At what temperature should I serve this wine?
White wines, sparkling wines, and rosés all taste better at temperatures somewhat warmer than the average refrigerator (38°) or ice bucket (32°). For lighter-bodied wines such as Rieslings, Loire whites, most Sauvignon Blancs, Chenin Blancs, and real Chablis, 45° is close to ideal. Fuller-bodied whites taste better at slightly warmer temperatures with the richest white Burgundies, Chardonnays, and dessert-styles (Sauternes) showing best near 55°. Red wines show their best between 55° and 60° with lighter-weight reds (Beaujolais) capable of handling a chill down to as cool as 48°-50°. Fuller-bodied reds such (Bordeaux, Rhone red, California Cab, Zinfandel, and Australian Shiraz) are at their best around 60°. Nothing tastes as good at 70° as at 60° and Houston's typical summer room temperature (75°-80°) is way too warm. The mechanics of this are not that difficult to manage. Forty-five minutes in the refrigerator or 2-3 minutes in a bucket of ice water will cool most reds to a good serving temperature. Remove white wines from the refrigerator a bit before serving and don't keep them immersed in ice water at the table. Instead let them sit on top of a bucket of ice (as opposed to in ice water). A good solution for everyday reds is the plastic "ice cube" balls that can be kept in the freezer and used to "ice" a drink without diluting it. They look a little funny but the wine tastes the same. One or two will quickly cool a glass of red to a good serving temperature.

How long will this bottle of wine keep after I've opened it? What can I do to help it last?
A few wines such as Tawny Ports, Sherry, and Madeira will keep almost indefinitely after the bottle is opened. This is because they become oxidized in casks (called oxidative aging) as part of the maturation process before they are bottled and sold. Because they're intentionally oxidized, exposure to a little more air won't damage them or cause any deterioration. Most wines are matured in bottles outside of contact with air (called reductive aging) so the chemical development that takes place is reductive in nature. When these bottles are opened, the wine is exposed to air and begins to oxidize. The oxidization that initially takes place is actually helpful in that it helps the wine release its aromas and flavors. At some point, the wine begins to deteriorate. Most young red wines will hold up for a day or two after the bottle is opened, even if all you do is put the cork back in. If you want the wine to last longer, put it in the refrigerator; cold slows the oxidative process. This can add a day or two to the wine¹s keeping ability. The best solution is to reduce the amount of air in the bottle. Collectors of sweet German Rieslings sometimes use marbles or river pebbles to displace the wine to raise the level back into the neck and then re-cork the wine. A better solution is to use a product called Private Preserve. Private Preserve is a can of nitrogen blended with carbon dioxide and argon. Because this mixture is heavier than air, you can spray it into an open wine bottle where it not only displaces most of the oxygen-laden air in the bottle but further forms an inert blanket over the wine that protects it from any air left in the bottle. Using Private Preserve along with the refrigerator, I've kept partial bottles for as long as three weeks with little or no deterioration.

Can you tell by looking if a bottle of wine is bad?
Not with 100% accuracy but there are some telltale signs to check. The main culprit in damaged wine is heat. A bottle that¹s been hot may show marks on the bottle in the form of a sticky residue around the capsule, a cork that looks like it's trying to push out of the bottle, or a streak of wine running from the capsule. Sometimes this seepage causes corrosion around the edges of the capsule. Any of these signs are a likely indication that a wine has gotten hot. A bottle that was been frozen can show some of the same effects. It's usually best to avoid these wines but there is one very big "however." Some very high quality producers (such as Guigal, Leroy, and J.J. Prum) believe that for their wines to age and develop to their full potential, the bottles must be filled to the cork and that bottling should take place under cold conditions so as to reduce any possibility of oxidation. The problem comes when the wines warm up a bit during shipping and subsequent storage. Great care is taken with these wines in transit to insure that they are not cooked. Unfortunately, as the wine warms from a bottling temperature in the mid 30s to a shipping temperature in the upper 50s, it expands. This can cause some seepage and the appearance of a wine that has been cooked. One thing to note on these wines is the high quality reputation the producers have and the fact that, even with some seepage, fill levels tend to remain very high. These wines are safe to purchase. If you have any question about a particular bottle, ask. You can cause these symptoms by allowing the wine to get hot after you leave the store. A bottle of wine left in a closed car in Houston in July can push its cork in as little as five minutes. At that point, the only thing to do is cool the wine down and drink it as soon as possible. It is diminished in quality for now and ruined for any further aging.

What about wines that are "corked?"
"Corked" wines are not heat damaged wines or wines with obviously defective or leaking corks. Instead, "corked" denotes a wine that displays a chlorine (like chlorine bleach or a stinky pool) or wet-cardboard smell and lacks fruit in the mouth. These wines are affected by a chlorine compound called 2,4,6 TCA or Trichloroanisole that is an inadvertent by-product of cork production and cleaning. In even tiny amounts, trichloroanisole is detectable by people as that distinctive "corked" smell. Some amount of "cork taint" may affect as many as 1 in every 12 bottles of cork-finished wine. Some corked wines exhibit a much stronger cork taint than others and many are so lightly affected they pass unnoticed. Some producers (St. Francis and Bonny Doon come to mind) are using mostly extruded plastic "corks" now to avoid the problem all together. These plastic stoppers are removed with a corkscrew just as a natural cork would be. If Liquor Box sold you a wine that smells of chlorine, please bring it back and exchange it for another bottle.

How long should I keep this wine before I drink it?
The amazing but true answer for ninety-nine percent of all wine sold is "at least until you get it home and have it cool enough to drink." For the other one percent, the answer is "it depends." What it depends on is whether you have a suitable place to keep wine. For long term storage, wine wants a cool (Below 50° is too cold, 55° is ideal, over 70° is just too warm), dark, vibration-free place. If you don't have such a place, think about buying and keeping only wines you intend to drink within a year or two at most. Some wines are less finicky than others. Lighter-weight wines often fade quickly in less than ideal conditions. Some robust reds and vintage Ports can shrug off a bit of abuse but even they will succumb to temperatures in excess of 80°.

We're having (fill in the blank) for dinner tonight. Which wine should I serve with it?
On Liquor Box site there is a menu link to pairing wines with various food choices.  You can easily find out which wine will best compliment the entree' you are serving.

Basic Rules Are As Follows:

Pinot Noir makes as versatile a match to any food you conceivably could serve with red wine as any other grape on the planet. It works well with everything from grilled salmon to roast beef and is especially good with favorites such as takeout rotisserie chicken. While Pinot Noir isn't my fist choice with Pizza, it even works with that most robust-red-friendly dish. And Pinot Noir can handle smoky, spicy, and salty flavors that give most other red wines fits. Remember two things: 1) Red Burgundy is Pinot Noir. and 2) Pinot Noir is at its best between 55 and 60°. Three very versatile Pinot Noirs I can heartily recommend are Fountain Grove Pinot Noir 1998, Alexander Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir 1998, and Remoissenet Beaune-Greves 1996.

For the safest bet on white wines to go with a broad range of foods, look to Sauvignon Blanc. With its crisp, refreshing fruit and range of flavors, Sauvignon Blanc pairs well with everything from shellfish or pasta with clam sauce to cold fried chicken or Chinese takeout. Sauvignon Blanc may come disguised as Bordeaux Blanc (Graves, Entre deux Mers), Sancerre, or Pouilly Fume from France, or as Fume Blanc from the US. Some sure things include Ch. Bonnet Blanc 1998, Rossignole Sancerre 1998, and Iron Horse Fume Blanc 1998.

As all these selections offer at least a good match to a wide variety of dishes, they're good choices when you're looking for a few bottles to keep around the house.

Why is this wine so expensive? Don¹t you have something that tastes like it for less money?

Wine prices are driven by two main forces: production costs and market demand. Production costs are determined by land cost, farming expenses, yield levels, wine-making expense, and packaging. Super-premium quality wines cost more to produce than everyday quality wines. They tend to come from the best, most prestigious vineyard sites so the land costs more. To achieve intensity and concentration, yields are lower. To insure that high quality fruit reaches the winery, labor costs stay high and few shortcuts can be taken. In the winery, labor-intensive small-batch techniques yield the best results. Expensive new-oak barrels are necessary to season and fill out the wine.

All these factors drive up production costs but once a wine has made it and is a success with consumers, another force kicks in. That force is the "pull" through the market. Many wineries gradually raise prices to reflect the value the market places on their wines. This price creep affects the best known high-quality wines from all the best producing areas. In this day of rating system-based purchasing, wines highly-rated by the Wine Spectator or the Wine Advocate see a much more accelerated version of this trend; prices continue to rise until supply comes closer to meeting demand at the new price.

The net effect of all this is that higher-quality wines cost more and the most popular, limited-production wines cost more. If you want "something that tastes like it for less money," it's best to look to new properties and emerging areas. Our wine department employees are invaluable sources of information about what's new, delicious, and cheap. Additionally, the "Twelve-Under-$12.00" and "New & Noteworthy" sections of this publication are good sources for information on high-quality value-oriented wines.

I tasted this great wine when I was in France (or Germany, or England, or Italy, or . . .). Can Liquor Box get it for me?