Wine Blog

Grapefruit essential oil is a by product of the juicing process of a grapefruit (Citrus Paradisi) and you will find it imbedded deeply in the outer peel of the fruit (known as the flavedo). Unfortunately the thick spongy white layer (albedo) of the peel will absorb and thus decrease the amount of essential oils that can be produced if the two layers are not separated carefully prior to the oil being extracted.

The two layers are separated by a machine which rolls and scrapes the Flavedo away from the fruit before it goes on to be juiced. The flavedo then forms a wet pulpy mass that is put in to a centrifuge and the oil becomes separated from the solids. Don?t worry the solids can also be pressed to produce even more essential oil from the grapefruit. Once it has been separated from the solids it is then filtered and bottled. This form of extraction will produce about 1.5lbs of essential oil from a ton of fresh fruit.

There is however another way in which more substantial amount (25lbs) of essential oil can be obtained from a ton of grapefruits by chopping the peel and then distilling it using steam. Unfortunately the down side of steam distillation is that this process destroys the delicate sweet smelling properties of the fresh peel and so the quality of the oil would be decreased and would make it unsuitable to use especially in relation to aromatherapy treatments.

The grapefruit peel contains a number of fatty substances such as linolenic, linoleic and oleic acids, whilst the waxy cuticle of the fruit contains various hydrocarbons namely phytosterol and pectin. It is during the distillation process that these solid materials will dissolve and become the oil.

Grapefruit Essential Oil contains 90% of the terpene hydrocarbon known as limonene which is present at similar levels in many citrus oils, it also contains a small amount of a unique alcohol known as paradisiol and these components help to produce a fragrance that is fresh, fruity and clean. The more higher quality the oil that has been expressed you will find that it smells nearly identical to the broken peel of a fresh grapefruit.

It should however be kept in mind that all expressed non-distilled citrus oils (including grapefruit) are a fresh botanical product that will age faster than those oils that have been steam distilled. So remember to keep it away from bright light and exposing it to air will quickly decrease the oil?s aromatic profile. It is therefore wise to store your grapefruit essential oil in a light proof glass, in a dark cool place that is not subject to changes in temperature.

Grapefruit essential oil has an energizing effect and is said to help with eating disorders and has a astringent and toning effect when applied topically. It is also said to be a good detoxifier as it stimulates the lymphatic system helping to rid the body of toxins. Some people say that inhaling the aroma will help to reduce the craving for sweet foods and desserts so anyone trying to cut down will be well advised to add some grapefruit oil to their aromatherpay regime!

Lee Dobbins writes for http://essentialoils.health-g8way.com where you can learn more about essential oils and their uses as well as more about grapefruit essential oil.

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Grape Leaf Dipping Crackers 5 oz From the heart of the wine country, we offer you vintage dipping crackers in elegant grape leaf shapes. These delicate and crip crackers will enhance any occasion. Use with your favorite dip, as an elegant base for canapes, or pair with cheese and hors d’oeuvres. Perfect while wine tasting.

Indiana microbrewers want to sell beer on Sundays – Indianapolis Star

Indiana microbrewers want to sell beer on Sundays Indianapolis Star When visitors tour Indiana wineries on a Sunday afternoon, not only can they sample the wine, they can take some home. … and more »

A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma

It’s Napa versus Sonoma, and the antics are rampant!

When acclaimed Vanity Fair journalist Alan Deutschman came to the California wine country as the lucky house guest of very rich friends, he was surprised to find a civil war being fought between Napa Valley, which epitomized prestige and wealthy excess, and neighboring Sonoma Valley, a ragtag bohemian enclave so stubbornly backward that rambunctious chickens wandered freely through town. In A Tale of Two Valleys, Deutschman wittily captures these stranger-than-fiction locales and uncorks the hilarious absurdities of life among the wine world’s glitterati. The cast of characters brims with eccentrics, egomaniacs, and a mysterious man in black who crashed the elegant Napa Valley Wine Auction before proceeding to pay a half-million dollars for a single bottle. What develops is nothing less than the struggle for the soul of one of America’s last bits of paradise.

A San Francisco Chronicle bestseller

Customer Review: Feels like a run-on magazine article
Echoing what others have written, this is an extremely light account of the Sonoma and Napa wine regions. Unclear plot line (is there one?) and very little depth on any of the subjects that could have made it interesting (how about at least letting us know how the Screaming Eagle tasted?). If you are looking for a short, light hearted read with some reasonably interesting tidbits on Sonoma and Napa, this is an ok read. If you’re looking for an ejoyable read with depth and history, this isn’t it – your time would be much better spent reading House of Mondavi.

Customer Review: Sour Grapes
Chock full of interesting characters and insightful observations, A Tale of Two Valleys is an entertaining read that ultimately disappoints for lack of a plot or central character. Deutschman stumbled on the subject matter to produce a West Coast version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but he seems to lack the creative instincts. He tells us too much and too little about himself, as if he can’t decide how much of a presence he should have in his story. That said, his tidbits on the French Laundry (“an excerise in literary and aesthetic showmanship”), the Russian River Valley (“summer camp for the Castro District”), Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village as a tax haven (“Incline Village is to Californians what Monaco is to Europeans”) and where to hang out if you want to meet Sonoma’s locals (the Irish pub and the Farmer’s Market) are some of the many little gems that make the book worthwhile. Deutschman has a good eye and a good ear. I hope the next time he asks himself WWTWD – What Would Tom Wolfe Do? – and does it.

Stick Miller: Sharing the blessings of the day – Americus Times-Recorder
A couple of years ago I wrote a thanksgiving column. I draw liberally from that column today. The fact remains that Thanksgiving is essentially an American holiday. Canadians have their Thanksgiving in October, but what do they know? By this time of

Italian, Mexican cuisine done right – Boston Globe
103 Nashua Road, Londonderry, N.H. 603-432-8850; www.cafeteresa.com Open Monday through Thursday,11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Major credit cards accepted Accessible to the handicapped

Jancis Robinson’s Wine Course: A Guide to the World of Wine
The enormous variety of wines available today can be baffling even to an experienced buyer. Anyone who enters a wine store is immediately confronted by rows and rows of racks filled with a myriad of choices. Where do you begin when all you want is a reasonably priced quality wine to serve with dinner? Jancis Robinson can make anyone an expert, or at least an informed buyer, in short order. In this comprehensive guide to the wine-producing countries of the world, she captures the flavor of each region’s wines and presents her personal recommendations on the best names from around the world, with thirty-two completely new pages covering the latest developments in South America, South Africa, and Eastern Europe. Robinson also describes the distinctive characteristics of hundreds of different grape varieties and studies the traditional and innovative methods employed in the creation of great wines. A fully updated vintage guide makes selection even easier.

Dedicated to ensuring that you get the most out of every glass, Jancis Robinson’s Wine Course explains how to taste and store wine, what to serve on special occasions at home, and how to order the best value from a restaurant wine list. Full of infectious enthusiasm and heaps of personal tips, this book will soon have you reaching for the corkscrew.

Customer Review: Everything You Need To Know About Wine
What a great book! This book teaches you as much or as little as you want to know about wine. It takes the confusion out of tasting new wines and shopping for wine is now fun. You could study it like a textbook and become well versed in the subject or learn what you need to know to make drinking wine more enjoyable.

Customer Review: Not The Best For Starters
If you are looking for a good book to start out with, to learn the basic ABC’s of wine, then I would reccomend The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Wine by Phillip Seldon. This one (Jancis Robinson’s) however is good for people like myself who already know the basics (the distinguishing characteristics of grape varieties, the main regions, how to make reasonablly good food/wine pairings, etc.)
In other words, it’s not the easiest book to follow.

Another note- she makes her disgust of Spanish wines known in the opening paragraph on page 222 when she says “If it (Spain) had Germany’s love of efficiency, or France’s respect for bureaucracy, Spain might be sending us oceans of judiciously priced wine made expressly for the international market. But Spain is an anarchic jumble of districts and regions…and heartbreakingly awful human constructions, and has to be treated as such by the wine enthusiast.”
I found those comments to be misleading, as Spain to me is a model exporter of high quality wines. Just about any Rioja or Tempranillo wine imported and that goes for less than $…is of fine quality. That is my opinion of course. Another semi-complaint is that there was not enough material on Argentina (only 6 paragraphs) which I found to be a shame, since Argentina has very unique and delicious wines.

Overall this is good, as I said earlier, for those who already have a basic knowledge.