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'An onsite accident occurred at Wirra Wirra yesterday following the collapse of a fermenting tower at our winery in McLaren Vale. A number of fermenters, tanks and a presses have been damaged, resulting in some loss to our 2008 vintage.
'We are currently working closely with the authorities and SafeWork SA to assess the full extent of the damage.
'We’d like to extend our thanks to all the emergency services whose quick action and professionalism were outstanding. Our thoughts are with our young cellar hand who is currently in a serious, yet stable condition at Flinders Medical Centre. We are pleased to hear that he is making positive progress.
'While it is difficult to determine at this time the full extent of wine lost, it is significantly less than has been reported. Some of the wine in tank may still be salvageable, while offers of fruit from growers to offset the loss have been coming in thick and fast. Whilst the loss of wine is important to our business, clearly the safety and welfare of our staff is of greatest priority at this time.
'Workplace safety for all our staff is of paramount importance at Wirra Wirra, and we are thankful no more serious injuries were sustained.
'We’d also like to extend our thanks to the winemaking community of McLaren Vale and our neighbouring districts who have rallied round with offers of help and well wishes; we have been extremely touched by their support and generosity.
Trott produced the first vintage of Church Block back in 1972 “with a little help from his friends”. It looks like history will repeat itself in 2008.'
BREAKING NEWS: 3.13PM AEST March 6 2008
McLaren Vale winery, Wirra Wirra, earlier today suffered considerable damage to its winery when a number of 45,000 litre fermenters collapsed, causing damage to some tanks and presses, and a significant loss of vintage 2008 must and wine.
One cellar hand sustained minor injuries, however no serious injuries have been reported.
The winery has temporarily been shut down, and staff are working with officials to ascertain the full extent of the damage.
Wirra Wirra is unable to determine when the winery will be up and running again.
When people find out that I enjoy cheap wine enough to devote a website to it, they usually ask me if I have been to Trader Joe’s. My response, until last week, has always been “No, not yet”.
Well, I finally caved and took a trip to Detroit, the nearest Trader Joe’s location for me here in Lansing. Ann Arbor might actually be closer, but as an MSU Spartan, I try to stay out of there.
I’d like to preface this review of Charles Shaw Cabernet with a synopsis of Trader Joe’s. If you have one near you, go there. If not for the wine, then for the thousands of food items that pack the small market. I spent 80 dollars, which sounds like a bit much especially for me. I ended up leaving with 2 cases of wine and enough food for a week. Fresh mozzarella, fresh gnocchi, fresh salsa (notice a pattern?), Guacamole chips, Trader Joe’s Marinara, soups, veggies…. I was in heaven. They have got all kinds of cheeses, breads, meats, micro-brewed beers, and their wine selection was out of this world. What a great store!
Trader Joe’s is the exclusive retailer of Charles Shaw Wines, better known to most as “Two-buck Chuck”. In California these wines sell for $1.99, which is just amazing. Here in Michigan, though, the price was $2.99.
Did we like it? Was it worth the trip?
Hell yes it was! For 3 dollars, I don’t think it could have been any better. The Cabernet was great. At first, I found it to be a little sweet, but looking back, I was actually enjoying the salsa with the wine, which probably wasn’t a great combination. Along with the Cab, I also purchased some of the Shiraz, Merlot, and Chardonnay (reviews coming soon).
Congrats to Two-Buck-Chuck and Trader Joe’s for achieving the highest rating available here on Cheap Wine Reviews. Hats off to you!
Rating: 10/10 Price: $2.99 Place of PurchaseTrader Joe’s
Usually when people give a bottle of wine as a gift, it’s in one of those pricier velvet-style gift bags that get lost before it can get reused, or those metallic ones. The folks at Random House are offering a new, unique alternative and, best of all, if won’t break the bank.
These Wine Lovers Gift Tags run $13 for a pack of 50, and come in various shapes and sizes and even include the ribbon for tying it to the wine bottle. They might just add a little bit of humorous conversation to the next party to boot.
Using bargain wines is often preferable for occasions when it would be unwise to to invest a large amount of money in expensive wine.
Do you really want to use top-notch red wine for making sangria or for serving up at parties, when friends have already had enough to drink? No, I didn't think so!
Drinking Bargain Wines
Blended wine is usually cheaper and a reasonable bet in terms of drinkability. As a general rule, Chilean blends are the cheapest option, although it's often worth paying that little bit extra for Australian blends. In fact, a number of Australian producers market two excellent blends at the lower end of the price spectrum, one white and one red. The red is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz and the white consists of semillon and chardonnay. Keep an eye out for these grape combinations, if you're after a bargain!
Another winner at the cheaper end of the market is Spanish Rioja (both red and white). As Rioja is usually less fruity than the previously mentioned blends it is generally better for serving with food, rather than drinking on its own.
Other Uses of Bargain Wines
Sangria
If you're making sangria, you need red quaffing wine - and lots of it. As sangria is made from red wine, sugar, fruit juice and spirits, the quality of the red wine becomes largely secondary. This is where boxed wines come into their own. Buy large boxes that are relatively cheap - no one will notice! Be sure to purchase reasonable quality fruit juice and don't go for the absolute cheapest wine as you may live to regret it, the following morning!
Large Parties and Receptions
When serving wine to a large party, cost is obviously important. As a rule, boxed whites are generally more palatable than boxed reds, so if want to trim costs, anywhere, buying cheaper white wine may be a safer option.
A great way to improve boxed red wine is to add a reasonable quality bottle of red wine. Provided that you choose the correct bottle of red, this can make an impressive difference to the taste. Of course, you do need some suitable decanters or serving carafes and a little patience to pull this one off, successfully.
Finally, choose your nibbles wisely. Plain potato chips will do little to help you disguise a poor wine. Instead opt for a selection of cheeses, as they will enhance the flavor of even the cheapest of wines.
About the author: Since Neil Best first pondered the question, Who made the first wine anyway? he's been recording his findings at http://www.goodglug.comFind about your favorite wine regions, wine recipes, and speciality wines along with how it's made and how best to store it for maximum enjoyment
My golf coach recently confirmed what I think I already knew: "Tom, you've got to get out of your head."
Translation: my proclivity to live in my head and to think too much interrupts my need to execute really well a body-driven activity on the golf course.
Thinking about my coach's advice with regard to golfing, I realized that I'm going to have to work very hard to accommodate him, because I've always found much more pleasure in intellectualizing what I do than simply doing.
Wine and drinking is a perfect example. I can't stand the idea of simply drinking a glass of wine and just letting it flow down my throat, letting the droplets fall where they may without thought. I NEED to think about what I'm doing.
Even today as I heard reports about the coming warm weather later this week and into the weekend, I immediately began thinking about drinking Pastis by the pool. But it's not enough that I think about that pleasurable moment in the future, note that I'm looking forward to it and move on until I pour my Pernod on Saturday. No, Tom needs to think about the what this coming Pernod Moment means, what it reminds him of, what it says about the changing seasons, how best to enjoy that coming moment. And I'm not talking practical considerations. I need to think about what it means.
It's a nasty affliction I have, this over thinking things, because it clearly prevents me from becoming a more accomplished Golfer. But I think it's only a case of being a nasty affliction where physical activity is concerned, not where drinking is concerned.
If you don't think about your wine (or drink) when you drink it, then it merely becomes and alcohol delivery vehicle. When you think about the drink, at least you have the opportunity to be a contemplative drunk, if not more.
But it's really the traditions that have grown up around the production of wine and wine's incorporation into local cultures that have made it the heady, intellectual libation it is today for many. Wine can be a cultural translation tool that happens to also make one wobbly. Any Culture, remember, is an entirely mental construct that starts with language, is grounded to territory and is at its best when translated for those who reside outside of it. All this happens in the mind. Wine is a near perfect translation tool.
It seems to me that to simply gulp the stuff is to negate the higher purpose that wine can serve. This notion might appeal to some as placing wine on a pedestal too high. I can see that view. But I can't accept it. The fact that wine provides a marvelous springboard to contemplating people, places, dirt, history and taste makes it particularly worthy of being on a pedestal.
Now, my golf swing is another thing entirely. No pedestal for it. No explaining its often absurd lines either. Perhaps if I can learn to leave my head behind as I swing a club, it will create more room inside there for indulging in the pleasures of the mind where wine is concerned.
I'd heard about Bern?s Steakhouse from a few people, so when I was in St. Petersburg last week I made it a point to go across the bridge to Tampa and try the place out. Here's the executive summary: If you're a wine enthusiast, you should definitely give the place a try.
"Over the top" is the phrase that kept coming to mind, from the decor (which I've heard described more than once as "19th century New Orleans brothel"), to the management of their food sources, to the 172-page wine list. Bern's boasts an impressive collection of awards from the Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, and other magazines, and it's easy to see why.
The restaurant started in 1954 in one small space in a strip mall. As the steakhouse became more and more successful it took over all the other spaces in the mall, and the original location is now just one of several dining rooms. A second story was also added, as well as a huge kitchen space.
After dinner (I'll get to that in a moment), diners have the option of touring the kitchen and wine cellar, and if you're a wine or food geek you should definitely do that. If you do, you'll see the computerized command center; the humongous charcoal grill that can accommodate up to 200 steaks at once; the areas where they bake their own bread; their onion ring production system; and where they raise the sprouts that they put on their salads (from seeds imported from England). At the top of the stairs to the wine cellar is the wines by the glass station, where one busy bartender pours from a selection of around 150 different wines.
Then it's down into the cellar, which isn't fancy but is nonetheless impressive. There are about 100,000 bottles down there and 8,600 different selections, ranging in price from about $20 to $10,000 and in age from centuries-old vintages to quite recent. Bern's backup inventory, which totals somewhere around 500,000, is stored in three different nearby warehouses.
My two dinner companions had mostly gone along to humor me, so I ended up ordering a Martini (regular Bombay Gin, straight up with olives and three drops of vermouth from the eyedropper our waiter carried) and two reds from the by-the-glass list. I chose a Père Anselme Crozes-Hermitage 1978 ($6.50) and a l?Aventure Optimus 2005 ($16.50) to accompany my aged, one-inch-thick Porterhouse, and both wines, while very different, were quite good. The ?78 was medium-bodied and had plenty of fruit still, but paled in comparison to the Optimus, which was huge, rich and satisfying, and an excellent match for the steak. I spent a good, long time with my nose in the glass, inhaling its wonderful bouquet.
I wish I could say that I was as blown away by the food as I was by the Optimus, but it was just a steak. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but it wasn't exceptional, either; I can make a better one at home. Still, it was a very nice meal, and not outrageously priced ? my steak was $52.48, and came with French onion soup, a salad, baked potato, onion rings and a medley of vegetables raised at Bern's own organic farm. We didn't have dessert, but if we had we would have gone upstairs to the Harry Waugh Room to select from 39 different desserts and who knows how many dessert wines and after-dinner drinks.
Would I go again? You bet I would, and I'd recommend the experience to any wine lover. Just go with the expectation that wine is the star and food is the accompaniment, rather than the other way around.
99 points Parker: "There are just over 300 cases of the 2003 Ermitage Le Meal, which tips the scales at 16% natural alcohol. Its dense purple color is accompanied by aromas of pen ink, graphite, scorched earth, creme de cassis, and beef blood. Full-bodied with great intensity, amazing freshness as well as length, this monumental Hermitage should hit its prime in 5-7 years, and last for 3-4 decades."
Grape expectations Wine makers hope trail will woo customers, boost marketing By Jessica Bair 5/9/2008 Central Penn Business Journal
(Franklin & Marshall College seniors, from left, Julie Stein, Carolyn Chen, Andrew Cantos and David Schaeffer sample wine served by sales associate Loraine Luizzo during a daytrip to Twin Brook Winery in Sadsbury Township, Lancaster County. The winery has increased business since it joined the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail in 2003. Photo/Amy Spangler)
The owners of a Lancaster County winery hope to attract more visitors and increase sales by collaborating with neighboring wineries.
Richard Carey and Linda Jones McKee, the owners of Tamanend Winery in Manheim Township, are developing a wine trail that they hope to launch within six months.
Carey said he plans to invite wineries in Lancaster and York counties to join the Red Rose Wine Trail.
"You have to have a compatible group of people that will do it," Carey said.
Tamanend Winery began in Carey's home in 2001. He relocated to Lancaster County from California, where he had been making wine professionally since 1977. In August, the winery moved into a larger production facility. The company's wine is made solely from grapes Carey buys.
Tamenend's wine is sold at its Red Rose Tasting Room, along King Street in Lancaster. The store also sells wine made by Allegro Vineyards and Moon Dancer Vineyard & Winery, both of York County.
"You could look at the store as being a wine trail where you don't have to travel to the winery," Carey said. "It's a good way to show off what we have all together."
Wine trails are helpful because of being able to work with other wineries to promote and cross-market their wines, he said.
"All the reasons for putting up with that is to get people to know about your wine," Carey said. "It's a fun thing to do. People then remember and come back because they had a good time."
The Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau made an effort to collectively promote the county's wineries in 2006, said Christopher Barrett, president and chief executive officer of the Lancaster County-based organization. The county's wineries were advertised together as a part of FlavorFest, which promoted Lancaster County as a culinary destination, he said.
"FlavorFest was an attempt to get them to band together a little bit more," Barrett said.
Tim Jobe does not think it is good that Lancaster County's wineries have yet to band together and create a wine trail. But he also said the problem may be that the wineries in the county are too far apart.
Jobe is one of three owners of the Twin Brook Winery in Sadsbury Township. It is about 30 miles from the next closest winery in Lancaster County, he said.
Twin Brook has been a part of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail since 2003. Six other wineries are a part of the trail, and Twin Brook is the only one from Lancaster County. Although it is more than 10 miles from the next winery on the trail, Twin Brook has seen increased business as a result of belonging to the trail, he said.
"It's been one of the best things that has happened to us as far as marketing goes," Jobe said. "I spend hardly anything on advertising. All my advertising comes from that."
At least 10 percent of Twin Brook's annual sales come from wine-trail travelers, Jobe said. The main event promoted by the Brandywine trail takes place in March, when business at the winery would normally be slow. Rather than seeing about 30 customers over a weekend, a couple hundred will pay a visit to the winery that month, Jobe said.
"Wine trails are a fantastic thing," Jobe said. "I would have never imagined it would be such a great business booster. It's really been a fabulous way to get people through."
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Lancaster County wineries
Lancaster County Winery 799 Rawlinsville Road in Willow Street www.lancastercountywinery.com
Mount Hope Estate & Winery 2775 Lebanon Road in Manheim www.parenfaire.com
Scott Wilson, a practical-joking, golf-loving college buddy of mine, was an unlikely cooking teacher. Scott had no apparent interest in the culinary arts. He was, however, putting himself through business school by preparing Caesar salads tableside at a swish restaurant. One Saturday, in my quest to live beyond my means and impress a dinner date, I woke him up at two in the afternoon and begged for a tutorial. The heady aroma, pungent dressing and built-in theatrics had hooked me instantly. Twenty years, hundreds of salads and several truckloads of romaine lettuce later, I've fine-tuned the ingredients and learned to articulate the nuances that'll make or break a Caesar.
I'm so obsessed with the ritual that I carry my well-worn salad bowl with me in a snare drum case when I take my show on the road. Pool sharks travel with their own cues; the concept is the same (and it doesn't hurt that flight attendants mistake me for a drummer).
Most Caesar aficionados know where to find the best salad and are usually willing to trek miles across town to satisfy their craving. But few ever attempt to make one from scratch. Contrary to what anyone in a chef's hat might want you to believe, there are no secret ingredients or difficult techniques.
However, a quintessential Caesar requires the harmonic convergence of several high-quality ingredients and some focus. In order to demystify the process, and make you the mac daddy of garlicky greens, I've isolated the most essential components.
Since the recipe was published in my first book, The Surreal Gourmet: real food for pretend chefs, I've received dozens of letters from readers who've mastered the dressing and been deified by their friends. The ultimate compliment came from a waitress in Toronto who took me aside and whispered, "Every time I make your Caesar salad for a date, I get laid." I should be so lucky.
1) the bowl Most restaurants, and many home cooks, commit their first faux pas by selecting the wrong tool for the job. By using a blender or food processor to mix the dressing, they whip the yolk, giving the dressing an undesirable mayonnaise-like texture. The definitive salad begins with a large unfinished wooden bowl (i.e., not coated with a shiny lacquer). The rough interior wall of the bowl provides the perfect surface for blending ingredients. The best bowls are usually bored out of one solid slab of Vermont maple. (Martha would probably chop down the tree and chisel it out herself. But we have better ways to spend our time.)
2) the grind Once the aforementioned bowl's in hand, facilitating the successful marriage of the ingredients becomes an intensely physical activity worthy of Olympic designation. Use the back of a soup spoon and a healthy amount of pressure to grind the ingredients one at a time in a repetitive circular motion against the entire interior wall of the bowl. It should take approximately 20 seconds for each new ingredient to blend with the existing ingredients and form a smooth paste.
3) the garlic Accept no substitute. Use only fresh garlic. When buying garlic, look for a firm bulb. As it gets older and moves past its prime, the bulb loses firmness and green sprouts appear in each clove. At all costs, avoid dried, powdered garlic, the runt of the garlic family. And be wary of elephant garlic, a much blander version of the regular-size bulb.
4) the lettuce Pret-a-manger designer salad greens may be gracing fashionable plates everywhere, but Romaine remains the accessory of choice for Caesars because it wears the heavy dressing so well. If you must substitute, use another hearty lettuce. After washing the lettuce, use a lettuce spinner or towel to remove all water. For maximum crispness, return the lettuce to the refrigerator until just before serving. If you're preparing the lettuce several hours in advance, you can avoid browning edges by cutting the leaves with a sharp knife instead of tearing them.
5) the cheese This is probably the single most important element of a great Caesar. Imported Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano is produced exclusively in a small region of northern Italy. Its distinctive taste and grainy texture are unmistakable. Cheesemakers from this region adhere to a stringent code of rules regarding what the cows are fed and how long the cheese is aged (at least two years). A food writer at The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Once you get a taste of the real stuff -- crumbly, earthy and rich as wine -- there's no turning back: Everything else is sawdust." After you've added Parmigiano-Reggiano to your cooking repertoire, you'll be forced to adopt guerilla defense tactics to protect the ungrated cheese. Roaming dinner guests tend to circle the wedge like hungry sharks and will devour it the second you turn to spin-dry the lettuce.
6) the anchovy Don't be intimidated by the sight and taste of anchovies. When blended along with the other ingredients into a paste, the distinctive anchovy taste is unidentifiable. So why use it? Because along with the garlic and Dijon mustard, the anchovy provides the essence of the Caesar dressing, which all of the remaining ingredients serve to enhance. Modern technology has graced us with fish in a tube. Anchovy paste blends well and provides the perfect solution to the old problem of using one anchovy and tossing out the rest of the school.
7) the croutons Nothing's more anticlimactic than topping a finely tuned Caesar with store-bought croutons that were destined for turkey stuffing. Homemade croutons, cut from any leftover thickly sliced bread, are the hidden jewels of the salad (see recipe below). "Gourmet-style" croutons made by cottage industry suppliers are a suitable replacement if you have more money than time.
8) the legacy A great Caesar salad should knock you off your chair, then smack you again as you struggle to regain your senses. I can appreciate the fact that not everyone likes to wrestle with a salad, but that's why man created bottled dressing. If you elect to leave out the garlic or use the ingredients sparingly, please don't let anyone know it's my recipe.
3 thick slices of slightly stale sourdough or rustic country-style bread cut into 3/4-inch cubes 3 T olive oil
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Place bread cubes in a large bowl and add olive oil. Toss and squish the bread like a sponge until the oil is evenly absorbed.
3) Place croutons on a baking sheet or aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Try not to forget about them in the oven as I often do.
1/4 t salt 1 t coarsely ground black pepper 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 anchovies (or 1 t anchovy paste) 2 t Dijon mustard (the real stuff, not the dried stuff) 1 egg yolk, coddled* 1 1/2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 t Worcestershire sauce 1/4 cup safflower oil, or olive oil 1 1/2 t red wine vinegar 1 large head romaine lettuce, outer leaves discarded, remaining leaves washed and thoroughly dried. If lettuce looks anorexic or is in need of a serious trim, buy two heads 1 1/2 cups croutons (see recipe that follows) 1/2 cup grated imported Italian Parmegiano-Reggiano
* When I cook for others, the fear of a class-action lawsuit drives me to coddle. Place the eggs, in their shell, in boiling water 40 seconds. Remove, run under cold water 15 seconds to stop the cooking process, then use as directed.
1) Add salt and pepper to the salad bowl (this creates a sandpaper-like base that'll make the next steps easier). Using the back of a soup spoon, grind garlic against the wall of the bowl until it becomes a paste. Then add anchovies, and once again use the back of the spoon to grind it into a paste. Follow the same procedure, adding the Dijon, egg yolk, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce one at a time. Make sure that each ingredient is blended into a smooth paste with the previous ingredients before proceeding.
2) Add oil and vinegar. Blend well.
3) Tear or slice lettuce leaves into bite-sized pieces and add to the salad bowl. Toss thoroughly with dressing.
4) Add croutons and cheese, toss again, then serve immediately.
Notes:
If you don't have a rough wooden salad bowl, the dressing can be made (with some sacrifice) in a blender. Add salt, pepper, garlic, anchovies, Dijon, lemon juice, Worcestershire and vinegar. Purée. Then add the oil and pulse a few times. Add egg yolk and pulse a couple more times - just enough to blend it without causing the dressing to turn mayonnaisey.
The lettuce leaves should be coated, but not soaked, in dressing. Adjust the amount of dressing as necessary to keep salad from becoming too "wet."
Tue Feb 22nd, 2005, New York City Super Tuscan & Other Great Wines of Italy Tuesday, February 22, 2005 New York City The top producers of Super Tuscan will personally present their best Super Tuscan wines and a large selection of other great Tuscan Wines at the fifth edition of this special wine tasting .
Music can have an effect on the way listeners perceive the qualities of the wines they are drinking, according to a study performed for Viña Montes by the Heriot-Watt University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
When a powerful piece of music is played, a wine such as Montes Alpha's Cabernet Sauvignon is perceived as being 60 percent richer and more robust than when there is no musical accompaniment, according to Professor Adrian North. "It is widely acknowledged within the scientific community that music affects behavior," said North, who conducted the research. "However, this is the first time it has been scientifically proven that music can affect perception in other senses, and change the way wine tastes."
The research by North's Department of Applied Psychology is based on the theory of cognitive priming. This postulates that when a particular style of music is heard, it stimulates or 'primes' specific areas in the brain. Subsequently, when wine is tasted, these areas of the brain are already active and prime the taster to judge the wine in a corresponding way. The effect is more pronounced with red wines than with white, the study finds.
Music is already used in the production of Montes wines, as monastic chants are played to maturing casks of wine in the winery's Feng Shui-optimized barrel room. The company is now looking into adding music recommendations to its back labels.
That Arbor Crest Merlot ?03 I had a couple of nights ago was particularly good ? or was it the London Symphony Orchestra's rendition of Dvorák's New World Symphony...?
Sun Feb 27th, 2005, Los Angeles Homemade Pasta Class Sun – 2/27/05 3:00pm-6:00pm With guidance from Chef Eric, you will learn how to make perfect pastas every time.
With advertising like these, I assumed ‘A bela Sintra‘ was a Brazilian winery - actually seems an upmarket restaurant. I still like the pics This is a post from: Burgundy-Report a bela sintra
There are those who cling to the 'romance' and 'tradition' of popping the cork prior to imbibing. Then there are those who think such 'romance' and 'tradition' are ridiculous if these totems potentially mean stinking, spoiled wine. Both camps have valid points. I'm a sentimental, shmoopy sucker for the romance involved in popping the cork. But then, If I've dropped 40 or 50 clams, and my just-popped bottle of wine smells like a box-full of soggy, old Boys Life magazines, I set up camp amongst the pro screw-cap crowd.
Must the wine lover chose between faulty corks and sterile Stelvins when it comes to bottle closure? Would that there were a closure, which could preserve in an aesthetically appealing manner. Thank the cosmos for Vino-Lock. This glass stopper is much prettier than a Stelvin and, of course, more reliable than cork oak bark cylinders.
Just a few weeks ago I took home the first glass-stopped wine to appear in the wine shop. I loved it. And the wine wasn't too bad either.
Cusumano IGT Sicily Merlot 2006 ($12) - A simple, exuberant Merlot made more appealing by its aesthetically cool glass stopper. This inky-purple wine offers scents of cherry jelly and baked strawberry. Its flavors a simply tangy fruit. Cusumano Merlot is nothing if not pleasant and eager to accompany pizza.
It’s been a while since I popped open a bottle of sparking shiraz and I had been looking forward to trying this one from Vinecrest for a while. What better time to open it than the Australia day long weekend?
Juicy dark cherry and blackberry fruit flavours are kept in balance by subtle drying tannins and a little all spice. The bubbles are fine and not overly active, but provide a creamy chocolate character. Medium bodied with decent length, a good match with Beef Rogan Josh.
Although there is a bit of a question mark about the value for money at around $30 per bottle, this sparking shiraz is very easy drinking and moreish. Definitely the pick of the Vinecrest wines we have tried.
Score: 88/100 Price: $32 Closure: Cork Alcohol: 12.5% Other Opinions:Vinecrest Would I buy this wine? No, questionable value for money
For those of you who aren't aware, the blogger Jeff Stai (El Bloggo Torcido) also runs a winery. And the Twisted Oak wine is excellent. I've had a lot of their stuff at different wine events and the Twisted Philly event they setup for us, and it's all been good. Not ...
Tastings in New York and Las Vegas feature more than 200 wineries
[07/19/2006, 07:16]
The Argentinians consumed in May 2,55 liters for inhabitant Better results that in April the producers of wine obtained on the internal Argentine market. In agreement to statistical information delivered by the INV (Vitivinicultura's National Institute) of Argentina, the consumption of wine for inhabitant reached in May the quantity of 2,55 liters, relying on the general population of the country.
If one was counting only the major ones of 18 years, this number would rise up to 3,84 liters. This indicates an increase of 7,66 per cent with regard to the same month of the year 2005.
While, the wines liberated to the consumption in this May, always according to numbers delivered by the INV, added the 967.503 hl., that represents an increase of 8,9 % with regard to the same month of the year 2005 and 12,79 more % with regard to last month April.
The origin of these wines they were in the main from the province of Mendoza, followed by the province of San Juan.
This increase is justified by the campaign of advertising that is realized at present in the Argentina to increase the internal consumption.
Fewer sales reps are more paranoid these days than cork salespeople. They barrage you with emails damning all other types of closures. At trade shows they meet winemakers with frigid stares that have changed over from cork to something else.
The battle is fully engaged on what is the best closure for a wine bottle and as always, in the heat of battle there is often more confusion than fact. Much as a war correspondent sees through the smoke of conflict, writer George Taber has cut through all the brouhaha to offer us a clear look at the cork conflict in his book, To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science and The Battle for the Wine Bottle. Taber is also the author of Judgment of Paris, which is bound for the big Hollywood screen. The journalistic temperament that Taber brings to his book, a rarity in wine writing, should be no surprise as he is a twenty-one year veteran of Time Magazine.
The combat is about the dreaded TCA (2,4,6 trichloroanisole) that destroys anywhere (depending on whose giving the stats) from 3% to 15% or so of every bottle of wine sealed with a cork in the world. These are the so called “corked” bottles as wines spoiled by TCA have a distinct musty character that can range from the wine seeming just not quite right, to bottles that almost make you gag. What makes TCA the nightmare of winemakers it that most affected bottles are consumed by unsuspecting consumers that are unaware the the wines are actually spoiled, instead thinking that whatever the winery is just doesn’t make very good wine. This dramatic rate of failure combined with disastrous PR has turned many wineries away from natural cork to closures like screwcaps, crown caps and glass stoppers.
To Cork or Not to Cork is a must read for wine professionals and aficionados alike. Don’t expect to have the best closure revealed in the last chapter as Taber presents the whole story without judgment as you would expect from someone with his journalistic credentials.
As Taber points out, all closures currently in use have potential issues so the jury is still out and the closure of the future probably is not invented yet. My major issue with many cork fundamentalists is the constant reference to the tradition of cork and the romance of the ritual and sound of pulling a cork. Screw tradition, the argument should always be about wine quality not superficial issues like romance. What’s romantic about a corked bottle of $50 wine?
Perhaps in the end the solution will be different closures for different wines. After all, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir age very differently and what is good for one may not be good for the other. Put a cork in it? The answer seems to be sometimes yes and sometimes no. Whatever happens in the future, the century old monopoly of the cork is over. Technorati Tags: TCA, wine, corked wine
WINE GRAPE TASK FORCE created by Agriculture & Markets Commissioner Patrick Hooker is making some real headway in identifying key issues and obstacles facing the New York grape and wine industry. Orchestrated by Deputy Commissioner Jackie Czub and chaired by Kareem Massoud, the task force meetings have often involved direct discussions with representatives of other state agencies like the Department of Environment Conservation, Empire State Development Corporation, the State Liquor Authority, and the Department of Transportation. Yesterday we met with the Law Review Commission, which is taking a comprehensive look at New York ?s antiquated and counterproductive Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) law, as well as SLA regulations. The bottom line is that the State of New York (especially Agriculture & Markets) has been a great partner with our industry for decades, helping us grow and contribute ever more to the state economy; but there are certain areas like the ABC/SLA complexities that are hurting the state economy because they are preventing the true potential growth of our industry. The task force is scheduled to make final recommendations to Commissioner Hooker in early September prior to the grape harvest. - from Jim Tresize
This is a snack we enjoyed when my son Chris was visiting last week. He worked hard on editing a photo for me for the LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow round up. I was really pleased with the final result and felt he deserved to be rewarded with some of his favourite foods. Visit on the 13th May to see how clever he is.
Tecnorati
Usually when people give a bottle of wine as a gift, it’s in one of those pricier velvet-style gift bags that get lost before it can get reused, or those metallic ones. The folks at Random House are offering a new, unique alternative and, best of all, if won’t break the bank.
My golf coach recently confirmed what I think I already knew: 
I'd heard about 
Music can have an effect on the way listeners perceive the qualities of the wines they are drinking, according to a study performed for 
Must the wine lover chose between faulty corks and sterile 
It’s been a while since I popped open a bottle of sparking shiraz and I had been looking forward to trying this one from Vinecrest for a while. What better time to open it than the Australia day long weekend?
Fewer sales reps are more paranoid these days than cork salespeople. They barrage you with emails damning all other types of closures. At trade shows they meet winemakers with frigid stares that have changed over from cork to something else.