November, 2011

Facts November 21, 2011

My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #4

#4 Terroir Terroir isn’t just a fancy-schmancy word thrown around by wine geeks, in order to confuse those who aren’t as “in the know”. Terroir is real! The term terroir comes from the French word “terre”, but more accurately it means "a sense of place". Terroir is applied to vineyards to collectively reference the weather, the soil, sunlight hours, the slope of the hill where vines are planted, the macro climate of the region as…

Read More
News November 20, 2011

This Week In Wine–11/20/11

Georgia Allowed to Start Selling Alcohol on Sundays. Early poll results had voters in most of the 51 metro Atlanta jurisdictions giving a resounding yes to continuing the slow dissolution of a blue law dating to the late 1800s, one of the last restraints on Sunday consumption. But at least two cities have said no — Palmetto in south Fulton and Clayton County’s Forest Park. "That’s the Lord’s day, in my opinion," said Corine Deyton,…

Read More
Facts November 20, 2011

My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #5

#5 History. In wine you’re actually drinking history! Ok, maybe not with the bottle of Yellow Tail that you just purchased from the grocery store! But as a general rule, red wine needs at least a little time resting in a barrel, and then time in a bottle before it can be released. Very few drinks can boast the beneficial results that are achieved of a well cellared wine. Wines such as Port, Barolo, Amarone,…

Read More
Facts November 19, 2011

My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #6

#6 Collecting You don’t have to be a millionaire to collect wine, and you don’t even need to have a huge amount of space available in your home. I’m what you call a “wine geek” (not to be confused with a wine snob) and even I don’t have a formal wine cellar! I simply possess a small closet located in the coolest part of my house. I’ve taken the doors off, and bought a stainless…

Read More
Facts, Pairings November 18, 2011

My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #7

#7 It Makes Food Taste Better I propose that wine is the ultimate “condiment” to further enhance the flavor of any meal. A spicy-rich Syrah finds a perfect home when paired with Lamb Chops. A Stilton with a decent Port can be compared to chocolate-covered popcorn (the saltiness of the Stilton matches perfectly with the sweet-flavor of the Port). In fact, the number of flavor enhancing wine pairing are endless! The old school rules state…

Read More
Reviews November 18, 2011

High Note Malbec, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina.

Grape 100% Malbec   Facts The name of “Malbec” supposedly comes from the surname of a Hungarian peasant who is attributed with being the first person to spread the variety throughout all of France. If you were to ever check-out the big nerdy wine book that is The Oxford Companion to Wine, you’ll find that there are over 400 different names for the Malbec grape! This proving that the grapes’ popularity isn’t just a recent…

Read More
Facts November 17, 2011

My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #8

#8 Wine is about as culturally rich and diverse as a “product” can get Wines tend to have very strong ties to the regions from which they hail. Arguably in Europe more than anywhere else, winemakers are greatly influenced by the local culture and cuisine, and tend to put special emphasis on the ability for their wines to pair with local foods. For these reasons, alongside terroir, wines tend to mirror very strongly where they…

Read More
Facts November 16, 2011

My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #9

#9 Wine Professionals I’ve met a bunch of wine industry professionals from all over the world, and contrary to the stereotype that they are sometimes given, they are always gracious, interesting, just generally fun to talk to, and show no air of superiority. However you do need to get a firm understanding of the term “wine professional”. A wine professional is someone who has taken the firm decision in their mind that wine (in one…

Read More
News November 16, 2011

Perfect Pizza Wines.

It would be all too easy to simply say “anything red and Italian”, I was actually quite shocked to recently find out that most Italians actually don’t pair pizza and wine together! No Sir! They much more prefer a nice cold Peroni or Moretti beer, and consider pairing wine with pizza “for the tourists”. I guess I’m a tourist! I can’t be too sure why most pizza places have terrible wine lists, but it’s a…

Read More
Facts November 15, 2011

My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #10

#10 Tourism If you haven’t taken any time to visit vineyards, I suggest you look into it! When planning a trip to a winery, make sure you aren’t just visiting tasting rooms or “cellar doors”. If you are going to take the time to visit a winery, you need to get in the actual wine-making facility and vineyards. You need to actually see the grapes, the vines, the barrels, the press, crusher/destemmer, and fermentation vats…

Read More