Zinfandel Wine Information Blog

9:18 PM

Tuesday September 09, 2008 - Wine Regions

A Featured Wine Regions Article

Aging Wine


Wine is a complex substance. Open a bottle of it now, and it may taste fine. Open a bottle of the same wine several years from now, and the wine becomes something else entirely. Rough edges in the flavor will have smoothed out and the overall flavor of the wine will be more balanced and mellow.

Why age wine? Well, as stated above, the many components of the wine will mellow out over time, and bring a harmonious balance to the flavor of the wine. The tannins, present in red wine, bring a bitter and astringent flavor. Given time, the tannins help to age the wine. As wine ages, the tannins precipitate out of the wine, leaving a smoother and more mellow flavor. As the wine ages, the acids will lose a bit of their bite, allowing the fruit to come out more. As the components of the wine age, they also bring more complexity to the flavor. What you end up with after several years of proper aging is a complex and balanced wine.

What wines should be aged? There are certain guidelines as to what wines should and should not be aged, but they are simply guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Most wines from California are meant to be consumed immediately, and should not be aged. Most white wines should not be aged, as they have a lower amount of tannins than red wine. It is the tannins that are present in red wine that allow the wine to age well. There are a few white wines, however that will improve with a couple of years of aging. Most wines under $25 don't need to be aged. Many French wines are meant to age and mature over several years. There are exceptions to these rules. Go into a wine shop, and ask which wines they would recommend for aging. They can recommend several good wines, along with some ideas of how long to age the wine.

How do I age wine? Proper storage is essential for a wine to age well. Cooler temperatures slow down the aging process, allowing time for the complexity of the wine to develop. The wine should be stored at a constant temperature of 50-60 degrees F. Fluctuating temperatures will cause the wine and the cork to expand and contract, loosening the cork, and exposing the wine to oxygen. The wine should be stored on it's side, so that the wine is in contact with the cork, preventing it from drying out. The storage area should be dark, and have plenty of moisture to keep the cork from drying, which may loosen it, and subject the wine to oxidation.

Once you have a proper storage area for your wine, go to your local wine shop, and get their recommendations on a good aging wine. Buy a case of wine, and then open up one of the bottles when you get home and taste it. Put the rest of the bottles in storage, and start opening them after a couple of years, and note how the flavors and the complexity of the wine have changed. A new bottle of wine may be good, but a properly aged bottle is even better.


About the Author:

Learn more about wine and wine producing regions around the world. Visit Wine Country Guide.





A synopsis on Wine Regions.

Aging Wine


Wine is a complex substance. Open a bottle of it now, and it may taste fine. Open a bottle of the same wine several years from now, and the wine becom...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Recommended Wine Regions Items

Far Niente - Napa Valley Chardonnay


The 2004 California Napa Valley Chardonnay is a texturally driven wine showing beautiful balance and wonderful aromatics. The spicy, toasty oak enhances the classic aromas of mineral and fig. The fullness and mid-palate weight of this wine beautifully complement Far Niente's characteristic melon and tropical notes. The richness of this dry white wine makes it extremely approachable now, but will reward those who age it in the bottle for the next ten years. (Subject to Availabilty) FNC04 FNC04


Price: 77.99 USD



News about Wine Regions

Introducing Foods of the World

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:36:19 PDT
WASHINGTON (Sept. 3, 2008)—National Geographic has launched Foods of the World, a new culinary destination where consumers can experience and share the world’s food and cultures online at www.NatGeoFood.com. Offering a diverse assortment of competitively priced artisan and specialty items from more than 30 countries, Foods of the World is designed as a shopping resource for consumers interested in receiving fresh, high-quality foods from around the world. While online, consumers can share recip

Price is right on factory tours (The Columbus Dispatch)

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:00:47 PDT
In these days of ever-increasing prices, it's nice to know that some fascinating attractions cost nothing. I refer, of course, to the hundreds of factories throughout the country that welcome visitors.

Alexandra lydon Chad Wine, Rebekah Woolf, Anna Worley, Nicole.

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:49:21 PDT
Alexandra lydon Chad Wine, Rebekah Woolf, Anna Worley, Nicole. Monday, September 8, 2008 Obama to demand more from Europe in Berlin speech. Hip hop artist Nas protests Fox coverage of Obama. S spokesman confirming to VOA that all the combat troops sent in last year to bolster security efforts have ended their tours of duty and left the country. By SHARA TIBKEN Southwest Airlines Co. It was worse split screen Cinnamon toast crunch commercial that at times made it seem as if Barack Obama was on

Upcoming Local Farm Tours

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:16:41 PDT
In two weeks there are two excellent opportunities to tour farms in Snohomish and Skagit counties. Since Mike will be out of town on his annual elk bow hunt I think I’m going to join in them both! Skagit Valley Harvest Tour Presented by the North Cascades Institute, this full day tour on Sunday, September 21 gives you the opportunity to meet some of the Skagit Valley’s leading small farmers and provides a behind-the-scenes look at the practices that sustain the operations of the Institute’s clos

Wine tasting makes house look better (Winston-Salem Journal)

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:10:50 PDT
Laughter and the sound of corks popping from wine bottles punctuated the annual wine tasting at the Körner's Folly in historic downtown Kernersville.

Where Is Sade: The Wait Goes On

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:29:52 PDT
Around 10 months ago I wrote a post on singer Sade. You can view that article by clicking here… TheBluesBlogger site was fairly new and I mentioned briefly that I had guitars on my wall for arts sake. They never usually come off the wall, but sometimes when I hear certain music and the mood strikes, I will tune one of them up and play along. I am not a musician and I never will be, but occasionally I do like to pretend. Sade’s music is simple yet so very soulful and inspiring that I can’t hel


Rice Wine

Labels:

AddThis Social Bookmark Button Add to Any Social Bookmark onlywire Socializer socialize it
8:10 AM

September - Wine Train

A Featured Wine Train Article

A Restaurateurs 30 Interesting Wine Facts


As owner of a winery and also a restaurant, I often get asked a lot of questions about wine and also about the wine industry in general. So here are some great wine facts for you to savour.

1. There are 20 million acres are planted to grapes worldwide.

2. Among the world's fruit crops, wine grapes rank number one in the amount of acres planted.

3 164 countries import California wines.

4. Prunes were the primary fruit crop in Napa Valley during the 1940's.

5. 30 million gallons of wine were lost in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

6. On August 19, 1873, phylloxera was first discovered in California.

7. 10,450 acres of Napa County vineyards have been replanted in the last 15 years because of phylloxera.

8. 4,450 more acres of Napa County vineyards will need replacement.

9. It takes 4 to 5 years to harvest a commercial crop from newly replanted grape vines?

10. 10,000 varieties of wine grapes exist worldwide.

11. It costs around $1 per bottle to age wine in a French oak barrel.

12. It costs around $3 per bottle to age wine in only new French oak barrels.

13. When was the first known reference to a specific wine vintage? Answer: Roman Historian Pliny the Elder rated 121 B.C. as a vintage ?of the highest excellence.?

14. How old was the wine being ?reviewed?? Answer: 200 years old! Pliny the Elder wrote the history of the Roman Empire around 70 A.D.

15. A bottle of opened wine stored in the refrigerator lasts about 6 to 16 times longer than it would if stored at room temp.

16. There are 400 oak species.

17. 20 of them are used in making oak barrels.

18. 5% percent of an oak tree is suitable for making high grade wine barrels.

19. The 1996 grape crop in Napa Valley was down 20% - 25% from normal.

20. California, New York and Florida are the top three U.S. states in terms of wine consumption.

21. 58% percentage of legal-aged Americans contacted in a Nielson phone survey drink wine.

22. 55 percentage of restaurant wine sales are red wines.

23. $2.64 is the average cost of the grapes used to produce a $20 bottle of wine?

24. Dom Perignon (1638-1715), the Benedictine Abbey (at Hautvillers) cellar master who is generally credited with ?inventing? the Champagne making process, was blind.

25. Thomas Jefferson helped stock the wine cellars of the first five U.S. presidents and was very partial to fine Bordeaux and Madeira.

26. To prevent a sparkling wine from foaming out of the glass, pour an ounce, which will settle quickly. Pouring the remainder of the serving into this starter will not foam as much.

27. Old wine almost never turns to vinegar. It spoils by oxidation.

28. In King Tut?s Egypt (around 1300 BC), the commoners drank beer and the upper class drank wine.

29. It is the VERY slow interaction of oxygen and wine that produces the changes noticed in aging wine. It is believed that wine ages more slowly in larger bottles, since there is less oxygen per volume of wine in larger bottles. Rapid oxidation, as with a leaky cork, spoils wine.

30. Before harvest, the canopy of leaves at the top of the vine is often cut away to increase exposure to the sun and speed ripening.

We hope you enjoyed these facts.

Ian Macdonald as founder and owner of Macdonalds Gourmet Burgers combines his passion and knowledge of food, wine and nutrition with savvy business tactics. He is also the MD of a corporate consulting firm that advises on strategic negotiation, dispute resolution and workplace change. Clients are mainly from top 100 corporations. For lots of free resources from their extensive website go to:
www.MacdonaldsGourmetBurgers.com



Short Review on Wine Train

A Restaurateurs 30 Interesting Wine Facts


As owner of a winery and also a restaurant, I often get asked a lot of questions about wine and also about the wine industry in general. So here are s...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Wine Train Products we recommend

Boyer-Martenot - Meursault 1er Cru


"Revealing beguiling scents of stones, flowers, and gravel, the Meursault Charmes Reserve is a medium-to-full-bodied, refined, precise, and highly-focused wine with spice, liquid mineral, and white pepper flavors. This outstanding, fresh, lively, and feminine Burgundy wine will be at its best between 2000 and 2006. The wine tasted is a special North Berkeley Imports bottling which is neither fined nor filtered." This dry white wine is a perfect gift to buy online. RP - 92 (Subject to Availabilty) BOYM98 BOYM98


Price: 85.99 USD



News about Wine Train

Review of the Saltex Show - a feeling of discontent

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:07:09 PDT
I left my home here in the Lot et Garonne at 11.25am local time via Bergerac airport en route to Southampton and just four hours later I was travelling on to Bagshot with Mike Seaton. There is a touch of irony that I should make this rather long journey in better time than some of the turf care industry professionals that were also in attendance from around the UK. Reading the comments on the Pitchcare Forum it seems that Saltex has all but run it's course with many people reluctant to travel

Monday Moronic Scam E-Mail

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:05:58 PDT
Good Day, Let me start by introducing myself. I am Mrs. Zhu Yuning, Am an accountant in the Fondazione Di Vittorio, established 1977 by the Multi-Million groups and now supported by United Nations Organization (UNO) and the European Union (EU), and conceived with the objective of human growth, educational, and community development thereby uplifting the standard of living of people. Below is the site. 1.http://www.fondazionedivittorio.it After further investigation, it was discovered th

On Deck @ Bryant Park…

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:02:30 PDT
I’ll be the first to admit that my fashion week got off to a very rough start, but thanks to a wonderful angel - everything is totally looking up. So, I have been missing in action for the last 48 hours. Running around endlessly like a chicken without it’s coop - only to stand around super trendy fashionista’s, endless “MUST HAVE” bags of all kinds, of course snobbery at it’s finest….and well Miss Tara finally found herself in the midst of the pearly tents of Bryant Park. Yesterday was all

Things that annoy V Smoothe

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:40:55 PDT
There’s some stuff that I’ve been wanting to mention, but not worth writing an entire blog about. So enjoy this little round-up of stuff on my mind. Remember the plastic bag ban? In case you forgot, here’s the story so far. In June of 2007, Councilmembers Nancy Nadel and Jean Quan introduced an ordinance (PDF) banning plastic bags in Oakland. I was opposed to the plastic bag ban for a number of reasons. The Council did not agree with my objections, and passed the ban, but implementation o

Why Wine Hampers Are The Greatest Gift

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:59:03 PDT
by Stephen James UK hampers are gifts that are normally presented in a wicker basket. The act of giving a hamper has a long tradition in Western culture and, before, was done as a giving gesture, using the hamper to deliver food and other home essentials to the deserving. The basket the gift was presented in was also purposefully chosen as it was a practical household item that could be used and reused. In recent times, UK hampers have come to be less a gift of essentials and more a gift of s


Blueberry Wine
|

Labels:

AddThis Social Bookmark Button Add to Any Social Bookmark onlywire Socializer socialize it