July, 2012

News July 31, 2012

One Australian Winery Ditches Screw-caps and Returns to Corks.

  Rusden Wines, (a winery located in the Barossa Valley region of Australia) has announced it’s giving-up on the screw-cap, and will return to bottling all of its wines under a cork. Rusden winemaker Christian Canute cited “persistent quality control issues” for the reason behind the move.“Our wines are handmade and bottled without fining or filtration. Under a screw-cap I have noticed the wines ‘sweat’, producing overly dominant reductive characters, a problem we have never…

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Facts July 30, 2012

Know the Grape: Grüner Veltliner.

   Grüner Veltliner [groo-nur felt-leen-er]   Origin According to DNA analysis, Grüner Veltliner is thought to be a cross between Grüner Muskateller and Traminer grape vines. The first mention of Grüner Veltliner was in documents dating back to 1855. Before then it was referred to as: Weißgipfler. And you thought Grüner Veltliner was difficult to pronounce!!!Grüner (its name for short) is also known as, GrüVe, Green Veltliner, Greener Veltliner, Manhardsrebe, Veltliner and Weißgipfler, but luckily,…

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News July 30, 2012

An Interview with Wine Cork Artist Scott Gundersen.

What’s your background and is this your full-time job? I grew up in North-West Michigan, and I always loved building and drawing. After high school I headed to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo to study art and education. For the past 10 years I’ve been teaching high school art, carving out a few hours a week during the school year to make my own art and a few more hours during the summer.   How…

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News July 27, 2012

Those Magnificent Men and Their Wine Glass Machines!

Szymon Klimek has too much time on his hands. This Polish guy builds amazingly intricate machines inside of wine glasses that are fully-functional and serve absolutely zero purpose…apart from looking AWSEOME! Below is his latest, called Sponge. Made from 0.1 millimeter sheets of brass and bronze, Klimek’s miniature machines dance effortlessly in wine-glass enclosures that measure little more than 4 inches across. Klimek’s latest creation, Sponge, is a steam engine-like machine named for the latticework…

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Facts July 27, 2012

A Guide to Rioja Classifications.

Below is a really handy guide to how Spanish wines are classified, in terms of the minimum length of time they’ve spent in the barrel/bottle. Since terms such as Crianza and Reserva will frequently appear on bottles of red Rioja, but are infrequently explained, it’s useful to remember their definitions! I have a simple mantra I learnt many years ago in order to memorize the length of time red Rioja’s are aged for. It is…

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Reviews July 26, 2012

Duel by Darioush, Napa, California.

Grapes 60% Cabernet, 40% Shiraz   Facts I’d never seen this wine before, so I was over the moon when I received it as a gift on Tuesday! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “Keep your friends close, and your wine-drinker friends closer!” The name Duel comes from the blend of Cabernet and Shiraz, and is illustrated on the front label by the dueling lion and bull. The idea is that the…

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News July 26, 2012

Make Your Wine Sing With a Musical Wine Glass!

  A wine glass has been developed in Austria that plays musical notes when a finger is run along the rim. The crystal glass features gold lines corresponding to different musical notes covering a full 12-note octave from A flat to G. For a “lush, sonorous note”, the makers recommend running a finger along the rim.  The same note will reportedly ring-out with the gentle tap of a teaspoon against the side of the glass….

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News July 24, 2012

Talking with Master Sommelier Virginia Philip.

Virginia Philip became the 10th woman in the world to earn the accreditation of Master Sommelier. Now in her 10th year at The Breakers, Virginia maintains and oversees the beverage department for 9 restaurants and bars and 14 wine lists for the property. Included is the 1,600-selection list at L’Escalier, the resort’s award-winning signature restaurant which has won the Wine Spectator’s Grand Award every year since its inception in 1981. Virginia’s newest adventure, her Wine…

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News July 20, 2012

Krug Champagne Withdrawn After Label Error.

Moet Hennessy have been forced to withdraw five batches of its Krug Champagne after they were incorrectly labeled, and do not indicate any mention of their sulfite content, an item required by law in the EU. The products withdrawn are: all sizes of Krug Grande Cuvee; and 75cl bottles of Krug Rose, Krug Vintage 2000, Krug Clos du Mesnil 2000 and Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 1998. The most expensive of the affected products is the Krug…

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Interview July 19, 2012

Painting with Wine: Wine-Stain Artist Amelia Harnas.

Has art always been a part of your life? Yes, absolutely! I live in Corning, New York, which is a very small town, but I read a survey a few months ago that Corning was one of the best small art-towns in the country. We’ve got a really cohesive group of artists out here, and I was raised among them. Art is how I think and breathe.I never technically went through art school. I was…

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Reviews July 18, 2012

Willow Crest “Estate Grown” Pinot Gris, Yakima Valley, Washington State.

Grapes 100% Pinot Gris   Facts It’s very rare that you’ll stumble across single-vineyard, “estate-grown” wines for under $15, but if you do, you should jump at the chance to pickup a bottle! The simple reason is that the more specific a wine gets (with its place of origin), the more expensive it usually gets. Not with Willow Crest though, as most of their wines completely annihilate the competition in the price-to-quality ratio game. Even…

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