Taking the world one wine at a time.
I read this quote recently from Aldo Sohm, Sommelier at Le Bernardin and thought you might find it interesting: “A winemaker I know once did a test to see how plastic corks affect a wines flavor. He filled empty wine bottles with water, put plastic corks in them and stored them in the cellar. After 6 months, certain bottles tasted like a Barbie doll – and those were the best ones!”
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Grapes 48% Merlot, 46% Cabernet, 6% Syrah Facts The name C.M.S. comes from the blend of grapes they use i.e. Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah. This makes sense considering they are the leading the grapes in the Columbia Valley region. The Hedges estate also make a white blend of Chardonnay, Marsanne, Sauvignon Blanc. The CMS has been made since 1987, and is recognized as one of the big value-driven wines coming out of Washington State.
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No huge surprises here, with Cupcake taking the #1 spot and appearing for the first time ever in the top 30. The top 10 sees a dominance of Californian wines, with the Argentinian Alamos (Gallo) brand ranking the highest of all imported brands. Only 4 imported wines appear, with 2 being from Italy, 1 from Germany and the Alamos from Argentina. 14 of the top 30 brands came in at under $8, with the largest…
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Grapes 50% Verdejo, 30% Viura, 20% Sauvignon Blanc Facts The main characteristic of Verdejo is its freshness and acidity. It therefore makes sense that the majority of Verdejo based wines never see exposure to oak, so as not to detract from the natural flavor of the grape. The Las Brisas was therefore fermented and aged in all stainless steel. Viura (otherwise known as Macabeo) is similar in style to Verdejo in that it’s fresh…
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Pyrazine is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound. Got that? Good! For those of us who don’t have a degree in Chemistry (me included), the relevance of Pyrazine to wine is that it gives it a “green” taste / aroma. It doesn’t take much for you to detect it either, around 2 parts per trillion to be exact. It’s stated that a single grape amongst tonnes of grapes will change the aroma of the entire batch…
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Just a little Sunday fun…
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This is a point (in a long line of other points) that I‘ve been meaning to address. Let me start out by saying that (in case you haven’t noticed), I really skew my voice (and therefore my content) on this website toward what I see as the majority of the wine buying public. The masses, if you will! This audience being; people who obviously enjoy wine, people who want to know more about wine, but…
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Grape 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, with the balance being a blend of Mazuelo and Graciano. Tempranillo goes by a bunch of different synonyms, depending on the region of Spain you are in. For example, it’s called “Cencibel” in La Mancha (south of Madrid); “Ull de Llebre” (meaning “eye of the hare”, I’ve no idea why) in Catalonia; “Tinta de País” or “Tinto Fino” in Ribera del Duero; “Tinta de Toro” in Toro; and “Tinto de…
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Not that this post has much relevance to wine and furthering your knowledge of it, but I thought you might possibly appreciate these photos. The Rugged Maniac mud race took place this past weekend, and for some reason I was convinced to participate, along with my wife and a bunch of my very close friends. I ran before her at 9am, so fortunately there aren’t as many pictures of me, since I was the one…
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Ok so I made that last one up…but seriously!!! The U.K newspaper the Daily Mail recently reported on “a £1-a-day red wine wonder pill that claims to ward off heart disease, cancer and diabetes is to go on sale in Britain for the first time.” “Makers Biotivia claim the resveratrol supplement – derived from an antioxidant found in grape skins and naturally present in red wine – is as beneficial as exercise. They say the…
Read MoreOh the humanity!!!!
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