what do all of these things mean? There are so many different varieties of wine and almost as many regions where it’s produced. We know that wine can be confusing and we are here to help.
There are thousands of different ways that wines are described, which is what makes them each so special. Learning key wine lingo is not only helpful to your palette when choosing wines in the future, but it just might help you look in-the-know at your next dinner party, too!

When describing taste, use words like…

1. Body. Describing the “body” of the wine means you are talking about the feeling of weight in your mouth, a.k.a. how thin or thick the wine feels.
2. Balance. Balance is pretty much exactly what you think it is. Explaining that a wine is “balanced” means that overall the flavor is harmonious and not too sharp towards a certain taste like sour or bitter.
3. Finish. The “finish” of a wine describes the aftertaste, or the flavor that the wine leaves in your mouth. High quality wines tend to have a longer finish that is more complex than wines of low quality.
4. Dry. Calling a wine “dry” means that you are saying it is not sweet. Dry wines have very low levels of sugar.

When describing appearance, use words like…

1. Legs. Have you ever seen people swirl their wine around their glass? One of the reasons that people do this is to help them see the “legs” of the wine, or the drops that slide down the side of the glass (which make little paths that look like legs). The more alcohol that there is in a wine, the thicker the legs are and the slower they will trickle down the side of your glass.
2. Look. The “look” of your wine is a simple and casual visual assessment of the wine and can include noting the color, whether it is light or dark, or whether for reds you can see through the wine or if it’s opaque.

Some of the most famous wine producing countries in the world include…

1. Italy. Italy is famous for both its red and white wines, and is also where Cavit wine originates!  In addition to bringing us the crowd-pleasing Pinot Grigio and the sumptuous Chianti, Italy also brings the world a variety of cooking wines, including Marsala.
2. United States. The most famous region in the United States for wine, Napa Valley is located in Northern California, just east of San Francisco. This area is known mostly for its red wines, and particularly varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
3. France. Arguably the most famous wine-growing region of the world. Bordeaux and Burgundy are particularly famous for their red wines, which are world-renown for bringing us Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc blends and many more. France is also the place that brought us bubbly, from the high northern region of Champagne itself.

Now you’re a wine expert. Enjoy all your newfound knowledge and be sure to bust out a few of these terms at your next dinner party!

Fast Entertaining The Perfect Meal to Prepare for a Last-Minute Get Together

Dinner parties are a blast and usually coincide with a lot of preemptive planning, but not always. Maybe your work week was too crazy and you didn’t have time to prepare, or the get together came up unannounced and you barely have time to make a store run. Either way, you need to come up with a meal plan and fast! If you serve an easy appetizer, it will give you a little time to whip up that entrée and dessert, and lucky for you, we have a plan.

As an appetizer, consider making some baked brie. All you have to do is wrap the cheese in puff pastry, cut the excess off the sides (adding a little decorative piece on top if you’d like) and bake it at 375 degrees for around 18 minutes. Slice up some apples, arrange some artisan crackers or bread, and you have a super easy appetizer that looks pretty classy! For wine, try pairing the brie with Cavit Chardonnay.

There’s nothing easier to whip up than some simple pasta. While there are tons of pasta ideas out there, we think a nice shrimp scampi is a good last-minute choice. All you have to do is cook some linguine and then sauté shrimp in a pan with some garlic and pepper. Stir in some white wine and lemon juice, throw in some seasonings and you’re done!

Since the first two courses are a little on the heavy side, think about something a little lighter for dessert, like nice roasted pears topped with mascarpone. This is super easy to make and requires very few ingredients. To start, drizzle some olive oil on halved pears and bake for around 20 minutes until they’re soft. While the pears are roasting, mix together some pumpkin seeds, almond, brown sugar, oats, salt to taste and some additional oil. Spread the mixture out on a baking sheet and pop in the oven for the last 10 minutes. Once everything is baked, scoop some mascarpone onto each plate, add a pear half and then top it all with the nut crumble.

The best thing about these three courses is that they can be used to spark ideas too. Don’t like brie? Try a different type of cheese. Hate shrimp? Throw something else in there and create a different type of pasta dish. Can’t stand pears? Maybe try apples instead and make your own deconstructed pie. But no matter what you change, make sure you get those wine pairings right, because your guests will need something to sip on.

5 Hacks Every Wine Lover Should Know

Freeze Grapes to Chill Your Wine
If you’re anything like us, once you pick up a glass of really delicious wine you find it hard to put down. But the love you bestow on that glass will also warm your beverage in a not-so-refreshing way. Putting ice in your wine may be frowned upon and could also water it down; sticking your glass in the fridge between sips is inconvenient, so what do you do? Freeze some grapes, that’s what. The frozen grapes can be dropped into your drink to cool it without watering it down at all. Best of all, you get a fun wine-flavored snack at the end!

Use Leftover Wine for Cooking
The party may have ended, but there are still bottles of the good stuff left sitting out. The dilemma? You don’t want them to expire, but you also can’t justify drinking two-thirds of a bottle’s worth of wine on a school night. Don’t toss it out! Instead, pour wine in ice cube trays and freeze it. The next time you need a splash of wine for a recipe, just pop a cube out and drop it into your pan. Bon appetite!

Cool Your Wine Quickly
There are few feelings more defeating than coming home after a long day and realizing you forgot to stick your wine in the fridge. Cool it down in time for dinner by wrapping the bottle in a wet paper towel and freezing for 15 minutes. While the bottle is in the freezer, fill a bucket with ice, salt, and water. Remove the bottle from the freezer, unwrap the paper towel, and stick it directly into the ice bucket. Boom: cold wine with little time wasted.

Turn Any Wine into Dessert
We always have room for dessert. Make any wine a dessert wine by adding two tablespoons of syrup to a cup of wine. Once the mixture has been stirred thoroughly, stick it in a freezer-safe container and freeze it until you have a wine-flavored slushie. Yes, please.

Lift Red Wine Stains Easily
Spilling red wine on the carpet (or even worse, on someone else) during a get-together can turn the good time vibes into a messy apology-fest. If the wine is freshly-spilled, salt is actually your best option. Grab the nearest bottle of table salt and spread it evenly across the stain. The salt will work to absorb the color from the stain before you give the spot a thorough clean with warm water later.