Chardonnay Wine
July 6, 2008
Chardonnay is the world’s most popular white wine grape. Chardonnay wine’s homeland is the Burgundy region of France, where it produces sublime, complex Chardonnay table wines (in Champagne and elsewhere it provides the base for many of the world’s best sparkling wines), but it also flourishes in California, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and South Africa.
Chardonnay is one of the few grapes in the world that does not require blending. It is a highly complex, aromatic grape, complete and balanced enough in flavor to stand beautifully on its own. The artistry of the winemaker’s fermentation and aging process brings forth an intriguing variety of delicate aromas and flavors in Chardonnay wines.
Chardonnay made as a pure white wine conjures up visions of green apple, lemon or citrus, all pointing to fruity flavor and acidity. Wines made from extremely ripe grapes bear the distinctly softer Chardonnay flavors of figs, pineapples, ripe apples, melons and honey.
DWI and Blood Alcohol Concentration: What does it mean?
June 23, 2008
Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the elimination of alcohol in your blood. This is usually measured as the percentage of deciliters of blood. So if it is measured by how much blood you have, your body weight makes a difference on how much you can drink. There are a few variables that determine your blood alcohol level:
-Weight
-Male or female
-Amount consumed
-How long the time frame was while drinking
-How long it takes to get back to a 0 BAC
A BAC of .04 means you have 4 drops of pure alcohol for every 10,000 drops of blood. An average man at 160 lbs. that drinks two beers would have a BAC of .04 after about an hour, on an empty stomach. Someone who reaches a BAC of .10 will normally show signs of intoxication. On average, it takes about 1 hour for 1 drink to leave the body. On women, it takes long because usually women have lower water in their body and have a higher percent of body fat than men. The fatter you are, the longer the alcohol stays in your system.
Beer and The Commodities Market
June 10, 2008
Most branded products and agricultural products are not commodities. However we will see the future as Cargill, Petroseed, Genetseed will have patented superior seeds which grow into corn, mustard seed, wheat, and other agricultural products which will have a brand name. There will be certain types of specialty corn which can be used for biofuels and will need to be separated from the regular corn as a separate commodity. Hops and Barley work the same way.
Some companies like Sunkist have attempted to brand name a commodity in order to get higher price. Some trade associations and some co-ops do the same thing. However, in the end something only worth what someone will pay. Starbucks with older plantations has excess capacity and therefore sells his excess capacity on the commodities market, or in an Intranet system on their web site for e-secured credit card consumers. Coffee actually keeps for longer than other types of commodities that are agricultural based. Therefore they can hedge their bets by stockpiling, roasting, or bagging the excess into little containers for later sale. Similar to the US Military stockpiling fuel so they will not run out.
The Ten Most Important Wine Label Terms
May 29, 2008
For the average wine consumer, there is a plethora of intimidation associated with wine buying. This is a feeling that is most often associated with not understanding wine labels. New world wines tend to make it easier - wines bottled in Australia, South America and the United States are often more direct in their presentation of the type of wine and the name of the vineyard. On the other hand, old world wine labels like those from France, Italy, Spain and Germany carry with them loads of classifications, harvest-types, town names, vineyard titles and producer idiosyncrasies - all in a foreign language. While these labels embody the wonderfully classic aesthetic associated with a good looking wine label, they almost always cause a cocking of the head for the average wine buyer.
In an effort to make the process less of a mess and more fun for those unmoved with the prospect of memorizing a pocket dictionary worth of French, Italian, Spanish and German wine terms, here is a list of the top ten things to look for on a wine label. The first five are things you want to look for, and the last five are items that should raise a flag of caution or don’t mean what you think they should.
Uses of Mirror Tinted Contact Lenses
May 15, 2008
Mirror tinted contact lenses have become a topic of interest among many Americans. This is because the market for crazy contact lenses has continued to grow and be popular, so, as a result, contact companies are continually faced with making the next best thing. What is the next best thing you might ask? Mirror tinted contact lenses of course. Of course a significant amount of research and technology will be used in creating these contacts, however where there is demand the contact companies will be sure to supply. The technology for mirror tinted contact lenses would have to be similar to a one way mirror. That is, the contact reflects on side and allowss the wearer to see through the other side. Certainly this is not an easy creation, but definitely a unique and fun one.
You might wonder who would want contact lenses that reflected everything in their line of sight. The answer is there are many people who would want them for every day wear purposes and then people who would like them for concerts, Halloween or other similar activities.
Alchoholism, A Major Diesease?
May 3, 2008
Alcoholism can be given a lot of definitions and all of them stress the fact that there is a terrible disease that involves addiction to spirits. Apart from the physical dependence on alcohol, there are other psychological, genetic and social factors that may play a role in the development of alcoholism. Many social, economic and public health problems are determined by this very serious disease.
When alcoholism is concerned, symptoms include craving for alcohol, incapacity to have control over the use of alcohol, a greater tolerance to its effects, and withdrawal symptoms during the periods of abstinence. One should as well know that many alcoholics deny having a problem. In many cases intervention is necessary in order to persuade them to start treatment. Treatment in cases of alcoholism usually includes detoxification, counseling and psychotherapy, as well as treatment of associated medical problems, and different programmes for recovery and support.
An Idiots Guide To Wine Tasting
April 21, 2008
Have you ever seen those stiff upper-lipped types doing a spot of the old wine tasting malarkey? You know the form ? sip, swill, spit. Yuck! Well this information has been written to help you understand the form should you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to know what to do. And don’t go thinking “I’ll never have to do any wine-tasting” because you just don’t know that for sure and the last thing you want is to be caught unaware.
So, on with the tasting…
Study The Wine
Pick up your glass as elegantly as possible. There are two ways this can be done.
a) For chilled wines ? hold the glass by the stem and don’t even touch the bowl.
b) For wine served at room temperature ? pick up the glass by the bowl and hold it cupped in your palm, the stem between your middle two fingers.
Now that you have the glass comfortably in your hand, hold it at a slight angle against something white. If your hostess is worth her salt, she’ll have covered the table in white linen specifically for this purpose (although it does look nice, too).
Tasting Wine
April 8, 2008
Wine Tasting Component I: Look
The first step you have to undertake in wine tasting is visual.
1. Fill up the glass up to 1/3 of its volume; never fill it more than half;
2. Hold the glass by the stem. Initially you may find this too pretentious but there are good reasons for it:
а) by doing it this way you can actually observe the wine in it;
b) this will keep your fingerprints off the bowl;
в) the heat from your palm will not change the temperature of the wine.
There’s a good saying by one of the greatest French wine lovers, Emil Painot: Offer someone a glass of wine and you can immediately tell whether he/she is a connoisseur by the way they hold the glass." Even though you may not think of yourself as a connoisseur, you could still learn how to hold the wine glass.
3. Focus on the color intensity and the transparency of the liquid.
a) the color of the wine, and more specifically its nuances, are best observed on a white background.
б) the wine’s intensity is best judged by holding the glass without slanting it and looking at the liquid from above;
The Old Fashioned: Two Recipes of an Underrated Classic
March 26, 2008
Like many mixed drinks, the Old Fashioned has a number of variations and a history.
It is one of the few cocktails that survived from the days of the Martini and the Manhattan. When prepared well, it is a full-bodied, delicious drink. It was one of my mother’s favorites as a young woman in the 1940’s and still carries the glamour of the era.
Accounts agree that the Old Fashioned originated at the Pendennis Club, in Louisville, Kentucky.
This Old Fashioned recipe appeared in a book written by George J. Kappeler, published in 1895, called Modern American Drinks.
THE OLD-FASHIONED WHISKEY COCKTAIL
Dissolve a small lump of sugar with a little water in a whiskey-glass; add two dashes Angostura bitters, a small piece ice, a piece lemon-peel, one jigger whiskey. Mix with small bar-spoon and serve, leaving spoon in glass.
Robert Hess, writing for Drinkboy.com, cautions that it is common for modern bartenders to top off the drink with an ounce or more of soda. In his opinion, the soda spoils the drink.
Here is another recipe from Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix’em by Stanley Clisby Arthur.
How to Order Wine in a Restaurant
March 15, 2008
Ordering wine in a restaurant is not much different than buying it in a wine store. The main difference is that you have an audience. Yet ordering wine in a restaurant can be intimidating especially if the wine list is extensive.
Experiment or Homework Keep in mind that even the experts will not be familiar with every selection on a wine list. If you are a novice and your are going on an important date, you should do a little homework to get some idea of what you might want to order. Unless you are feeling extremely adventurous, a restaurant is usually not the place to try something new since the mark up can range from 100 to 200%.
The Wine List Today, most restaurants have a wine list, but expect a myriad of shapes and sizes. Some establishments might simply offer just a house red or white, while others have a daily blackboard to outline their rotating selection. Most wine lists are presented as a printed menu, with the wines arranged by color; red, white, and rose and the region of country. Additionally, many establishments will number their wines on the list, which helps big-time if you do not know how to pronounce the wine. You can simply say, “I will have the number 8″.
