Taking the world one wine at a time.
Nope, bottle shock isn’t when you jump out wearing a scary mask to surprise your favorite wine! Sorry to disappoint, although that would have been a fun topic! “Bottle shock” is actually very hard to describe scientifically, but it’s certainly very real. When a wine is reported to be suffering from bottle shock, it is said to be closed or muted on the palate. All the individual parts of the wine become disjointed, leaving you…
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Tinto [Teen-toe] on the front of a wine bottle is a Spanish term just meaning red wine. However just to confuse you, Tinta [Teen-ta] means Tempranillo, the main red grape of Spain. Here are some examples, all of which just mean Tempranillo, but are used within various regions throughout Espana: Tinta del País, Tinta de Toro and Tinta Fino.
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If you are a regular reader of this site, you probably already know that I don’t take myself too seriously. There is a fine-line though. I like to have fun with wine, but there is occasionally a little more serious side to it. The following is my list of Pretentious Things to Say at a Wine Tasting. This list isn’t hypothetical, these are ACTUAL comments I have heard at wine tastings (apart from the one…
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Tannins; the same natural chemical found in tree bark, wood, tea, and used in the tanning process on animal hides therefore turning them into leather, is the same as what’s in your glass of Cabernet. Tannic acid reacts with proteins in your mouth giving you that astringent-type feeling, that almost puckery-type sensation. If you’ve ever watch someone tasting a heavily tannic wine, such as Napa Cabernet or Italian Barolo, note that their facial expressions would…
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When asked when she drinks Champagne, Madam Lilly Bollinger replied; "I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it—-unless I’m thirsty."
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In ancient Babylon, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead (fermented honey beverage) he could drink for a month after the wedding. Because their calendar was lunar -based, this period of free mead was called the "honey month," or what we now call the "honeymoon."
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Sometimes (but admittedly not that often for most), you run into the issue that you have an open bottle of wine that you just can’t seem to finish. Sure, you can flip on the TV, fill your glass and go to town on a bottle or two, but your boss may not appreciate you showing up late the next morning with a raging hangover! What exactly is the problem? Why can’t you just stick the…
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Should this wine be decanted? Yes, it probably should. I’m a big advocate for decanting / aerating, I try and do it as much as possible in my home; but then again I use a Soiree (saves washing-out a full decanter). Generally speaking, full-bodied and aged-reds are the only wines which are nominated for promotion to the decanter; this in order to either remove it from its sediment, or to increase its surface area, therefore…
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10. FLASQ is the first domestic wine sold in 100% recyclable aluminum containers. 9. Aluminum is recycled at a rate of over 50%, compared with 20% for glass, thereby making it a greener product. The FLASQ bottle is made of 99.7% pure aluminum, which makes it ideal for recycling. 8. From the package to the wine itself, FLASQ wines are made using 100% American-made products. There’s not too many wines which can boast that!
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Négociant [Nay-hohs-yahng] is a term that gets thrown around a lot, but not too many people really know the true meaning of the word. French in origin, a négociant is a word used to describe someone who buys their raw materials i.e. grapes or wine, and then produce, bottle and market it under their own label. Sometimes, such as in the label in the photo, you’ll see négociant-éleveur which really just means that the négociant…
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Sometimes (but admittedly not that often for me), you run into the issue that you have an open bottle of wine which you just can’t seem to finish-off. There seems to be an ever increasing amount of gadgets on the market which claim to preserve your opened bottle of wine, much longer than if you were to simply put the cork back in. I’ve always found that in the extraordinary case of having an unfinished…
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Grape vines are stressed in several ways. Poor soil, lack of water, and pruning are among the most important. So why treat the vines so badly? Why not give them everything they want? Common sense would suggest that happy vines make lots of happy grapes which in turn will make lots of happy wine to sell.
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