Saturday, June 27, 2009

Importance of Knowledge about Wine

Knowledge is always important and useful, no matter what kind of application there will be for that knowledge in future. It is always good to seek out and absorb knowledge about anything you are interested in. Acquiring knowledge about ice wines is useful. The pleasure of having some knowledge about, as well as the pleasure of drinking, a good wine is something to enjoy. When you’re drinking, it’s nice to know what varieties of grape went into the wine, when and where it came from, what process went into the making of that particular wine and, indeed, who made it? If you have some knowledge about the wine while drinking it, it might well add to your understanding and appreciation of what is in your glass. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn the type of wine you are drinking, where it was made, and its vintage.

If you have some knowledge of most popular red wines aroma and flavours, and familiarity with a range of wines, look out for opportunities to taste similar or better wines from the same region. Don’t forget that there are three important things to look for in all wine, these are aroma (bouquet), taste (palate) and colour. With a little effort and a keenness to differentiate using these three attributes, you can become a wine tasting expert. When tasting a particular wine, you should ask yourself, how does this wine compare with others from the same varietal, from different vineyards in the same region, from the same producer in different years? There is no doubt that comparative knowledge, based on tasting experience, can enhance your tasting pleasure.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Hard Times for Australia's Once Dominant Wine Industry

Australia's once dominant wine industry is facing its biggest challenge, as competition increases from lower-cost rivals and consumer tastes change. Producers are being encouraged to target exports to Asia to revive the industry.

Last year, Australian wine exports fell by almost 10 percent, the first decrease in a decade. It was a sign that after a long boom, the country's vineyards are struggling under the weight of increased competition from lower-cost rivals in Chile, Argentina and South Africa and the changing tastes of international consumers.


A long drought also has brought higher irrigation costs, especially in the parched wine belt in southeast Australia. Relatively high wages also undermine Australia's international competitiveness at a time when prices for exported wine have fallen.The average price per liter of Australian wine sold overseas is about 25 percent lower than it was a decade ago.

News Source : Hard Times for Australia's Once Dominant Wine Industry

Wine tasting tours

The best for wine tasting beginners is to take a guided tour to places where wineries are located. These tours usually include well-known wineries and guided wine tastings session hosted by wine experts. These guided sessions can be an exceptional eye opener for newcomers, but also for the experienced wine enthusiast. You can taste a wide variety of wines at the places where they are manufactured. And you can also learn much about wine making, storage, food matching and also about history of the wine and the local history.

But wine tours are not only about wine tasting. Of course at the end of every tour you can buy wine that you liked, and for many people this is the start of their own private wine collection. Attending such wine tasting tours you also get to know a lot about the way the grapes are cultivated and collected, about local folklore, cuisine and finally how grapes get processed for the wine. The bottom line: making these tours you will have the best time ever. We venture to say that after you have returned from your first wine tasting tour, you will make a list of all places and countries you want to visit to continue your quest for good taste.


Friday, June 19, 2009

Art of Wine Tasting And Wine Hosting

The first step to an enjoyable wine tasting party is to decide on the mood and theme of the party. Will this be a casual get-together where friends can sample different wines any time during the evening, or will it be a more structured affair, where guests all sample each icewine at the same time, comparing notes and discussing their preferences?

The theme of a wine tastings revolves around the wine you choose. Do you want a broad or a narrow focus? For newbie wine lovers, you might choose a broad focus that covers both white and red wines, for example. For more knowledgeable wine lovers, you might choose wines from a smaller wineries or smaller winery countries, such as Greece or Spain. For cost-conscious wine lovers, you might choose wines in a certain price range. The possibilities are endless! A good wine store can also help you develop a theme or suggest wines for the party.

Niagara Wine Tours

Niagara wines are renowned throughout the world in competitions as one of the most outstanding, particularly the icewine, which are prepared from grapes yielded after the first winter rime. The rich and potential soils with moderate climate also support the tender fruit growers with their crops, which comprise of peaches and strawberries.
The Niagara Escarpment wineries and Lake Ontario have shaped an exclusive microclimate appropriate for the manufacture of World Class Wines. An individual would experience the stunning countryside of this region as we spend the day itinerant from one winery to another.
There is a wine trail occasion happening every month. To sign-up or pre-pay for our events is not required - just simply you need to show up on the same day and pay your admission fees. A list of wine trail associates is supplied for your convenience along with niagara falls ontario restaurants and other attractions that may be of interest during your stay.
And as you are required to eat on your trip to Niagara in order to keep yourself energized for sightseeing and other activities, have a dining experience that is both pleasing to the appetite and romantic for you. Like some of the hotels in the area, there are many restaurants that overlook the Falls, offering you with romantic views that will help keep the ardent tone of your trip steady throughout. Though sightseeing in Niagara Falls is romantic in itself, the romance can also present itself in, restaurants we select to dine in. There are a variety of restaurants with various wines that overlook Niagara Falls, providing you and your special someone with breathtaking views and romantic moments

Friday, June 12, 2009

Red wine ingredient is a 'wonderdrug'

An ingredient of red wine really is a 'wonderdrug', claim scientists, after research suggested it kills cancer cells and protects the heart and brain from damage.
Researchers claim moderate drinking of red wine appears to reduce "all causes of mortality" and protects people from age-related disorders such as dementia, diabetes and high blood pressure.They said that the key ingredient appears to be resveratrol which in small doses acts as an antioxidant protecting organs but in larger quantities kills dangerous cancer cells

"The breadth of benefits is remarkable – cancer prevention, protection of the heart and brain from damage, reducing age-related diseases such as inflammation, reversing diabetes and obesity, and many more," said Professor Lindsay Brown of the University of Queensland.

The conclusions were drawn by Professor Brown and her team after a "mini review" of a number of recent studies about the health benefits of red wine published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The biochemists said that red wine appears to contain a number of antioxidants - naturally-occurring protective compounds - which are good for your health but that resveratrol was the most powerful.They concluded that it "shows therapeutic potential" for cancer and heart disease and may aid in the prevention of age-related disorders that affect the brain and the body.

News Source : Red wine ingredient is a 'wonderdrug'




Specialty of Premium Wines

Preparation of fine wines is considered to be the important process in wine making. Making of fine wines are considered to be super premium beverage which obviously most expensive. More number of wineries is available in the world; especially the place called wine country is enriched with excellent tastier liquor to meet the demands of the customers prevailing. Each individual have different sorts of taste, preference and opinions which decides what is said to be the best.

The canadian ice wine is produced by more number of manufacturers in the vintages around the world to make the people enjoy the celebrity of alcohol. It has been produced specially to celebrate the significant events, religious occasions and other normal days. Superior quality icewine are produced in the Peller Estates niagara winery, so that customers of all kinds can make use of the service provided. According to people, each one consist of different sorts of taste and as per they prefer wine. The term fine denotes superior quality, appearance, color, ingredients, kind, prices and the power.

We come across different types of producers who offer special kind of wines to the public. Generally, the specific beverage namely alcohol will be used either daily or for special occasions, religious functions and so on. For special occasions like wedding, Halloween day, new year, Easter, independence day and for any other exceptional day people use to drink the beverage or we can say it wine tastings. Wide collections of wines are available and it can be tasted along with cheese, chocolate, dinner. New types of products are introduced in the market daily, so that customers can drink new varieties with regards to using of different ingredients. Some of the liquors like white, red and other colored wine will be tremendously used by the customers as per their pricing requirements.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Tips On How To Buy The Best Wines

For most people wine is an essential part or their dining experience. Wine is also mostly present in any social function. The problem with wine is that there are so many types of wines to choose from. As a result the wine selection process becomes very difficult.

What is wine?

Basically, it is a liquor that is made by fermenting various types of fruits. But no doubt, that the most popular icewine type is made of grapes.

Why grape wine is good for you body?

There have been some medical studies that show that drinking one or two glasses of grape wine a day may be beneficial to one's health. This is due to the findings that some properties that are found in grapes have a medicinal effect on the body. This includes decreasing a person's chances of developing heart disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke, etc.

Here are some tips on how to choose just the right wine for you

1. Experiment. Individuals should discover which types of wine suit their taste. The best way to do this is to order a different type of wine every time you dine out.

2. Ask friends for a recommendation. For those who are not wine connoisseurs, the best way to start gaining some knowledge about wine is to ask friends to give you the names of their favorite wines.

3. For those who have found their favorite wines, and want to keep stocks. The best way to go about this is to buy their preferred brands of wine by cases.

4. Know which types of wine go with different types of dishes. For instance, white wine goes well with white sauces, salmon, etc.

5. Be wise when it comes to serving wine. The more costly wines should be reserved for more important occasions. Remember that wines can get very expensive.

6. Canadian ice wine are famous! Some of the more famous Canadian wine includes: ontario wine clubs, ice wine canada etc


Choosing wines may be daunting at first, especially for a person who is not a wine connoisseur. But once a person gets the hang of it, and start to discover the wines that matches their preference, it won't be long until they start to fill up their wine cellar.

Washington wines comparable at better-than-California prices

A MARKETING-SURVEY company has released some telling statistics about wine drinkers. According to the Pointer Media Network, 7.5 million wine drinkers purchase 80 percent of the wine sold in this country. That includes wines at all price points, but the cheapest wines are showing the growth, while expensive wines are losing customers.

Another industry bellwether — Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates — notes that sales of California wines priced at $14 and below are still increasing at a healthy clip, while wines priced above $14 are dropping. So $14 has somehow become the magic number for consumers.

I was chewing on these stats while snarfling through a lineup of pricey California merlots and cabernets the other day, and wondering who actually buys these wines. Why they don't opt for something twice as good at half the price from Washington?

I have frequently opined that California merlots, for example, are almost always watery plonk unless you pony up at least $40 a bottle. The Three Palms vineyard merlot from Sterling Vineyards, perhaps the most iconic California merlot of the past three decades, is a pretty nice bottle of vino. It retails for right around 50 bones. It's also worth noting that, unlike most Washington merlots, it is blended with considerable amounts of cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot, presumably to beef it up.

In Washington it is usually the merlot that is blended in to beef up the cab, rather than the other way around. Most quality California cabernets start their pricing where the merlots leave off. The number of so-so $60, $80 and even $100 bottles being produced is staggering. One fine exception is the Hess Allomi Vineyard cabernet sauvignon, an estate-grown Napa Valley wine, aged in one-third new American oak barrels, meaty and substantial, and widely available (Noble distributes). It retails for about $24.

Being perfectly honest here, those looking for comparable quality in wines priced under $15 are not going to find it. But the Hess wines — their Su'skol Vineyard chardonnay is another gem — offer the sort of quality in the mid-$20 price range that I find in a growing number of Washington boutiques.

News Source : Washington wines comparable at better-than-California prices