Author: Rickie

South African Dessert Wines

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Dessert wines are, by definition, high in alcohol. This alcohol is made from the increased concentration of sugar in these wines and the two combine to define them. The ratio of water to sugar can be changed by actually adding sugar, unfermented grape juice or honey before fermentation or must afterward. Alternatively, wine makers may opt to remove water during production, increasing the concentration of sugar in the volume of wine. Drying the grapes into raisins and then using these to make the wine achieves this sweetened effect too, as does freezing some of the water out of the wine, making what is known as “ice wine”. Adding Botrytis cinerea desiccates the grapes and increases their sugar content, having a similar effect.
 
Certain grapes, such as the Muscat, are sweeter by their very nature. These and other varieties are made sweeter by being picked only once they are completely ripe and have their highest sugar levels. The more sun these grapes get, the sweeter they become, so wine farmers rely very much on a hot, sunny summer. To improve their grapes’ chances of maximum exposure, the farmer may choose to clip away any leaves casting a shadow on the grapes below them on the vine. This approach renders different versions of each wine every harvest, creating an unreliable (but always natural) product.  One of South Africa’s most famous Muscats was the Constantia of old, and this is likely to have been sweetened in this natural way.
 
When selecting a dessert wine, it is vital that the wine is sweeter than the dish it is accompanying. Chocolate has a bitter base taste and this does not match well with sweet dessert wines. Baked goods with nuts and honey are far more suitably enjoyed with a sugary and flavorsome wine. Sweet, ripe fruits are also fantastically set off by a good dessert wine. When a fortified or dessert wine is well made, though, it can be enjoyed as the perfect end to a hearty meal all on its own. It should be served slightly chilled if it is white, and at room temperature if it is a red wine.
 
The very sweet dessert wines are not matured for very long, whereas ports are aged for far longer periods. The aging process is largely determined by the size of the oak vats in which the wine is placed. The larger the vat, the longer its contents will take to mature.
 
While dessert wines may be regarded by some wine connoisseurs as being inferior or subordinate to their more ‘savory’ counterparts, they have earned acclaim over the years. Their rich, sugary body is offset by their syrupy texture and alcoholic warmth, a winning combination by even the most discerning of palate’s standards.

Lose Weight With A Glass Of Red Wine

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Picture it – you’re sitting down relaxing with a nice meal of, let’s say, lean steak and salad. It’s served with an eye to portion control of course, because you are trying to lose weight right now. So does this mean you have to forego the glass of red wine you’d normally have with it?

Well let’s think about it for a moment. Do you actually know how many calories are in that glass of wine? If you’re only having a small glass it might raise your eyebrows to realize it has only a little more than eighty calories if it’s a dry wine, and a hundred if it’s a sweet one.

That’s all very well, but can I really lose weight by drinking wine?

Let’s be honest here. Some diets will have you believe that wine is the enemy. You shouldn’t be drinking it and that’s that. But the best diet of all – one that actually works – is to eat what you enjoy in moderation. We all know that the best way to lose weight is to consume less than you expend in energy each day. This means that if you want to have a glass of wine you can, provided you don’t go over your calorie totals for the day.

This is great news when you think about it, because you’ve got more freedom to enjoy that glass of red wine you love so much! In fact you could stand a better chance of losing weight this way than you would if you were to deprive yourself of the wine altogether.

Is total deprivation a bad thing?

Yes it certainly can be, and a nice glass of wine is really no different in this respect. Let’s think about this for a moment. Suppose you are used to having and enjoying a drop of red wine maybe three nights a week with your dinner. Just the one glass, but you really enjoy it.

Now if your diet says you cannot drink any more, how much do you think you would miss it? For some people red wine is just as enjoyable as chocolate is to others. If you loved chocolate you would probably struggle to eliminate it completely from your diet. The same applies to red wine. If you allow yourself a little treat like this every day or two, you would be surprised at how much easier it can be to keep on track with your diet in the long run.

Of course red wine also has good health benefits. Just take a look at the diets of people in France to get an idea of how you can benefit in this sense. They eat well and live well, but they also have a regular consumption of wine that seems to help them health wise. So if a glass of red wine really does make you feel positive about the fact you’re dieting, then carry on drinking the occasional glass rather than depriving yourself.

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Kosher South African Wines

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A wine begins its koshering once plucked from the vine, as it is sown and cultivated in the same way as other wines. It may be picked by anyone, not necessarily a kosher or Jewish person. The grapes to be used for the wines are then taken to the winery, where they are crushed. This process needs to be performed under a rabbi’s supervision. The rabbi physically tips the grapes into the crusher and sometimes operates the necessary equipment. This is an integral requirement for a kosher wine’s production.

The barrels in which the kosher wines are to be fermented need to be judged worthy for such a use. After the grapes have been crushed under rabbinal supervision, the rest of the process and even the handling of the grapes and juice need to be performed by a Jewish person that observes the Sabbath faithfully. Even thought the rabbi does not necessarily need to be involved in the wine-making process, he does need to oversee the entire progression to the final product. Kosher wines even need to be opened by a kosher waitron. None of the work involved in producing a kosher wine may be done on the Sabbath.
 
Meshuval wines are kosher wines that have been flash-pasteurized by boiling (or nearly boiling) and cooling them very rapidly. Advanced technology means that there is very little, if any, difference to the taste of these wines kosher wines compared to non-meshuval wines. Pasteurising the wine in this way renders it kosher immediately, regardless of how it is handled thereafter. In South Africa, though, meshuval wines are rare and are more common in North America and Israel. The rabbi would operate the pasteurization equipment.
 
The wines carry an official seal of approval called the hechsher. The reason that a wine has to be deemed kosher (since it contains none of the forbidden foods of Judaism) is owing to its important role in non-Jewish religions. Using it for these purposes is considered to be idolatry. Therefore, wines need to be kosher to ensure that they are free from any form of idolatry before being consumed by a Jewish person. Of course, kosher wines can not contain anything that is derived from a non-kosher source, such as gelatine or isinglass.
 
South Africa, along with a few other countries around the world, has recently seen an increased demand for kosher wines. This may be related to the fact that methods for ensuring correctly koshered wines are becoming more widespread.
 
In South Africa, good quality kosher wines are available from Norman Goodfellows, Kleine Draken and Nwanedi. Some recommended vintages include:
 
· Eshkol Shiraz 2003 – the Eshkol Winery in Paarl produces excellent kosher wines.
· Welnerberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – From South Africa’s Swartland, this full-bodied red is ideal for red meat dishes.
· Welnerberg Pinotage 2005 – this wine enjoys fruitier flavors and a slightly lighter body.

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A Wine Lover’s Weekly Review of $10 Wines – A Red Sicilian Blend

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Please let me apologize. Usually I place these weekly reviews on my website Sunday night or Monday night. This one went up on Tuesday; last night was President Obama’s first prime time news conference. I’m not going to talk about the press conference here, except to repeat that this wine column is our attempt to deal with the present economic problems. We feel that in these very difficult times it’s important to keep your chin up, and to find a way to enjoy life without spending too much money. What can be better than the right $ 10 bottle of wine? We help you find the right ones.

Italy produces many fine wines. We have reviewed about two dozen fine Italian wines, coming from eighteen and soon nineteen of the twenty regions of Italy. Sicily is the number one Italian wine region both in terms of acreage devoted to the wine grape, a whopping third of a million acres, and total production, over two hundred million gallons. In fact, if Sicily were an independent country it would rank seventh in the world for wine production. Now quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality. The wine reviewed is a blend of the indigenous Nero d’Avola and the international Cabernet Sauvignon, both red grapes. Nero d’Avola wines usually aren’t very expensive but I was quickly able to locate a $ 80 bottle on the web. Cabernet Sauvignon produces some very expensive wines such as the California Opus One costing hundreds of dollars, depending on the vintage. Enough of that; let’s see if this bottle is a good choice for dealing with these hard times.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Montalto Nero d’Avola Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 14% alcohol about $ 8

Let’s start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Deep red violet color; dark fruit and spice aromas and flavors; dry, medium to full bodied, long, smooth finish. Serving Suggestion: Roast lamb or beef, meat pastas, and grilled meats. And now for my review.

At first tasting the wine was thin but long with moderate acidity and a touch of oak. The initial meal involved homemade shepherd’s pie. There was dark fruit. The red blend washed the food down pleasantly. It was robust. Simple food, simple wine. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I added some Turkish Harissa, a hot pepper sauce and the wine followed, picking up some spiciness.

The second meal was a combination of meat balls and recooked steak, slow cooked with potatoes. The Nero d’Avola/Cabernet Sauvignon was now powerful; it definitely packed a punch. I could taste the oak. The length was good.

The final meal was a middle-eastern specialty, kube, also called kibbe, ground meat in jackets made from ground bulgar, in a spicy tomato sauce. It was strange, at the first sip the wine was thin, almost watered. But as I drank more the power built. There was some oak and dark fruit with moderate acidity.

I finished the tasting with two cheeses. The first cheese was a provolone. The wine was balanced with good tannins and moderate acidity. But it was short. A marbled cheddar cheese flattened the wine somewhat. After the cheese the fruit came back.

Final verdict. If you feel like washing down simple meals with a simple wine this is an option. But I think I will keep looking.

Featured Enlightenment Services Become Mainstream Marketing Trends Wine Shop – Wine, Marketing –

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Stephanie? Mike can not be Wine Experts, but occasionally like to point dining Pinot Gris, I often have to GreenHills newly opened Grace grapes Wine Spirits Center (Grace’s Plaza Wine & Spirits) shopping, she loved the experienced and knowledgeable employees to buy 50 U.S. dollars under the guidance of bottles of wine.

Grace plans to install a fireplace shop, a flat screen TV, play wine and gourmet catering to the educational video, this consumer guide to help Mike to purchase, this approach seems to promote the wine shop has become a mainstream marketing trends . Grace store operations director Dan? Gokal said: “The difference between the store atmosphere is, employees have a wealth of wine knowledge, to provide convenient service to consumers buy.”

Grace shop set up a special “cellar”, special sales boutique wines, such as 670 U.S. dollars a bottle of Italian AntinoriSolaia 2005 vintage. There is also a “niche product house” (WineNiche), to sell cheap products, prices are 10 dollars a bottle less.

Nielsen survey, as of December 13 to 52 weeks, the U.S. wine sales of about 8.1 billion U.S. dollars, compared with 2007 increased by 4.7% over the same period. California Wine Retailers Association executive director Tom? Walker said: “The wine shop is like shopping more and more people, even if they did not in-depth understanding of the wine. In addition, nearly a decade with the growing popularity of wine in the United States, retailer has introduced consumer-friendly policies, also helped the popularity of wine. “

Goals: enlightenment consumers a winery Fine Wines Spirits Store (Grand Cru Fine Wine & Spirits) manager Jason? Ross said his store three years ago launched the wine tasting began to spread more knowledge of the consumer, this achieved remarkable results in promoting ways to attract more and more customers. Ross said: “If your wine is not a mainstream product, we must educate and guide consumers to understand them, to stir up people’s desire.”

Some stores in Nashville, such as the Woodland wine shops on a wine’s flavor of each offer personalized descriptions, staff Courteney? Wilder said: “Through these individual descriptions, people can better experience to the wine’s taste, because sometimes the description on the bottle back labels are confusing, not enough to reflect the characteristics of wine. “

West Point Wine and Spirit is ready to discount some “Wine Spectator” magazine, as well as wine master Robert? Parker’s buying guide for clients. Manager David? West out that shops with local restaurants Cooperation Hold wine tasting, wine and food matching, help consumers better understand the wine.

Wine: consumers can afford luxury goods

Even in the face of financial crisis, consumer belt-tightening, remains, as always, to buy wine. Ross said the spending habits of customers in the change from the past 35 dollars to buy the product into a 10-20 per product. California Wine Association, GladysHoriuchi that, despite the economic downturn, many people are still hard to give up wine, this is a luxury can be affordable.

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