🤔 WINE HACKS? 🤔
The wine industry can still be full of slightly overly complex regional requirements (some of which we may touch on another time especially to help with bottle labelling - because BOY, can that be confusing!).
However, I have always been of the opinion, it is better to simplify rather than over complicate and this is one of the purposes of my role in wine - to demystify!
So rather than need a degree 🎓 or a vast bank balance to investigate the wine world (although we can discuss this too should anyone wish?), I'm here to give you some pointers on some real life - wine hacks!!
These are tried and tested and reviewed below in terms of how effective they have proven to be - however, please do not hold me to any and do bear in mind that if you are in a big party or in a large group, then some of these may not be the best policy 😄
Ok so here we go....and do let me know if you have more or have tried them after reading this and it has helped or not.
🙌 Let me set the scene, the first 2 'hacks' are driven by the need to drink what you have in the cupboard or just bought or on occasion, have forgotten to chill your wine before you plan to open it:
💡Wine Hack 1: I need to chill my wine for immediate consumption. Help!
Try getting a wet towel, wrap it around your bottle and then place into the freezer. Within 20 minutes this should be at any acceptable level to drink - and remember, I'm a firm believer more generally at serving my wine a few minutes AFTER removing from the fridge, just to tick up a couple of degrees to then bring further aromas and flavours to life.
📣 WINE HACK SCORE: 7/10 - it's not ideal, but it gets the job done!
💡Wine Hack 2: A second way of doing this, my science hat on for a second 🤓, if you have an ice bucket, fill it with ice and cold water plus SALT.
Yes that is right salt. Lay the bottle in the bucket, fill with more ice - and the salt will quickly melt the ice, reducing the melting point of the water. And a quick third option, if you have those whisky cubes (which are like 'chill balls' dare I say it), if you place those in your glass of wine, this will chill the liquid contents without diluting the wine too.
📣 WINE HACK SCORE: 7/10 - The requirement for ice buckets reduces this but if you have it, try it.
💡Wine Hack 3: If you are smelling wine, maybe you are at a wine tasting or looking to taste and note down aroma profiles of the wine and are struggling.
Then you can smell a glass of water as well as smell your arm (typically the join with your elbow as it doesn't look quite so bad). This will realign your smell and then go ahead and smell the wine in the glass again. Surprise!
📣 WINE HACK SCORE: 9/10 - I do this pretty much all the time. Spot the person with their arm in the air as I smell myself....(not a great look but it works). Not good though if wearing aftershave or perfume, hence not 10/10.
💡Wine Hack 4: Who here drinks coffee? ☕
Great....most of the population typically judging by studies and coffee shops. Then you most likely drink coffee at home, which then means you may well own coffee filters. Now you have a Wine Hack!
Have you ever had it happen, whereby, the cork falls into the wine bottle. Oh Boy! How painful is that....you are looking around and then pouring hoping it doesn't go into your friend or colleague's glass....
Well, if it falls into the bottle, filter it using a coffee filter...if you don't have one, how about a tea strainer ? Both work a treat and no one is the wiser!
📣 WINE HACK SCORE: 10/10 - it works!!
💡Wine Hack 5: I'm going to let you into a little secret today.... You do not need a decanter.....💥
Crazy, right? 🤪
Ok, in truth I have a few decanters, but if you want to aerate a wine, you can use all sorts of different ways to do it. So for those who do not own them or want a quick and effective way of aerating a bottle of wine - do you have an empty bottle of wine lying around that you finished ?
Perfect. Then wash it out, then open the bottle you wish to decant, pour into the empty bottle and then pour it back into the original again. Hey Presto - you have aerated a wine! I have also seen some aerating wines with milk frothers and even putting them in the food processor - neither option tried so I cannot rate at this point, but maybe one for another video!
(Caveat: For those who will tell me I am mad not needing a decanter, we can come on to old wines, new wines and what needs decanting in later editions!)
📣 WINE HACK SCORE: 8/10 - it does the job, it is a little messy going from one to the other admittedly, especially after a few glasses. 🍷
💡Wine Hack 6: Using up left over wine 🍷
I know....there is never normally any left opened. I agree, however, there is the odd time that this happens and then maybe it is a big day at work the next day, so you want to play it safe and not drink the night before. Got it.
Okay, well there are two great alternatives you can do, one is you can cook with it - I am a big cooking fan and it adds depth and flavour to a multitude of dishes. Second up, make a red wine vinegar, which will last for a long time and again comes in handy with many dishes in the future. You can even store the old red wine in ice cube format. So freeze it in the freezer and then bring it out when you want to add it to your cooking sauces.
📣 WINE HACK SCORE: 10/10 - super use of recycling what is left opened.
💡Wine Hack 7: No corkscrew available, no problem.....
As a last resort, if you do not have a corkscrew, please do not then reach for the blow torch...it may well work, but it also may well end up with you exploding glass everywhere and requiring immediate medical attention. If you have a decent sized key (i.e. regulation door key in the UK), you can place into the cork at an angle, rotate fully 360 degrees as you turn the bottle, and then pull the key out. Typically, best to get a grip by using a tea towel. This 'usually' works, although best not to use your favourite or only key!
WINE HACK SCORE: 6/10 - it has worked, it also has not worked and I've needed to seek the locksmith's help at getting another key cut. So be warned. Probably one better solution is to find something smaller than the size of the cork, and push the cork into the wine as an alternative?
💡Wine Hack 8: Can you spare a shoe?
As in the above example, you have no corkscrew. Hmm and it seems you have no keys either or have tried and now find yourself keyless.... 😄
Next up, take off one shoe, place the bottle in the opening where your warm foot once was, now holding the bottle, find the nearest tree and give it a good few whacks against it with the shoe. This will start to move the cork and then you can do the rest by hand.
WINE HACK SCORE: 4/10 - you need to be quite strong and I lacked the willpower honestly, so whilst it was eventually a success it ended in a bit of a mess!
Feel free to shout out other wine hacks or if you wish for me to try them, then I am more than happy to give it a go....(just let me know if I need to take out life insurance beforehand!)
🍷WINE REVIEW OF THE WEEK🍷
UNUSUAL WINE SERIES: Teleda Cuvee, Georgia 2021
Grape Varietals: Mtsvane, Kisi and Rkatsiteli (1/3 roughly of each native varietal). Find out more of my thoughts here:
The dry white wine from Georgia has been fermented in stainless steel tank, to keep hold of those fresh, crisp primary fruit flavours. So hence, no oak influence at all. At 13% alcohol it packs a punch and is grown on sandy and clay soils of the Alazani Valley in the Kakheti region of Georgia.
Think of crisp, floral, pear notes on the nose, with citrus, pear, white blossom and white peach and even a touch of kiwi on the palate with that lovely flinty minerality at the finish.
🍇 MTSVANE - or MTSVANE KAKHURI - 'Green from Kakheti' - is an old indigenous varietal in SE Georgia. Potentially grown as early as the 5th century AD. Relatively high in alcohol and crisp acidity, also found in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova and Armenia - often blended with Rkatsiteli.
🍇 RKATSITELI - one of the most ancient grape varietals. 'Rka' meaning vine and 'Tsiteli' meaning red. This could well have been the very first grape varietal planted, it possibly dates back to 3000 BC! 🤯
They are medium to large bunches of small berries, can reach high sugar levels and still retain high acidity too. Late budding and ripening, good resistance to phylloxera and cold winters. Most planted varietal in Georgia, but also found as Baiyu in China and small plantings in New York Finger Lakes and Virginia too.
🍇 KISI - SE Georgian varietal. Late budding, mid ripening. Medium sized thin berry profile. Sensitive to the climate, with intense floral aromas of dried pear and apples, this can also be found as an orange one - spoiler alert for later editions!
⭐ TNWG Review: 3/5 - Solid everyday drinking white wine. One to explore for those looking at something different, and ideal with seafood!
📈MARKETS IN BRIEF 📉️
📈 With the spotlight still firmly on oil prices given the Middle Eastern situation and Central Bankers in the developed markets looking to hold on rates (the RBA was a dovish hike in the market's eyes), then savings rates as explained, have seemingly peaked. In the UK, we are seeing top saver rates fall from highs, as the BOE looks for some follow through into inflation expectations before thinking about any further interest rate reviews.
📈 With this in mind, we again search for 'value' in a diversified book. Fine wine is an obvious alternative. Why? If you compare it to other alternative assets, it has a lower entry level than most (i.e. far easier to get into fine wine with a case of the top 2% wines in the world at circa £2k, than buy a classic car or fine art).
📈 The below chart is from the latest Liv-Ex November report which shows the Liv-Ex 1000 - the broadest measure of the wine market, representing the price moves of 1,000 of the top sought after fine wines in the world on its marketplace. As you can see thr value has fallen as a composite and this gives rises to opportunities rather than threats.
📈 What is interesting, is when you look beneath the surface, it actually starts to show better performance in the sub categories, such as the 'Rest of the World 60' which have month on month, actually grown 0.2% (Liv-ex website data 7th Nov 23).
Source: Liv-Ex, 7th November 2023
📈 Diversification is Key!
A diversified book for all assets, also therefore, includes fine wine too. The top regions of Burgundy and Bordeaux for still wines and Champagne for sparkling, have been stellar performers and indeed, continue to be the most actively traded wines. That being said, the sub regional categories such as the Rhone 100 or the Rest of the World 60 have outperformed these 'legendary' focuses of late and should not be discounted. I would go as far as to say, as with all investments, look to spread the diversification of risk across regions and countries for better limited exposure to price moves.
📉 Historically, we also know that fine wine is a great inflation hedge - and one thing we know for sure, is globally we are still in an inflationary outlook.
For a more in-depth view on fine wine investing - feel free to reach out! 🤓
📈📈 ASSET ALLOCATION OVERALL📉📉
Little change from the previous week in terms of the portfolio composition. I did miss most of the equity rally, albeit the US tech stock exposure did benefit on the move.
Medium Outlook still remains. (Likely will update every few weeks moving forward given this is a macro view point).
🗞️ LEADING WINE HEADLINES 🗞
WINNING ARTICLE
🤔 Do U.S. Consumers Really Want Ingredient and Nutrition Labelling on Wine?
A really timely article this week which incorporates healthy living. The background being that in Europe starting in December, there will be a mandatory requirement to include ingredients and nutrient on wine bottle labels. The question now is will the U.S. follow suit?
Other Articles Worthy of a Read:
🤔 EU Wine Harvest Falls Below Five-Year Average
🤔 China's Wine Industry Looks to Exports to Reverse Decline
💡UPCOMING EVENTS / ANNOUNCEMENTS ️💡
Great news this week, that I have been chosen once more to be part of the Wine Judging Panel for People's Choice Drinks Awards which is very exciting and taking place in London in a couple of weeks time.
Sheffield 'Wine Tasting Monthly' is coming to the final stages before I will be in a position to announce the location, with a view to a launch in January next year (2024).
Unusual Wine Series has begun - expect to see more wine reviews both on the newsletter but also on Instagram and website.
'12 Bottles of Christmas' Series is imminent and will be coming online shortly, so stay tuned!
'What Wine Sits on Your Table Tonight?' Podcast is starting in January and we have some very exciting guests who will be sitting on the couch.
The Andy and Olly Show Series 3 will also be coming back in January on podcast, if you haven't heard the 2 Series prior you can click here to listen to them or find them on Apple, Amazon and Spotify for download. The exciting Series 3 looks to be advancing from UK wineries and vineyards, to a more global backdrop too.
That's all from me this week, I hope it has been useful and or engaging. Feel free to drop me comments, DM me or questions that you want raising for future episodes.
Cheers 🍷
Andrew a.k.a. The Northern Wine Guy
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