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WINE TIPS AND INFO

1.  WHY DOES WINE GIVE ME A HEADACHE?

 HINT:  IT'S NOT SULFITES

All wine contains sulfites.  There, I said it.  It's a fact.  What tends to confuse people is that some mass "producers" add more sulfites to speed up the aging process allowing them bang out more wine in a shorter time to put on our shelves.  Many of these wines can be easily identified by the variety of critters that appear on their labels.  

 

Here is a well written article from the Wall Street Journal that explains how and why sulfites are used. Remember, just because it says organic does not mean that it is sulfite free.  

 

 

2.  WINE TASTING 101

 

Wine tasting are fun on so many levels.  The most obvious of which would be FREE WINE!  That is a bonus indeed.  What tends to be overlooked during a wine tasting is the educational aspect.  What are you learning about this wine and the region of origin?  Here's  a good piece from Wine Enthusiast that may shed some light on the subject and improve your overall enjoyment the next time you find yourself at a tasting.

 

 

3.  PAIRING WINE & FOOD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is nothing wrong with sitting down and enjoying a nice glass of vino on its own but sometimes you might want something to tone down the tannins or acidity of what's in your glass.  This is where the perfect marriage of food and wine comes into play.  Each plays off of the other, even enhancing some subtleties that may otherwise be lost were the two not paired.  Again, our friends at Wine Enthusiast have hit the proverbial nail on the head with another spot on article.

 

 

4.  WHAT IS DRY AND SWEET?

 

 

 

 

What is it that makes a wine dry or sweet?  Well, that's a good quesiton and the answer is a rather lenghty one.  However, Madeline, who writes the blog Wine Folly, summed it up rather well with the following:

 

"Within the five main styles of wine are different levels of sweetness.  This is a winemaking style as most wines can be produced from Dry to Sweet.

 

Dry

A dry wine is produced when all of the grape sugars are fermented into alcohol. Some dry wines may have a touch of RS to add body but not sweetness.

 

Semi-Sweet

(aka off Dry) A semi-sweet wine leaves a touch of the sugars in a wine usually to complement acidity and/or aromatics in wine.  Riesling is typically Off-Dry.

 

Sweet

A sweet wine leaves a lot of the sugars in a wine unfermented. Sweet wines are typically lower alcohol if they are not fortified. (ex Moscato d’Asti 5.5% ABV)"

 

5.  COOKING WITH BOOZE

First thing is first - you should not cook with something that you would not drink. If it tastes awful on your palate then why would you want to dump that same swill into your food?  Esquire online wrote up a helpful article simply titled "How To Cook With Booze".  Pretty straight forward stuff.

 

6.  RED WINE IS GOOD FOR ME?

Short answer is yes.  Not a day passes when a customer tells us that their doctor 'prescribed' red wine.  But it can't be just any varietal of wine and you won't find the beneficial antioxidants in the sweet stuff.  Here's some info from the Mayo Clinic that may provide some insight and reasoning a to why you should drink red wine.  As if you needed an excuse.  FYI - Pinot Noir has the highest levels of resveratrol.

 

7.  THE MONDAVIS

The name Mondavi is synonymous with California wine making.  Specifically the Napa Valley.  Robert Mondavi was a legend in the wine world and a man who was both respected and criticized for his business dealings.  However his legacy may be viewed his impact on the wine world can not be overstated and the folks at Decanter have put together a 4 part article that gives us some insight into the journey that the entire Mondavi family had to take to achieve their global success.  Enjoy.

 

 

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