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″.
The Origin of the Cocktail
March 1, 2008
The cocktail has the distinction of being an original American drink.
Its origins are murky, but the most common accounts name one Antoine Amedee Peychaud, a young Creole from a distinguished French family, as the originator of the drink.
Peychaud, along with wealthy plantation owners, fled his home in the French controlled portion of the island of Hispaniola during the slave uprisings of 1793.
Peychaud, trained as an apothecary, settled in New Orleans and set up shop in the French Quarter. Along with his education, he had salvaged an old secret family recipe for the compounding of a liquid tonic called bitters.
The bitters were good for whatever ailed you. And they added zest to the cognac brandy he served friends and others who wandered into his pharmacy.
Fame of the concoction spread. Soon the ubiquitous New Orleans coffee houses, as liquor dispensing establishments were then called, were offering their French brandy spiked with a dash of the marvelous bitters compounded by M. Peychaud.
He had a unique way of serving his brandy libation. He poured portions into a double egg cup. The French speaking population called such a device a coquetier (pronounced kah-kuh-tyay). The speculation is that the pronunciation of the French word eventually corrupted into the present day cocktail.
Wine and Your Health
February 17, 2008
During the 1990s, a physician voiced on a national TV show that drinking red wine reduces heart disease. It made all the headlines. He cited the relatively lower levels of the disease in France despite their ever so famously high fat diets. Since that program, it seems that red wine health effects have been on the forefront of the wine consumerīs mind.
Good for the Heart
Coronary artery disease is caused by a build up of cholesterol in the arteries that supply the blood to the heart. If the arteries get partially blocked the heart cannot get enough oxygen and the result is pain. Does red wine protect against heart disease?
Many studies suggested that moderate amount of red wine (one to two glasses a day) lowers the risk of heart attack for middle aged people by 30 to 50 percent. It was also concluded that red wine may prevent additional heart attacks if you have already suffered from one.
The cholesterol that blocks these arteries is called low density lipo-protein or referred to as the bad cholesterol. This is cleared from the blood by high density lipo-proteins or the good cholesterol. Moderate wine consumption produces a better balance of these two. Additionally, wine has an anti-coagulation effect which makes the blood less likely to clot.
Red Wine Compound May Extend Life
February 4, 2008
Good news! A recent study suggested that resveratrol, a red wine compound, may extend our life.
The study was conducted on fries and worms to see if resveratrol can extend life in these creatures. Previous studies suggested that yeast life can be extended with resveratrol.
It was found that worms and fires fed resveratrol live 30% longer than those that were not fed resveratrol.
Fries and humans share many biological processes. Therefore, there is a chance this red wine compound may also extend life in humans.
Previous studies have found that resveratrol is protective against heart diseases largely due to the antioxidative properties of this compound.
However, the current finding, life-extension with resveratrol, may not be due to its antioxidative properties. Rather, resveratrol may act just like calorie-restriction that activates proteins called sirtuins similar to sir2. Sir2 is an important protein that is present in many animals and participate in the aging regulations.
More good news with resveratrol! Resveratrol does not have any negative impact on the fertility while calorie-restriction may cause infertility. Actually, resveratrol boosts the fertility of fries.
Pairing Food and Wine is a Matter of Taste
January 24, 2008
First off let me say that I am in no way a wine snob. I do not believe that there is an ultimate right and wrong way to pair wine with food. It all boils down to your personal taste and the tastes of your guests. Most people like to pair white wines with white meats and lighter meals like fish, and red wines with red meats and pastas. You can certainly mix it up, however. Experiment and go with what you think tastes good.
That being said, some people are still uncertain and like some general guidelines to follow. Here is a listing of some wines and the foods that go well with them:
With appetizers:
If you are serving appetizers such as crab cakes or oysters on the half shell, try pairing it with a light, fruity Chardonnay. This white wine of North America is a favorite of many people and pairs well with light seafood fare. It is also a nice wine to sip on its own before a meal.
With appetizers like chicken wings or antipasto, serve a Pinot Noir. This red spicy wine goes well with both red and white meat and is a wonderful starter to a meal.
Choosing a Wine Gift Basket
January 11, 2008
During the holiday season, most of us are in a frantic search for presents for loved ones and friends. Next time, instead of the usual hassle of selecting a gift which will suit him or her, try sending a wine gift basket instead. Wine gift basketsare a perfect present for both men and women and suit every occasion e.g. Birthdays, Weddings etc. The information below will help you select an appropriate wine gift for that special occasion.
Who will be receiving the wine gift basket?
Men will prefer a bottle of wine, which they can open and drink immediately or store in their own wine cabinet (The smile when he or she unwraps the present to discover a 1990 Bordeaux is priceless) whereas women are usually more delighted with a wine accessory e.g. Corkscrew, Crystal Wine glasses or a decanter. Below are the four basic questions you need to ask yourself before you shop for a wine gift.
What is the occasion?
Different wine gift baskets are suitable for various occasions. Wine gift baskets are a favorite for parties. The numerous items within will allow everyone to enjoy the gift and enjoy the wine with delicious tidbits as well. Wine merchants also have wine gift baskets for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas etc.
Australian Wines
December 29, 2007
Australia’s wine industry has boomed in the past ten years. Employers have had to triple their staff numbers to cope with the demand for Aussie wine. Considering the lower average national population of Australia, compared to say the United States or even South Africa, 30,000 (2001) workers is pretty high.
One of the main reasons for the demand on this skillful industry is that it has won an international reputation for quality and value. Australian wines have won many highly sought after international awards and labels and many innovative Australian winemakers are sought internationally for their wine making expertise.
Wine regions throughout Australia have continually had high ratings especially over the past four years. Most of these regions and especially the East and South coasts (New South Wales and Victoria) are averaging 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. Second to the brilliant winemakers, and a close second, is the great climates / weather that certain regions have for cultivating vines.
Wine is very much a part of the Australian way of life, closely associated with both business and leisure. Wine consumption is often linked to the country’s outdoor-oriented lifestyle as well as to the cosmopolitan urban way of life of the bulk of the Australian population.
