A taste of knowledge

A dimly lit room in the Brownsville Historic Museum was filled last Wednesday night with more than 50 people tasting a variety of three wines while they listened to the music of Frank Sinatra.

“The Art and Science of Wine” was part of the Rio Grande Valley Science and Arts (RiSA) festival hosted by UTRGV.

“The purpose of [this event] was to bring light to the different types of wines, the chemistry, the art and science of wine, the difference between red and white and basically just everything else that comes with it.” said Melissa Vega, an art senior and event organizer.

Vega helped serve samples of Cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and shiraz provided by Jones Liquor.

“I think this is a very a good event because it brings exposure to a different kind of science,” said attendee Janeth Rio.

Jones Liquor owner Michael Jones presented the seminar.

Cabernet sauvignon, one of the heavy red wines, is a better partner with a steak, chicken or pork plate, Jones said.

“We’ll discuss how we’re going to eat that, how we’re going to take that steak and when you put it in your mouth,” he said. “It’s going to be fat. It’s going to be juicy. It’s going to be real nice. Then you take your red wine, a cabernet; it’s going to dry out your mouth a little bit. This is what they call the art
of wine, the marriage.”

When a wine is marked as made in the United States, the contents of the bottle must be 100 percent produced in the country as well as when it is produced in a specific state. A wine labeled as being from the Napa Valley must be 80 percent from the region and 20 percent may come from the rest of California, Jones said.

Drawing the shape of a bull’s-eye in the air, Jones explained that the closer the wine is to the center, the finer it is.

“Oakville, Napa Valley, Mis en bouteille au château, French term for estate grown and bottled,” he said. “This is the bull’s-eye of wine. I own the estate, I make the wine, I bottle it and serve it to you.”

Heather Otte, a UTRGV biology graduate student attended Jones’ seminar.

“I enjoyed it because he went into more detail about the different kinds [of wine],” Otte said. “I already had little bit of wine history. When I was in college the first time, I took a wine appreciation course. So, I knew a lot about the basic stuff. He went into a lot more detail and more personal, I liked that. … I liked the chardonnay but that’s because I prefer whites, so obviously the chardonnay was good, and the Beringer, as far as chardonnays go, it’s good, it’s good for what you pay for.”

Other RiSA events:
–Latina Day, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday; Student Day, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday; and STEMS Fun Run, 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, all on the Brownsville campus;
–Community Day, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Linear Park, located between Sixth and Seventh streets;

–Science Café, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Nov.9, at El Hueso de Fraile, 837 E Elizabeth St.; –Port Isabel Science Café, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13, at the Causeway Café, located at 418 E. Queen Isabella Blvd. in Port Isabel.