A night between the wines

The renowned author Terry Theise spent a night with about 100 of his fans.  On October 24, 2011 The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, St. Helena, CA hosted a night with the acclaimed wine author.

Terry Theise is an internationally recognized importer of over 700 artisanal wines from Austria, Germany and Champagne, with over 30 years of wine knowledge and author of “Reading between the Wines.” The book has gained him many followers. You could say that Terry Theise is doing for Austrian and German wines what Julia Child did for French Cooking, demystifying it.

Guests experienced 19 white wines of Terry’s wine importing portfolio from Austria, Germany and Champagne.  The night started with Grüner Veltliners that leave you asking for more.  Terry indicated that Grüner Veltliners are very stable wines that could be drink any time and some could take up to 35 years to develop tertiary flavors, so they could be aged for that long if you have the patience to wait.

Then the tasting followed with two beautiful, very distinct Rieslings, from two types of soils within the same vineyard, demonstrating the importance of soil in the wine flavors.  Then followed with five great examples from Champagne, three “Champagne, Expressions of Chardonnay” and two “Champagne, Expressions of Pinot Noirs.”  The tasting continued with Rieslings from the Mosel Region and to close, an incredible Riesling Beerenauslese from Eugen Müller in the Pfalz region; the perfect ending for an incredible tasting experience.

Terry’s different approach to describe wines is unique and wine enthusiasts appreciate his thoughtfulness and sincerity.  His wine descriptive vocabulary is full of words like beautiful, delicious, buttery, nutty, high-deff, neoclassic, dark gothic, silkiness, volume, funky and freaking good.  Half poet and half philosopher, Terry is a provocative thinker that presents us with a unique question:  What do I really think about wine?

Few things Terry Theise left the audience with:

“To really understand wine you have to understand what draws you to it.”

“Good wine comes to the table and says: How can I help?”
“Great stands in the shoulder of the good. Lower price, but good wine, allows us to enjoy wine in companion of others every day.”

“We taste with two palettes:  the subjective and the objective.  Both do not tend to agree all the time.”
The Culinary Institute of America is an independent, not-for-profit college, which offers, in addition to culinary and wine and beverages programs, workshops open to the public. If you are interested in upcoming events visit the CIA website and sign in for their electronic newsletter.