What Katonah, Grapes and Jimmy Choo Have in Common

Next time you're shoe shopping at Nordstrom's—oohing and ahhing over the vast selection of fashionable footwear—take a minute and think about your favorite wines and how they would look on your feet.

Not getting the correlation? Then possibly you would have benefited from attending the Katonah Village Improvement Society's "Step Out in Style" Spring Wine Tasting last Saturday night.

With this year's shoe-inspired theme, stilettos pointed to a fine Spanish Albarino and boots tapped a heavy-duty Australian Shiraz. The mastermind behind this theme was KVIS member Bill Tisherman, former editor of Wine Enthusiast and current proprieter of Wine for All.

Tisherman, who writes under the pen name W. R. Tish and goes by Tish in the wine trade, said that shoes and wine both see certain iconic styles develop, which most people can immediately relate to.

"It's a kind of loose parallel thing, but people can get it," said Tish.

Now in it's third year, the annual KVIS Wine Tasting is a fusion of wine, food, music and socializing—all for a good cause. Over 120 guests from all over town sampled homemade appetizers, tasted a variety of wines and schmoozed with friends and neighbors. Piano music was provided by local resident and accomplished musician, Michael Menard.

The event was held on the lower level of the Katonah Village Library, where two conference rooms were transformed into an elegant setting by KVIS member Mary Tschorn and her crew. Shoes of all shapes and sizes adorned tables and displays, and five different tasting stations offered an array of wines from "breezy sandal whites" to "rugged boot reds".

"The money raised from this event will go towards the continuing good that KVIS provides the hamlet of Katonah," said KVIS Co-President Susan Warsaw, who credited the volunteer efforts of the KVIS Executive Committee for the year after year success of the event.

Proceeds from this, as well as their other fundraisers throughout the year, go towards projects and programs to foster an appreciation for the history and traditions of the village of Katonah.

"We sponsor an annual Clean Up Day, provide police protection for Halloween, award scholarships every year, maintain a bulletin by the train station and remain active with the Northern Westchester Community Center," said Warsaw.

Julie Kane has lived in Katonah for 23 years and this was her first KVIS wine tasting. "We thought this would be a great way to meet new people," said Julie, "to sum it up, this wine tasting is an extraordinary confab of the nicest neighbors."

W.R. Tish offered his general tips on "sizing" up a wine, including:

• New World wines, hailing from warmer climates, tend to be bold, ripe and full-bodied, with a fruity character.
• Old World wines lean toward "elegance" (subtlety), with less obvious fruit, moderate alcohol and often notes of earthiness.
• Price matters: Higher-priced wines (think over $20 retail) tend to be more structured, more intense, more complex (layered, varied) and looooooonger—but that doesn't mean they are more enjoyable.
• The more specific the region of origin, usually the more personal the winemaking and more character in the wine; but again, this doesn't necessarily make them "better" to any given person.
• Ratings are meaningless: they reflect a single critic's preference, not absolute quality; they also do not account for context. The vast majority of "rated" wines qualify as "good" if the numbers are translated. Forget looking for 90-point wines; it is way more important to find styles of wine you like, and to use different styles in different contexts...thereby creating a 90-point experience!
• Key to any wine tasting "good" is balance; the most important elements being balanced are fruit and acidity; sometimes tannin, alcohol and oak enter the equation as well.
• Fear not tannin: with food, a wine's rough texture will become dramatically less noticeable; and if a wine seems too tight and rough, it will benefit from decanting (breathing).
• Watch the alcohol: white wines under 12% alcohol are off-dry (slightly sweet); the higher the alcohol, the fuller the body (for both red and white); high-alcohol reds can be trickier with food.
• Well-balanced reds with good concentration of fruit and structure make the best candidates for aging; tannin and acidity work like preservatives, while the wine develops distinctive, non-fruity aromas and flavors. These wines are also more apt to change in the glass over the course of a meal.

"There are no bad wines, only wines you may not like," said Tish.