There you are standing in awe in a vineyard on a hillside in Piedmont’s Barolo wine country in northwest Italy. Series of gentle green hills, covered in vineyards, hazelnut trees, forests and fields, some topped with little towns and medieval castles, fall at all angles as far as you can see. A magnificent, poetic landscape!

THE LAND

This fertile land with rich, clay soil gives us some of Italy’s top red wines, Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as aromatic white truffles, delectable mushrooms, luscious cherries, peaches and peppers and hazelnuts.

The Barolo wine country with nine towns and the Barbaresco wine country with three towns are about 20-30 minutes apart by car, so it’s easy to drive to the wine towns. The hub town of Alba, famous for its white truffle fair and Ferrero chocolate factory, sits between the two regions.

THE WINES

Unlike Tuscany, this region has a good range of red wines and grapes. At the top end at the same level as Tuscany’s Brunello, you find Barolo and Barbaresco made of Nebbiolo grapes.

In the middle range, you’ll enjoy Barbera, Nebbiolo, Grignolino and Brachetto, of grapes of the same names. If you ask wine makers what wine they drink every day, they’ll say Dolcetto, a younger, fruitier wine of Dolcetto grapes.

White wines include Favorita, Cortese, Chardonnay and Arneis from the nearby Roero region. Sweet Moscato d’Asti and Asti Spumante go well with desserts like hazelnut and chocolate cake topped with Zabaglione sauce with Moscato in it.

Barolo Chinato, Barolo wine with herbs added, and grappa make interesting “digestive” drinks after dinner.

WARM WINERY OWNERS: FOUR TALES

What I’ve always loved most about this region is the people. Some may strike you as reserved at first, but under this thin veneer you’ll often find warm, funny, hospitable hosts, especially at the wineries.

1. Massimo at Renato Ratti Winery: Humour

My favorite winery visit is with Massimo Martinelli, one of the family owners of the Renato Ratti winery near La Morra. Looking at Massimo, a down to earth guy with a delightful sense of humor, you’d never know he’s one of the Barolo wine country personalities and an author.

One day we were tasting some of his Barolo wine. Someone asked him, “How long should we age this wine?” His face lit up with a big smile, “Ha! When in doubt, just drink it!” We all had to laugh!”

Before our tasting with Massimo, he takes us through the Ratti family’s private wine museum, housed in an abbey where monks began making wine in 1162.

Downstairs, we’re surrounded by old chestnut tree wine barrels, wine presses, simple, hand made snow shoes and other items from long ago. There Massimo shows us the different soils in the Barolo valley’s and grape varieties, vineyard workers’ lunch barrels and more. In other rooms we see and discuss corks, bottles and labels over the years.

Upstairs in the old abbey kitchen we see portraits of three important people from the 1840s, the Marchesa of Barolo whose wine maker from her native Burgundy improved the Barolo wines, her husband, the Marchese and their friend, King Carlo Alberto. The Marchesa promoted the wines all over the courts of Europe. Ladies in the 1840s didn’t do that kind of thing!

2. Elio Altare Winery: Inspiration

Near La Morra, we also visit the Elio Altare winery with one of his daughters, Elena or Silvia. After our tour around the cellars, we sit around a table near big picture windows with views over the vineyards. Our conversation starts with the wines and progresses to our stories about life. Elena tells us an inspiring story about her father, Elio.

Elio’s father believed wine was best aged in large barrels but Elio thought smaller barrique barrels worked better. His dad was adamant on large barrels, so in secret Elio put wine in smaller barrels.

When his dad found out, he was so enraged he cut Elio out of his will. No family vineyards for Elio! Years later Elio bought back those same vineyards, and became a mentor and leader among Barolo wine makers.

3. Roberto Voerzio Winery: Red Carpet Hospitality

If you’re passionate and knowledgeable about Barolo wines, let the wineries know. They’ll roll out the red carpet for you. They love visitors who truly appreciate their wines.

For example, we took a group of men from a wine club in Atlanta on a custom wine tour. They’d been drinking Piedmont wines for years, knew the wines inside out and asked to visit their favorite wineries. They were only mildly interested in the usual cellar tours. They’d come all that way to meet their heroes, their favorite wine makers!

Their Hero Number One is Roberto Voerzio at his winery of the same name in La Morra. After a short tour of Roberto’s winery cellars with a knowledgeable staff member, Roberto appeared to say hello.

I told him, “These men meet at their wine club in Atlanta every Saturday and were drinking your wines long before you became famous. You’re their Hero Number One.” He dropped everything, brought out great wines he seldom gives to visitors, talked with them for two hours and gave them two magnums of good Barolo as a gift. Talk about hospitality and good public relations!

4. Ca Nova Winery in Barbaresco: Down Home Hospitality

Hospitality isn’t confined just to the wine aficionados or famous wineries. In the Barbaresco wine country, we take our groups to visit a small, down to earth, family run winery, Ca Nova. The owner, Pietro is a quiet, reserved man who makes good Barbaresco wines but is too modest to say he’s sold his wines to the Vatican.

After our short visit in the cellars where men were cleaning up after the grape harvest, we all sat around a long wooden table in a cozy room with a fireplace to taste his wines. We tasted a Dolcetto and two Barbaresco wines with Pietro telling us interesting details about each one.

At the end, the tour group decided to buy three bottles. When I told him they’d been friends for 20 years and were going to drink his wines in a picnic, he smiled, “Oh, long time friends sharing my wines in a picnic. Consider them a gift from me.”

HOW TO VISIT: THREE TIPS

If you’re travelling on your own, renting a car is essential. Most wineries are in small towns or in the countryside.

The tourist office in Alba has a brochure with a good list of wineries who accept visitors. The langheroero.it web site also has a good list of wineries.

Wineries, big or small, have few staff members, so reservations are a must.

Some larger ones like Fontanafredda charge 5 or 10 Euros per person, depending on how many wines you taste. Others charge you only if you don’t buy a bottle there. Others don’t charge you in any case, but if you like their wines, it would be a nice gesture to buy a bottle from them.

WHEN TO GO

Winery staffs have more time to spend with you in the spring when it’s quieter. In September and October harvest time, they welcome you warmly but may have less time to sit back and talk with you. Summer months of June and July work well if you don’t mind temperatures in the 30s C or 90s F. In August most Italians escape to the mountains or beaches for their annual holiday, so you may find fewer people in the towns and wineries.

Enjoy the fine wines and warm hospitality at the wineries in Piedmont’s magnificent Barolo and Barbaresco wine regions!

Margaret Cowan of Vancouver, BC owns a tour company, Mama Margaret Italian Cooking Holidays at .italycookingschools.com

They ran their first Italian cooking and wine tour in 1995 in Piedmont and now offer tours throughout Italy.

Article Source: California Wine Articles | Free Wine Article Content

There are some basic rules that will help you get the right combination of foods paired with wines. Yes, there are wines that will improve the quality of your dining experience when the right combination of food is pair appropriately with the right choice in wine. When you get it right, the right combination can make your meal immensely enjoyable while the wrong combination can ruin your dinning experience. However, the number one rule for choosing the right wine and food pairing is to choose the wine that you prefer.

These four questions will help you choose the right wine.

When you are considering which wine to order for your meal, keep in mind the following four questions. (1) What is the main dish? Is it fish, chicken or beef? (2) How will it be cooked? Will it be grilled, baked, lightly fried, or pan-fried? (3) Is the main dish accompanied by a sauce and if so, what kind of sauce and what are its flavors? (4) Will there be any side dishes and how will their flavors impact your wine choice? There are many different types of wine choices available today, so the basic wine rules may not always apply, but generally speaking these rules remain for the most part, still accurate for helping you make the right wine choice: white wines with poultry and fish, and red wines with beef.

When choosing your wines “think wine power”.

Generally speaking, red wines will work best with dishes that are rich, heavy and have a big flavor. When choosing a beef dish, you should consider the powerful strength of beef and choose a wine that has equal power. This rule also is effective for dishes that are served in rich, thick, heavy, full-of-herbs types of sauces. The reason why red wines and beef goes well together is that red wines contains tannins which mixes with proteins, allowing the flavors to blend well together. White wines do not contain tannins and therefore generally do not work well with red meats.

White wines works best with light foods, such as chicken, turkey or fish. Color and the aromatic smells of the flavors influence taste buds and wines that are lighter, such as white wines, will complement the meal and not overpower the flavors of the foods. Even in light types of foods, the type of sauce that is paired with the dish can influence the taste of the wine with the food. This changes the definition of light, and now that dish might be better paired with a red wine or Rose or a wine that has a bit more spice.

You need more than one wine, with a multiple course meal.

When you are having a multiple course meal, you should have more than one wine choice. To make one wine work for an multiple course meal would be difficult because of the multiple of flavors. If possible, choose a wine that is appropriate for the appetizer or first course, and then change the wine for the main dish, and then change the wine again for the dessert choice.

Start off with a lighter wine (usually white, or light tasting wines) and then move to the more full-bodied types of wine (red wines and burgundy’s) and then move to the dessert wines (ports & muscats.) Wines that have low acid can often be overwhelmed even with foods that are light in taste. Acidic wines that you would not drink alone can be quite wonderful when paired with the right food choice. The following examples of going from light to more full-bodied wines are: White Zinfandel, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewrztraminer and Chardonnay. In the red wines, go from the lighter tasting red wines to red wines that are more full-bodied: Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

You can’t go wrong, when you choose a wine that you know you like.

The four questions guideline will help you to pair the right wine with your meal selection. Until you feel comfortable in making those wine choices for yourself, ask your server to suggest a wine for you. Be sure and tell them the type of wine you prefer, so they can keep that in mind before coming up with their recommendations. They should be able to provide you with three to four appropriate wine recommendations in varying price ranges that should work well with your meal. If you get a bottle or a glass of wine that you don’t like, then feel comfortable in sending it back and requesting a new bottle or a new wine pour. Of all the wines rules to follow when it comes to wine and food pairing, the number one rule to remember, is to always choose the wine that you like.

Article Source: Articlesbase

About the Author:

The Backyard Wine Enthusiast is a wine lover and traveler who have sampled great wines worldwide and is the owner and writer for http://www.thewineofthemonth.com which has a complete selection of fine wines, wine accessories, and wine gifts. The online wine store provides a convenient one-stop shop for red and white wines, sparkling wines, wine of the month club recommendations, and great advice and tips on wine.

Acetic: This is what happens when the wine is exposed to air. It develops a vinegary taste or smell.

Acidity: All wines contain some level of acid. The acid level needs to be in a proper balance with the other components and fruits in the wine so that you should be able to taste the crispiness and liveliness of the wine. This acidity is also vital in the aging process of the wine.

Aftertaste: This is the impression of flavor that you will get once you have swallowed the wine. It is also called the “finish” of a wine.

Aroma: The smell of wines, especially that of young wines.

Aromatic: This is a term that this used for wines that have a distinct aroma, especially those with herbs and spices in them.

Astringent: This term is used when the tannin level in the wine dries out the mouth.

Austere: A somewhat hard tasting wine, where the character and fruitiness have been restrained.

Big: A full bodied powerful in aroma wine.

Bitter: This is usually considered as a fault bit it is also a characteristic of certain Italian wines.

Body: The weight and texture that is found in wines. You can describe a wine as light bodied or full bodied.

Bouquet: The intermingling of aromas that fine aged wines produce.

Breed: This is the term that is referred to as the bloodlines of the wine grapes. It is also used when noting the soil, the grapes and the techniques that are used to produce a good quality wine.

Chewy: This term is used to describe wines that have an unusual thick texture to the wine. It feels like you need to chew the wine before you swallow it.

Clean: Fresh wines that seem to have no defects. This term also refers to the aroma, appearance and flavor of the wines.

Complete: A mature wine that has a satisfying feel and a great aftertaste on the palette.

Complex: This is where you will find a combination of flavors and aroma elements in various types of wines.

Corked, corky: The wines smell like cork rather than wine. This is because it was bottled in correctly.

Deep: A wine that has many layers of taste that slowly reveals itself.

Delicate: A light fragrance, body and flavor in the wine.

Distinctive: An elegant and refined character in the wine that sets it apart.

Dry: There is a little amount of sugar in the wine.

Earthy: You can detect this in certain wines. The smell and flavor is bit like the earth or soil.

Elegant: A refined charactered wine. This is usually to describe a stylish and quality wine.

Extra dry: You can find this term on champagne bottles as they describe the wine.

Fat: A wine that is full of flavor and body.

Fine: A distinguished wine.

Flat: A wine that is lacking in liveliness. Also a wine with an insufficient amount of acid.

Flavor: Describing how the wine tastes.

Full: Describes a wine that has a rich body.

Green: A tart wine that is made from unripe grapes. Also has a lack of fruit flavoring.

Grip: Firmness of structure and flavor.

Hard: Stiff and undeveloped.

Heady: High in alcohol and very full bodied.

Herbaceous: Aromas that are reminiscent of fresh grass or hay. It can also be a characteristic of some wines like Cabernets.

Honeyed: You will find a taste or smell that is like honey.

Intricate: The interweaving of subtle flavors and aromas within a wine.

Legs: The rivulets of wine that you see running down the sides of the glass after swirling or sipping the wine.

Length: The lingering aftertaste that you get from a wine.

Light: This refers to wines that are light in alcohol, weight and texture. The feeling that you get in the mouth when you drink the wine is also described as light.

Lively: A fresh wine that has vitality and crispness.

Mature: A fully developed, ready to drink wine.

Meaty: This is a wine that is firm in structure with a chewy, fruity taste.

Mellow: A smooth, soft wine that has no harsh characteristics.

Noble: Wines that have a great balance and a harmonious expression. The wines that are made from these types of grapes are considered as the finest wines in the world. You can find Merlot and Cabernet among this lot.

Nose: The smell that comes from the wine. You can get “good nose” or a “bad nose”. A term used to detect faults in the wine.

Nutty: A nutlike aroma that develops in some wines.

Oak, oaky: This is the flavor and aroma that comes from aging the wine in oak casks or barrels. The taste is a mixture of vanilla, spices, smokiness and cloves.

Open: You can get the full character from the wine.

Oxidized: Flat, stale wines. Wines that have a sherry like and flavor and aroma. The state where wines becomes spoiled due to exposure to air.

Petillant: A light sparkle that can be seen in the wines.

Rich: A full, opulent wine with good body and aroma.

Ripe: Mature, fully ripe fruit.

Robust: A powerful, full bodied and heady wine.

Sharp: Biting or acidic.

Smoky: The aroma and flavor that a wine can get from being aged in an oak barrel or casket.

Sparkling: This is used where there are bubbles that are detectedable in the wine.

Spicy: A wine that has the characteristics of spices like cloves, mint, pepper and cinnamon.

Structure: The way that a wine in made with regard to its proportions and composition.

Supple: A wine that is yielding in flavor and is ready to drink.

Sweet: This usually indicates the presence of grape sugar that have not been completely converted to alcohol.

Tannin: This is a natural substance that is found in the skins, stems and seeds of certain grapes. This substance is also a major component in the structure of red wines.

Tart: A sharp wine that is acceptable to drink if it is not acidic.

Thin: Lacking in body and flavor.

Tired: Where a wine is past its peak flavor development. Old.

Vanilla: You will get this scent from the aging process of oak caskets.

Velvety: Smooth and very rich in texture.

Vigorous: A wine with a firm, strong body and flavor and a lively fruitiness.

Vinegary: Having the smell of vinegar.

Watery: Thin and lacking in any flavor.

Weedy: You will get the flavors and aromas of grass or hay. This scent becomes unpleasant only in excessive amounts.

Weighty: Forceful, strong, full bodied and powerful – terms to describe wines.

Woody: The aroma that comes when wine has been over aged in barrels or casks.

Yeasty: A bread smell that can be sometimes found in wines that have gone through a secondary fermentation process like champagne. Can be appealing if it is not excessive.

Young: Simple fine wines that have yet to become mature. Still undeveloped.

Article Source: Articlesbase

About the Author:

Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has been researching and reporting on internet marketing for years. For more information on Wine Terms, visit his site at WINE TERMS.

Photo by Adam Brokes

O.K., O.K., so you want to “hold your own” vs your wine snob friends when it comes to evaluating wine. Trust me, evaluating wine is not the “rocket science” that some of your connoisseur buddies would lead you to believe. However, learning some basic terminology and understanding wine characteristics will help you in knowing how to describe the wines you drink.

Let’s start with appearance, color, aroma and bouquet. Wine should not appear dull or murky. Nor, should it be cloudy. A clear wine should not be flashing with light reflections.When it comes to colors, white wine should have shades of yellow, gold or straw.Beaware of white wines with an amber tone, as this is an indicator ofoxidation. A Rose can be a true pink, although sometimes it is accented with deeper reds or oranges. Stay away from brown tints of amber or violet.The variety of grapes used determines the color of red wines. Cabernet and Merlot may be deep red. Younger wines typically have purple edges, while mature wines will have bronze accents.

The term aroma applies to younger wines. This is simple, what does the wine smell like? Typically, you’ll detect fruit and grape odors. It may take some practice for you to detect subtle differences. As a wine matures, it develops a fragrance when it comes in contact with the air. This fragrance is called the wine’s bouquet.

If your wine smells almost like vinegar, it ranks very low in volatile acidity. When you swish wine around in your mouth and it is refreshing, almost giving you a little “zing,”the total acidity is probably just right. A wine with a flat, almost “soapy” flavor is too low in acidity. Sharp, or sour tasting wines are generally too high in acidity.

Some wines are supposed to be sweet, other wines are supposed to be dry. If the wine you are evaluating has a sweetness to it when it should be dry, watch out! And of course, if the wine is dry when it should be sweet, be equally concerned. These are indicators that the wine’s sugar content is unsatisfactory. The term “flavor” has to do with how well the taste and the aroma of the wine work together.

The “body” of a wine is probably the most subjective term used in evaluating wine. Words like “density,” “richness,”fullness,” etc. are all used to describe a wine’s body. The type and age of the wine will largely influence the description of it’s body. Light, dry wines will typically have a lighter body, while Burgundies and young Zinandels will be more full bodied. As some wines mature, they may transition from full bodied to softer bodied. The only way to determine what “body” means to you is to taste many wines.

Aftertaste is a term that describes the taste of the wine in your mouth after you swallow it. Quality, mature wines have a lingering, clean, smooth aftertaste. Young wines typically are high in acidity due to excess tannin, and can leave an undesirable aftertaste.
So, now you’re equipped with some basic terminology used in evaluating wine. However, when all is said and “tasted”, the key point in evaluating wine is simply whether or not you enjoyed it!

Article Source: Articlesbase

About the Author:

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If you have a growing collection of wine, it may be time to consider constructing a wine cellar. Some time ago the custom wine cellar was a rarity; today more and more wine lovers are learning about wine cellar construction or contracting the work out to those who know how to do the job correctly.

Wine cellar rooms are more than a dark, cool place to hold an assortment of wine bottles. Today’s custom wine cellar is a controlled environment where humidity and temperature are regulated to allow wine to correctly age without harm to corks, labels or the wine itself.

There are two styles of wine cellars. One is a room that has been particularly constructed to store wine in the perfect environment and the other is a stand-alone unit that mirrors those conditions. A stand-alone wine cellar is not as valuable as a custom-built version, but some people desire the aesthetics of a small cooled refrigerator over a custom wine cellar. Those who do choose a custom cellar have three simple considerations for proper design.

Temperature Control and Venting

A wine cellar room is used to hold and age the wine in the bottle rather than keeping it at a serving temperature. (A stand-alone wine fridge is excellent for bringing wine out of the cellar to store at serving temperatures.) Aging wine is a balance of time, temperature and the chemical reactions that occur as an outcome of the two.

Wine should be aged in conditions ranging between 55 and 65 percent humidity and a solid 55 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take one degree. Wine stored at higher temperatures will age quicker and wine experiences chemical reactions at higher temperatures that devalue the flavor over time.

In some areas of the country, homeowners with basements often find that conditions are right for basic wine storage, but seasonal temperature and humidity variations should be avoided. The best storage solution is a custom-built or DIY-construction wine cellar with climate and humidity control using a wine cellar cooling component to maintain the temperature at a stable 55 degrees.

These units come in a variety of sizes and the dimensions of your wine cellar will control what size you need to purchase. In no way select a wine cooling system too small for your room; you most likely will never get an accurate, optimal storage temperature and the cooling unit will become overtaxed trying to keep up.

Wine cooling units demand proper venting, and your wine cellar construction job requires either a hole in the wall to permit venting outdoors or enough vent space to move warm air out of the room. Check the specs of your wine cooling unit; most require a venting space at least two times as large as the wine cellar space itself.

Electrical power is also an issue. Custom wine cellar builders recommend a devoted power source to run a wine cooling unit. Those who want to use a shared power source frequently find the system overloading with blown fuses and other electrical issues.

Insulation and Vapor Barriers

The wine cooling unit is only part of your climate control plan for a custom wine cellar; you also need a vapor barrier made of plastic sheeting used on the “hot” side of the wall. Some people cover the interior of the wine cellar previous to placing the insulation, leaving the plastic loose so that insulation can be positioned between the studs in the wall. Wrap the ceiling and the walls, or your vapor barrier will be incomplete. After the barrier is installed, the insulation will come next.

Good wine cellar construction requires the right kind of insulation for your walls and ceiling. For example, if you are building a 2×6 wall, R19 insulation is recommended, but if you have a smaller wall of 2×4, R13 may be your best bet. (The “R” designation represents the heat resistance of the insulation.) Ceilings need R30. Custom wine cellar builders should never set up the insulation loose without packing the material into the sections, as this lessens the insulation’s effectiveness.

The next step is to install a kind of drywall called green board, which is moisture-resistant, making it a bit more expensive than normal drywall. Install an exterior-grade door to the wine cellar and your climate control plan is finished.

Lighting and UV Exposure Control

Wine is destroyed by UV exposure, which is why the bottles are usually made out of dark glass. Avoid putting in fluorescent bulbs in the wine cellar room, as they give off UV radiation. Control the brightness by using recessed lighting on a dimmer and avoid shining light directly on your wine bottles for long periods of time. Some wine racks are constructed with compartments that hide bottles from the light which can help reduce exposure, but if your bottles are stowed in clear view, try to avoid the “spotlight” effect on your bottles.

Other Concerns

Just about any kind of flooring can be used in your custom wine cellar. If your home is big enough for a tasting room to complement your cellar, you may want to give them both a matching look, but by no means use carpet and rugs in the cellar area. They simply can’t hold up to the required humidity levels without giving away to mold. Mold growth will spoil your wine, as can any powerful odor from chemicals or cheeses. A wine cellar should be used only to hold wine; store food in a separate area.

At all times check the temperature and humidity in your wine cellar with an external sensor or gauge. Never assume that the wine cooling component will always function properly. A quick look at the external gauge can offer you early warning if the wine cooling system is having difficulties, or if the unit is showing a wrong readout because of a bad sensor or other technical problems.

Making a custom wine room may ask for some attention to the design demands of good wine storage, but once correctly built, you may realize that your collection grows rapidly; it’s simple to invest more money in wine when you know it will be held securely for maximum delight.

Article Source: Articlesbase

About the Author:

Ben Adams is the marketing director for Vigilant, Inc. a luxury goods manufacturer in Dover, NH. Vigilant is a premier manufacturer of wine cellars, wine racks and wine cellar doors as well as cigar storage equipment. Vigilant partners with homeowners and businesses to create wine storage spaces to fulfill the need for complete and precise protection for collections of fine wine. Please visit them at www.vigilantinc.com for additional information or to learn about any of their wine storage or cigar storage products.

If up and coming winemakers, a fantastic range of wines and great value are your thing, look no further - Chilean wine is for you.

Great Value Wines

Following in the footsteps of the Australians who made their mark on the sub £5 market, Chilean wine production has shot through the roof in recent years. So if you are looking to spend around £5 on a bottle of wine, you’ll find a selection of very drinkable bottles of Chilean wine to choose from.

Designer Wines

But it’s not all about wines at the lower end of the market. Thanks to several copper billionaires investing in wineries, you’ll also find several pretty decent tasting bottles of Chilean wine at the higher end of the scale. Many top-end French Chateaux and other old world producers have invested heavily in Chile too, and are producing excellent Chilean fine wines. Domaine Barons de Rothschild-Lafite, one of the big French makers, produces the exceptional Vina Los Vascos in Chile. Not only are they exempt from complex French wine laws when they make wine in Chile (meaning they have free reign over the production techniques), but the climate, soil, and fact that Chile is virtually Phylloxera free, makes it the ideal place to experiment and really push the boundaries of wine making.

Variety

Due to the diversity of Chile’s landscape and climate, a bottle of Chilean wine will taste vastly different depending on whereabouts in the country it is produced. So whether it’s a fresh, fruity Chardonnay, a searing, pure Sauvignon Blanc, a juicy, ripe Cabernet Sauvignon or one of the smoothest, finest bottles of Merlot that you’ve ever tasted, you can be sure that you won’t get bored when it comes to tasting Chilean wine.

Carmenere

If you fancy tasting something a little different, try a bottle of Carmenere. Carmenere used to be grown in France but it was ravaged by disease and generally thought to have become extinct. In the 1990’s, a professor from Montpellier realised that about 50% of what people thought was Chilean Merlot was, in fact, Carmenere and it had been imported to Chile before the outbreak of phylloxera wiped out the European stocks. Rather than hiding quietly in the background, pretending to be Merlot, the wonderful grape growing conditions in Chile has allowed it to express the best of its characteristics and reveal itself. Carmenere is fast developing into Chile’s signature grape and is often described as a cross between the two great heavyweights Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It can vary between being smooth and fruity, and being a dark smoky mouthful. Chilean Carmenere is also great with a variety of foods. Try the lighter styles with pork and roasted vegetables, whilst the heavier numbers go wonderfully with richer darker meats.

Article Source: Articlesbase

About the Author:

Louise Truswell works in and writes about the wine industry.To find out more and to choose from a range of Chilean wine, visit www.virginwines.com

Rioja is a wine that comes from a specific region in Spain. Probably best known for the red wines that are produced in the region there are also white riojas and rase or rosado riojas too. It is in fact a region tht has something to suit every palate. In this article I will try and decipher some of the differences so that you know which wine to look out for when buying wine online.

The rioja region is one of the oldest wine growing regions dating back to 1102. Despite Spain being ruled over by Muslims in its infancy the Spanish have always managed to grow vines – it is said that they told the Musilm armies that they were growing them to dry and serve to the troops as raisins to keep their strength up!

The region that grows the grapes to be made into Rioja wine is in the regions of Rioja, Navarre and part of the Basque. The wine growing region is further divided into three sections – Rioja Alaves, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja. Alta is the the highest part of the region with the shortest growing season. These wines are lighter wines with a less mature fruit flavour which are ideal for having a bite of tapas with at a lunchtime. They are not so strong so even go with seafood and tomato dishes.

The second part of the region is the Rioja Alavesa which produces heavier wines with a fuller body and deeper flavour. These are more suited to eating with meats and the wonderful Serrano de Jamon which is as much part of the Spanish culture as the Rioja is.

The third wine growing sector of Rioja is the Rioja Baja – this region has a completely different climate from the other two and the wines that are produced from this region are more alcoholic and richer than the previous regions. They are definitely dinner wines – essential with rich Spanish food – their flavors can work with spicy food too making them wines that would be good with game and other strong meats.

The majority of red wine Rioja is produced from Tempranillo grapes. These are sometimes blended with a Garnacha Tinta or Marzuelo grape to add body and aroma to the finished product.

White wine Rioja and Rose Rioja are also produced from this region – they are less familiar to wine lovers but have produced a few classics among them. They are summer drinks and good for outdoor parties.

Article Source: Articlesbase

About the Author:

Fiona Muller has been writing for over 20 years. She is a qualified journalist and has worked in food and drink writing for the last few years. For more information on Rioja the region and lots of different types of Rioja wines go to - http://www.laithwaites.co.uk/browsearticles~Filter~Country:country,ES|SuperRegion:superregion,17~results_per_page~.aspx

0: carbohydrates in a glass of wine

Let’s face it you can get anything and everything on-line now, from beans to Bentleys, Yorkies to Yachts. The power of the internet has enabled more and more companies to sell their wares to a wider audience, enabling consumers to hunt for the best bargains in the comfort of their own home and bringing a whole new meaning to scouring the shelves.

And let’s face it, everyone loves a bargain. Who doesn’t like finding the best possible price for something and then bragging about it to our friends, family, random people we meet in the street! Through the many millions of web sites we can now all access, you would be hard pushed not to find some great on-line deals for not just your luxury purchases, but your everyday household items too.

The introduction of comparison web-sites has helped us in our quest to become the best bargain hunters in town. And now these sites go beyond the well known financial and travel deals, they also exist to help us search for the lowest prices for our basic life provisions – food and drink.

Take for instance buying your favorite tipple - whether it be searching for a single bottle of scotch to take the edge of a hard day, or looking for a great online wine deal to help you supply a forthcoming party. Whatever the occasion you might opt for keeping your eye out for savings when doing your weekly shop, pop on line for a few hours to trawl through various supermarket web sites, or hope that on the odd occasion you do pop in to the off licence, your preferred bottle of booze might be on special offer.

Whichever fact finding path you choose, it is inevitable that at the time of your search you will never always be as well informed as you could be to take advantage of the very best deals out there. Enter the market for a price comparison web site which presents the best on-line wine deals on the market.

Such sites, which list a whole host of different wine deals found from a variety of different retail outlets, not only stop you having to return dismayed and empty handed from a ‘booze cruise’ to your local supermarket, but in many cases also give you god like advice on which you can base your deal decisions and ensure what you purchase will hopefully delight and not destroy your taste buds.

Take Winescout.co.uk for instance, set up to help consumers find on-line wine deals that will put a smile on their faces and keep some cash in their pockets. WineScout searches 100’s of retailers wine deals every week, from the biggest to the very small, weeding out the deals that are too good to be true (with wine that is truly undrinkable no matter how cheap it is) and finding the wines that really are great value.

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About the Author:

Malcolm smith has been in the food and drink industry for years and writing about wine and wine deals for over a decade. So if you want to find great on-line wine deals that leave your pallet pleased and your wallet still wedged, check out www.winescout.co.uk

Like all quality wine-making countries, Argentina proudly shows its emblem cepage: the Malbec, a French varietal that arrived at our lands towards the end of the XIX century to adopt them as its terroir.

It was the Argentine enologists´ commitment, trust and inspiration that over more than a century have allowed us to enjoy these wines, admired by experts, thanks to its originality, personality and character.

Unlike dense and dark wines made in their countries of origin, Argentine Malbec gives rise to an intense purplish color, with a violet, red and black fruit bouquet, with soft tannins, which bottle-ageing turns into a caress to your palate.

According to the specialist Robert Parker Jr, Argentine Malbec will soon take up a preponderant place among the noblest wines in the world.

Converted into the Argentine viticulture cover letter abroad, it is the variety with most vineyards´ hectares in the country, from the North to the Patagonia.

The Lujan de Cuyo and Uco Valley vineyards, in Mendoza province, are considered the cradle of the most outstanding Argentine Malbec exemplars. Yet, those made in other regions should not go unnoticed, such as Salta, San Juan, Rio Negro and Neuquén, where clear quality exponents of these grape varieties have become widely known. Each region gives Malbec its unique and special characteristics, which become delicious terroir wines together with a rare aromatic spectrum in reds.

An ageing, youthful Argentine Malbec, fortified or sparkling wine is a highly recommended gift for those who visit the country.

HIGHLIGHTS

The good maturity reached by the Argentine Malbec, makes it possible to taste it without the need for a long ageing period. However, those which receive oak ageing are ideal for further bottled ageing, in which they develop an intense bouquet.

Article Source: Articlesbase