TOP WINE TRENDS & SUMMER PAIRINGS

Advanced Sommelier Brian Phillips tells us more about the wine industry, reveals recent trends, and teaches us how to choose the perfect pairings for our summertime meals. He’ll also talk more about The Generous Pour event happening at Capital Grille and how they are bringing exclusive access to wines from California and Oregon that have been highly acclaimed for characteristics such as overall quality, taste profile, body and aroma.

According to Nielsen, 120 million Americans drink wine and continue to prefer wine over beer with the five most popular varietals being chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, red blends, pinot grigio, and pinot noir. But figuring out which wine to pair with your meal can be confusing even for the biggest wine enthusiast.

DID YOU KNOW?
· In 2016, revenues for U.S. wine sales increased 5% from 2015 to an estimated $39.8 billion according to Wines & Vines.
· 399 million total cases of wine were shipped last year, up 3% in 2015, according to GFAWine.
· California, Washington and Oregon are the states with the largest number of wineries.
· Millennials and Baby Boomers are the largest wine consuming generations (Wine Market Council).
· There are four distinct categories when calculating points for a wine rating – appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel. A wine’s aroma can earn it up to 10 points on the ratings scale.
· Wines rated 90-93 are described as Excellent and are highly recommended.

For more information please visit: thecapitalgrille.com