Got Milk?

Remember that ad campaign?  It was a fun way to promote milk.  But, what does milk have to do with wine?  The answer, understanding wine can be as simple as understanding milk.

We boomers grew up in a milk culture and easily understand the differences in milk.  We know the body of the milk just by looking at the label.  We know skim means watery with a light body and we easily understand that cream means thick with a heavy body.  Our palate can easily feel the weight difference between skim milk, whole milk, and cream.  The same is true with wine.  Start your wine tasting journey with your focus on the body of the wine.  Body is easy to experience and understand.  If you master the weight of wine, you can be comfortable in any wine setting.

We call wine at the skim milk end of the spectrum light bodied.  Those at the whole milk level, medium bodied, with those at the cream end, full bodied.

Examples would include:

REDS
Pinot Noir (Light)                   
Cabernet Sauvignon \ Merlot(Medium      
Syrah or Shiraz (Full)                 

WHITES
Riesling (Light)
​Sauvignon Blanc (Medium)
Chardonnay (Full)

I know, here are the big 6 wines again.  They are everywhere.  We are surrounded!  Learn these grapes and their associated bodies and you will be a famous wine person by Friday.

So, don’t worry if you do not smell black current in your wine.  Truthfully, I don’t know what black current smells like, and besides, aromas can be different things to different people.  But the weight and body of wines are universal.  We all can relate to the meaning and feel.

How does weight apply to food and wine pairing?  Keep it simple.  If you want to enjoy the wine, do not pair a light weight Pinot Noir with a thick, highly seasoned beef stew.  The Pinot would be destroyed.  It would be like asking me to block an NFL lineman!  I would be destroyed and on my way to the doctor!

Cheers!
Hoosier Wine Guy