The Wine Leading the Blind: Scaling Back (The Table Wine Edition)
Hadja for a second there, huh? No, this isn’t about scaling back the wine consumption, it’s about taking a step back from the pretenses of the previous few columns and getting back to basics.
I realize that a lot of wine nerds can get too wonky for their own good, and I’ve been wondering lately if I’m guilty of such. All this talk of tannins and vanilla and finish has my head spinning, and not because I’ve had too much to drink.
The whole point of The Wine Leading the Blind is to project a middle-of-the-road approach to wine appreciation — wrangling in fellow wine nerds who will hopefully appreciate and agree with my picks, and deconstructing the more obscure and nuanced features of wine to bring in the folks who like it but are perhaps overwhelmed by the spectrum of choice offered in the wine world. With jokes.
Sometimes, though, I forget that a) not everyone in the world drinks as much wine as I do, and b) words like “lemony” and “chocolately” may set off a B.S. barometer of the less frequent wine consumer. As my olive branch, I’d like to present a group of wines that never fail to please: the ubiquitous and pleasantly simple Red Table Wines.
A table wine is not difficult to spot. Often times, it’s a blend of lesser-known grape varietals, such as grenache, cinsault, petit verdot (coughunderratedcough cough), cabernet franc, and so on. It’s not meant to be the most delicate, mind-blowing wine you’ve ever had; simply to be pleasant enough to drink on its own or with your everyday dinner.
Tons of wineries make a table wine, often marketed as a red blend or just simply “red.” A few of my favorites, including the wines I review in this issue: Frontier Red, Red Truck, Big House Red, and Toasted Red (though the latter is next to impossible to find these days). These wines typically don’t retail for more than $10, and they’re all great. They’re particularly solid choices for a dinner party or a housewarming, when you aren’t sure what the host likes or what will be served — they’re usually well-liked and well-remembered by all parties.
Enjoy, until next time, when I shamelessly pontificate on a simply ethereal bottle of Perrier-Jouet that I found on sale at Calvert/Woodley last week…
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By Lauren McNally
Lauren B. McNally is a New York based consultant and freelance writer who spends most of her free time exploring culinary and oenological pursuits with friends. She originally hails from Maine and graduated from Bowdoin College,spending time abroad at the University of Cambridge in the UK (where she found the dining hall cuisine rather offensive and repulsive, as opposed to the top-ranked Bowdoin Dining Services). Her palate is ever-evolving but Burgundies are among her current obsessions. Her least favorite wine-related phrase: “I don’t like _.” Lauren also enjoys cooking Italian and French cuisine, and has an unnatural obsession with Gorgonzola and pancetta.
About The Humble Gourmand
The Humble Gourmand is published the first Friday of each month, edited by Alison L. McConnell, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and writer. It is designed to offer straightforward lessons and advice to aspiring cooks, oenophiles, and all other eaters and drinkers.
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