Wine Blog

You will find that one of the easiest ways to get to know your way around wine flavors is through grape varieties. Each grape variety has specific characteristics. In some regions, one grape variety is used to make a wine; in others, winemakers blend several varieties in a single wine. To help you identify grape varieties, below is an overview of each of the major red grapes and their characteristics.

You will find that one of the easiest ways to get to know your way around wine flavors is through grape varieties. Each grape variety has specific characteristics. In some regions, one grape variety is used to make a wine; in others, winemakers blend several varieties in a single wine. To help you identify grape varieties, below is an overview of each of the major red grapes and their characteristics.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is the big daddy of the red wine world. It is like the Chardonnay, as it is widely planted and distributed. The result of this is that there are so many versions of this grape. Many people think of Cabernet Sauvignon as being a wine that needs to age, but that is only because the best red Bordeaux need age. Most non-premium varieties are ready to go right away.
Under ideal conditions, it produces an aromatic, tannic wine that ages and evolves to be both elegant and powerful. Perfectly balanced Bordeaux is one that has classic notes of black-currants, cedar, cigar boxes, pencils, mint and dark chocolate. Sounds delicious!

Gamay
For the most part, you will find Gamay produced as Beaujolais. It mainly grows on the hills in south Burgundy. The aroma of a young Gamay is described as a wave of cherry and strawberry fruit. On the palate, Gamay wines are bright and crisp. They are moderate in alcohol and have very little tannin. Wines from Gamay grapes are ideal for all kinds of foods.

Merlot
Merlot started out as a Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux and has risen to international popularity. The great wines of Pomerol and St. Emilion in Bordeaux are based on Merlot with Cabernet in the blend. These wines show Merlot at its toughest and most intense. Merlots popularity is because it is softer, fruiter, and earlier maturing than Cabernet Sauvignon and displays some of the same aromas along with mint, and tobacco. In general, drink Merlot young.

Pinot Noir
At its best Pinot Noir is beautiful with a seductive silky texture and at its worst, it is heavy or flat. A good mature Pinot Noir has complex flavors of strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, violets, all-spice, tobacco and hay. Pinot Noir is relatively low in tannin and acidity and needs a cool climate to grow. Too much warmth, Pinot Noir can develop baked together flavors, losing its elegance.

Sangiovese
A taste of Sangiovese and you will immediately conjure images of Italy. The name of the grape may not seem familiar, but it is the principal variety behind Chianti, Italys most famous red wine. It is taken very seriously in Tuscany, and you will find it in California, Australia, and Argentina. It is naturally tannic and is best used in a blend, usually with Cabernet Sauvignon. It requires a hot climate in order to produce its required richness and alcohol content. In cooler climates, it tends to have sharp and bitter tannins.

Syrah
Called Shiraz in Australia and South Africa, Syrah is one of the greats of southeastern France’s Rhone Valley grape. At home in France, it produces wines that are smoky, herby, and austere. Australian Shiraz tends to be richer, softer with a leathery quality and personally one of my favorites. All Syrah/Shiraz need a year or two from the vintage to hit its stride. Top wines will last about ten years.

Zinfandel
It is disputable where this grape originated, but it is indisputably California’s grape today, with almost no winemakers in other places producing it. The best Zinfandel is spicy and heartwarming. Other styles range from off white to high intensity sweet wines. Try a bottle not more than three or four years old, because that’s when the Zinfandel character is strongest.

Contributor: Stuart Glasure [Designer, Fashion Artist, Creator: "Zany Wearables", Wine Enthusiast]
www.ZanyGiftware.com
www.WineDefinitions.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stuart Glasure [Designer, Fashion Artist, Creator: "Zany Wearables", Wine Enthusiast]
www.ZanyGiftware.com
www.WineDefinitions.com

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Cookie Cake Pie with Brownie Chunk Cookie and Vanilla Cake 9″-Topped with Tropical Punch and Grape Butterfly Lollipop Our Cookie Cake Pie is baked in a pie pan, with cookie dough on the bottom and our delicious cake on top, than our fondant icing poured on top. It makes a great surprise for any occasion.

Nero D’Avola Wine Jelly by San Matteo
To describe the location of the San Matteo farm is immediately to want to go and live there: it’s set amidst a splendid and extensive citrus grove, that looks out over the sea at the enchanting gulf of Taormina on the one side, and up to Mount Etna on the other. Add to that the naturally mild climate, the highly fertile volcanic soil, the skill and passion of Carlo Limone, the use of organic agriculture, and you begin to understand why the products of this company are so good.

Take this Red Onion Preserve, for example: on opening the jar you are greeted by the delightful sweet onions perfume. Well, this seems to be a preserve for real experts, but in fact it is simply a gourmet preserve, one of those you are tempted to match with anything savory you’ll find in your kitchen, fresh and aged cheeses, meats and hams, to bring the colors and the flavors of Sicily at home.

All that remains is to emphasise that production is artisanal, the product free of preservatives and that, instead of using caster sugar, wheat-syrup is employed to allow reduction in total sugar content.

Carlo Limone has just recently added two oustanding wine jellies to his preserve selection: made with white Inzolia grapes and red Avola grapes, the jellies utilize two ancient and ultra typical Sicilian grape varieties to which cane sugar is added as the only other ingredient. The result is a creamy gelatin infused with wine flavor (minus the alchool content) that elegantly marries the taste of young cheeses and roasted meats. Mix a few teaspoons of wine jelly with fresh ricotta for a delicious and original spread.

Women love wine, but not how it’s marketed – Oregonian
Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian Oregon Wines on Broadway owner Kate Boiling (left) says that in her shop, a woman customer is much less likely than a man to be fixated on the number of points a wine has

The Price of Taking Wine Too Seriously – Extranomical News
It doesn’t take long to travel around Europe, enjoying high quality wines with low prices in Spain, Italy, France, before you begin to notice the seeming inequity between the European Union’s general price for the

Marsala Wine Jelly
The use of jellies with savory dishes though not new, is however relatively novel to the modern kitchen. The advantages of a more consistent and firm texture that contains all the flavors until it hits the mouth is really a wonderful trait. Montecurto’s whole line of gelatin spreads are terrific and this particular product of warm and aromatic Marsala wine is no exception. Reminiscent of berries warmed by the sun and candied mandarins, this sweet wine jelly can bring out the flavors of aged and blue cheese and gives contrast to foie gras dishes. Imported from Italy.

Ingredients: Marsala wine, sugar, pectin.