Enjoying Wines

Archive for June, 2009

France has the largest wine production of any country in the world, producing between seven to eight billion bottles every year. It comes as no surprise that France is covered in winemaking regions, each with a distinct style of wine.

The wines produced today vary across the gambit of the pricing structure with both expensive and lower priced wines available worldwide. With changing technology in both manufacturing and transportation, France has been forced to adapt to remain on top of the winemaking list.
In the recent past, the French have been very protective of their origins and wine naming conventions, and with good reason, protecting such famous names as Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundy.

The AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlee) system are the guidelines that are used to preserve the wine production and naming rights for all wine producing regions of France. The AOE system is enforced by a governing body, which determines the winemaking practices and grape varieties used in each region.

Another French term that is held close to the heart is “terrior” which is used to indicate the natural growing conditions of the vineyard, such as soil, temperature and slope of the land.

A good portion of the most popular gape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah all originally hail from the vineyards of France. The last few hundred years of exploration and colonization has seen the spread on both number and popularity of these grape varieties across the globe.

The spread of grapes across many countries also brought with it a number of winemakers armed with the knowledge of French winemaking techniques.

The rich history embedded in the French winemaking conjures up dreamy images of the roving vinewyards of France. It has managed to stay at the forefront of wine sales, grape varieties and wine production levels. On top of all of this, it has managed to retain the pole position while still adhering to its age old winemaking traditions.

It is for these reasons that France is still the flagship country leading the world in wine production standards.

Follow the link for more information on French Wines.

The growing popularity of stemless wine glasses can also be attributed to the efforts by wine glass companies in increasing sales by developing more innovative and trendier products. This introduction of such products shows their efforts in moving towards the modern concept of living as depicted by the practicality of designs.

Stemless Wine Glass Features

Stemless wine glasses are comfortable to hold and if you have them engraved they can be presented as a custom made gift that will be appreciated and used for years. Stemless Wine Glasses are normally hand blown of 24% lead crystal with two distinct impressions. To hold them let your thumb and forefinger nestle in the niches and swirl the wine to aerate and release its aromas. You’ll be proud to serve up your favorite vintage in these eye catching stemless plastic wine glasses.

Wine experts agree that the use of the stemless wine glass does indeed bring out the best of both worlds, between the modern and the traditional. The bowled tumbler shape allows the holder to swirl the wine contents and provide them with more control when drinking thus providing the user with more flexibility in the palette. On the other hand, the stemless wine glass allows now makes it possible to use the dishwasher for washing, unlike the usual hand washing that is required with stemmed wine glasses because of the delicate nature.

Food pairing can be more flexible with the bowled tumbler of the stemless glass. Glass companies are also releasing several variations of the stemless wine glass that can accommodate different kinds of wines. It can also fit in with non-traditional or casual pairing as you can be more flexible with what food you will match with a particular wine. Some critics say that the stemless wine glass would hasten the warming up of the wine during drinking. However, with the new technology and designs applied by the manufacturers, this concern is addressed.

The amount of wine made every year is simply staggering. It has been enjoyed all over the world for thousands of years and the cup of choice is almost always the glass. What we should be asking ourselves however is, how come glass? Why not from a plastic cup, mug or wooden goblet? The answer is unfortunately not that simple. Actually, wine is enjoyed from a number of different containers, other than glass, in many different places. For example, wooden cups are used in Thailand and in Japan they often drink their wine from a ceramic vase-like cup. However, the overriding choice of tableware drinking vessel, wherever you go, is glass. It’s really more a result of other methods not being appropriate than glass being that special in any way. Lets examine what else is on offer.

Wood. As stated earlier, wooden cups are used to drink wine from in some countries, however there are some major draw backs. Stains are the first major issue, which more often than not occur as a result of red wine drinking. Even if the wood is of a very high quality, staining will happen. Secondly, when wood is in contact with liquid from prolonged periods it starts to rot. So every time it gets used, it would need to be dried pretty well.

Metal. If you have ever drunk wine from a metal cup you will know it’s not the best experience ever. Metals have a lot of ions and with a lot of wines, something called displacement can occur. This means that ions can be released into the wine when it is in the vessel and these result in an altered taste. This is why you often pick up metallic notes when drink from this type of cup. Also, because of its very heat-conductive qualities, almost any other material would keep the wine cooler when you’re holding it

Ceramic.  Like glass, ceramic is non porous, does not release any of its qualities into the wine, and can be easily cleaned with a glass cloth. This is why it is a popular alternative, but there is one very simple reason that it has not been embraced in the same way as glass – It is not transparent. When you are tasting wines, you want to be able to study their unique aesthetic qualities and consistencies. It is a very primitive desire and it has stuck with us ever since glass was invented.