Food and Drink Advice and Tips

February 3, 2010

Help In Choosing The Perfect Wine For A Meal

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , — admin @ 4:53 am

Choosing a good wine can be a real nightmare, especially when you’ve got someone to impress. You’re having a dinner party – you’ve planned the menu thoroughly, dusted off your best tableware and crystal glass, and got everything prepared – except for the wine selection. There’s just too much to think about, and everyone else always seems to know so much more than you do about it. You stand there for ages looking at the endless shelves of bottles, and the more you wonder about it the harder it gets. That’s why we’ve put together a few tips for what to watch out for and how to choose the perfect wine to compliment your meal.

Firstly and most importantly, you need to match the wine to the meal you will be eating. Everyone’s opinion is different when it comes to which wine will taste good with different foods, but there are a few basic guidelines that you can follow if you’re not sure. The easiest way is to match the colour of the wine to the food, you can’t go wrong. So if you’re eating red meat go for a dark red Cabernet or Syrah. For lamb or pork dishes a medium bodied red like a Merlot will be less heavy but still has a rich flavour. Chicken and fish dishes can often be overpowered by reds so it’s best to go for a crisp white instead, such as a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. If it’s a special occasion or celebration, you might be better off with a sparkling wine, served in fancy Champagne flutes.

Once you know what kind of wine you are looking for, check where it was made. Wines from different regions will vary hugely in quality, so it pays to do a bit of research into the best regions. If you’re not sure, France is always a good bet and has been producing fine wines for hundreds of years. Italy is another good choice, and Chilean wines are very popular at the moment too, particularly the reds.

Another thing you should check is the vintage of the wines you are choosing from, or the year they were bottled. A real wine buff will know which were the good years for each region, and will buy only vintages which they know came from a particularly good crop. For the rest of us, it can seem like a lot of guesswork, but if you know a few of the basics you’ll at least be on the right track. That all wines taste better the older they are is a common misconception. It’s true that most red wines do improve with a little aging, but most wineries don’t distribute these reds for a couple of years after bottling, which gives them time to mature. This means from the minute they appear in stores they are ready to drink and will taste good. Most white or sparkling wines don’t need aging, and are good to drink straight away.

How To Store Your Wine

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 4:53 am

If you’re like me, you like your wine…a lot, and you drink it after work, with a special meal, or for a particular occasion. You probably have a couple bottles on hand with one white in the fridge and a red in the pantry, unless you are a true wine enthusiast and have a full cellar stocked. That’s what I always did but I didn’t know one thing: how to properly store my wine.

Though there is a whole world out there of wine rules and standards that many enthusiasts follow to a ‘t’, I was never one to follow their convention. I just figured knowing the simple stuff would be enough. At first, I didn’t use a Ravenscroft wine decanter or even gave a second thought to the type of wine glasses I was using. This went for how I stored my wine as well. But then, on a lark, I thought I would try storing my bottles the way you are supposed to, and believe or not, the taste improved dramatically, so even if you aren’t overly consumed by the latest wine rules, consider this one on wine storage a staple.

Temperature: First off, no matter what type of wine you have on hand, it should always be stored in a cool setting-yes! This is why wine enthusiast have wine cellars, for optimal taste! While the best tempurature for wine varies slightly, 55 degrees is a good target.  Too much warmer than this temperature, and you will find a much more acidic taste to your wine-one that you won’t enjoy. Try to keep your wine at a constant temperature, as this change will dramatically change the taste of your wine.

Light: Make sure if you want your wine to retain its original full flavor, that you store it in a place where not a lot of light can get at it. Wine that sits in the sunlight for long periods of time will prematurly age your wine in a bad way.

Humidity: Another key consideration when it comes to optimal wine storage is making sure that the humidity levels are just right. Overall, It should be more humid than not in order to keep the wine corks from shrinking. Air will oxidize your wine, so make sure you don’t get cork shrinkage. So, what the right humidity level for storing wine? Between 65-75%. So it only makes sense that basements and cellars are perfect for wine storage.

Sideways: So many wine racks and cellars hold their wine bottles sideways instead of upright, this may seem a strange one to some, but it’s worked for thousands of years? Yes. It is because in order to ensure that the cork is protected from shrinking, it needs to stay moist. This said, keeping a bottle of wine on its side, keeps the wine in constant contact with the cork, thereby keeping it moist.

Travel: When traveling with your wine, you know, to a party or to a BYOB resaurant be sure to use a wine bottle carrier.  This will help keep your wine at the right temperature and keep it protected from bouncing around.

January 31, 2010

Wine Blending Now Has a Heart In Australasia

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , — admin @ 10:03 pm

Australia has produced some very popular wines over the years and has a climate conducive to producing bottles considered some of the best in the world. However, Fiji and New Zealand have also come onto the scene in recent years and has increased their market share largely as a result of their flexible wine producing policies.

In the news recently was the high-profile contentious issue of wine producers being able to mix together red and white wine, and call the end product rosé. The traditional method of producing rosé wine involved taking the red grape skins out of the juice mixture early on in the process so that only a little of the colour ends up in the final product. However, spurred on by the squeeze of the global recession on wine produces, a number of countries passed a law saying that producers could now sell blended wine (white will a dash of red) under the label of rosé.

Countries such as France, widely considered the finest wine producing country in the world, were not best pleased with this “mutilation” of rosé wine and did not agree for it to be sold in their country, or even be given as wine gifts. However, some countries, including those surrounding Australia have allowed the wine to be produced, and it is certainly paving dividends for their wine producers. A spokesman from the New Zealand alcohol authority defended his country’s move by stating that people are free to consume whichever wine they wish. The companies that produce this blended form of rosé wine do not use any trickery to try and sell it as the traditionally made variety, and there are clear differences in the pricing. The spokesman argued that if people can make milk chocolate in a thousand different ways, why can the same not be done for rosé?

Many of the Australasian countries have even embraced the full blending together of other wines as well.In Fiji for example you can buy Chenin Blanc mixed with Pinot Grigio and Tempranillo blended with Cabernet Franc. With the same unconcerned attitude as the New Zealand authorities, Fiji claim that wine is just as suitable for blending as Whisky. They state that companies all over the world, and in particular Scotland, produce some very fine blended whiskies that not only often taste superior to single malts, but that are also able to sell at more modest prices. Next they will be telling us which tableware we must use when consuming the wine, stated one official.

The natives of Fiji have really taken a liking to this new blended wine, with around 150,000 bottles sold last year alone. This might not sound like the largest figure in the world, but when you consider that the population of the country is little over 800,000, you soon realise how popular it actually is. The blended wine is already drunk in many of the surrounding countries, but there are hopes to extend the export to every country and the Fiji producers are confident it will catch on.

January 13, 2010

Wine Parties: How to Throw a Fabulous Wine Party

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 11:12 am

Attending a wine tasting party can be a very pleasurable and tasty experience. It is an excellent way to bring together family and friends or celebrate a special occasion. However, when it comes to organizing one, it can be quite challenging. Fortunately, with extensive planning, some imagination, and these helpful tips below, you can throw a fabulous wine party that people will never forget.

Pick the Right Location
Venue is one of the most important keys in throwing wine parties. For one, you need to find a smoke-free venue so that guests would be able to enjoy wine drinking. This is because wine aroma is volatile and can be affected by cigarette smoke.

Moreover, ambience, lighting, and interior also contribute to the success of the party. Do not forget that music and wine go well together and you should be able to choose the right kind of music that will enhance the experience of wine drinking. Soothing lounge music is the ideal choice for music. Lighting should set a relaxing mood, go with dimmed lights over harsh bright lights.

Invite the Right People
Keep your wine parties small. The ideal number is around six to twelve people. Not only is a small party more manageable, it is also less expensive. As you know, wine can be quite expensive and inviting so many people can surely burn a huge hole in your pocket.

Aside from that, it would also be a good idea to limit the invitees to family and friends who are wine enthusiasts as they are the ones who will be able to appreciate the party more. Choose attendees who can either stay for the night or have a sober ride going home. You would not want to worry about guests driving after drinking.

Choose a Wonderful Theme
Once you decide on a theme, it will make organizing your party easier. It is not any different with wine parties. One idea is to focus on wines from a particular region and serve these wines to your guests. You can also choose wackier themes like wines in movies for example and ask your guests to come to your party dressed as their favorite movie character (James Bond, The Godfather, and so on). Also, incorporating some wine art will add some uniqueness to your party. For fun artwork that mixes wine and animals, look for Will Bullas artwork.

Select Exquisite Wine
Since the wine is the focus of the party, you should choose exquisite wines that will interest your guests. Choose wines that are similar in variety and price. Aside from that, it would be helpful if you knew some information about the wine so that when guests ask you, you have info to share with them.

Serve Good Food
While wine is the main attraction of the wine party, this does not mean that you can neglect the food that will be served during the event. Some foods will complement your wine better than others, so be choosy when it comes to your food and wine pairings. One way to know is to check with your local wine shop or surf the web for recommended pairings. Rice and saucy dishes are not advisable for wine parties. Instead, you should opt for cheese, olives, and tapas. A selection of cheeses presented on a nice cheese board is one of the better options.

Throwing a wine party, whether it is wine tasting event or a simple gathering with wine as the main attraction, is one of the best ways to spend time with family and friends. Don’t forget about including a wine party favor. Personalized wine glasses make a great keepsake and ensures your guests will always remember your party. So, with these simple tips, you will surely be able to throw a wine party that will be the talk of the town for days to come.

January 3, 2010

Is Your Wine Rack Full Up This Year?

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , — admin @ 9:27 am

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to enjoy a bit of a boozy weekend in Dublin. My other half had been invited over by one of the suppliers his firm does business with.  Everything was paid for and all we had to do was get ourselves to the airport for our flight to Dublin.

We were met at the airport by our host and he swiftly whisked us off to his house so we could unpack.  My jaw nearly dropped when I saw the size of his house – it was huge.  The house had everything you have always dreamed of – a tennis court, an indoor swimming pool and sauna a gym and a home cinema.

Waiting for us in his kitchen was some beautiful Australian wine, nicely chilled in a wine cooler and bottle opener all ready to go.

Our host was a real wine buff and has his own wine rack down in his cellar. He imports a huge amount of wine in from Australia and was explaining that the cellar always has to be kept at a certain temperature, which can be difficult at times.  He was telling us that if the conditions are closely monitored then lots of problems can occur.  One example he was telling us about was if the humidity is too high then this will make the corks dry out and this in turn allows air to get into the bottle and oxidise the wine, which would of course be disastrous.

After we had finished our drinks we were off for a night in the Temple Bar area. We had a brilliant night and the Irish are so friendly.  Nothing seemed to be too much trouble and they are really lovely people.  Hubby was in his element knocking back his pints of Guinness.  Mind you I think the next morning he was wishing he hadn’t had quite as much to drink.

We had a brilliant weekend and it is certainly something I would love to do again.  Next time we go though, I think perhaps we should lay off drinking quite so much alcohol!

January 1, 2010

Quick Tips for Pairing Cheese with Wine

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 4:29 pm

There is so much to learn about if you are just starting to discover the world of wine-that is-from a more than inebriated stance. If you’re a new to wine education, but know that you just like your favorite whites and/or reds with dinner, after work, or at parties; it’s a good idea to explore a little further, especially if you want to ramp up your enjoyment with a little something extra. Yes, this extra comes in the category of cheese. We all know that cheese and wine go together, but do you know what makes a great pairing? Sorry, Velveeta does not go with everything! Read below for some tips of how to enjoy your wine with cheese. Even if you don’t plan on going to a sophisticated wine tasting that involves cheese, you have to agree everything is better with a little cheese, so get out a couple favorite bottles and a cheese board, and let’s get to work!

Tannic Reds- Ok.. the first guideline when it comes to enjoying cheese with wine is how to balance the acidity of more tannic red wines with cheese. Your best choice is creamy cheese with flavors that are gentle. These creamy and soft cheeses offer a mild, delicate taste to compliment the acidic contrast of the red wine. They balance out one another in a great medley of mild and bold flavors-favoring the flavor of the red.

Sweet Dessert Wines- If you like a sweet dessert wine as your wine of choice, a good bet for cheese pairing is a salty cheese, like a blue cheese. Any cheese that has a salty, flavor to it will work great with a sweet wine. It not only downplays the sweetness of the dessert wine to a more tolerable level, but it also gives your taste buds a contrasting duo of salty and sweet that is somehow delectably harmonious. Think chocolate covered pretzels, and tell me salty sweet combinations do not work!

Champagne and Sparkling Wines- Champagne offers a light refreshing flavor for celebrations and morning mimosas, but what works best in regards to cheese? Choose a cheese that is full of flavor, rich and demonstrative in taste to augment the mild potency of your sparkling white wine. The bubbles coupled with the rich cheesy taste will give your palate delectable sensations.

Acidic Whites- Favor a Sauvignon Blanc for your wine of preference? Yummm…who doesn’t? If you are enjoying a white wine that has an acidic taste, choose an equally acidic cheese. Acidic cheese? What is that? You may be thinking. A good example of a cheese with punch is goat cheese. The acidic flavor in both the wine and cheese will complement one another with flavorful delight.

By Region- Lastly, a good tip to remember is just simply pairing cheeses from the same region as the wine. So if you are interested in drinking an Italian wine, opt for a cheese from the same region in which it was made. You will see the reasons once you try it.

December 5, 2009

About Cold Duck

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , — admin @ 12:21 am

You might think that Cold Duck sounds more like a dinner recipe than a beverage. Or, you may cringe at the thought of a bottle of Cold Duck , since it is one of the cheapest wines on the market, at only a few dollars per bottle. Cold Duck doesn’t carry the same sophistication as some of the other sparkling wines on the market, such as Dom Perignon or other champagnes. But Cold Duck was at one time one of the best selling and most popular sparkling wines in the United States. Cold Duck is still readily available at your local grocery store for only a few dollars a bottle. Compare that to the hefty price of a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne, which can be well over $100 a bottle.

Cold Duck originated in Germany, where it can be traced to the common practice in Bavaria of mixing cold, sparkling Burgundy with bottles of previously opened Champagne. This mixture was knows as kalte ende (cold end). This custom kept the opened bottles of champagne from being wasted, and it also provided people with a tasty beverage at the same time. Over time, the name became transliteraeed to kalte ente, which translates to cold duck. In 1937, the owner of the Pontchartrain Wine Cellars in Detroit, Harold Borgman, invented his own beverage based on this Bavarian custom.

Cold duck experienced a sizable surge of popularity in the early 1970s, being a very popular wine for parties and gatherings. With it’s soft concord grape base, Cold Duck is mixed with a combination of sweet red and white wines. The original American Cold Duck combined one part of a California red wine with two parts of a New York sparkling wine. This exact recipe varies today. One of the best known brands of Cold Duck is Andr? from the E&J Gallo Winery, which uses Concord grapes for their recipe. In 1971, only four short years after Andr?Cold Duck was introduced to the public, the E&J Gallo Winery was selling two million cases of the wine every year. Like many white wines and sparkling wines, and unlike most red wines, Cold duck is best served chilled. It goes great with party hors d'ouvres, like cheese and crackers or olives in a pastry crust.

The author is a roofer and he works for a website which colllects information about lawyer Auckland and immigration.

December 3, 2009

The Secret Of Wine Glasses

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 5:48 pm

Choosing a wine is hard enough, but there are at least lots of guides and advisory websites or books out there to help. Choosing the right wine glasses to go with your wine sometimes seems much harder!The correct wine glass brings out all the best stuff in the right wine. A good wine should be appreciated for its looks, its smell, and its flavour which means the eyes and nose as well as the mouth.
f you’re in a bistro or bar, the only choice you’re likely to be offered is “large or small”?  It was Professor Claus J. Riedel (as in the famous glassmaker) who was the first glass designer to realise that wines are affected by the shape and size of the wine glasses from which they are drunk.  That shape will determine the intensity of aroma for different wines or direct wine to specific parts of the tongue.Some shapes and sizes will emphasise fruitiness while others will enhance tannin. Some shapes will help to keep Champagne from going flat.
Whatever wine glasses you choose, avoid the contemporary cone-shaped variety.  It’s almost impossible to swirl the wine and the wide rim is just wrong for appreciating the bouquet. There are those who claim that lead crystal glasses are the only way to appreciate the aroma, colour and taste of a fine wine.Lead crystal wines glasses are beautiful, but can be expensive (unless you get them cheaper via an Internet retailer) and if you can afford them, they are well worth the extra. 
So, do you really need dozens of different wine glasses and other specialist glasses such sherry glasses to be socially acceptable?No, not unless you want to!However, there are four basic shapes that are good to have in any serious wine drinker’s cupboard:
1. Good all-round white wine glasses should have a wide bowl and narrow rim.
2. Decent all-purpose red wine glasses should be shorter and wider than the white wine glass to allow better swirling and more surface area for maximum air contact – especially good for well-aged red wines.
3. Off-dry to sweet wines (like Piesporter) should be served in wine glasses with a slightly flared rim. This shape guides the wine to the “sweetness” area of the palate.
4. The classic champagne flute is the best style for sparkling wines as the long, narrow body concentrates the bubbles, intensifying the aroma and taste.

October 22, 2009

Teeth rotting due to white wine

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 11:01 am

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 “Pale plonk packs an acidic punch!” says the BBC, Well, it does and it doesn’t. The length of time your teeth come into contact with wine must be taken into account, as well as the acid levels. For example, wine tasters and merchants that can sample around 50 wines a day, holding the wine in their mouth for around 60 seconds are more likely to suffer from erosion than the typical wine drinker. Loads of noise on twitter for the story on http://twitter.com/winewarecouk and http://twitter.com/thirstforwine.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

So what does White wine actually do to teeth?

 

It should be pointed out that the erosion of teeth by wine is the result of extensive wine use that would also lead to damaged liver and all sorts of other problems. The typical wine drinker who sips a glass of wine at dinner or with their evening meal should not be ‘scared off’ by the tooth decay headlines, remember 100 year old women in Italy swear that wine was the secret of their longevity.

White wine stains teeth:

I think that anyone who has drank a few glasses of Red would agree that, yes, it does. Have you though how this is? “Red wine, unlike white, contains a highly-pigmented substance known as chromogen,” explained Dr. Wolff of New York University College says “The acids in wine create rough spots and grooves that enable chemicals in other beverages that cause staining, such as coffee and tea, to penetrate deeper into the tooth”.

Dr Wolff pointed out that all wine has the abilty to damage the tooths surface, red wine merely lets us know where that damage is.

Can we halt tooth erosion?

1) Alkaline mouthwashes are highly recommended

2) Proper brushing of your teeth with a soft tooth brush is encouraged.

3) Add food to your wine enjoyment and you’ll find yourself with much better teeth.

4) To help minerals return to the molecular structure of the tooth after eating, leave around 30 mins before brushing.

5) Cheese can also help as it contains calcium in a high concentration

I hope this is helped a little towards taking away the fear factor of White wine.

Feel like i want to go brush my teeth now

October 4, 2009

Perhaps A Wine Massage Madam?

Filed under: Food and Drink advice — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 11:16 am

People have used wine in medicine ever since it was first invented. History is riddled with examples of people believing that it can cure back pain, get rid of aids, help your joints and even make your hair grow thicker.  In reality, wine is almost definitely responsible for more ailments and injuries than it cures. Believe it or not over 1500 people injured themselves in 2008 in the U.S just by using a bottle opener.That said, every now again wine surprises everyone by showing some amazing qualities, which is exactly what has recently happened at the University of Minnesota, where a wine-massage study has shown the healing effects of both the red and white varieties.

This claim was made after scientists at the university ran an 8-month study on various groups of athletes and other students, whereby they had recovery messages at regular intervals using either wine or a placebo substance. The study showed that remarkably, those people who had wine included in their massage sessions, showed around a 20% increase in the rate of muscle recovery.Liam Herring, head researcher for the study notes that “muscles, regardless of how vigorously they are used, will always pick up damage of some sort…we found that using wine in muscle massage sessions increased the rate at which this tissue damage recovered.The experts that carried out the study have suggested that the alcohol in the wine is partly responsible for this effect, as it allows the muscles to relax even more than normal by desensitising nerve endings. This relaxation then allows a vaso-dilation of the blood vessels that surround muscle tissue and means more healing nutrients can get to the damaged tissue.Interestingly, other alcoholic substances have been tested and do not display the same positive results, suggesting there might be something else found in wine that acts as a catalyst.

You probably won’t find that there is a rush in wine rack sales from health spas around the country, but maybe they will invest in some riedel vinum chardonnay just to give it a go.

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress