Christianne Uncorked

Wine Blogging Wednesday #53: Wine For Breakfast

admin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:36:22 +0000

Today is Wine Blogging Wednesday #53! El Bloggo Torcido of Twisted Oak Winery came up with an extremely interesting theme for January 2009’s Wine Blogging Wednesday - Wine for Breakfast. Most of us, either on a regular basis or only occasionally, eat breakfast foods for dinner. I certainly do! The task assigned was to pair [...]

Welcome 2009! What’s Your Wine Resolution?

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:33:47 +0000

My apologies for the prolonged absence. I underestimated how much my day job and the retail wine job would take out of me - time and energy - during the holiday season. I am back and excited for the new year! I took some time out from reading up on financial crises and greedy Ponzi schemers [...]

Wine 101: An Introduction to Madeira

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:39:06 +0000

In honor of Wine Blogging Wednesday (’WBW’) scheduled for tomorrow, November 12, 2008, I want to do a primer on Madeira – the wine and the island. 1WineDude, the host of the 51st WBW, has set the theme as fortified (and maderized) wines, and specifically Madeira . For those who are new to WBW, it is [...]

Christianne’s Fave Five For the Week - Vinoblog Round-up

admin — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 06:33:47 +0000

This is a new weekly deal where I will pick my favorite five posts from the world of wine blogs posted in the last 7 days. Feel free to let me know about your blog and I will check it out! My top five, in no particular order: 1WineDude visited Opus One Winery after the Wine Bloggers [...]

What I Learned in School Today

admin — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:40:49 +0000

Today was humbling. Well, most class days are humbling for me. We taste every wine blind. Tasting is hard. Let me rephrase that - tasting well is hard. And there is an incredible amount to know about wine. It’s still fun, just a little less so halfway through an 8 hour class when you don’t [...]

Wine Book Review: Wine Politics by Tyler Colman

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:06:28 +0000

Wine Politics, How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink, discusses how influences outside of viniculture and viticulture, shaped the growth of the wine industry in both France and the US. A short read of about 150 pages, this book packs in an enormous amount of information on the history of the wine industry. [...]

How To Speak Wine - Part 2, Dry Versus Sweet

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:59:09 +0000

Part of my job at Cork Wines is to recommend wines to customers. The difficult part is not finding good wines but finding the right wine for that person. First, everyone’s palate is different. Then you add the complexity of a different vocabulary. Some people aren’t sure how to describe what they want or like. [...]

If I Were a Grape, Which Would I Be…

admin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:42:16 +0000

Okay, so it is a hokey party game, but it also is my homework for my next class in the Sommelier Diploma Program. With well over 10,000 varietals to choose from, choosing one grape that best represents “Christianne” is a daunting task. But I’m up to it! I finally settled on Malvasia, which actually represents [...]

Impromptu Mini Wine Tastings - Fun, Easy and a Great Way to Shake Things Up

admin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:26:09 +0000

A former co-worker of mine reminded me recently how much fun “impromptu” wine tastings can be. By “impromptu,” I mean casual, or small and/or spur of the moment. The concept is not new or complex. The idea came about when my former co-worker and I were discussing which wine to serve at his family gathering. [...]

Celebrate Texas Wine Month! A Primer on Texas Wine

admin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:16:30 +0000

October is Texas Wine Month and hailing from Dallas, I felt it important to spend some time on wine from Texas. Cork Wines now has wines from Texas on one of their tasting stations. I will follow up this post with a discussion of some of those wines at a later date. Vines were cultivated in [...]