The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Is Baijiu, Exactly? - The Four Major Aroma Categories - Baijiu vs. Vodka vs. Shochu - How to Taste Baijiu with Intent - Running a Baijiu Tasting for a Group - Bringing a Baijiu Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I brought baijiu to a corporate tasting once thinking it might be the toughest pour of the night, and it turned out to be the one people talked about on the way out. Baijiu is, by volume, the most-consumed spirit on Earth — it outsells vodka, whiskey, and every other category combined, largely because of how deeply it's woven into Chinese business and celebration culture — and yet most Western drinkers have never had a real introduction to it. That gap between global scale and Western unfamiliarity is exactly what makes it such a compelling spirit to build a group tasting around. This guide covers what baijiu actually is, how it's made, the four major aroma categories and what each tastes like, how it compares to vodka and shochu, and how to...

Table of Contents - What Is Baijiu, Exactly? - The Four Major Aroma Categories - Baijiu vs. Vodka vs. Shochu - How to Taste Baijiu with Intent - Running a Baijiu Tasting for a Group - Bringing a Baijiu Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I brought baijiu to a corporate tasting once thinking it might be the toughest pour of the night, and it turned out to be the one people talked about on the way out. Baijiu is, by volume, the most-consumed spirit on Earth — it outsells vodka, whiskey, and every other category combined, largely because of how deeply it's woven into Chinese business and celebration culture — and yet most Western drinkers have never had a real introduction to it. That gap between global scale and Western unfamiliarity is exactly what makes it such a compelling spirit to build a group tasting around. This guide covers what baijiu actually is, how it's made, the four major aroma categories and what each tastes like, how it compares to vodka and shochu, and how to...

Table of Contents - What Is Mourvèdre? - Mourvèdre vs. Its Blending Partners - Where Mourvèdre Grows - Mourvèdre Compared to Other Structured Reds - How to Taste Mourvèdre - Food Pairing with Mourvèdre - Bringing Mourvèdre Into a Team Event - Buying Mourvèdre: What to Look For - Further Reading Mourvèdre is the grape everyone drinks and almost nobody can name. If you've had a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, an Australian GSM, or a big, brambly red from Paso Robles, there's a good chance Mourvèdre was doing serious work in that blend — usually the third letter in "GSM," standing quietly behind Grenache and Syrah, adding the structure and grip that keeps those wines from turning into fruit juice. I get why it stays under the radar. Mourvèdre is late-ripening, thick-skinned, and genuinely difficult to grow — it wants heat, patience, and old vines before it shows what it can do, which means a lot of the world's Mourvèdre ends up as a supporting player in a blend rather than a he...

Table of Contents - What Is Mourvèdre? - Mourvèdre vs. Its Blending Partners - Where Mourvèdre Grows - Mourvèdre Compared to Other Structured Reds - How to Taste Mourvèdre - Food Pairing with Mourvèdre - Bringing Mourvèdre Into a Team Event - Buying Mourvèdre: What to Look For - Further Reading Mourvèdre is the grape everyone drinks and almost nobody can name. If you've had a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, an Australian GSM, or a big, brambly red from Paso Robles, there's a good chance Mourvèdre was doing serious work in that blend — usually the third letter in "GSM," standing quietly behind Grenache and Syrah, adding the structure and grip that keeps those wines from turning into fruit juice. I get why it stays under the radar. Mourvèdre is late-ripening, thick-skinned, and genuinely difficult to grow — it wants heat, patience, and old vines before it shows what it can do, which means a lot of the world's Mourvèdre ends up as a supporting player in a blend rather than a he...

Table of Contents - What Is Dolcetto? - Where Dolcetto Grows - Dolcetto vs. Barbera vs. Nebbiolo - How to Taste Dolcetto - Food Pairing with Dolcetto - Bringing Dolcetto Into a Team Event - Buying Dolcetto: What to Look For - Further Reading Ask most people to name a Piedmont red and they'll say Barolo or Barbaresco — both made from Nebbiolo — and if they're a bit deeper into wine, they might mention Barbera too. Almost nobody says Dolcetto, which is a little strange, because in the vineyards of Piedmont, Dolcetto has historically been the grape growers actually drink with dinner. Nebbiolo gets planted on the best south-facing slopes and aged for years before release. Dolcetto gets the cooler, less prestigious sites, gets bottled young, and gets opened on a Tuesday night — and that's exactly its appeal. I've poured a lot of Dolcetto for groups who came in expecting "the third Piedmont grape" to be a lesser version of Barbera or Nebbiolo, and it consistently su...

Table of Contents - What Is Dolcetto? - Where Dolcetto Grows - Dolcetto vs. Barbera vs. Nebbiolo - How to Taste Dolcetto - Food Pairing with Dolcetto - Bringing Dolcetto Into a Team Event - Buying Dolcetto: What to Look For - Further Reading Ask most people to name a Piedmont red and they'll say Barolo or Barbaresco — both made from Nebbiolo — and if they're a bit deeper into wine, they might mention Barbera too. Almost nobody says Dolcetto, which is a little strange, because in the vineyards of Piedmont, Dolcetto has historically been the grape growers actually drink with dinner. Nebbiolo gets planted on the best south-facing slopes and aged for years before release. Dolcetto gets the cooler, less prestigious sites, gets bottled young, and gets opened on a Tuesday night — and that's exactly its appeal. I've poured a lot of Dolcetto for groups who came in expecting "the third Piedmont grape" to be a lesser version of Barbera or Nebbiolo, and it consistently su...