The quality of wine with screw-caps

We see a very high sales rate for wine with screw caps. Now more than 17.5 percent of all wine sold last year was wine with screw caps.

Well I have tasted a lot of these wines, some are good, others bad, very bad, but one thing they all have in common, they are not wines made to store in a cellar and will not get better with age.
I think they even have a date for last use (all of them).
But one very good thing about them is, they wine is a bit cheaper, but I think fine wine is losing a lot of esthetic value,

And speaking of wine with screw caps, what about all the wines on cardboard boxes, talk about losing esthetic value, if this will be the future of all wines just to produce it cheaper, then I may lose some interest in fine wines.

Buying Guide to Wines of North America: More Than 3000 Wines Reviewed by the Beverage Testing Institute

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The basics of wine making

First of the grapes are crushed to release its natural sugar. When time goes by, the juice will produce naturally ferments. With some help from sugar, the ferments and sugar will then produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.
The fermented wine is then filtered from the grapes solids, then the wine is put in some brewing vat, where it is clarified, stabilized, then at last it is bottled.
Okay this was very off, from what we can do at home in the kitchen, but I am actually trying to find some good information about how to make your own wine at home without any big brewing vat, and special equipment to clarify the wine.

Useful tips on how to store wine

For optimal ageing potential, wines must be stored under ideal conditions, here I will try to mention some of the important factors to store wine in.

Wine should always be kept in a dark place, because light makes wine age faster, too much light can even make wine taste bad.

Wine should be kept in a moist place so the corks don't dry out. But be careful not to have a wet place, this can make the wine labels moldy or deteriorated.

Wine should always have a constant temperature, the best temperature is in a cellar, at about 12-13 degrees.

No vibrations and free of odors, like gasoline or petroleum, or whatever you think of keeping in the same room as your wine, keep in mind not to keep things with odors.

Okay just to sum this up.

A dark place, a bit moist with no other odors, at a room temperature of about 12-13 degrees, sounds simple? well these conditions can be hard to contain.

Its all about the amount of wine

For many people this is a personal opinion, some want it served to the rim of the wine glass, others just a taste, and some may want as much as possible.

the correct way is actually for red wine to fill the glass half, and for white wine about only a third of the way. this makes it easier for people to move the wine glass around to catch the wine's aromas.

filling glasses to much can result in that they can't move the wine around in the glass, not giving the the full experience of the aromas. also they could end up with some warm white wine, not always the best choice.

Knowing the different wines for beginners

Of cause I can't sit here and write down all wine sorts on the market, that wouldn't even be educational, instead I will write which kind of wines as an overview, and tell you what those kinds are used for and when.

Aperitif:
This is a pre dinner wine, its usually something you get just before you get to eat, like an appetizer.
The ones I have tasted usually is kind of sweet (not a bad thing)

Barley wine:
This is a very strong wine, up to 12 percent alcohol, I'm not even sure this will go very well with food.

Cooking wine:
This is not wine to drink, usually its wine used to put in food while cooking, therefore it is also a bad quality.
Actually I talked to a cooking chief recently, he told me a rule of thumb. If the wine is to bad to drink, its also to bad to use in food.

Dessert wines:
The title kind of says it all, it wine served with the dessert, some cake, ice cream or what ever.
Usually its very sweet and very low on alcohol. (Note: this not counting Port wine which is a strong wine also not so sweet).

White and red wines:
Red wines are typically best for enhancing meals of red meat or tomato sauce, white wines are good for white meat as chicken and fish.

Rose wine:
This is kind of a mixture of red and white wines, they are sweet, good with seafood, salad and pork. Also called summer wines.

Taste of Italy Gift Box

Cascina Adelaide Langhe Rosso DOC Jula Red Wine Italy 2001 A 50/50 blend of Barbera and Nebbiolo, two grapes that complement each other exceptionally well. The wine takes the best qualities from both grapes; from the Nebbiolo comes tannin, body, and a wonderfully floral quality. It takes from the Barbera great acidity and purity of fruit. It can best be described simply in two words, "big" and "delicious."

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Home Made Tip For Fast Cooling Wine

Yes I know, this is going to be a very brief post, but I just had to share this information with you, if you did not already know this tip.

We have all tried it, unexpected company, and we want some cold wine, the fridge take to long to cool down a couple of bottles.

Now this is what you should do, take a lot of ice, crush is, pore a lot (and I mean a lot) of salt in to the ice, mix it a bit. Now bring your wine bottle in to the ice/salt.

This will cool down a lot faster then regular ice, because, salt has something chemically that wants to make ice smelt, but for the ice to smelt, it needs to gain some energy, in in that energy gaining state, the temperature will be much colder then the ice it self.

pretty neat stuff there.

Champagne for the Champagne Region

I actually had to tell my friends of this law I'm going to tell you, I was amazed how many people didn't know about this.

When we speak of Champagne, like we drink Champagne for new years and to celebrate something, well are we sure we are drinking champagne?

By law the word Champagne is strictly reserved for the wines produced only in the Champagne region of France (yes there is such area, look it up if you don't believe me).
I know some countries still calls their wine for champagne, but that is actually illegal, all new wine made after this law was enforced may not be called champagne if not produced in that specific area of France.

So when you drink some cheap wine in the believe that you drinking Champagne, you may be disappointed.

Basic wine tasting tips

Here is some pointers on how to be a wine taster so when you go out public at some wine tasting public place you will not seem like the one how knows nothing.

Start with a clear wine glass. The rim of the glass should bend inwards to help funnel aromas to the nose, and allow you to swirl without spilling.

Now pour a bit of wine into your glass, about an inch.

If you are going to be tasting a lot of different wines start with the lightest (ending with a full-body wine). If you start with a heavy wine you may loose some taste senses.

Now also notice color and hue of the wine, try to hold the glass into some light, the color can give you a clue to what age it is. White wines usually gain color when they age, and red looses. You have to be an expert in a many different wine spectra's to spot specific wine ages just by looking.

Swirl the wine a couple of times by moving the glass in a circular motion. Holding the glass by its stem, instead of the bowl, allows you to swirl more easily. Swirling is done to aerate the wine and release vapors, evaporating from the sides of the glass, for you to smell.

Now put your nose tot he rim of the wine glass and breath in, note the strength of the aromas.

Take a sip, letting the wine spread across the tongue from front to back and side to side before swallowing. Notice the flavors and acidity of the wine. How silky or rough does the wine feel? See more tips below on

Unless you are to taste a lot of wines you may swallow it, but if you have to taste a lot of different wines its a good idea to spit it out.

This was only the basic of what the real professional wine tasters does, of cause they also take some other notes that I have no idea of yet, (that why I don't call my self an expert I just write what I experience and hope you learn something)

You should now find be prepared to go out and find information about the different aromates and looks of wines, take notes, listen to what other people has to say about wine, or just enjoy the wine as it is like me.

Wine Label Rating Systems

How do we foresee all those confusing wine labels telling us which wine is the best and what to buy.

First of all keep in mind that wine taste is subjective, that means, even though some expert says its a good wine and blah blah. You do not have to like the wine, actually if you like the cheapest wine existing, you are lucky because you can afford more wine :-)

Well although wine taste is subjective there is some rating systems, they usually has one thing in common, the purpose of a wine rating is to quantify a wine's quality separate from those factors that influence price.

But always see your self as the best judge, don't take for granted what some expert may think.

Good Wines, what NOT to do

This is a couple of tips a have collected from my own experience and what I have heard from others, and I just want to share them with you.

First of, do not store wine standing up. Why you ask? well if you don't keep your bottles on their sides, the corks will dry out and let damaging air into the wine.

In addition to the corks getting dry issue, Never store wine in a dry place because this may also make the bottles cork dry out and let air into the wine bottle.

Also don't store the wine in a fridge, because its too cold, with the awful low temperature a lot of aromas will be lost. And a fridge has a compressor motor that shakes, and will give repeating shakings to the wine, and is not a good thing.

If you cant open a bottle because you have destroyed the cork, do not try to hit the cork down into the bottle, this will give some fun but messy results (instead you should use a quality bottle opener).