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wine tasting

  1. Why We Store Wine

    Why We Store Wine

    Recently after a long day shooting wine cabinet education videos, selling cooling units and putting the finishing touches on some wine cellar designs, we needed a refresher course on why we are in this crazy business. In an after hours discussion of the business, new cooling units on the market and recent wine trends, we broke out 3 wines from...
  2. Host a Blind Wine Tasting Party

    Host a Blind Wine Tasting Party

    Looking for something a little different to host this holiday season?  How about a blind wine tasting party?  Blind wine tastings can be a great way to learn about wine while having some bonding time with the ones you love.  A blind wine tasting can help you discover new favorites and inexpensive bottles with expensive flavor.  A blind wine tasting...
  3. How to Taste Wine

    How to Taste Wine

    We've all tasted wine, whether at a winery, a wine bar, or after ordering a bottle at a restaurant.  We swirl and slurp, but do we really know what we're doing?  Following these few simple steps can help you get the most out of your wine tasting experience. Look at the wine.  Yes, wine tasting starts with the eyes. Tilt...
  4. How to Decant Wine

    How to Decant Wine

    So you've got an old bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that's been aging in the cellar for years.  You think that dinner party Friday night might be the perfect time to show it off to your guests.  But let's do it right, shall we?  There's no sense in carefully aging a bottle for years if you're just going to plop it...
  5. The Top Ten Wine Tasting Terms

    The Top Ten Wine Tasting Terms

    The top ten most common wine tasting terms, and how to use them correctly: Aroma: Since the human tongue is limited to detecting the five primary tastes of sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and umami, the aroma of wine is primarily detected through smell.  This is why we smell wine before drinking it; by both smelling and tasting, we allow our...
  6. A Few More Wine Terms

    A Few More Wine Terms

    Here's a new installment to our wine lexicon.  If you missed the first one, "The Top Ten Wine Tasting Terms", check it out now. Acetic: When the alcohol in wine oxidizes, it turns into acetic acid.  The common name for acetic acid?  Vinegar.  All wine has some amount of acetic acid, but too much means that the wine has gone...
  7. 10 Wine Terms

    10 Wine Terms

    Oaky: Many wines are aged in oak barrels.  Over time, the barrels impart a scent of freshly sawn oak to the wine.  An "oaked" wine can have a variety of different aromas, depending on the age of the barrels.  New barrels contribute stronger flavors to the wine.  Oak aging can give wine characteristics called "toasted," "roasted," or "smoky," tastes that...
  8. TOMORROW-California Wine Festival in Dana Point

    TOMORROW-California Wine Festival in Dana Point

    If you didn't already know about it, for the last few days, Dana Point has been playing host to the annual California Wine Festival.  This is a new venue for this event, and it looks like a great one: the whole event takes place beachside on the grass at picturesque Doheny State Beach.  The festival started on Thursday, but don't...
  9. Wine Tasting: Horizontal vs. Vertical

    Wine Tasting: Horizontal vs. Vertical

    No, these terms don't refer to the respective positions you end in before and after wine tasting.  Instead, horizontal and vertical are two different types of tastings, or comparing wines by sampling them.  The best way to judge wines is to compare them side-by-side, and so, a couple of different methods have developed to facilitate the best way to do...
  10. The Right Wine Glass

    The Right Wine Glass

    There are a lot of wine accessories and contraptions out there.  It can be tough to tell which ones are just a waste of money, and which can really enhance your wine-drinking experience.  One thing that's not a gimmick?  The idea that different wines should have different glasses. Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with having just the standard four...
  11. Train Your Palate with a Homemade Wine Aroma Kit

    Train Your Palate with a Homemade Wine Aroma Kit

    The back of the bottle loves to promise a world of aromas inside the bottle.  But do you ever sniff, swirl and sip in vain, trying to find the aromas that you know are there, but you just can't seem to sense? Don't feel inadequate: sensitive palates aren't born, they are made.  Although it could be argued that sommeliers and...
  12. Wine Review: 2008 Les Jamelles Pinot Noir

    Wine Review: 2008 Les Jamelles Pinot Noir

    If you're looking for a great red wine at a reasonable price, try the 2008 Les Jamelles Pinot Noir.  This is a wine perfect with a light summer meal or to drink on its own--preferably outside with your toes in the grass, watching the setting sun. The first word that comes to mind when drinking this wine would have to...
  13. All Good Wines Take Time

    All Good Wines Take Time

    Serving wine is a ritual for the senses, similar to having British tea. There’s the artful process of wine selection followed by bottle presentation, uncorking, pouring, relishing the initial aroma of the nose, taking the first sip followed by a lengthier taste to judge both body and finish, and so on. The process of serving wine is not meant not...
  14. Pass the Butter, and the 2545 Cellars Chardonnay!

    Pass the Butter, and the 2545 Cellars Chardonnay!

    2545 Cellars Chardonnay 2009 Although I don’t usually keep Chardonnay on hand in my home, I decided to try a bottle of 2545 Cellars Chardonnay 2009 this weekend.  Though not a frequent Chardonnay drinker, I was pleasantly surprised by this delightful wine.  In fact, this is one of the better Chards I’ve had in the past few years.  The nose is...
  15. Pin the Tail on the Wine: Blind Tasting with Pleasant Surprises

    Pin the Tail on the Wine: Blind Tasting with Pleasant Surprises

    Bottle Shock, a highly amusing film from 2008 featuring a well-cast Alan Rickman, introduced moviegoers to the concept of blind wine tasting.  Based on actual events, the climax of the film occurs when an American wine from California scores higher than a haughty French wine during a blind horizontal taste test. You can use some numbered bags...or just wrap bottles...
  16. iWine for Your Wine: A Great iPhone App

    iWine for Your Wine: A Great iPhone App

    The ability to consult your own palm-sized wine journal, at any time, is now available for a flat $2.99.  That’s right!  Brought to you by Ageasoft, LLC, iWine is an iPhone app that makes a wealth of wine knowledge accessible at your fingertips.  Packed with extensive wine info, wine experts will be delighted by this handy wine encyclopedia-cum-oenophile.  And if...
  17. Fooled by Numbers: Wine Ratings and You

    Fooled by Numbers: Wine Ratings and You

    Have you ever been browsing through a wine selection, and notice that some of the wines have a number rating displayed near them? Many of these ratings are given by fancy, highly paid staff from organizations like Robert Parker and Wine Spectator.  Sometimes, however, staff from the actual wine establishment where you find yourself may have given these wine...
  18. All the Pretty Colors

    All the Pretty Colors

    Though much of the emphasis of wine tasting is placed on scent and taste, appearance has an important part to play, too.  Like being able to tell the age of a horse by studying the appearance of its teeth (their shape, number of permanent teeth, angles of incidence, and disappearance of cups), visually evaluating a wine is equally informative.  A wine’s appearance...
  19. Wine Cellar Pro by Velvet Vine, a Wine App

    Wine Cellar Pro by Velvet Vine, a Wine App

    Featured on Apple’s own website (apple.com) in May of 2010, Wine Cellar Pro by Velvet Vine, created by Tap Leap Software, LLC, quickly became one of the top five recommended iPhone applications.  Allowing users to manage wine inventories, track purchases, and take personal tasting notes, Velvet Vine also allows users to share their wine journals, tasting notes, and reviews with...
  20. Two Different Wines with One Similarity...

    Two Different Wines with One Similarity...

    Perhaps you’ve read our previous post, Fooled by Numbers: Wine and You?  If so, this short comparison between two very different wines compliments it nicely! I recently purchased, for the same price, a bottle of El Salegar Tinto Fino 2007 and a bottle of the Maison Elise Richard 2008 Corbieres Red Blend, without knowing at their ratings. Made from a...

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