Archive for October, 2009



Red or White Wine?


When you go to a restaurant or if you’re just going to buy yourself a few bottles of wine, it can be surprisingly difficult to choose between a red wine or a white wine. The choice for me at least stems more from personal preference.

If I know that I don’t like a certain red wine I’ll avoid that and maybe go on to selecting a white wine. And if I’m in the mood to be lulled by something that is rich and heavy, I might find myself swaying towards a good red wine.

The thing with choosing reds and white wines though is that you simply can’t compare the two against each other. Both are distinctly different from each other, and both have their good sides and their not so good sides.

Basically though it comes down to choice: which wine would you prefer to drink today? The difference between reds and whites also comes down to the way they are made.

Red wines are mostly made with red grapes, while you would think that white wines are made solely with green grapes. White wines, surprisingly though, can be also made with red grapes.

What stops it from turning into a red wine is the little factor of the skin being discarded before the grapes are put to fermentation.

From that you would have gathered that red wines are made using the whole of the grape, skin and most times pips included. This is what gives it its distinct color, and this is also what gives it its distinct staining powers.



31 Oct 2009

Red, White and You

www.thecorkscrewdiary.tv This past weekend I joined nearly three thousand people at a celebration of wine on the walking bridge that crosses the Cumberland River in Tennessee. What an event! Wine, music, food, and fine people all supporting the charity efforts of l’ Ete du Vin

31 Oct 2009

How to Go About Removing Red Wine Stains


This subject is important to quite a lot of people. Besides this is something that every red wine lover will need to know at some point in time. Then again not every one will be too fussed about removing red wine stains from their carpets or their clothing, but it’s handy to know, and might even come in useful to you one day.

Red wines are the culprits for staining whatever it is they splash on, so you might not necessarily believe that white wines can be the aide that helps you to remove them. It’s true, removing red wine stains can be as easy as pouring white wines over the top of the spilled red wine. You’ll need to blot the whole thing up of course, don’t rub as this will just drive the stain in deeper.

After you finish blotting up the excess wines, then you can go about cleaning it in the normal manner you would using a stain remover. The long and short of it? The white wine stops the red wine from setting in and staining your carpet or your clothing.

You also have another method of removing red wine stains, and this involves club soda. Working somewhat along the same lines as the white wine, you pour the club soda over the spilled red wine, blot, then clean.

Then there’s the little things known as industrial action stain removers. There have been a number of them produced almost solely for the task of removing red wine stains and to a great extent most of these work.

And lastly, we have that everyday household item called salt. No, it won’t help to removing red wine stains per se, but it will help to keep the stain from setting in while you decide which method of removing red wine stains you want to go with.

The thing here though, is not to keep the stain sitting too long while you make your decision. It will just go in deeper and be harder to remove in the long, despite everything you might try.



29 Oct 2009

Bartending Tips : Using the Correct Wine Glass

Using the correct wine glass with the right wine allows the drinker to enjoy the wine to its fullest capacity. Choose the right wine glasses for red wine, white wine and sparkling wine with the help of an experienced bartender in this free video on bartending. Expert: Micah Bartelme Contact:…

29 Oct 2009

What puts the sparkle in sparkling wine?


We all associate sparkling wine and champagne with joyous celebrations. However, recently, many people have recognized that sparkling wine can provide a bargain accompaniment even for an everyday meal.

Making Sparkling Wine and Champagne

If you see the words ‘traditional method’ or ‘methode traditionelle’ on a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine, then it has been made using the methods originally developed in the Champagne region of France.

The first step in making sparkling wine is to create a base wine that is very acidic. Secondly, the base wine is put in a bottle with some extra yeast and sugar and sealed. A word of warning, if you are planning to make your own, the seal must be VERY strong as the build-up of carbon dioxide can be extremely powerful!

Finally, the bottle needs to be tipped forwards so that the sediment sinks into the neck of the bottle. In traditional champagne houses, the bottles are turned daily and tapped for a period of up to three months to remove the sediment. However, the more modern approach is to freeze the neck, release the sediment and then re-cork the bottle.

Champagne Uncovered

Only wines produced in the French region of Champagne are allowed to carry the label ‘champagne’. Therefore, we are seeing a lot of sparkling wine on our shelves that is of excellent quality. Not only must champagne be produced in the Champagne region, but it must also be made from the chardonnay, pinot noir or pinot meunier grape varieties. Even the bottling method is unique to the Champagne region.

A champagne label will tell you about the sweetness of the particular champagne. For example, rich or doux champagne is very sweet with over 50g of sugar per liter, demi sec has between 17 and 35g of sugar per liter, extra dry is a label used for champagne containing between 12 and 20g of sugar per liter, brut is dry champagne with less than 15g of sugar per liter and extra brut is very dry champagne with under 6g of sugar per liter.

If you want a very special bottle of champagne look for the words “tête de cuvée” on the bottle as this refers to a premium champagne which is normally made from a single harvest.

Choosing and Serving Sparkling Wine

Sparkling wine or champagne is a popular choice for those trying to choose wine for non-wine drinkers. Champagne is known as the quality bubbly; good champagne is expensive and deservedly so. You’d be wise to avoid the cheaper end of the market as it will be at best a disappointment and at worst undrinkable.

For a cheaper alternative, often of similar quality, look for sparkling wines from areas such as Australia, New Zealand and California. France also produces some excellent sparkling wines from regions other than Champagne, for example, Saumur in the Loire Valley. Other worthy alternatives include the sparkling offerings from Italy, including the light Prosecco and the sweet Asti varieties. If you are looking for a very good value sparkling wine then consider Spanish cava. Whilst nowhere near the same quality as champagne it is a well-priced, drinkable alternative.

Sparkling wine and champagne should be served at 6 Degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit); therefore, an ice bucket is essential from the moment the bottle of sparkling wine leaves the refrigerator. A final word of caution, when you open a bottle of bubbly, there will be a large release of gas so make sure that the cork is controlled and not pointed at anyone!

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29 Oct 2009

The Red Wine Secrets of the French Paradox


American scientists and other health experts from around the world are puzzled as they try to discover the “secret” behind the French Paradox. The problem is that the French consume three times as much saturated fat as Americans and one-third less French people die from heart attacks. The French also have much less obesity than America and other Western countries.

The French eat rich foods high in saturated fats, such as cream, butter, pastry and rich cheeses. But they also consume red wine and olive oil. Researchers have found olive oil to be a heart-healthy source of fat. However, the olive oil the French consume does not rule out the high amounts of saturated fats they eat, and therefore does not properly explain the French paradox.

Red wine may be the reason. Some scientists believe the French habit of moderate red wine drinking with a meal is the key to French paradox. Studies show that people who drink red wine regularly have lower rates of cancer, Alzheimers, and heart disease.

Red wine and red grapes contain special flavinoid antioxidants called resveratrol, that can offset some of the effects of gluttony, say researchers at Harvard Medical School. Resveratrol is shown to help lower glucose levels, help your liver, and promote health benefits to the heart and blood vessels.

Red grapes are one of the richest sources of resveratrol flavonoids, which is why red wine is more heart-healthy than white wine, beer, or other spirits.

Resveratrol is known for its ability to protect plants from bacteria and fungi, and researchers are now finding out that it helps us by preventing the negative effects of high-calorie diets, and it has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer potential.

Researchers are finding that antioxidants seem to trigger receptors in your upper intestine that tell your brain you’re full, researcers are finding. Lab animals fed the extracts also decreased their food intake by about 8%. This could explain why Resveratrol- a powerful antioxidant- seems to produce a weight loss effect that many people’s experience when they use it.

One recent study showed that resveratrol reverses the coronary and obesity effects of a diet high in fat and calories in mice. When large doses of resveratrol was given to lab mice, the mice ran twice as far on a treadmill than they had previously and also had a reduced heart rate. The mice also lived longer than mice who had not received the resveratrol.

The findings led to a marked increase in red wine sales in the United States despite the fact that the amount of resveratrol is very small in most red wines in the United States, because of the way that most grapes are grown and processed for wine.

If you are ready to add these beneficial nutrients to your diet, it’s important that you find a source that is powerful, natural and bio-available (easily absorbed and used by your body).

I found a great whole food supplement that includes these ingredients. It is called Genesis™ from Symmetry Direct. Each single ounce of Genesis™ is guaranteed to contain the health benefits of resveratrol equivalent to one whole bottle of red wine, plus the hydroxylated polyphenols found in one fresh pomegranate.



28 Oct 2009

Flower and Champagne Delivery – Create the Mood for Jubilation


Time and hectic schedules can no longer hinder you in celebrating happy moments of your loved ones. Now, even if you are hard pressed of time, with simple and smart moves you can send a wonderful gift to your dear ones. And that wonderful gift is a sparkling and scintillating bottle of champagne. Now you can have champagne delivery right on the door step of your friends and family members, even if you cannot be there.

Some of the leading online flower delivery sites provide the service of champagne delivery. There are various services that online flower delivery services provide – like champagne delivery, chocolate delivery, and other gifts like soft toys.

Champagnes are considered a wonderful gift for any kind of occasion and celebration. Even a small party or get together gets lightened up with a bottle of champagne. Champagnes are opened with a soft hissing sound; however, when it is popped open, it spreads a lot of excitement and mirth. And only champagnes can provide such gaiety all around.

But before getting champagne Delivery service, here is some food for thought… or rather drink for thought. Did you know that champagnes are of various types? Yes there are four main types of champagnes that are available. There is non-vintage champagnes, vintage champagnes, rosé and prestige cuvées.

Now, all you have to do is choose the type of champagne that you want to gift and place your order. Wait! There’s more you can do. You can send a bouquet of the choicest flowers, fresh and hand-picked, tied into a neat bundle and send it along with the champagne delivery.

All you have to do is visit a leading flower delivery site, click on the flower arrangement that best pleases you or that which you find best suitable for the occasion. Then click on the champagne section and choose the one that you want to send. Then just fill in the details, make the payment and relax in peace. Your champagne along with flowers will be delivered just where you want, at the time mentioned by you.



27 Oct 2009

Great Wines For Everyone


When you are looking for a drink to suit the majority of people go for wine.  It is a universal drink which has types that are good for most people.  There is dry wine, organic wine, sweet wine, fortified wine, red wine, rose wine, and of course sparkling wine.

If you are planning a party it goes down a treat.  You can have sparkling wine or champagne for a toast and a red and a white wine for people to drink the rest of the time.

If you are planning a dinner party, you can start the evening off with an aperitif such as sherry, move on to a white and red wine to go with the main meal, serve a dessert wine with the pudding and end up with port and stilton.  In fact what is a dinner party without wine?  It is like having bread without butter.  

This article is going to give you a short overview of different types of wine.

White wines

These tend to be light and can be sweet dry or somewhere inbetween the two.  Best drunk with white meat or fish they can have a light refreshing nature or can be oaky and fuller in flavour.  In general wines from the New World tend to be richer.

Red wines

These tend to go with meats, barbecues and rich cheese.  They can be full or light in body and again those with the heavier alcohol content tend to come from the New World

Organic Wine

Like organic food this describes how the wine is produced rather than the wine itself.  Can be white, red, rose or sparkling in their nature.

Fortified Wines

These are wines that have had another spirit added to them to make them higher in their alcohol content and usually sweeter than traditional wine.  Typical fortified wines include sherry, port and brandy.

Sparkling wines

These wines include the King of all sparklers Champagne.  Sparkling wine is know as Prosecco, Cava, and Sec in various other countries and is a great party ice breaker or ideal as a celebration toast

So what are you waiting for go out and get some wine in today.  For a great range of quality wines why not try an online independent wine retailer.  They will have a large range of wines with tasting notes so that you can choose wines according to your taste buds rather than your imagination.



27 Oct 2009

Sonoma Valley Wine Tasting Tour, Castle Winery

On February 24, 2008 we went on an interesting excursion out of San Francisco: an ecologically friendly bio-diesel powered van from Incredible Adventures whisked us off to the outlying areas north of San Francisco. After our first stop at Muir Woods to admire the giant redwoods we embarked on our tour to wine country. Through the rain we drove north into the Sonoma Valley, one of the two world-famous wine-making areas north of San Francisco. The other, even more famous wine-making area, is …

27 Oct 2009

Christmas Wine Gifts


Buying wine as a present has never been easier. Many wine merchants offer an online service and you can have your bottle (or bottles) of wine delivered in a silk-lined wooden box to friends, family or colleagues. Some even do personalised bottle labels. You can find a wide choice of high quality wines to suit every budget and there are also some great bargains on cases of wine where the price per bottle can often compete very favourably with supermarket prices. From a rich fruity Spanish Tempranillo or a full-bodied velvety Australian Shiraz to classic Chardonnays and fresh Romanian and Hungarian whites there is something for everyone. All you have to do is choose your wine.

If you want to play it safe then you can’t go wrong with classic French wines. Go for red wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone. These wines have a longer drinking window (usually 5 to 10 years plus) and are therefore suitable for laying down. Claret, a dry red wine produced in the Bordeaux region, is a particularly good option. These would make an ideal gift for someone with a wine cellar or who is thinking about creating a wine cellar. Or just anyone who simply enjoys the finer things in life. For white wines, go for established classics like Chablis or White Burgundy.

You can also go for a good all-round versatile wine that everyone can enjoy. Choose crisp dry white wines such as Pinot Grigio, unoaked Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc. Chablis and Sancerre are also good options. For versatile red wines opt for Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz. You could also choose a soft and fruity wine like a Beaujolais or a young Rioja (recently re-labelled with a brighter, more modern logo to appeal to the younger market).

If you want to give someone a bottle of something more fun and festive, then sparkling is the way to go. Champagne always makes a good wine gift and is ideal for special occasions. If you can’t afford champagne, there are many decent sparkling wines around, in particular from New World countries like Australia. Prosecco is one sparkling wine that has seen a recent increase in popularity, mainly due to it’s similarity to champagne. Grown in the Veneto region of Italy the grapes are ripened late to produce a very dry sparkling white wine. Look out for organic varieties full of fresh citrus flavours.



26 Oct 2009
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