Tag: Wine

Temecula Wine Tasting

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What type of wine goes well with a big, red juicy steak? We all know that red wine is usually considered the best candidate. In looking to choose the best red for your next meal, visiting a wine tasting will certainly help you narrow down your choices. In the city of Temecula, California, Californians and cross-country vacationers practice “taste-budding” different sorts of wine. In particular, Temecula is truly renowned for its antique stores, jazz festivals, and of course its wine festivals and tastings.

Old Town Temecula exhibits its wine tasting locally through its popular Temecula Valley vineyard. Built it 1968, winemakers Vincenzo and Audry Cilurzo decided to convert their establishment into a modern commercial vineyard dedicated to wine exporting and farming. Although it has gained recognition over the past fifty years, a minimum of twenty-five different vineyards have opened ever since its popular inception in 1968. Currently, it holds second place after the much higher production competitor from Napa Valley AVA in Northern California and the Santa Ynez Valley AVA (which was made famous in the Academy Award Winning movie Sideways).

Recently in 2007, 18 of Temecula’s 58 wines were selected to represent South California. Wine enthusiasts and wine spectators judged the five major categories of wine: Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon and other blends of the aforementioned line-up. With these in mind, you can confidently say that Temecula is best known for its wineries because they really are everywhere. In fact, there is a very excellent opportunity for you to visit several other cities in Temecula for a more distinctive feeling of wine tasting. You can expect the details of this in another report focusing on the different locations where wine tasting is also a spectacular way of spending a lovely weekend and getting to know the locals who shop, golf, and drink there.

Since I have already implanted an idea for you in case you haven’t already checked them out yourself; some upcoming festivals are right around the corner-and they usually do involve wine tasting as well. In April and May, Cougar Winery and Miramonte Winery are hosting wine tasting events every single day in preparations for the Temecula Wine and Music Festival. The events are always accompanied by wine enthusiasts and speakers of all different states supporting the Temeculan tradition. One of California’s largest wine and music festival brings in more than fifteen different artists from Pop, Jazz, and R & B genres. Participating Temecula Wineries are Callaway, Francis Coppola, La Cereza, Stuart Cellars, Maurice Carrie, WC, Keyways, Yellow Tail, Wiens Family Cellars, The Briar Rose Winery, and the Temecula Valley and Resort. So set up your calendar and make sure you get yourself decked out in comfortable clothes and put on your wine tasting cap and relax in a soothing atmosphere where wine meets man at one of the most popular wine regions in the county, Temecula, California.

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Resveratrol – The Red Wine Pill

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The French consume fat-loaded, calorie-rich pastries baked in the oven which are not good for the health. However, they are less possible to depart this life from cardiovascular disease than Americans. It is known as the “The French Irony,” assumed to be connected to a rewarding substance present in red wine. At this moment, a research proves that a red wine pill gives extra well-being advantages than taking so many glasses of wine.

At Harvard Medical School, Dr. David Sinclair has come up with a potent type of the substance. He has tried the results on rodents and assumes it will assist to counteract the result of excessive fat diets, lessen the risk of diabetes and delay aging in people. Rodents in their mid-lives were given a diet in which sixty percent of calories originated from fat. They formed symptoms of diabetes and expired much rapidly than rodents given a usual diet.

One more cluster of adult rodents was given similar diet together with the substance. This inhibited the start of diabetes and although overweight, they existed as extensively as those given a normal diet. It proved rodents could splurge during meals without suffering from negative results afterwards.

In France, at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Dr. Johan Auwerx proved that a normal rat could jog one kilometer on a treadmill. However, rats fed with the substance doubled the distance jogged and had a decelerated heart rate, same with trained sports persons. It makes you appear like a trained sportsperson with no training at all.

For a long time, practitioners have worries endorsing the fitness advantages of wine due to the societal troubles linked with too much consumption of alcohol. Today, the red wine pill permits people to obtain the advantages of wine with no calories or alcohol. Because fifty percent of patients with diabetes expire from heart attack, the product will optimistically help lessen the difficulty in the future.

White Wine Making

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White Wines vs. Red Wines: Do you know All the Differences?

You don’t need me to tell you that the difference between red wines and white wines is the color. But I’m sure that I can mention a few facts about wines that you didn’t know. For example, did you know that many white wines are produced with red grapes?

The Tannic Element

White wines are characterized for having low levels of tannin, while red wines contain it in high quantities. I know what you’re thinking…It is safe to deduct, then, that this tannic element is entirely responsible for a wine’s color, correct? Correct! Tannins place a significant role in wine color, since they carry the pigments that give it a dark, reddish hue. They are extracted from grape stems, seeds and skins where they are found in high concentrations.

Color Hues

When white wines are made, these skins, stems and seeds (lees) are isolated from the must, or pressed grapes. Winemakers do this to prevent the reddish color and qualities that tannins impart in the wine, thus obtaining an amber-colored drink, instead of a ruby-colored one. Tannin concentrations depend not only on how much of the lees are left in the fermentation vessel, but also for how long they remain in contact with the must. Because of this, you will find many different red wines with different hues of red. The darker the red is, the longer it has been in contact with the grape juice and must.

Wine Qualities According to Color

Aside from color, tannins give wines a heavy, round, complex quality. This makes red wines warmer and spicier in nature, full-bodied and with a prevalent sedimentation. On the other hand, white wines tend to be crisp and light, and generally they summon wine enthusiasts that are looking for a fruity, refreshing drink.

Fermentation Practices: Whites vs. Reds

Red wines also differ from whites in terms of their fermentation and ageing. White wines, for one, are generally fermented at cool temperatures and for a long time. Red wines, on the other hand, require warmer temperatures, and a speedier fermentation process. Winemakers use this temperature variation in white wine making in order to stall fermentation – which aids in the development of tannins. To compensate for the slow fermentation progress, vintners extend the process to achieve a ‘tannic complexity, but without high tannin contents.

The Effect of Oak in White Wine Ageing

In addition to fermentation, the use of oak enhances tannin extraction into the wine. With this in mind, you’ll find that darker red wines are most frequently aged in oak – and that white wines are rarely exposed to this wood. One example of a white wine that is aged in oak is the Chardonnay. Proof of higher tannin content, Chardonnays are generally drier, slightly round-bodied and darker than other white wines. In replacement to oak barrel ageing, white wines are most commonly treated in stainless steel vats. The use of metal not only prevents tannin extraction, but it aids in temperature control and is more affordable than conventional oak barrels. Also related to tannin concentrations is the length of ageing. Ageing offers best results in wines that offer high tannic levels, as tannins fully develop and grant the aged wine with a complex quality, full body and robust flavor. Because of this, and since white wines have little tannins, these are recommended to be aged for 12 months or less.

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Personalized Wine Glass

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When you drink from a wine glass you are normally in 2 states. Either a relaxed state often reflecting on the days or past events or secondly, in an excited state, focusing on the current event such as a wedding, christening, sporting achievement and so on. In both instances, and as is often the case at the time, is your desire to add weight to your thoughts, immortalize your memory, strengthen your feelings, and quite simply, remember a particular thing of value whether it be a person, event, pet or any other thing, to you, is worth remembering.

Typically, such thoughts are immortalized by pictures and people generally trying to recall their memory around a dinner table conversation, so, what else is there? What else could be used to trigger memories about something you hold dear, something that you would regularly use, something that would help trigger your memory to tell and share a story about something important to you, or even, something to help you reflect during the quite times, whilst you are relaxing, perhaps in front of the fire place on a cold winters night. Its the humble wine glass.

What makes the wine glass so special is it can come in a variety of shapes, sizes, textures, weight, fragility or strength and its these very characteristics, these sensory characteristics, coupled with some degree of personalization, whether it be a symbol, picture, word, initials and so on, that strengthens and reinforces the particular memory or thought you are wanting to hold onto and share to others for years to come. It is not simply just a vessel to drink wine, because through personalizing, it can be so much more.

The thought of personalizing, however doesn’t need to stop at just wine glasses because the sky is the limit and is only restrained by how best you want to express yourself. Remember, this is an expression of YOU and only you can decide how best you may wish to express a thought, feeling, person, event and so on. This expression, can also be shared in the form of gifts to others. Again this is an expression of you in the form of gifts to your loved ones or people you hold close.

Adding to this expression, doesn’t need to be limited to wine glasses either because again, the sky is the limit. You can express yourself by wine stoppers for example, wine gift sets, wine and champagne bottles, even wine labels. The choice is yours and yours alone and will provide you with much joy for years to come.

So, whether you are relaxing to reflect or wanting to take away from a memorable event, a personalized symbol to reinforce, strengthen and trigger your most valued memorable moments, nothing can be better than the humble wine glass. It is more than just a household item, and by the very nature of its sensory characteristics, holds the key to immortalizing the very things you hold dear – your thoughts, memories, and feelings.

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A Wine Lover’s Weekly Guide To $10 Wines – A Kosher Cabernet Sauvignon From Chile

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Chile can be an excellent country for Cabernet Sauvignon. This one comes from the Central Valley viticultural region, which is Chile’s oldest and most traditional wine producing area. That region is divided into four areas, including the Maule Valley, which is not particularly distinguished, perhaps not surprising given this wine’s modest price tag. In a way it is less expensive than at first glance because it’s kosher, and kosher wine production and distribution inevitably involves additional costs. By now you probably know that kosher wines are not always super sweet. This wine is dry. The bottle’s back label states that it was produced by Vina Carta Vieja, a seventh-generation family winery whose first vineyards were planted in 1825. But a trip to their bilingual website did not turn up any indication whatsoever of this wine. Please excuse me for not calling them (I don’t speak Spanish) to confirm or deny its parentage.

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

Don Alfonso Cabernet Sauvignon (V) 2009 12.5% alcohol about $ 10 Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Description : A complex Cabernet filled with aromas of blackberry, cherry and black olive. Dry, ripely fruity with subtle oak notes, no tannins to speak of, but nicely balanced, nonetheless. Medium long, lush and smooth finish. Grilled steak is called for. And now for my review.

At the first sips of this wine I got oak and dark fruit but the wine faded rather quickly. Its first pairing was with slow cooked beef ribs with potatoes in a savory sauce. This Cab was chewy and mouth filling. It was hearty and tasted of black licorice. I also enjoyed a salad composed of carrots, palm hearts, chickpeas, Lebanese cucumbers, red peppers, and canned corn. This fine salad softened and lengthened the wine.

The next meal was a boxed eggplant parmiagana which I slathered with grated parmesan cheese. Here the Cabernet Sauvignon showed light acidity and lots of oak. There were barely perceptible round tannins and some black cherry, tobacco, and chocolate. The wine was refreshing but not powerful.

My final meal was beef stew with chickpeas. The wine was woody with dark black cherries. It presented a good balance between the tannins and acidity.

Prior to the traditional two cheeses I enjoyed some schmaltz herring in oil instead of the more common vinegar preparation. The Cab tasted of black cherries and was slightly sweet with some oak. When paired with a local Provolone, the wine was slightly harsh presenting light acidity and black cherries. With a tastier Swiss, the wine was round but not very forceful.

Final verdict. This is definitely a wine worth buying again. Not all its pairings were fine, but many of them were and the price was right, even more so if you are looking for kosher wine. Many people will appreciate the relative lack of tannins, which is rather unusual for a Cabernet Sauvignon.

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