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Coole Kurzhaarschnitte - kurze Haare sind süß! Hier noch ein Video - diesmla mit süßen und frechen Kurzhaarschnitten für die Girls! Auch hier wieder alle Varianten dabei: Kurze blonde Haare, brünette Haare, rote Haare - kurz, fransig, stufigund frech! Klar stehen viele Männer nur auf die ?langen Mähnen? - aber Mädels lasst Euch nichts einreden - eine Frau mit einem süßen kurzen Schnitt und coolem Styling ist immer ein Hingucker und Megasüß! Für alle Kurzhaarlover nun dieses Video:
Top Mann Frisuren - so gehts bekomme ich Anfragen wie solche "Kennt jemand eine Seite wo mann Frisuren für Männer testen kann?". Das ist trotz modernem Internet zur Zeit noch nicht so einfach für den Mann Frisuren Anleitungen zu finden. Dieser Artikel gibt erste Hilfestellung bei der Suche nach Tipps und Anleitung. Weitere Hinweise weiter unten im Text. Top Mann Frisuren - so gehts
2004 Riesling Little bit of briar, mango and some florals. Good punch to the palate and good length with just a bit of sweetness. 89/100
2004 Charcoal Joe Chardonnay Soft nose, some butter and spice. Very creamy mouthfeel with good flavour persistence and good structure. 89/100
2003 Jackson Barry Pinot Noir Powerful nose of spice, cherry and pepper. Bit soft and lacking character on the palate though. Lingers slightly but only lightly. 85/100
2004 Jackson Barry Pinot Noir Cherry and violet nose with a bit of earth. Palate shows better depth and intensity than the 2003 version. Very good. 88/100
Carrick
2006 Sauvignon Blanc Crisp nose with some mango and herbs. Palate has some texture to it and there is length and persistence. 88/100
2006 Riesling Musky, floral and perfume to the nice nose. Palate bursts with flavour. Nice length and structure. 90/100
2004 Chardonnay Big nose, meal, butter and some funky characters. Palate shows lots of intensity but not a lot of complexity. 87/100
2006 Pinot Gris Lychee, apple, limes on the nose. Crisp palate with a hint of fruit sweetness. Enjoyable. 89/100
2005 Unravelled Pinot Noir Red berries, rhubarb and spice. Light fruit driven palate. 86/100
2004 Pinot Noir Funky, spice and earthy nose. Palate suffers a bit from what seems like too much oak and also tastes a bit confected. 84/100
Wooing Tree
2006 Rose Pale pink. Some cherry to the nose. Palate is really lacking in any flavour except for some sweetness. 82/100
2005 Pinot Noir Full on nose, a bold style with blackberry and spice. Very intense fruit on the palate as well. Starts to look a bit like cool climate Shiraz rather than Pinot Noir. Good if that is the style you are looking for. 87/100
Desert Heart
2005 Pinot Noir Strawberry nose. Palate is soft and there isn’t much of interest. 86/100
2005 Spencer Block Pinot Noir Intense Cherry Ripe nose. Boisterous palate, too overblown for my taste with the oak and massive fruit concentration. 86/100
2002 Pinot Noir Tight nose, some sulphur characters and maybe some earth. Fine tannins on the palate. Too closed in to find much to enjoy right now. 86/100
Lamont
2005 Dry Riesling Minerals and gunflint. Palate is dry as promised, but boring. 85/100
2006 Classic Off-Dry Riesling Lychee and tropical fruit on the nose. Acid doesn’t carry the sweetness on the palate well enough and it finishes short. 83/100
2006 Pinot Gris The ultimate in bland. No carry to the palate. 81/100
2005 Pinot Gris Steely nose, some green characters. Palate is viscous, there is a bit of alcohol on the finish. 85/100
2005 Pinot Noir Elegant and restrained style but it doesn’t have the depth or interest on the palate for me. 86/100
2005 Pinot Noir Violets, spice and cherry to the nose. Palate is decent, clean and bright with some structure for aging over the next 5 years. 87/100
Kawarau
2006 Sauvignon Blanc Passionfruit and tropical fruit nose. The palate shines with intensity of flavour. Pretty good. 88/100
2006 Pinot Gris Lightly scented nose. Palate is soft and lacks anything to get excited over. 85/100
2004 Reserve Chardonnay Butter and spicy, nutty oak with some wild character. Good mouthfeel, round without being broad. Good for the style. 88/100
2004 Reserve Pinot Noir Earth and lots of dark cherry character. Savoury palate, with good tannins and structure. Needs some time to shine. 88/100
Quartz Reef
NV Chauvet Sparkling Oyster shells, apples and grape aromas. Palate is fresh but with 0 depth, really driven by acid alone. This doesn’t speak to me at all. 83/100
2002 Chauvet Sparkling Apple pie aromas on the nose. Palate is like apple juice. Length is disappointing. 83/100
2006 Pinot Gris Melon and musk. The palate is quite good, bright fruit but with some depth to it. 88/100
2005 Pinot Noir Perfumed violet nose with some bright fruit supporting. Palate is good as well, with some structure and interesting texture. 88/100
Chard Farm
2006 Rabbit Range Pinot Gris Bit of alcohol showing on the nose. Palate has fruit sweetness but isn’t very interesting. 86/100
2004 Closeburn Chardonnay Elegant nose with some straw and citrus. The palate is taut and very well structured. Balanced and clearly very good. 90/100
2005 Pinot Noir Pepper and spices with some black cherry character. Good balance on the palate. Quite nice. 88/100
2005 The Viper Pinot Noir Elegant, perfumed nose with rose petals, cherry, smoke and well integrated oak. Palate is delicious, savoury fruit with great length. A real stand out of the day. 92/100
Torr Estate
2006 Riesling Floral and kiwi fruited nose. Nice restraint to the palate, some residual sugar that is balanced nicely by the acid. Good length and intensity of flavour. 89/100
2005 Pinot Noir Dominated by stewy and medicinal aromas. A shame as the palate is quite nicely balanced. 85/100
Mount Edward
2006 Riesling Floral nose. Touch of sweetness to the palate. Not a lot of character. 86/100
2006 Drumlin Riesling Delicate nose, with minerals and steel, could be mistaken for German Riesling on the nose. Good flavour to the palate, the balance is spot on. The only downside is a slightly spritzy character, without that the rating would have been higher. 88/100
2004 Sauvignon Blanc Herbs and asparagus. Palate seems a bit flabby. 83/100
2004 Earths End Pinot Noir Sweet cherry nose. Confected character comes through on the palate. Lacks structure. 84/100
2004 Pinot Noir Tightly wound nose, seems ready but waiting to explode. Palate is nice, but a bit too linear. 87/100
Wild Earth
2006 Pinot Gris Good floral lift to the nose. Palate is too sweet with not enough acid. 84/100
2005 Riesling Nose doesn’t offer up much character. Palate has some residual sugar but it is well handled by the acid. A bit too simple to be better than nice. 86/100
2003 Blind Trail Pinot Noir Cherry and kirsch on the nose. Palate suffers from a serious lack of depth, though it is balanced otherwise. 86/100
2004 Pinot Noir Earth and funky, gamey characters on the nose. Good amount of fruit on the palate, but it feels linear and one dimensional. 86/100
Rockburn
2005 Sauvignon Blanc Herbal on the nose and palate. Good length, but the herbs dominate too much for my taste. 86/100
2005 Riesling Honeysuckle and other floral characters. Balanced palate with good length. Falls into the off-dry category I think. 88/100
2003 Chardonnay Honey and some noticeable but not over the top oak on the nose. Good length to the palate. A delicate style. 88/100
2003 Pinot Noir Floral, musk and spice aromas. Fruit drives the palate with a bit of oak providing support. Nice early drinking Pinot. 87/100
…and all I got was this lousy photo. To be fair, that popcorn was unbelievable. Salty, cheesy, and spicy. Perfect with the sweat and sour notes of an Abita Amber. To be balanced, the Sazeracs were fair to midland. A little too sweet from an uncaring hand on the Herbsaint. I know the place dwells [...]
As I’ve blogged here many times, I think wineries who are not involved in social media are missing something important. Not only is it less expensive than more traditional outreach, the results are often better from a brand and customer loyalty point of view. What social media gives you is that personal connection with the customer online, like you get in the tasting room.
So I’m going to talk about how wineries can take advantage of blogs, podcasts, wiki’s and social networks on my next trip to California later this month. Although there will be some slides involved, this will not be “death-by-Powerpoint” but an interactive talk in the vein of BarCamp. It’s open to anyone who whats to learn more about social media or who wants to share their learnings. I will prepare about 40 minutes of material and see what develops as we talk about this topic.
If you are interested in attending, just head over to my company wiki and add your name and winery or company. If you no hable wiki then just send me an email at acanmedia (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll add you to the list.
The seminar will be held from 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29th at the Sonoma Wine Library in Healdsburg, CA. Here’s a map to the location. Special thanks to Patrick from Iridesse who arranged to get the room reserved and Josh from Pinotblogger for his advice.
For those of you unfamiliar with D.O. Yecla, I can assure you that it’s not something you’d say when tasting a glass of old milk, well past its suggested date of consumption. “D.O Yuck-la?!” Instead, this tiny D.O, with only 4,300 hectares under vine, is increasingly gaining in popularity abroad, as traditional winemaking is crafting high-quality wines made from the Monastrell variety.
Located in the northern eastern corner of the political region of Murcia (Spain), DO Yecla is surrounded by three other DO’s: Jumilla to the southwest, Almansa to the north and Alicante to the east. Having driven through this area only once in route to Bodegas Castano, I can tell you that the area is absolutely gorgeous, with rolling hills and sandy lime soils. Yecla is also enjoys both the temperate Mediterranean climate coming from the east and the continental climate from the central upland plateau known as La Mancha. Therefore, summers are generally long, hot and dry with mild, cool winters, and very little rainfall throughout the year.
DO Yecla is not primarily known for its whites or roses, however, although I have read that they produce some lovely examples made from Merseguera, Macabeo and Malvasia. Instead, what I am familiar with is their dark violet reds commonly made from Monastrell, showing lovely dark fruits and spices and fine silky tannins. These are typically fruity dense wines that tend to marry well with rich foods.
Today, we popped open a bottle of 2004 Cueva de los Secos from Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo. Interestingly, unbeknown to us until today, this winery is actually located in Jumilla and under the control of Bodegas Castaño, but named Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo in order to avoid confusion among distributors and consumers. Evidently, Castaño bought two vineyards, totaling approximately 8 hectares a few years back, as one of their many side projects including Bodegas Sierra Salina and Dutch importer Marco Meeuwses’s Mmmmm!.
The wine is made from 75% Monastrell, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot. After completing a cold maceration, each variety of grape separately completed a traditional maceration: 25 days for the Monastrell, 14 days for Merlot and 18 days for Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was then aged for 14 months in new French oak.
Dark as night, the wine shows an astounding and complex bouquet of everything from charcoal to chocolate, not to mention the random surprising notes of bbq smoke, boysenberry and cinnamon. In the mouth, this wine is big and bold, the Tonka Truck of wines, with vibrant acidity, firm tannins and lovely, long finish. Loads of dark berry flavors follow with a strange, yet tantalizing soy, chocolate and black cherry notes. Although needing a little more time in bottle, this is a great find!
Producer: Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo Alcohol: 14.6% Price: $29.03 or 18.78 Euros Availability: Excel Wines
Gabriella
2004 Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo Yecla Cueva de los Secos - Spain, Murcia, Yecla (5/1/2008) Incredibly concentrated and dark, almost black, red in color with rich aromas of dark cherry, bbq smoke, slate, black pepper among more elusive notes of black, wet earth, hickory and tar. The nose is beautifully layered and leading to an equally complex palate. In the mouth, the wine explodes with bright acidity and medium fine tannins that lightly gripping your entire mouth, then releasing to show a long and fresh dark berry finish. Medium in body with secondary flavors of soy, charcoal and mineral, this is a dark and brooding wine with a sexy palate. 4/5
Ryan
2004 Bodegas y Vinedos del Mediterraneo Yecla Cueva de los Secos - Spain, Murcia, Yecla (5/1/2008) Very dark black in color, inky. A meaty dark nose comes out of the glass with bosenberry, chocolate, anise dusty cinnamon and more. Really a concentrated offering with rich aromas who will undoubtedly develop with time. Big in the mouth with a strong acidity and fine but firm tannins. Really powerful, and in need of decanting and or a couple of years more of bottle age. Full flavored with black raspberry, cherry and chocolate coming to me at first. Some loamy earth comes out as it opens, with allspice hints. A bit out of balance, but I think this might come together nicely in a year or two. Modern wine flavorful, where subtly takes a backseat to power. 3.5/5
I know Lincoln has a bottle of this wine and we are both interested to see what the other thinks. Calibration and all that. I was supposed to wait but I can’t. I never could. I always used to search the house for my Christmas presents as a kiddy too. Anyway, on the basis of this tasting I am pretty keen to see what the 2005 shiraz looks like. It must be pretty sharp. Sorry about the photo…our camera is on holiday in San Diego at the moment.
Aroams of cherry, raspberry, earth, empty dark chocolate box, licorice, eucalypt and some vanilla cedar oak. On the palate medium bodied with flavours of sweet cherry, blackberry, raspberry, earth, licorice and minty cedar oak. The tannins are fine, dry and refreshing. Finishes dry and savoury with raspberry and dark chocolate flavours. It looks much better and more together on the second day of tasting. Enjoyed this greatly.
Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage, made from a series of fermentations using steamed rice. The process removes the millet and the protein from the rice, leaving the starch—similar to how beer is made from grain. Over time, the starch is converted to sugar naturally and a little yeast, called koji, is added in later stages of the fermentation, which acts to create alcohol out of the sugar. At the end of the process, the liquid is filtered to remove any millet or other particles. The resulting product is clear and about 15 percent alcohol. Sake has been made in Japan for over 6800 years.
Types of Sake There are two kinds of sake: junmai (with no alcohol added) and honjozo (with alcohol added during the fermentation process). Over 80 percent of the sake made in Japan is honjozo sake. Within those broad classifications, there are different grades of sake:
Futsu — economy sake
Ginjo — premium sake
Daiginjo — ultra-premium sake
How to Drink Sake Futsu (ordinary) sake is warmed for drinking. (Ginjo and Daiginjo are served chilled.) Traditionally, sake is poured from a stoneware carafe, called a tokkuri (pictured above). Warm the sake in the tokkuri by placing it in a partially-filled pan of boiling water. (Don't overheat the sake; it should be warm—a little over body temperate, not hot.)
To serve the sake, pour it from the tokkuri into individual sake cups, called ochoko. It is proper sake etiquette to hold your cup while the sake is being poured. Inhale the sake's aroma gently before sipping. Sake is meant for sipping, not throwing back like a shot of whiskey.
Storing Sake Sake does not improve with age, like fine wines or Scotch whiskey. Instead, buy sake with a recent bottling date. Once open, a bottle of sake should be kept in a cool, dark place (such as the refrigerator), as the liquid is sensitive to heat and light. A bottle, stored properly should last around a year.
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I had the opportunity to taste the 1994 Smith Woodhouse Colheita Tawny Port this week. What a nice way to usher in spring in the Midwest. The single harvest port is a lovely, translucent red amber color and a leisurely sniff yields hints of plums and cherries. A taste confirms those notes with a little bit of oak and walnuts. It's a rich, well-balance wine, perhaps a little on the sweet side.
A neighbor of mine just started working in a cheese store and we paired the port with a creamy, truffle brie. The richness in the cheese was perfect and cut the sweetness in the port. Tawny port is also a classic accompaniment to creme brulee.
The wine purveyor suggested serving it slightly chilled in the summer (a Portuguese tradition), but I haven't tried that yet.
The 1994 Smith Woodhouse Colheita Tawny Port is available throughout the United States and Canada. Suggested retail is $46. Aged port wine will keep for four-six weeks once opened.
For more information on Smith Woodhouse port wines, visit their Web site.
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I had the opportunity to taste the 1994 Smith Woodhouse Colheita Tawny Port this week. What a nice way to usher in spring in the Midwest. The single harvest port is a lovely, translucent red amber color and a leisurely sniff yields hints of plums and cherries. A taste confirms those notes with a little bit of oak and walnuts. It's a rich, well-balance wine, perhaps a little on the sweet side.
A neighbor of mine just started working in a cheese store and we paired the port with a creamy, truffle brie. The richness in the cheese was perfect and cut the sweetness in the port. Tawny port is also a classic accompaniment to creme brulee.
The wine purveyor suggested serving it slightly chilled in the summer (a Portuguese tradition), but I haven't tried that yet.
The 1994 Smith Woodhouse Colheita Tawny Port is available throughout the United States and Canada. Suggested retail is $46. Aged port wine will keep for four-six weeks once opened.
For more information on Smith Woodhouse port wines, visit their Web site.
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Last year I ran a 'subscription and book deal' that a lot of people have been asking me to run again. The book last year was the Wine Hunter - this year it's the Why the French Hate Us: The Real Story of Australian Wine book. Once again I've slashed the price - it wasn't all that long ago that a new subscription to The Wine Front was $55, and the book retails for $28.95. And yet I am offering both a full year's subscription and the book for just $49.95, and that includes delivery of the book.
IN A DRAMATIC change of focus the Hardy Wine Company today announced that it was taking a great leap backwards - and changing its name. From the end of this month the Hardy Wine Company will be known as Constellation Wines Australia. This is an attempt to change the perception of the Hardys wine name from that of a corporate giant to, more simply, a regional winery 'known for quality and craftsmanship'
While this change is largely window-dressing, it is important. It marks a significant shift in thinking at Hardys. In recent years its super-premium portfolio has been sadly neglected, to the point where many premium wine drinkers (and wine media) today query whether the Jack Mann, Houghton Gladstones, Hardy's Tintara and Thomas Hardy super-premium labels still exist. The Hardy Wine Company has become known for good quality, cheap, non-region-specific fighting varietals. It has been at the forefront of the much maligned 'race to the bottom'.
And for a long time this strategy has been widely perceived as puzzling and myopic - like defecating in your own nest.
Hardy Wine Company President John Grant said today that ‘This is a pivotal time for our company as we embark on a range of activities to move our company to higher ground. From 31 March ... we aim to showcase to the world regional winemaking at its finest.
‘By drawing on Constellation’s global resources and tapping into our generational traditions, we aim to become Australia’s regional wine champion, recognised for our quality brands and winemaking excellence.’
‘Changing our company name provides greater freedom to shine the spotlight on the real heroes of our business - the outstanding regional wines. In particular, it allows the Hardys brand to return to being a winery, known for quality and craftsmanship, rather than being known as a corporation.’
‘We will be adding to our diverse regional offering and continuing our exploration of Australia’s premium wine regions’, he said, ‘as well as strengthening our front line staff, with additional personnel, tools, resources and training’.
Constellation Wines Australia brands include: Amberley, Banrock Station, Barossa Valley Estate, Bay of Fires, Berri Estates, Brookland Valley Estate, Chateau Reynella, Goundrey, Hardys, Houghton, Leasingham, Moondah Brook, Omni, Redman, Renmano, Stanley Wines, Starvedog Lane, Stonehaven, Tintara, Yarra Burn.
Apparently I don’t get out much. Until recently, I didn’t know that some restaurants charge as much as $250 per bottle for their corkage fee. Excuse me, but that is insane. As Lettie Teague in Food and Wine magazine asked recently, “What could you get for $250 that you couldn’t for, say, $25?”
The average cost of corkage around the country is about $25, which is infinitely more reasonable, but even those establishments that have reasonable corkage fees, they, perhaps surprisingly, come with their own set of rules. One of the more popular restaurants in San Francisco, Michael Mina, for example, has a two-bottle limit with their $35 per bottle fee, and the bottles that you bring can’t be something that they have on the house list. That certainly makes sense, and if you’re planning on bringing your own bottle of wine to your next dinner reservation, it’s a good idea to call ahead to inquire as to the restaurant’s fee and their own individual rules. You know, “know before you go,” and all that.
In her recent Corkage article, Lettie shared seven cheap corkage spots for your drinking pleasure:
Where to Go
Metro Marche, New York City ($10). This bus-station brasserie has good food and cheap corkage. 625 Eighth Avenue, 212-239-1010
Sip Sak, New York City ($13). Great Turkish food and a low corkage fee. 928 Second Avenue, 212-583-1900
Dehlia Lounge, Seattle ($15). Corkage here is just $15, as it is at all of Tom Douglas’s restaurants. 2001 Fourth Avenue, 206-682-4142
Market, St. Helena, California ($15). Corkage is free on Tuesday nights at this friendly diner. 1347 Main Street, 707-963-3799
Charlie Palmer Steak, Washington, DC ($25). If you bring an American wine, the corkage is free; otherwise, it’s $25. 101 Constiutution Avenue NW, 202-547-8100
Naha, Chicago ($25). There are lots of great corkage spots in Chicago, but this restaurant also has terrific food. 500 North Clark Street, 312-321-6242
Michael Mina, San Francisco ($35). This top restaurant has a great wine list and a fair corkage fee as well. 335 Powell Street, 415-397-9222.
And apparently, Yulia is the Upset Queen. She's adept at bringing $7 bottles that end up winning blind tastings. Either that or we all have cheap tastes... not quite sure.
So last night was the Mourvedre/Monastrell showdown. And honestly, it was pretty disappointing. We blind tasted 5 wines and none of them were particularly stellar. As per my normal accuracy, I guessed 3 out of 5. I knew we had 2 cheap Spanish, 1 pricier Spanish, Cline's Ancient Vines, and Thomas Coyne. I did not know the vintage of any of them.
Wine #1: Blackberry/blueberry nose, with a touch of herbs. A bit of funk wafting through. Tight tannins. Thin fruit, but very ripe. Smoke on the finish. I guessed it was a cheap Spanish from 05. I gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars.
Wine #2: Smells exactly like sweet boysenberry pancake syrup from IHOP. Blast of fruit on the opening palate and then... nothing. Kind of gross, really. I guessed another cheap Spanish from 05. I gave it 1 star.
Wine #3: Much lighter in color (the previous two were densely purple-red). White chocolate and sweet cinnamon on the nose with blackberry/raspberry fruit. Same fruit on palate with spicy-herbal finish (sage, thyme, cinnamon). Lingering cocoa. I guessed a CA from 05, and I figured it was Cline. I gave it 2.75 stars.
Wine #4: Ripe blackberry, some astrigency on the nose - kinda like band-aids. Also lighter in color than the first two, more red than purply. Cassis fruit, smoke and lots of herbs. Lingering tea. I guessed a CA from 03 or 04 based on color and herbality. I guessed it as Thomas Coyne and gave it 3.25 stars.
Wine #5: Smelled just like... dish soap? Seriously. Or cheap rose perfume. Sweet raspberry also present. On the palate, pretty tasty mulberry fruit with mint and thyme. I guessed it as the pricier Spanish and placed it as an 05. I gave it 3 stars.
So, it turned out that:
#1- Cambra's 03 Uno! Shit, we all got that one wrong. And quite frankly, it is NOT worth the price.
#2- Chonchelo 06 - Cheap Spanish, indeed. We just poured this straight down the sink.
#3- Cline 05 Ancient Vines Mourvedre - Got it right, but it's not as good as I recall. Much lighter and much leaner on herbs.
#4- Thomas Coyne 04 Mourvedre - Pretty good stuff. I'd feel ok about recommending this.
#5- Finca Luzon Verde 06 Monastrell- And with that, Yulia's cheap Spanish trumps us all. This is a great bargain.
I've often wondered why New Zealand was anointed/anointed itself as the land of Sauvignon Blanc. To be sure, NZ SB has been quite successful as an import to the US wine market (and certainly names like 'Monkey Bay' don't hurt its mass appeal to the garanimal-wine-loving crowd). However, I think this success has come at a price. Kiwi Blanc has overshadowed every other grape variety. And this is a very sad thing.
Think about it. When was the last time you sampled a New Zealand Riesling or Gewurztraminer? These grapes have found a very cozy home on the Islands way down under. In fact, while I find most New Zealand Sauvi Blanc, easy-to-enjoy, I also find it a tad bit uni-dimensional (see here for a great descriptor of NZ SB). I have discovered extraordinarily sublime Riesling and intoxicating (in the figurative sense of the word) Gewurz. Think I'm nuts. Take this little NZ non-SB challenge:
Huia Gewurztraminer 2006 - A chewy, thick wine, which echos the Alsatian style but with a bit less earth
Villa Maria Riesling 2005- A remarkable feat of a wine. This Riesling stews together new world heft with teutonic crispness.
Am I alone in thinking the OenoKiwis might want to diversify their white wine portfolio?
Compassion and California wine-making skills have combined to create a home for 90 mentally disabled "students" of all ages and to craft some surprisingly good wine. Coco Farm, founded in the 1950s, has been making wine since the 1980s, using mentally-challenged students to tend the vines, harvest the grapes, and perform a range of responsibilities from labeling to scraring crows away from the vines. In 1989, the winery brought in Sonoma wine-maker, Bruce Gutlove and the quality of the wine has been improving. So much, in fact, that Coco Winery's sparkling wine, "Novo," was served at the recent G-7 Summit of world leaders.
Coco Farm and Winery is located about one hour north of Tokyo. Because of its small production-just 150,000 to 180,000 bottles annually-Coco wines are not available in the United States. However, the winery welcomes visitors and has a tasting room and cafe.
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From the days when North Americans had to face that difficult decision in choosing between two beers -- each marketed under a vast array of labels, natch -- came the odd habit of drinking one type of beer year round. Didn't matter whether it was 90 degrees in the shade or 10 degrees below sans wind chill -- ice-cold, light-flavored lager became our choice.
Well, guess what folks? We don't have to do that anymore!
The last 15 or so years of what most beer geeks have christened "the craft beer renaissance" have left us with a multitude of brews suited for every season and every occasion. With spring on top of us and summer just around the corner, it's worth looking at brews that make the best sense for the approaching hot months. They should be light but flavourful, refreshing but satisfying, cold and quenching but with more character than colored water.
Think two words: Wheat Beer.
In all of its American, Belgian and German incarnations, wheat beer is developing a fast-growing reputation in North America as a summer beer. And deservedly so. On a hot summer day, after having mowed the lawn or played a sweaty 18 holes, there aren't many pleasures that compare to a nice cold pint of well-made wheat.
But before you start thinking that wheat beer's just normal stuff brewed with wheat instead of barley, you should know that the grain is only part of what makes a wheat beer. In fact, typically only about a third to a half of the grain used in a wheat beer is wheat. The rest is usually good old malted barley. What's more, not all wheat beers are created equal. Not by a long shot.
There are three major styles of wheat beer: German hefeweizen, Belgian white beer and American wheat ale -- and two minor styles -- Belgian lambic and German Berliner weisse -- each different from one other and distinctive in character.
Hefeweizen/Weissbier -- Known by confusingly similar names ("weizen" means wheat, "weisse" means white), this style of wheat beer was once brewed only in southern Germany. Today, however, good weizens are brewed everywhere, from the United States to Japan to Holland to New Zealand.
Weizens are usually light to medium gold in color, seriously effervescent and often quite cloudy. The beer's haze is normal, a result of being bottle-conditioned or redosed with yeast before bottling. If you don't want the cloudiness -- and the B vitamins that go with it -- look for a filtered weizen designated "kristal." Otherwise, watch for the prefix "hefe" (as in hefeweizen), which means yeast.
The key to a good weizen is using a special family of yeasts that'll produce a variety of spicy and fruity aromas and flavors in the beer. Depending on the particular strain of this yeast, these brews can be clovey, peppery, banana-like or even bubblegummy. And while those may not sound like qualities you'd appreciate, in the right quantities and proportions they can make a bottle of wheat a truly beautiful thing.
White Beer -- Belgians are the innovators of the beer world. You've heard of the German Reinheitsgebot -- the Bavarian law that limits beer's ingredients to water, hops, malt and yeast? Well, the Belgians take a somewhat contrary position, incorporating almost everything but the proverbial kitchen sink in their brews.
White beer, also known as wit or biere blanche, is no exception. These beers are often spiced with coriander, orange peel and "secret ingredients" known only to the brewer. It's also made with a very healthy proportion of unmalted wheat -- as much as 50 percent of the total grain used -- which gives white beer a light and consummately refreshing flavor.
With spice and bitter orange in the brew, it should come as no surprise that these elements dominate both the aroma and taste of a white beer. The raw wheat also adds a level of tanginess, making the overall character crisp and invigorating, arguably positioning it as the ultimate brew for breakfast. Well, okay, maybe brunch.
White beers to look for: Hoegaarden White, Celis White, Blanche de Chambly, Blanche de Bruges.
American Wheat Ale -- Many North American breweries, particularly those that brew ales exclusively, use this style as their "starter" beer, designed to lure lager drinkers into the craft beer camp. In this role, the lightness and lack of bold character serves the American wheat style well.
American wheat ales will usually be lager-like in color and have a particularly grainy aroma. Since they're supposed to appeal to Bud and Miller drinkers, these wheat ales generally won't have a huge amount of character (think of a beer version of white zin) but may show notes of citrus or a small amount of spiciness. This is what many call the "thinking man's lawnmower beer."
American wheat ales to look for: Abita Wheat, Sierra Nevada Wheat, Grasshopper Wheat.
Lambic -- Back to those wacky Belgians. This time, instead of seasoning the wheat beer, they allow it to be fermented by wild, airborne yeasts. It's a completely unpredictable process that results in a tart, sometimes puckeringly sour brew. To provide some consistency, lambic brewers age the beer in wood for one to three years before blending it into a bottle-conditioned beer called gueuze. Or they'll add fruit to make kriek (cherry) or framboise (raspberry) beers.
Unless sweetened during bottling (which many are), lambics are definitely challenging beers. If your first reaction is to spit it out, you're not alone. But once you get used to the tartness, you'll soon find that they're filled with incredible complexity, wonderful flavors and astounding character.
Berliner Weisse -- Napoleon referred to this beer as "the Champagne of the north," and his wine analogy had its validity. Berliner weisse is fermented with yeast and select lactic cultures -- a process not entirely dissimilar to the malolactic fermentation employed in making some chardonnays. The result is a low-alcohol beer with significant, but soft, acidity.
Perhaps the most refreshing of all wheat beers, the Berliner can still have a slight bite (although the acidity is more likely to be tasted as a quenching dryness in most modern examples). And with a typical alcohol content of only 2.5 to 3 percent by volume, you've got little chance of it creeping up on you as you slake your thirst.
Berliner weisse beers to look for: Berliner Kindl Weisse, Schultheiss Berliner Weisse.
A Dozen Reasons to Drink Wheat Beer
Food:
Fruit salad -- weizen Scrambled eggs with freshly ground pepper -- white beer Grilled bratwurst and dunkelweizen -- dark weizen Creamy pasta salad with sweet red pepper -- weizen Steamed mussels -- white beer or gueuze Grilled whitefish -- Berliner weisse
Occasions:
Moderate heat, moderate activity -- cold weizen A sunny day, a picnic brunch -- white beer Hot, hot, hot weather -- cold, cold, cold Berliner weisse A Sunday softball game -- cold American wheat ale Waiting for the coals to heat up on the barbecue -- gueuze A romantic spot on a warm, rainy afternoon -- two champagne flutes of Belgian framboise
I did a search on Google Scholar for wine. A lot of articles were returned in the search result. At first glance, I could not figure out why these results had been returned. At closer inspection, the author of the first few articles had the last name of Wine.
RH Wine has written many articles in the field of biology. JJ Wine has authored many papers on Cystic fibrosis. RN Wine writes on topics in the field of toxicology. These are just three of the authors with results dominating my search for wine on Google Scholar.
I changed my search in Google Scholar from wine to red wine. The first scholarly article returned in my search for red wine was ?Inhibition of oxidation of human low-density lipoprotein by phenolic substances in red wine?. This article was published in 1993 in the British edition of Lancet.
An article entitled ?The red wine phenolics trans-resveratrol and quercetin block human platelet aggregation and eicosanoid synthesis: implications for protection against coronary heart disease? was published in Clinica Chimica Acta in 199
Tecnorati
I know Lincoln has a bottle of this wine and we are both interested to see what the other thinks. Calibration and all that. I was supposed to wait but I can’t. I never could. I always used to search the house for my Christmas presents as a kiddy too. Anyway, on the basis of this tasting I am pretty keen to see what the 2005 shiraz looks like. It must be pretty sharp. Sorry about the photo…our camera is on holiday in San Diego at the moment.
Apparently I don’t get out much. Until recently, I didn’t know that some restaurants charge as much as $250 per bottle for their corkage fee. Excuse me, but that is insane. As Lettie Teague in 
