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Wine Dimensions December 2005

Dear Friends of Monolithos,

With the holiday season almost upon us, this is the time for family and friends, fun and festivities, and, of course, food and wine. Celebrating the festive season is a perfect time to treat yourselves and your loved ones to gastronomic delights. With some thought and planning, a mere meal can be transformed into an unqualified gourmet experience. However, many people tend to become nervous about selecting the "right" wine for their party, lunch or dinner.
Below we have put together a few guidelines to help make your decisions easier and your entertaining more exciting.
First, be assured that although some combinations of food and wine are widely accepted as desirable, there are no absolute rights or wrongs. The traditional advice "white wine with white meats and fish, reds with red meats" does not hold any more. This change is partly attributed to the complexity of the present day mixed "nouveau cuisine". The ultimate factor of successful pairing is one that you find pleasing.
Second, if there is a rule to follow, it would be either to go for complementary flavours, or flavours that contrast.
The complementing principle aims at providing your palate with food and wine harmony. Taking a bite of food followed by a sip of wine should be equally pleasurable, and the food should replace the flavour of wine harmoniously. In a poor match, one flavour is so dominant that it is all that is tasted.
The harmony between food and wine should be based on their intensity, character and quality. The intensity of wine flavour could be weak, moderate or full of flavour. Light dishes of poultry or fish are best complemented by delicate, light or fruity white wines, or by low-tannin reds. Dishes with rich sauces or spicy, heavy food are more favourably accompanied by a full-bodied wine. A heavy, rustic style of cooking calls for a thirst-quenching wine on the same level. In this case, a fine wine will not show well. Similarly, a carefully prepared and delicate dish would be spoiled if accompanied by a harsh and aggressive tannic wine.
The contrast principle seeks to find flavours or textures in a wine, which are not in the dish but that would enhance it. Food and wine interaction should create a sensational taste experience that is greater than the food or the wine alone. For example, when you taste fatty foods, you may want tannic wine to cut through the rich palate-coding flavours. Remember that when contrasting, you should take into consideration both the main ingredients, i.e. beef, chicken, fish or pasta, as well as the overall flavours such as sauces, spices, lemon, butter, etc. A dish of fish or chicken in a rich cream and butter sauce, for example, may be matched by a dry white wine whose crispiness (high acidity) would counter-balance the heaviness of the dish. A harder cheese and bread may contrast nicely with a complex, aged wine. The smokiness of bacon could be contrasted with a crisp white wine. Another contrasting example is pairing hot and spicy chicken curry with an off-dry (slightly sweet) rose wine. The slight sweetness of the wine serves as a delicious and refreshing foil for the spice of the stew. Generally speaking, the contrast principle is more complex, and its application requires in-depth evaluation, both of the food and the wine.
Briefly, when choosing wines to complement the meal, the flavours of the food tend to match the same flavours in the wine. The alternative way is to choose good pairing that contrast flavours.

Helpful Hints

  1. If you are serving more than one wine with a meal, you should serve:
    White wines before red wines
    Young wines before aged wines
    Dry wines before sweet wines
    Soft wines before tannic wines
    Simple wines before complex wines and remember -
    Never pair a wine with food that is sweeter than the wine is.
  2. Select light bodied wines to pair with lighter food and fuller bodied wines to go with heavier, more flavoured dishes.
  3. White wines generally taste more acidic than red wines and are a good match for simple fish dishes.
  4. Red wines, high in tannins, taste less tannic if served with heavily textured foods.
  5. Wine colour is less important than flavour and texture (weight) of the wine.
  6. If you are expecting several people for your Christmas/New Year"s party, serve as people arrive. Start the event with a glass of sparkling wine, or a cocktail kir (one fifth Creme de Cassis and four fifths sparkling wine). We recommend Monolithos Santa Monica White.
  7. With starters, hors d"oeuvres, fresh fruit and nuts, we recommend our sparkling wines, Santa Monica White and Rose.
  8. Traditional Christmas lunch, such as turkey, stuffing, sausages, gravy, roast potatoes, etc. could be accompanied by both white and red wines. So why not open both and try them to find your best match? We recommend Ayios Stephanos White and Red.
  9. If you are serving roast beef or hard cheeses, we recommend Monolithos Cabernet Sauvignon.
  10. If you are having a light meal, Monolithos White Table Wine (Xynisteri) is a fine choice.
  11. If you are looking for a wine with some body and some spice to match the flavour of the food, then Monolithos Red Table Wine (70% Mavro, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon) is an excellent choice.
  12. Christmas pudding is a difficult one to match. Try Cyprus "Commandaria" or other sweet dessert wines. Remember - desserts that are sweeter than the wine make the wine taste dull.
  13. Finally, always remember that helpful hints are guidelines. Try them, but if you decide to follow your own choice, it is certainly your privilege and there is nothing to prevent you from doing so.

Wine News and Information

A team of Spanish scientists has discovered how trace metals in grapes and fermenting wine affects the colour of the final product. Using Tempranillo samples grown by the vinicultural department at the University of Navarra in northern Spain, researchers have discovered that minute changes in the amount of iron, zinc, copper and manganese present dramatically alters the colour of wine. The research, which was carried out over three successive harvests, shows that small extra amounts of iron in wines can produce an increase of between 8% and 30% of its blue component with a proportionate decrease in its percentage of red. The scientists concluded that hues - varying from bluish red to an earthy orange - are also affected by the stability and reactivity of the metals the wine contains.
Those who have only just come to terms with screw cap closures are about to be faced with a whole new packaging revolution - Tetra Pak. The cardboard and plastic package - familiar to millions as the universal fruit juice and milk carton - is set to become the new wine container with a range of wines due for release in the UK shortly. The multinational Burgundy-based negociant-producer Boisset is aiming to launch wines in Tetra Pak early next year. The release follows Boisset's launch of the French Rabbit Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay wine range, also in Tetra Pak, in Canada in August this year. "We"re planning to take this new brand of ours global," David Bantey of Boisset Canada said.
Bantey said what made Boisset first think of Tetra Pak cartons was their outstanding ability to protect the quality and flavour of wine, their light weight, and the fact they are recyclable. Tetra Pak containers reduce the packaging waste produced by wine bottles by around 90% and cost much less than glass to recycle. Boisset chose Canada and the UK because it believes consumers in these two countries have a more open approach to wine drinking and are less likely to reject the idea of new wine packaging.

Monolithos Monthly News

In the vineyard, this is the time to cut off the long vine shoots and to place soil over the base of vines to protect them against the cold.
Bottling of the 2004 Red (Mavro 70% + Cabernet Sauvignon 30%) took place in the last week of November. This year"s Santa Monica White and Rose are undergoing clarification prior to cold stabilisation. However, all seven Monolithos wines are available, and perfect for drinking now. For additional information regarding our wines, we suggest that you visit our website: http://www.monolithosltd.com.
Finally, it all depends on your taste and what you are in the mood for. What matters is not whether a wine is a blend or varietal, but how it can become a tasting pleasure. The choice is yours. Cheers!
If at any time you are passing near the village of Pachna and wish to visit the winery or purchase any of our products, Martin Wood will be pleased to meet and assist you at his "Fig Tree Villa" in Pachna, so do not hesitate to phone him at 25-816212 or 99-165995.
We thank you for your continued support. Take care, and always remember

If God forbade drinking, would He have made wine so good? Cardinal Richelieu

Regards and seasons greetings from all of us here at Monolithos.