Writing about wine for Mother’s Day is fraught with peril.
There is danger of being cloying coy, treating “the little lady” as a dilettante drinker who craves coddling because you misjudge her drink of choice is white zin on ice with ginger ale.
Most women are not that. She can imbibe barolo or barbaresco and discuss nebbiolo nuances without a blush or demure hesitation while eating roast quail she shot herself.
She also may enjoy flowers and a rosé sparkling with strawberries, particularly as part of a brunch prepared by hubby and the kids.
For a night meal on mom’s day, consider chicken breasts in Dijon cream sauce and a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, whose dry citrusy notes will balance the sauce’s creamy richness. If pairing wine and food flummoxes you, sauv blanc almost always is a no-fail fallback.
Can’t-fail: ask mom what she likes, buy a quality bottle, pair with meal, salad, or cheese of her choice that you prepared, clear the table, do the dishes.
Discomforting truth for male wine chauvinists: women are better wine tasters than men. University of Pennsylvania research showed women from age five to 99 had more acute smelling abilities than males in every age group. Smell is wine tasting’s most important element.
Yale researchers showed women generally have more taste buds than men. One-quarter of people are “super tasters”—people with significantly more taste buds. Two-thirds of all super tasters are women.
Female wine drinkers outnumber male wine drinkers and drink all kinds of wine, including white zin on ice. If you like it, it is good wine for you. Happy Mother’s Day.
Tasting notes:
• Martini & Rossi Sparkling Rosé: Lovely rose-pink color; mildly sweet, strawberry, orange peel on the palate. Fun for carefree fling. $14
• Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015: Consistently good, easily available. $15-18
• Gianni Gagliardo Barolo 2008: Elegant, polished, a red wine connoisseur’s bliss. $44-54
• Taittinger Nocturne Champagne City Lights Sec NV: Peach, apple, superb acidity, hint of sweet if that is how mom rolls. $59
• Taittinger Prestige Brut Rosé NV: Strawberries, raspberries; dry, refreshing sparkling excellence for mom. $70
Last round: A mother’s true sacrifice is not the pain of labor, it is giving up wine for nine months.
Facebook: Gus Clemens on Wine.