From Sake to Sangria: Wines You May Not Have Tried
Bored of the traditional Chardonnay or Cabernet? Here are some alternative wines to spice things up.
Champagne
Champagne, a festive, sparkling wine, is carbonated using an in-bottle secondary fermentation process, according to Wikipedia. Technically, only Champagne that comes from the Champagne region of France has a right to the name, but many sparkling wine producers from other parts of the world also attribute this name to their product. Its modern association with luxury and celebration comes from its use, in centuries past, to anoint French kings. Champagne then became more inexpensive as the middle class began to buy it in large quantities, without losing its aristocratic aura. It is typically consumed with dessert, or on its own at parties.
Sake
This is a Japanese rice wine, with an alcohol content even higher than grape-based wine, according to Wikipedia. While a heavy Merlot can be as high as 15% alcohol, undiluted sake is about 20%. Sake plays a significant role in Japanese culture, so much so that the neutral word for "alcoholic beverage" in Japanese is "sake." Even the first written history of Japan, compiled in the eighth century A.D., mentions the drink. Like wine, sake ranges tremendously in quality and price. Lower-grade sake is likely to be served hot, to warm the drinker in winter and mask the flavor. Good sake should be served at room temperature.
Sangria
The Spanish came up with a nifty way to make red wine more refreshing: mix it with fruit and call it sangria. The sangria recipe on Wikipedia specifies that the wine used should be "light, dry, young, acidic, unoaked, (and) inexpensive." Mix in some oranges, apples, peaches or any fruit you have sitting around, and also throw in a sweetener like honey and a spice like cinnamon. Serve in a bowl or pitcher, and enjoy responsibly!
Barley Wine
This is not a wine at all, but a strong beer, so named because its alcoholic content can be as high as wine. U.S. brewers who include a barley wine among their beer selection include Sierra Nevada, Rogue, and Dogfish Head.
Mead
Mead, also referred to as honey wine, is the oldest alcoholic beverage known to humankind. The anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss calls mead an important signpost of the transition from nature to culture, and it is thought that mead predates the invention of farming. If you want to connect with your ancestors, you can make mead by fermenting a water and honey solution with grain mash, or buy it at the annual International Mead Festival in Boulder, Colorado.