Storing Your Wine for Optimal Taste
If you’re like me, you like your wine…a lot, and you drink it after work, with a special meal, or for a particular occasion. You probably have a couple bottles on hand with one white in the fridge and a red in the pantry, unless you are a true wine enthusiast and have a full cellar stocked. That’s what I always did but I didn’t know one thing: how to properly store my wine.
There’s a lot of wine rules and standards that a bunch of wine enthusiast follow, but Ii was never one to follow them. I assumed that knowing the basics was all I needed to enjoy my wine just enough, without overdoing it. At first, I didn’t use a wine decanter or even gave a second thought to the type of crystal wine glasses I was using. This went for how I stored my wine as well. I decided to
Click here to continue readingHow Many Wine Racks Can You Fit In Your Cellar?
A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to enjoy a bit of a boozy weekend in Dublin. My husband had been asked over by a supplier of the firm he works for. Everything was going to be paid for and all we had to do was literally get on the plane.
We were met at the airport by our host and he swiftly whisked us off to his house so we could unpack. You should have seen my face when I saw how big his house was – it was enormous. He had everything you could ever imagine – a swimming pool, sauna, tennis court, gym and even a home cinema.
Waiting for us in his kitchen was some beautiful Australian wine, nicely chilled in a wine cooler and bottle openers all ready to go.
Our host was a real wine buff and has his own wine racks down in his cellar. He imports
Click here to continue readingVarieties of Wines and Becoming Familiar With Wine Values
There are a number of points towards refining your taste for wine and enhancing your judgment as to what makes a good wine. Naturally, one being wine is made from fermented grape juice. You also should know the grape varieties wines are made from and the process of wine making itself.
There are many different kinds of wines, and the more commonly known ones – red, white, rose and champagne – are only a few of many. Wines are usually classified according to the grape varieties used to make them. One variety that is often used for red wine is the Barbera. Grown mainly in Piedmont, Italy, this variety is quite adaptable to other regions, and is also grown on a limited scale in the United States. Barbera grapes have a high natural acidity and produce wines with a full-bodied fruity taste.
Wine Varieties
There is a vast selection when choosing one of
Click here to continue readingAustralasian Wine Producers Have More Freedom Than Anywhere Else
Australia has long been considered a big player in the global wine industry and this has to a large extent been down to its ideal grape growing conditions. However, Fiji and New Zealand have also come onto the scene in recent years and has increased their market share largely as a result of their flexible wine producing policies.
In the news recently was the high-profile contentious issue of wine producers being able to mix together red and white wine, and call the end product rosé. Classically rosé has been made by removing the white juice mixture from the red grape skins at just the right time so that it doesn’t absorb so much of the colour. However, spurred on by the squeeze of the global recession on wine produces, a number of countries passed a law saying that producers could now sell blended wine (white will a dash of red) under
Click here to continue readingFrom Grape Juice to the Drink of the Gods
For millennia, wine has been made from only a couple of incredients. They are juice from grapes and yeast. Any fruit juice can be used, as a matter of fact, but grape juice is the most frequently used.
We tend to think of wine as a special treat, a gracious gift (as in a wine basket), a beverage of celebration or a drink to serve with a special meal. For much of history, though, it was a drink of necessity due to the often poor standards of the available water.
How is wine made?
Yeast is the magical ingredient that turns grape juice into wine. Interestingly enough, there is actually wild yeast spores in the air and all that is really needed to make wine is an open container of grape juice and time. The result however, would probably not be the most palatable of beverages.
Yeast is a living organism. In wine making,
Click here to continue readingThe Art of Wine Tasting
Professionals believe that wine tasting is a skill and not some exact science. You see, when a person taste wine, his or her private decisions will affect how he or she perceives the taste of the wine. According to studies, wine tasting involves the senses so the opinion of the person who tasted the wine is rather subjective. Since the opinions of the members of a wine tasting circle may differ, the ratings a wine gets in one country may different from the ratings that it may get in another country. Does this mean that wine tasting is an untrustworthy form of wine rating? Well, not particularly, the difference in the opinion of the wine tasters do present some type of bewilderment at times but since many of us are called on to rank the wine, the opinion of the majority wins in the end. If most of the wine tasters
Click here to continue readingWines for the Holiday Season
Choosing a wine to go with a festive holiday meal can be a challenge. A bold, celebratory wine seems a good first pick – but it risks clashing with, or worse overshadowing, any of the delicious food prepared for the occasion. But too light or fruity, and the traditional holiday meats might make the wine seem bland in comparison. Furthermore, holidays are a time when families come together from all over town, the country, or even the world – and the bottle needs to be able to appeal to a diverse group of people. Here, therefore, are some ideas to get you started, along with some specific recommendations, so that the holiday bottle becomes a gift to share, not another source of stress.
Traditional Thanksgiving wines are many. A Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and earthy – a perfect pairing with a herb-encrusted turkey or herb-based stuffing dish. The warm, natural tastes
Click here to continue readingWhite wine rots your teeth
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 “Pale plonk packs an acidic punch!” says the BBC, Well, it does and it doesn’t. It also depends on the types of wine grapes as to how acidic the wine is and how long the wine is held in the mouth, as to how much damage is done. People who taste wine are much more likely to suffer from rotting teeth than your normal wine drinker, this is because they hold the wine in their mouths longer. Loads of noise on twitter for the story on http://twitter.com/winewarecouk and http://twitter.com/thirstforwine.
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So what does White wine actually do to teeth?
It should be pointed out that the erosion of teeth by wine is the result of extensive wine use that would also lead to damaged liver and all sorts of other problems. The typical wine drinker who sips a glass of wine at dinner or with their
Click here to continue readingNew Wine of India
To complement a good dinner you need exquisite wine to go with it. When having a smart slap up meal the waiter would ask you what you would like to drink to which you would answer, “A bottle of your finest Nashik region sauvignon blanc wine or an original Maharastran Shiraz”. Like any good meal there are some essentials that you need, for example, glassware, an ice bucket to keep the wine cold (if it’s white) and ideally someone to pour it for you. Whilst all of these are most often associated with fine French or Italian cuisine, India are now making a move for the market.
The Indian wine industry is desperately trying to emulate the success of the sub-continents beer (Cobra) and food (Curry). However India’s oldest winery only dates back to early 1982 so the industry is still really in the starting phases. India as a nation are
Click here to continue readingLearning About the Wine Making Process
The fruit wine making process is one which is quite complex but which can be understood rather easily, if you are willing. Using a guide like the ultimate fruit winemaker’s guide will help you in your effort
Once you have all the equipment and a recipe book, you can begin your venture to making wine the best you have ever tasted. Home wine making allows you to try different flavor juices or fruits. You will find there are many different types of wines that you can make with a home wine making venture.
You might want a citrus wine favor. If so, you can use oranges, apples, grapefruit or gooseberry. If you want something a little less citrus flavored, you might try bananas, cherry, pear, peach, strawberry or grapes. There are people who use dandelions and rhubarb as well as watermelon and ginger root to make wine.
The next step in the wine making process
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