We’re always up for an interesting way to hold, store, and showcase wine bottles. This hand-sculpted, wrought iron dog is a whimsical table-top wine bottle holder. The body of the doggie forms a little cage for your wine bottle, while the head cradles and protects the bottle head.

If you’re going to open a lot of wine bottles, you might as well do it with a little whimsy, for sure! We found a couple of little wine bottle openers with character. The hootch owl is available on Red Envelope.

The Bluebird corkscrew is on Amazon.

For the person who has everything, here’s the Flashman USB 4-Gigabyte wine bottle flash drive to transfer files between machines. 4 Gb will hold thousands of photos, a few hundred songs or even a movie or two.

Just remember: You don’t need a holiday to stop in a celebrate at The Vineyard!

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We came across some creative and adorable wine cork craft projects to upcycle your old wine corks, like this set of wall planters for succulents. There are some instructions available online for these little planters. They could make a dainty little cluster almost anywhere in your kitchen or Florida room!

For more creative ideas for your used wine bottles and corks, keep checking up at our Pinterest board “Wine Not: Creative Ideas” — we add things all the time. And if you need wine corks, by all means, start at our Wine Cellar. A nice side effect of grabbing wine corks is that you’ll get a full bottle of wine attached to it!

 Other Ideas for Wine Cork Crafts:

• Wine cork bulletin boards for photos or notes
• Wine cork key chains
• Wine cork stamps
• Cork wreaths
• Table setting placeholders 
• Candles?!

If you’ve got ideas of your own, share them with us! Come talk to us on Facebook and post your own pics!

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No? Well, we have!

They make great wine bottle protectors when you’re transporting wine! Those swimming arm bands — you know, floaties —  are generally made for kids, and when they’re on sale, you can find them for under $5. And they fit nicely over most wine bottles! It’s a cheap, cute, and practical way to get your special bottle home from The Vineyard!

Got some wine-related ideas of your own? Stop by our Facebook page, Twitter, or Pinterest!

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1. First, Like our page on Facebook  (at https://www.facebook.com/VineyardOrlando)
2. When you see the free wine offer show up on your Facebook feed, simply click on “Claim Offer”
3. If you’ve grabbed an available glass of free wine, you’ll receive a confirmation at the email address associated with your Facebook account
4. Just print out your confirmation, or access it on your smartphone, and show it to your wine server!

There are many chances throughout the day to receive your complimentary glass of wine, so invite your friends to the Vineyard page. Thank you, and see you at The Vineyard Wine Bar Orlando — the hidden gem of Islesworth!

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Wine Opening Machine

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Please, keep sharing your thoughts, pics, questions, and comments with us.

We can be found here [click on the following]:

• Facebook
• Google+
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Pinterest – This one is a new account and so much fun! Pinterest is the newest social network where we can be found joyously proclaiming our love for all things wine!

…and of course, at the Vineyard Wine Bar Orlando, the Hidden Gem of Islesworth! Thank you all so much for your support, and have a happy and safe 4th of July!

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Of course, if you need the red wine to put in your recipes, look through our wine cellar first.

Cabernet red wine cocktail: The Cabernet Cobbler

•  4 oz chilled Cabernet Sauvignon red wine
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp superfine sugar
• 2 oz chilled soda water

Dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice and the water in a large wine glass. Add cracked ice and pour the Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Stir gently. Garnish with an orange slice, and serve.

Serve in: White Wine Glass

Burgundy red wine cocktail: The Bishop

• juice of 1/4 lemons
• juice of 1/4 oranges
• 1 tsp powdered sugar
• Burgundy wine

Shake juice of lemon, juice of orange, and powdered sugar with ice and strain into a highball glass. Add two ice cubes, fill with burgundy, and stir well. Decorate with various fruits and serve.

Serve in: Highball Glass

Burgundy red wine cocktail: Burgundy Bubbler

• 1 oz Burgundy wine
• 4 oz ginger ale

Pour both ingredients over ice in a large wine glass. Garnish with slices of lemon, lime and orange, and serve.

Serve in: White Wine Glass

Sangria

We think sangria deserves its own report, so we’ll cover that next post!

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If you’ve got some red wine cocktail recipes to share, by all means, share it with us! We are on facebook.com/VineyardOrlando.

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Lovers of white wine

Some Tips for Choosing The Best White Wines For Health

1. Try to keep it as dry as possible. Generally, the drier it is, the less sugar it contains.  During the fermentation process, yeast converts sugars from grape juice into alcohol. When the residual sugar is less than one percent of the wine’s volume (four grams of sugar per Liter), the wine is considered dry. White wine with a residual sugar of 12 g/L is considered medium dry and those with higher levels of sugar are medium or sweet.

2. Keep in mind that fruity white wines can also be dry. But if they are particularly sweet, they may be fused with fruit or have added sugar. Many sparkling white wines are generally on the side of high calories and sugar as well, though not always.

Dry Whites To Peruse

Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Muscadet,  and Albarino are very dry white wines.

 We’ve got a huge selection of super-fruity, super-crisp whites at the Vineyard. 

Pinot Blanc, Viognier, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris, Brut champagne, and some Riesling are medium-dry white wines.

Looking for an adventure in dry white wine? Try a glass of our Kung Fu Girl Riesling. 

Remember: There’s nothing like your local wine bar staff to introduce you to some of the best dry white wines out there. Come on over. To your health!

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Sangria

Don’t forget to look through our wine cellar for beautiful red wines and white wines to use in your sangria recipe.

Basic Red Wine Sangria Recipe

• 1 bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja reds, Zinfandel, Shiraz)
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• 1 orange cut into wedges
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 shot brandy
• 2 Cups ginger ale or club soda

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon and orange into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar and brandy. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving.

If you’d like to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice.

You might also want to try: sliced strawberries, peaches, handful of fresh blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, a shot or two of gin, brandy or rum, a cup of ginger ale, citrus soda pop or lime juice.

Red Wine Sangria by Bobby Flay

• 2 bottles red Spanish table wine
• 1 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup triple sec
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup simple syrup, or more to taste (equal parts sugar and water, heated until sugar dissolves, cooled)
• Orange slices
• Apple slices
• Blackberries
• Pomegranate seeds

Mix all ingredients together and let stand in a tightly sealed container or pitcher for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

White Wine Sangria

• 1 bottle of white wine (Riesling, Albarino, Chablis, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 3 oranges (sliced) or may substitute 1 cup of orange juice)
• 1 lemon (sliced)
• 1 lime (sliced)
• 2 oz. brandy (optional)
• 1/2 liter of club soda — or ginger ale for something a little sweeter

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the orange, lemon, and lime into the wine. Add brandy if desired. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving.

If you’d like to serve right away, use chilled white wine and serve over lots of ice.

You might also want to try: sliced strawberries, peaches, handful of fresh blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, a shot or two of gin, brandy or rum, a cup of citrus-flavored soda pop.

Sangria Recipe Spin-Off Ideas

• Citrus sangria
• Very berry sangria
• Peaches sangria (great made with white wine)
• Sparkling wine sangria

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Come see Jimi Pappas Live at The Vineyard Friday June 15th.

Jimi Pappas –Singer/Songwriter/Drummer/Guitarist. Hails from Orlando Florida. As a solo acoustic performer, Jimi’s live sets bring you from the Beatles to Buffett. Known for his soulful renditions of James Taylor’s songs, Jimi also picks classic rock gems and gives them an acoustic mellow treatment. Read more about Jimi at http://jimipappas.com

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