Posts Tagged ‘wine’

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Wine Bottle Coolers – Which Wine Storage Cooler?

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

A wine cooler is primarily used to quick cool or chill a single or more bottles of wine at a time. Essentially, a wine bottle cooler refers to a simple and single table top unit that quickly chills a bottle; it is essential for last minute dinner preparations in order to obtain the optimal and ideal serving temperature for refreshing wines like ross, whites, and, of course, sparkling wines. The best thing to do during hot summer days is to get a durable wine bottle cooler and stack a bottle of wine or two to enjoy it during the evening.

The fact that these wine coolers come in trendy and attractive designs and chill wine in a jiffy makes it liked by many homemakers. A wine bottle cooler is for sure a valuable addition to your kitchen appliances and can be considered as one of the best investments a person can make.

Efficient cooler. In general, wine coolers are either electric or otherwise. Non-electric coolers need prep time and proper freezing before they can really chill a bottle. The bottle of wine should be kept for chilling next, which doubles the period of time consumed for chilling. On the other hand, electric wine coolers are ideal for quick bottle chilling: efficient brands could easily prepare a bottle in 15 to 20 minutes. They also save a great deal of electricity.

Shopping tip: The machine that cools the wine also plays a main role when it comes to the tasting it; hence it would do a lot of good to you if you go for a high quality brand. While a $25 non-electric wine cooler is perfect for your budget, purchasing a hassle-free and easy-to-use cooler so you could whip up the perfect meal to pair to your favorite ros.

Flexible holding capacity to accommodate most types of whites, ross, and champagnes. Beginners should be very careful when it comes to choosing the right wine bottle cooler. You need to keep the diameter of the machine in your mind most importantly before buying it, a cooler that is 3.5″ in diameter is ideal.

Shopping tip: Your best buy can be a cooler that can cool most types of bottles so that you don’t need different coolers for different bottles. Bottles of the type magnum would require a cooler that is 4″ in diameter whereas those of the type jeroboam would require one that is 5″ in diameter.

A cooler with a built-in charger also sounds to be a good option as you can chill the bottle while you are on the way to a romantic dinner. Most wine bottle coolers are designed to accommodate 12 volt car charger that could chill up a bottle in no more than 20 minutes.

Learn more about wine bottle holders and compare prices online. For more information take a look at this wine bottle cooler page.

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Introduction To Making Wine

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

The classical wine grape growing art is known as viticulture. This art is a part of its own type of science. The practitioners of this art form are known as vintners. The goal is to move from growing grapes to bottling wine and end up with a product people will enjoy.

Vintners, makers of wine, have to consider site, season, soil and a host of other factors in order to deliver fine wine to the consumer’s table. Dark soils absorb heat more efficiently and rocky soils allow better drainage and provide stones that also help retain heat. Relative concentrations of nitrogen and other elements play an essential part. Topography (the contours of land) partly determine the usable amounts of sunlight and shade, while climate encompasses temperature range, total sunlight available, annual rainfall, wind and so forth.

When you have many vineyards with basically the same growing conditions, the growing conditions of this collective group can be referred to as a terroir. Typically, the types of wine grapes you grow will depend on this terroir. Likewise, your growing season will be impacted by this terroir.

Upon harvesting, you will process your grapes through a crusher. The output is your must, which is basically a mixture of the ground up components of your grapes. The must runs through a perforated drum that rotates. The perforations allow the juice and skin to separate from the rest of the must.

Red-grape must is then sent to fermentation tanks, while white goes first to a wine press. The press is a large, usually stainless-steel cylindrical tank with an inflatable rubber bladder inside. The bladder is used to squeeze the skins against the tank walls to separate them from the juice. The result is sent to another fermentation tank.

The fermentation tanks are usually 1,500 to 3,000 gallon tanks that are kept at about 4 degrees Celsius. It is here that sugar and yeast are added. During the glycolysis phase, the yeast and glucose undergo diffusion. It is at this point that the alcohol forms over the course of four weeks or less.

Once fermentation is complete, red wines are sent to a press to filter the skins from what is now wine, then filtered again to remove the yeast. Some reds undergo a second, malolactic, fermentation process. White wines, by contrast, are allowed to settle, after which the yeast is filtered out. With the yeast removed, the wines are stored in stainless steel tanks or oak barrels for anywhere between three months and three years.

After the wine is properly aged, the final step in the process is bottling. Bottling has become highly automated by most large wineries, except for the addition of the labels and foil. Although winemaking has become semi-automated over the last centuries, winemakers are still very passionate about the art of creating wine. The end result is a fine wine that is meant to be savored.

Discover more about the basics of winemaking at www.Wine-Information.org. Stop by Sarah Omseo’s website to see more wine information to improve your wine knowledge.

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How Healthy Is Wine – Really?

Monday, April 19th, 2010

As far back as 450 BC, physicians have recommended wine to combat fever, disinfect wounds and provide nutritional supplements. But Greek science also taught that the stars moved on heavenly spheres, so one has to be careful. Has anything been learned since?

Fortunately, many studies since have provided plenty of evidence of the truth of early observations. Since the early 70s many studies have concluded that moderate intake of red wine does indeed have beneficial health effects, though the exact reasons are still not precisely known.

Red wine consumption helps prevent coronary disease and possibly some forms of cancer due to a class of compounds known as catechins (flavanoids). Like resveratrol, which aids grapes in fighting fungal infections, they act as anti-oxidants and anti-coagulants. Free radicals, i.e. ionized oxygen atoms in the blood, are known to cause cellular damage. Anti-oxidants remove free radicals.

Red wine has also been shown to have a beneficial effect on cholesterol. Red wine helps elevate the good cholesterol (HDL) and lower the bad cholesterol (LDL). Wine has also been shown to kill or inhibit certain pathogens in the blood stream.

Drinking wine in moderation (i.e., 1 or 2 glasses per day) has also been shown to decrease the risk of ulcers. It is believed that wine helps rid the body of bacteria which leads to stomach ulcers.

It should be noted that alcohol doesn’t metabolize as quickly as processed sugars. So drinking little bit of alcohol rather than consuming candy or soda may help some people avoid or delay diabetes. Regular, moderate alcohol consumption, however, is linked to increases in a wide variety of cancers. Of particular concern for women is the increased risk of breast cancer. Women who have history of breast cancer in their family should not consume alcoholic beverages.

Of course, as with anything one consumes, there are risks. Many wines contain sulfites to which a small percentage of the population is sensitive. And wine, though absent fat and cholesterol, does contain sugars and small quantities of sodium – and, of course, alcohol. It doesn’t take much to become too much.

People with certain conditions, such as kidney, liver or digestive tract problems, need to be careful in their consumption of wine or any alcohol. Most doctors will recommend no alcohol consumption for these types of ailments. Excessive consumption of wine (or any alcohol) can have many negative short and long term effects. These effects include impaired judgment, hangovers and liver damage. Also, drinking wine while on any medication should be avoided.

So we are left with the fact that drinking wine has many health benefits, as it is made of grapes, and a mixed bag of health risks, as it contains alcohol. Educate yourself more fully about these facts.

See more about wine health risks at www.Wine-Information.org. Stop by Sarah Omseo’s website to read more wine information on wine types and more.

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Wine Clubs For Every Taste

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

Although many people believe that wines clubs are only for experienced wine enthusiasts, there are now wine clubs for people of all tastes and experience levels. Wine clubs have grown steadily in popularity and their membership ranks have swelled with a diverse set of people who appreciate wine.

Wine clubs have been created for a wide variety of reasons. Some clubs have been formed for the purpose of getting volume discounts on wines. Another popular reason for wine clubs is that members want to be exposed to new wine types, vintages or vineyards on a monthly basis. One of the biggest drivers, however, of wine club growth is the social networking that comes from enjoying wine with like minded individuals.

Wine clubs provide a unique forum for a wide variety of information about different wines from around the world. There are wine clubs in virtually every country in the world devoted to virtually every type of wine imaginable. There are wine clubs in the US focused on Italian, French and Australian wines. Likewise there are wine clubs in France, Italy and Australia that specialize in California wines. Wine clubs are an excellent way to be exposed to a variety of wines from knowledgeable sources.

You might think of a wine club as some type of old fraternity, but there are new wine clubs forming all of the time. It is up to you whether or not you want an established wine club or a contemporary wine club. Either way, you can learn from the experiences of other members. Everything from proper testing methods for wine to home wine making information is available.

In many cases you’ll find wine fan clubs, or clubs that are formed under the auspices of a winery. The benefit of belonging to such a club is that you’ll be the first to get information about new offerings and may get plenty of special sampling opportunities at special prices, or even free.

One club is even dedicated to those who have sampled over 100 different wines – and the forum discussing the wines is very lively! Each member has tasted over 100 wines, so the total selection ranges in the several hundred, with some overlap. But at the end of the day, all the clubs provide their members with the expertise and experience of some of the world’s most knowledgeable and enthusiastic makers and drinkers of wine. And a mind-boggling amount of material it is.

Wine club members have employed the latest tools of communication such as e-mail, web forums, social networking sites and twitter to discuss the merits of wine among members. Each member will offer their sometimes passionate opinions on wine types, vintages, food pairings and other wine related topics. These debates can sometimes get lively!

The good news is, however, that the real purpose of these wine clubs is the enjoyment of wine, not proving who has the most wine knowledge. So to increase your knowledge of wine, and to become exposed to a diverse set of wines – find the wine club that is right for your taste.

See more about wine tasting at www.Wine-Information.org. Stop by Sarah Omseo’s website to read more wine information on wine types and more.

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For Those Who Enjoy Wine

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Alcohol has a varied reputation. On one hand it is the bane of the drunk, the bitter poison that sends genius into madness, and drives success out into the gutters. On the other hand it is a celebratory, a toast to good fortune, the fuel of festivals, and a jolly social lubricant.

Of all the different alcoholic beverages that you could choose, wine probably has the most sophisticated demeanor. Beer is often considered base, the draft of the common person, and hard liquor has a well deserved reputation for getting people wasted. However wine is that perfect balance between light and heavy, powerful enough to get you quite tipsy, yet refreshing enough to be taken in little sips.

Wine also has a reputation for having a more sophisticated taste than many of its alcohol counterparts. Wine is often composed of a variety of grapes, which can be mixed and matched, and added to by spices, or fruits, and hints of other flavors. Wine making can be a rather delicate and fine art, with a wide variety of savory tools at the manufacturers disposal for creating a variety of intriguing beverages.

Because of this complex reputation there are a variety of wine contests that are held around the world each year, to determine the best type of wine in any of a multitude of categories. These contests are a big deal, and are often associated with large cash prizes. The winners also get bragging rights, and the ability to claim the superiority of their own wares.

However to some extent the reputation of wine has been created by the vineyards that grow the grapes and make the product. It is important to the bottom line of a lot of companies that make wine to maintain this air of mystique, this classification as the beverage of gentry, and sophistication. The purpose of the contests held each year, of anointing a best and worst wine, is as much to maintain the popular spirit of the product as it is to actually judge the results.

In general wine has a reputation. Slightly nobler than lesser intoxicants, it is a more sophisticated way to get sloshed. This is a reputation which is carefully cultivated by both wine manufacturers, and wine enthusiasts alike.

This article was written by Jim Slate on behalf of PebbleZ’s line of absorbent natural marble drink coasters. These useful and attractive accessories are made from a variety of different marble types, including fossil stone, onyx, and red lightning multicolored marble. These coasters also come with a matched stone holder.

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