Wine Blog

GM’s finance arm GMAC remains silent on final bailout hurdle even after key deadline passes - Minneapolis Star Tribune
GRAND BLANC, Mich. - Even after a crucial deadline came and went, the financing arm of General Motors Corp. remained silent Saturday on whether it cleared a final hurdle to become a bank holding company and gain access to billions in federal bailout money. Analysts have speculated that if GMAC

De Long’s Wine Grape Varietal Table
Learn about Wine the Visual Way.

You consider yourself fairly open minded about wine. You’re familiar with the big five — Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay — and are getting comfortable with more obscure grape varieties: the occasional Albarino, Petite Sirah, or Viognier. But just when you thought you had the situation under control, your waiter suggests a Lagrein, your local liquor store is pushing Xynomavro, and your friends now swear by Pineau d’Aunis. What to do?

The popular wine reference, De long’s Wine Grape Varietal Table has been improved and expanded. Just as with the first edition, the world of wine grapes is organized in a clear, concise and easy to use reference similar to a periodic table. The table contains 184 red and white grape varieties organized by both body (vertically) and acidity (horizontally). The Wine Indexes, which help to answer the bacchanalian question “what grape are you drinking?”, now include all wine regions worldwide. To fit all the additional information in, the table is now 24 x 36 inches (printed on 110 lb. acid-free archival paper), and the indexes now comprise an 88 page perfect-bound book. The table and index book are packaged in an attractive and sturdy gift box.

It makes a great gift for novice or expert lovers of wine and is the first in the De Long’s Wine Info Series, a concise set of wine information guides.

Customer Review: top chart
An excellent tool for training, eduction or just curiosity. It is very easy to understand and reference.

Customer Review: Fabulous Chart.
I have many friends who enjoy wine, some of them in the food/hospitality business. They are all jealous of this chart.

Do you drink grapefruit juice every morning? Have you taken St. John’s wort recently? Hormonal birth control pills can interact with many other things. Find out what you are doing that might lower your birth control’s effectiveness even if you didn’t know.

Timing. It is important to take your birth control pill at the same time every day. Aim to take it within the same hour, if possible. This is particularly important for progestin-only pills. If you are constantly late with your pills, choose another time that is more convenient for you. Consider setting your watch to beep, or another similar reminder to help you take your pills at the right time.

Storage. Don’t store your medicine someplace that is too hot or too cold. You want a place that is out of direct sunlight, such as a drawer. Heat and cold can affect different medications different ways, and often they can lower the effectiveness.

Birth control pills, like all other kinds of pills, are a type of medication. This means that you need to always inform your doctor and pharmacist of what kind of birth control you are on. This is to help you avoid any complications or bad interactions between drugs. Here are some things that interact with birth control. (For more information on how hormonal birth control works, and the risks and side effects, as well as other birth control options, visit www.theguideto-birthcontrol.com)

Some antibiotics. Rifampin, or Rifapentine is an antibiotic generally used to treat tuberculosis. Other antibiotics are generally fine when you are on the pill, however. Demeclocyclene and doxycyclene are two other antibiotics that can interfere with your birth control. Ask your doctor for other alternatives, and make sure that you get prescribed something that won’t interfere with your contraceptive plan.

St. John’s Wort. This is an herbal remedy that you can buy at any pharmacy. It is not prescription or over the counter. It helps combat depression. However, it also lessens the effectiveness of birth control, and as such, should not be taken without consulting a health care professional.

Grapefruit and Grapefruit Juice. Grapefruit contains a compound that slows the absorption of estrogen hormones to the body. This means that it does not affect progestin-only pills.

Antifungal medications. Certain medications that are taken orally to treat yeast infections can disrupt oral contraceptives. This includes griseofulvin.

Antihistamines. There is currently a debate in the medical community if anti-allergy medications, or antihistamines can be linked to the failure of birth control.

Anticonvulsants. Many medications taken to prevent seizures can lessen the effectiveness of birth control pills. Speak to your doctor before dealing with these.

Some other drugs that might interact with your birth control include corticosteroids, bronchidilators, and certain anxiety medications. These are not entirely confirmed, so ask your health care professional about interactions.

These interactions apply to other methods of hormonal birth control as well, including the Patch, the Vaginal Ring, and Depo-Provera.

Just as your other medication can affect your birth control, remember that your birth control can also affect your other medication. Avoiding negative drug interactions is important for you on both counts, so always ask your doctor or pharmacist about drug interactions when you get a new prescription.

For more information on all types of birth control, including hormonal, barrier-based (condoms, etc) and more, visit The Guide to Birth Control.

About the Author

Lilith Mill is a women’s rights activist and birth control expert. For more information on all types of birth control, including hormonal, barrier-based (condoms, etc) and more, visit The Guide to Birth Control. -

A Touch of the Grape (Hemlock Falls Mysteries) With upstate New York in a tourist slump, Sarah and Meg Quilliam are desperate to keep their inn running. But their only guests are “The Crafty Ladies”, a group of middle-aged artists who make art out of recyclables. But their creative flow is interrupted when one of the ladies is killed in a fire at the inn–and another soon after. Now Sarah and Meg are really desperate. Includes a recipe from the Inn at Hemlock Falls.

Jingle all the way - Times of India

Jingle all the way Times of India, India - Dec 24, 2008 The preparations for wine-making start months in advance ginger, raisin and grape wine being the most sought-after. "There's more than money in wine-making. …

Christmas memories - Victoria Advocate

Christmas memories Victoria Advocate, TX - Dec 24, 2008 Grandma would cook a big turkey dinner, but before we ate my grandpa would take out his homemade grape wine, which everyone drank. The children only got one …

Grapes into Wine
Customer Review: A review of Wagners “Grapes into Wine”
A great compliment to Wagner’s “A wine Growers Guide”.

These two books are virtually bibles to the grape grower and amateur winemaker. If you have one, you will no doubt enjoy and use the other as well. “A wine growers guide” has helped me immensely in establishing my seven acre vinifera vineyard near the Southeast shore of Lake Erie. “Grapes Into Wine” is as absorbing and informative as the previous work.

Customer Review: Nice exposition on the history and process of winemaking
Philip Wagner’s death in 1997 was a loss to the winemaking community. Wagner lived through a broad period of wine history. His significant life experience spans prohibition through an illustrious life as a successful commercial winemaker. Wagner practiced what he preached. His life honors a love for the grape and the art of turning grapes into wine.

His book, “Grapes into Wine,” chronicles the history of winemaking told from the perspective of one who knows the subject. This book is not a step-by-step guide towards the process of making a fine wine; it’s an exposition on the history and high-level science of grapes and grape growing (viticulture) and the cultivation of grapes, and the manufacture of wine (viniculture).

Wagner explains the origins of winemaking, from its earliest documented sources to the present. He describes the early French winemaking period, the effects of phylloxera and other diseases that practically wiped-out this industry, the emergence of east and west coast American wine making, prohibition, and winemaking in the modern world. He then delves into the process of winemaking, both commercially and in small lots. Sugar and bacterial (malolactic) fermentation are described historically and as a modern process. He discusses the entire process of winemaking, from pitching the yeast, to racking, cold stabilizing, fining, and finally bottling. Common pitfalls are cited with a description of how these problems are addressed on a small and large scale. Different wine types are discussed, including dry, sparkling, fortified, and sweet. The book ends with a brief discussion about wine tasting. A number of Appendices are also included as are numerous pictures that give a glimpse into historical periods, people, tools and machinery, and places.

While Wagner describes the winemaking process in some detail, it’s not written as a guide towards making wine. For this, I’d suggest Jon Iverson’s book, “Home Winemaking Step-by-Step.” Iverson takes amateur winemakers by the hand and guides them through the necessary steps towards the creation of a finished table wine. Wagner’s book describes this process topically, touching on the details but not describing them in a step-by-step fashion.

The cover of this book states, “A newly written, completely up-to-date version of his now-classic American Wines and Wine-making, with new maps, charts, and illustrations.” I think this was true at one time, but from my perspective in 2003, this book more closely reflects the 1976 revision.

For example, p.64 shows a chart of California wine production from 1956 to 1973 in millions of gallons. Yet on the p.67 a 1982 note references how production has increased in 1980. It seems this note was inserted to make it more current while the preceding text was left untouched. I would rather have seen the chart updated to include wine production into the 1980s or 1990s rather than end in 1973. Eliminate the note and update the text and graphic. Much of the book is from the perspective of 1976.

This aside, Wagner’s book is a superbly valuable text. I don’t mean to give the impression it is sorely outdated; it’s not outdated in a way that degrades the value of what he has written. Wagner has documented a snapshot of history and I have enjoyed the book immensely. Many chapters I’ve read numerous times. I especially enjoy the chapters on the history of viniculture and viticulture. Wagner is gifted in his historical knowledge and I think these beginning chapters are the book’s crowning achievement.

Highly recommended, I only wish Wagner was alive to provide an update that includes a look into the 21st Century.