The wine's full name is Herdade Da Calada Barão de B. Reserva Branco DOC Alentejo, but how would a person introduce this in a casual, wine-speak manner? What I have so far is: Jacobs pushed back his chair and stood up. 'This calls for better wine,' he said, and wandered off into the house. He returned some moments later clutching a bottle of something white. '[introduces the wine in question]'
Hi, It may depend on whether the other person knows anything about wine. If they do, you might give them the bottle so they assess the quality of the wine themselves and perhaps drop a bit of information in about the wine maker; perhaps name them if they are well known or say something that makes this wine grower/vineyard unique. Probably just refer to the wine in conversation as ‘an excellent Alentejo’. Might be worth looking for good quality wine reviews and find one that covers this wine. See how they describe it. Dave
Thanks, @Midge23, although that's not quite what I'm aiming for. The MC knows next to nothing about wine, and I'm not looking to have a lengthy discussion about it. I just want a simple line, showing how the person would introduce it. He's a bit of a connoisseur so probably wouldn't say something too casual like, "Let's try this cheeky little number.", but at the same time he's unlikely to say, "Try this one. It's a Herdade Da Calada Barão de B. Reserva Branco DOC Alentejo." I don't understand wine, and therefore don't know what, from that name, would be used when introducing it.
Start with the label: Herdade Dacalada is the vineyard and they probably make several different wines. "Baron de B" looks like the proper name to me, so I would call it that. Side note: how the hell did you arrive on an Antoa Vaz varietal from the Alentejo region of Portugal? Side note 2: I've never had this wine before, but I doubt it's great. It's not very well reviewed and Alentejo isn't particularly known for its white wines (though their Temparillos might be better).
Couple ideas: ‘Have a taste of this. Fantastic Portuguese red. Glass costs more than most people spend on a bottle.’ ## Edited to say, scrap this last bit. Wine is not expensive enough for it to work. ‘Time for the good stuff. This is a wonderful Alentejo. Portuguese. Vineyard’s been there since 1854.’
I just went to amazon, typed in white wines and sorted by most expensive first. This one came in at about $750, I think, which was the kind of price I was looking for (the scene concerns a big celebration). Both wonderful, and exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I'm confused, though. As I say in my reply to Homer, amazon has this down at about $750 dollars, and yet you say it's not an expensive one. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ZUX46UC/?tag=writingfor07a-20 Oops! That's for a case of 24. In that case I'll go with your Alenteojo. Although it needs to be white as they had chicken salad for their meal. I admit, there's a slight possibility I'm over-thinking this
This is the page I was looking at, which had it at $17 a bottle: https://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-269452-0001-herdade-da-calada-baron-de-b-reserva-branco-alentejo-portugal But it's possible there's some different vintages or DOC classifications in play too. And price points vary dramatically between countries. This one isn't available in the US apparently, which tells me it's relatively small batch. You're much better off going with a French White Burgundy if you're trying to impress somebody. I love Portugese whites, but they're not exactly high end. But I know nothing about this particular bottle, so it could be the shit.
@Homer Potvin So, as per @Midge23 advice, something like: "Time for the good stuff. This is a wonderful white burgundy from France." Yes? Or would I not need to say France? Maybe all white burgundies are from France. I have no idea.
Haha, yes. Burgundy is probably the most prestigious protected region of France, which essentially means the world. But a layperson wouldn't know that, so your wine dude might include it. I wouldn't worry about it too much. ETA: the rule of thumb with wine is that Old World wines (Europe, but usually not Germany) are almost always described by the region instead of the grape... Bordeaux, Burgundy, Chianti, Toscana, etc. And they're often named after the vineyard that produced them since many are 10+ generations old. In the New World (not Europe) the wines are described by grape... Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, etc. And they often will have a proper name... like Decoy, Gnarly Head, Ass Fist, etc.
https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-meursault White Burgundy is widely considered the finest expression of oaked Chardonnay in the world. A Grand Cru from the village of Meursault would fit the bill for an exceptional bottle (and exceptionally expensive). Your MC is a lucky chap if someone is serving him this.
Argh! This is far more complex than I was hoping for Without wanting to sound like one of these 'do it for me' type posters, I'm looking for a bottle of white that costs a couple of hundred dollars, and how the person might present it at the table. @Midge23 - your dialogue from a few posts ago was perfect, but it was for a red.
You can get great Meursault for $200. It will be a fantastic bottle! ‘And now for the good stuff.’ He cradled the bottle of white like a newborn baby. ‘Burgundy, from a speck of a village called Meursault. A glass of this costs more than most would spend on a bottle,’ It would have a cork so he could make a show of opening it in from of the MC with a waiters friend type corkscrew. He might then pour a small amount for the MC to taste, and nod his approval, before he pours more in and then serves himself. Glasses tend to be bigger and the measure of wine smaller, to allow the wine to breath and the drinker to swirl it around and smell the aromas. I get that you don’t want to make opening a bottle of wine too much of a thing, but you might be able to pick out one or two actions that convey that this is a special bottle and the guy serving is doing a good job.
I would suggest eliminating the "glass...costs...bottle." If wine quality could be judged purely by cost, there wouldn't be all that mystique and pride of knowledge about it, plus it has a vibe of quantity being an important factor. If the character wants to brag about the cost, I'd suggest something like, say, "Wine like this is why I'm still driving the car I drove in college--but it's worth it." Or why he worked so hard for that high-paying job, or whatever. That leaves out the volume thing. Otherwise, I'd leave out talking cost and talk quality and rarity.
As far as I'm concerned this has been answered now. I'm not saying further opinions are unwanted, but I've got the answer I wanted. I only say this to save wasting anyone's time. I'm not looking for how I would conduct a wine conversation (the wine talk will go no further than this character introducing it and a few observations of him going through the whole tasting performance) I was just unsure as to how a person introduces a wine, in a strict verbal sense.