by Morris Lemire
What’s in a Name?Prosecco, that delightful varietal sparkling wine from the foothills of central Veneto, has been so successful everyone wants in on the action. From the flatter country of the eastern Veneto, to Sicily and even Chili, opportunists are cashing in on Prosecco’s success. With production climbing, quality declining and prices slipping, the original producers of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene have been forced to re-define who they are and the wine they make, based on place. They have learned the hard way that you can’t protect a wine brand based on a varietal, it is too broad an approach. Using the example of Pinot Grigio, they understand this perfectly well. Wine is not like vodka; wine is associated with where it is grown, place matters. Isn’t that a familiar refrain. You ...
by Ivan Loyola
You love white wine? Then there is a good chance you love oysters. They go together, hand in hand. Wine is good for you, we all know that. But not everyone knows that eating oysters is good for your health too. Great nutrition: Oysters are one of the best sources of zinc, the micronutrient that lies at the base of the biochemistry of sex. Oysters taste like the sea itself. There is something liberating about inhaling that little ocean breeze that comes when you put one in your mouth. Close your eyes and you can see a beach, the seaweed sprawled on the shore. You can even hear the rumor of the sea, its constant motion. Besides that, from a nutrition point of view, they are one of the best balanced of foods, containing protein, carbohydrates and fat. They also pack vitamins and essential min...
by Susan Sterling
Hosting a party, even a basic “wine and cheese”, can send some people around the bend, but it should be fun. Here are some tips to help you hold on to your sanity:• Keep it simple. Two or three cheeses are all you need. Get a big wedge of each, or a couple of smaller wedges, and lay them out. • Print labels with the names of each cheese, and the type of milk it’s made from, i.e. sheep, as well as whether or not it’s pasteurized. If you like, include a brief description of its flavours, if you have that information. I once posted these notes in champagne corks in which I’d carved a little slot to hold the paper. People still talk about it.• Forget the diet. Buy full-fat cheese, and set out some dishes of unsalted butter.• Create a festive setting. Get out your gra...
by Linda
On a pleasant Friday morning the sun was shining brightly, there were a few cumulus clouds and a light breeze. I started my usual Napa Valley journey of the day, but this one was like no other. This is the mysterious Sloan Estate, it has always been this way since it's inception, private and exclusive, it's not open to the public for tours or testing’s. Their website can only be accessed by their members and their published address is a post office box #. It defines Swanky and it certainly is.After several emails and telephone conversations with Marsha Chandler, Customer Relations Manager, Martha McClellan, winemaker and Stuart Sloan, proprietor, an arrangement was made for us for a tasting / tour of the Sloan Estate. Martha emailed me driving directions and we were on our way. She emph...
by Amanda Egan
A WORLD OF WINE - ONLINEIt would be a great party trick to say,� I have my Latour stored in London, my Romanee Conti stored in Hong Kong and my Grange stored in Sydney.� But you can do just that by subscribing to Cellar Link, a full wine investment service provider. This is no throwaway line for indulgent wine snobs, but a very serious online subscription-based portal that manages wine investors� cellars from �cradle to grave�.A relative newcomer to the wine investment scene, Cellar Link began operations in 2008 with a new $1 million wine management portal offering clients a revolutionary plan to safeguard and enhance the value of their cellars.Company director Eamonn Egan explains that the wine investment market is not necessarily a panacea for never-ending growth...
by Susan Sterling
There was a time when screw cap closures signalled that the contents of a wine bottle were of questionable quality, but that is no longer the case. With modern advances in the technology, and in the wine consumer�s attitude, a screw cap means, among other positive things, getting a bottle open more quickly. What could be wrong with that?You may have heard the word �Stelvin� used to describe a screw cap, however this is not a generic term, it is a registered trademark. What has happened is that the trade name has been appropriated to cover the whole category, much like Kleenex� has come to refer to facial tissue. Stelvin� closures, along with other brands of screw caps, have evolved to the point where they can look just as good, and sometimes better, than the tr...
by Linda
Wine Aging:We all heard about aging wine, it is a long process that takes place over years and there are so many elements that all play a roll of some significants to achieve the ultimate plateau of wine maturity.Just as Oxygen yellows newspapers and browns sliced apples, it spoils wine, but the process is more complex. There is also a beneficial oxidation that helps wine mature. Paradoxically, wine is improving even as it is being destroyed; time will kill a wine, but is also necessary to make it great. This dual process is visible after a bottle has been opened. Aeration of wine - whether by decanting a bottle, swirling one’s glass or sloshing a mouthful around - is a form of controlled oxidation. The aim is to improve the wine by helping it open up after it’s long confinement in...
by Ron Kapon
The lore of champagne is filled with courageous acts and bold people. Napoleon was a great lover of champagne and personally protected his favorite champagne house from invading armies. Churchill used champagne to elevate his spirits during England's "darkest hours" of World War II and today has a prestige cuvee named for him. The pop of the champagne cork was heard resounding through James Bond's greatest adventures.The first wine was made in Champagne about 2,000 years ago. Champagne was already famous in the middle age. But it was not the same wine we drink these days. At that time wine was red or white, not sparkling and quite similar to wine from Burgundy. People used barrels to ship their wines. They noticed that the next spring season following the harvest, the wine tended to foam. ...
by Ron Kapon
In late May 2010 the Second International Malbec Days Conference took place in Cahors, France. There were 100 Malbec producers mainly from France and Argentina, 150 journalists, 400 professional buyers and 3,500 wine connoisseurs attending this three day seminar and wine tasting. The conference compared the wines of Cahors and those of Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina. There were tastings of over 600 different wines all made from the Malbec grape variety, trips to vineyards and wineries as well as a wine tasting on a barge cruising along the Lot River. The famous Bridge Pont Valentre was transformed for the three evenings into the world’s biggest Malbec bar lounge and the nearby Espace Valentre was dubbed Cahors Lounge where for three nights guests could sample gourmet finger food from the area'...
by James Falcicchio
WINE FEATURELucien Albrecht Cremant d’Alsace Brut RoseDespite the long name, Lucien Albrecht Cremant d’Alsace Brut Rose happens to be quite the simple pleasure. This relatively inexpensive sparkling import from the lower Alsace region of France is a true delight. Reasonably priced at around $19.00 a bottle, you can’t afford not to enjoy it. It is available locally in area wine shops.In General, we have all heard of Champagne; some of us are familiar with the non-French sparklers, including Prosecco (Italian), cava (Spanish) and Sekt (German). Cremant is essentially a French sparkling wine which, like Champagne, undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle (producing its bubbles), but unlike Champagne, is not from that region of France. Alsace is a wine growing region located not f...
