Look Who's Wining Now

by Robin Rinaldi

You know Jay McInerney as the author of Bright Lights, Big City and several other novels. But the readers of House & Garden know him as their wine columnist--one who can elucidate the finer points of Lafite and Latour but isn't afraid to compare vintages to Playboy bunnies or rock songs. His columns have been collected into a book, Bacchus and Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar, which is just out in Vintage paperback. In a recent conversation with PW, he was charming and friendly, and happy to dispense solid advice for the novice.

If I know nothing about wine, where do I start?

The way I learned was I started at the bottom. I worked at a crummy little liquor store in Purchase, N.Y., as grad student and I'd take home one of the cheapest bottles every night and try it out. One of the great things is now is there's a lot more good inexpensive wine than there ever was because of technology and a real boom in the market. You don't have to spend a fortune and you don't have to know that much. For example, there's a lot of great inexpensive wine coming out of Australia, like Penfolds.

So good $10 bottles of wine really do exist?

Yeah, there are tons of them. Penfolds or Rosemount, for example. Mondavi's mass-production line is called Woodbridge, and believe it or not the old Gallo--now it's Gallo of Sonoma--are 10 to 12 bucks, really high quality. The trick is to buy some of those and see what you like. See if you like Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay better. You don't have to spend a lot of money.

When the waiter brings wine over, can you just taste it or do you have to do the big swirl and the huge sniff?

The only reason to swirl a wine is because it's easier to smell with more oxygen, just like the best way to smell perfume is to put it on your skin. About five percent of wine is infected with bacteria from the cork, and that smells like moldy old cardboard. Then you're tasting to see if the wine has something wrong with it. If you really don't like a wine and you're in an expensive restaurant, it's your option to send it back. Another thing wine should not taste like is sherry or brandy. That means it got heated up too much when it was being shipped. But if you like a wine and you just want the waiter to go away, say, "That's nice. I think it needs a little time in the glass." It makes you sound knowledgeable.

How do you even begin to train your palate to recognize butter, grassy, vegetal or spice?

Most people can separate out those flavors if they really give it a shot. Everybody has an opinion if they open their mind up. If I take three or four wines, rank them, ask which do you like the best, I find everyone's able to make certain distinctions. Another great way is a good restaurant. Go to the Striped Bass; their sommelier, Edward Murray, can tell you first of all what to order with what you're eating. That's probably the best way to start.

Are those tastes really in there?

Most Chardonnays are made with some amount of oak, and in combination with grape that gives a vanilla flavor; almost anyone can taste some vanilla in Chardonnay. And if Merlot is good you'll probably pick up a little bit of chocolate. There are really complicated chemical compounds in grapes that result in flavors similar to other flavors. Sauvignon Blanc often smells like new-mown grass or hay. I haven't the faintest idea why but it's often true. But it's a quality of the grape. Sauvignon Blanc at its worst smells like cat's pee.

Why does everyone always order Merlot?

It's popular because it's so soft. Other reds have tannins--you know if you leave a tea bag in too long how it makes the side of your tongue feel dry and scorched? Red wine has a lot of tannins and has to settle for a year or two. But Merlot has low, soft tannins, and it's easy to drink young and get a lot of fruity flavors out of it. But there are fashions in wine like in everything else. Fifteen years ago everyone discovered Chardonnay; eight years ago they discovered Merlot.

What's going to be the next big wine?

A few years ago Zinfandel started to become popular. It's a fruity, spicy, easy wine to appreciate; it has dramatic flavors. Among the wine nuts now, Syrah has become the new popular red wine grape, and that will probably filter down to the masses pretty soon. But people should have a lot of faith in their own tastes. Most people are intimated by wine, and it's unfortunate. Wine should be like a great meal or sex or a day at the beach, not like a geometry test.

If you had to pick: France or California?

I'm still more interested in France. If I could only have one from now on I'd pick France. They're a thousand years ahead of us and they tend to make wines that go better with the food in that region. Too many California wines are going for power. It's the difference between an Arnold Schwarzenegger film and a Truffaut film. If you're going to propose marriage, go for the subtlety over the noise and power. A Chardonnay from California versus one from France is like Pamela Anderson compared to Isabelle Adjani.

I was happy to read about rosé's respectability.

I love rosé, especially in summer. It's great for fried calamari. One of my favorite combinations in the world is rosé with bouillabaisse; that's what the French always drink with it. Now there's an inexpensive wine. A great rosé from the south of France or California tends to go with an awful lot of stuff. In summer I've served it with grilled lamb, and that can be a tremendous combination. Rosé is also really good with barbecue, like ribs. And it costs like eight to 10 bucks at the store. Yeah, rosé from Provence or from the Rhone Valley and some ribs.

What do you recommend with Mexican food?

Rosé is a great way to go, or Riesling. The more spicy the food the more sweet the wine needs to be. Riesling is also great with Chinese or Thai food. And with sushi you must have champagne, because soy sauce has yeast in it and so does champagne--that's the reason explained to me, and believe me I've done it many times.

How about cheesesteak?

Red Zinfandel with your cheesesteak. Great combo. I've had it.