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THROUGH THE
OUT
bv Beth Breitenstein
GRAPEVINE
TOP 5 PLACES TO ENJOY WINE IN LAWRENCE:
Quinton's Bar and Deli 615 Massachusetts St. Wine tasting on the last Thursday of every month
Henry's on Eighth 11 E.Eighth St. Wine tasting on the last Thursday of every month
Pachamama's 800 New Hampshire St. Wine tasting every Friday from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
Ten in the Eldridge Hotel 746 Massachusetts St. Oct.19 is "Wine to the Table."Wine is paired with specific food and dinner is provided.
Teller's 746 Massachusetts St. Sample a tray of nine wines every Wednesday night.
Sample and learn about different types of wine at Orchards Vinyard Winery.
Outstretched before me are rows of worn wooden posts with vines wrapped around them. I take in the rich, sweet aroma and gaze at the sun reflecting off small, shiny purple blubs that bring life to the brown vines. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and can almost taste the Pinot Grigio. I am not in the produce section at Dillon's, I am at a winery.
I was greeted immediately by C.W. Davenport himself. He and his wife have run the orchard since 1960 and have been selling wine since 1997. Davenport is the epitome of a friendly Midwestern town farmer. He was enthusiastic about telling me about all the hard work it takes to make wine.
I recently embarked on a trip to Orchards Vineyard Winery, 1394 E. 1900 Rd., Eudora. If you head east down 15th Street past Mass Street, and turn right on East 1900 Road, you will find this tucked away paradise.
I knew nothing about how to taste wine, so I was ready to dive in and learn. Davenport first asked me if I prefer white or red wine. After pouring about half an ounce into my glass, I began the process. "First you
need to swirl the wine so that more molecules will jump off the surface and provide a better bouquet," Davenport says. "Bouquet" describes the wine's aroma. I knew I was an amateur immediately, because I could not master the swirl appropriately. It's all in the wrist.
Next, Davenport told me to dive my nose into the glass (but not the wine) and inhale to prepare my taste buds. Then comes the best part. Take a sip of the wine and hold it in your mouth to get the full taste, he says.
"When I'm ready to taste it, I take a big sip and swish it around my mouth and over-all the parts of my tongue to see what flavors I can distinguish," says Melissa Byrd, Cedar Bluffs, Neb., graduate student. Byrd fell in love with wine tasting when she spent a summer in Los Angeles. "I took a trip to Santa Barbara wine country where Sideways was filmed. They have a map of the different places Jack and Miles went in the movie, so I took a couple of days and went on the wine trails up there." Byrd says.
Stephen Reiss, a certified wine educator, teaches another sipping method in Aspen, Colo.
After sipping the wine, he says to hold the wine in your mouth. Then, "Place your lower lip between your teeth, and raise your upper lip. You can now draw air in through your teeth and over the wine," Reiss says. This helps get the full taste, he says.
After tasting the wine, you can determine how much aftertaste or "length" it has. Some people like a lot of length and others don't, Davenport says. After your sip, look at the glass to tell if it has a lot of leg or not. "Leg" describes how much of the wine runs down the sides of the inside of the glass. The volume of alcohol contained in the particular wine determines the amount of leg, so the more alcohol, the more leg.
Betweenwines,you'reusually given a glass of water so you can wash away the taste of the previous wine and get ready to experience the next. Also, determine beforehand, how much wine you want to taste. Be sure to designate a driver if you want to try several.
Not only was my trip to the winery fun,but with every wine
PHOTOS/BETH BREITENSTEIN
I tasted, I got a short history of how it was made and how it got its name. Wine tasting can be a great experience the more you do it, Davenport says. So, do as I did and take a day trip to Davenport's Vineyard. You may just become a wine connoisseur. And who knows? Maybe you'll get the swirling technique down.
Clockwise from top left: Beth Breitenstein admires a bunch of grapes at OrchardsVineyard. After learning how to properly taste it, Breitenstein inhales the aroma of a glass of wine. The vineyard produces a variety of wines.
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