• Wine Gift Home

• • About
  • Links
  • Contact

How To Store Wine In A Wine Refrigerator

November 17th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

If you are passionate about collecting wine and have a large collection or if you only store a few bottles for parties, you will keep them in prime conditions with a wine refrigerator. With capacities ranging from eight bottles up to 800 bottles, wine cooler refrigerators can fit beneath a kitchen cabinet or stand against a wall, with many choices in between. Dual zone wine refrigerators are readily available and these can store different styles of wines at different temperatures for long-term storage or drinking.

For people without the space to build a wine cellar for wine storage a wine refrigerator can provide an ideal solution. A compact under counter wine refrigerator will store wines at the ideal wine temperature and it should also be remembered that even those wines that are best served at room temperature should be stored in a cool environment prior to opening to protect the integrity of the wine.

The advantage of dual zone wine refrigerators is their ability to store different types of wines within the same unit. It is recommended that white wines be stored between 46 and 54 degrees F and red wines at 54 to 64 degrees F. In addition to offering optimum temperature control, a wine refrigerator will also maintain the ideal humidity for wine storage.

The Best Way To Store Wine

Most wine lovers understand that they must treat their wines with respect and avoid vibration of the bottles to protect the wine. A quality wine refrigerator will be vibration free and some of the better wine refrigerators will use internal LED lighting to further protect the wine.

Even a low wattage bulb can increase the temperature in an enclosed space like a wine refrigerator. Wines should ideally be stored in darkness, so the use of LED lights that do not emit any appreciable heat will assist in creating a cooler and darker environment. However, you should only open the wine refrigerator when necessary.

Most wine refrigerators have metal racks on which the bottles can lie tilted slightly towards the opening end to ensure the corks remain in contact with the wine. Regardless of the space available for a wine refrigerator, tall, slender units that can hold up to a dozen bottles or larger furniture-sized units with a capacity of many hundreds of bottles can protect the wines from environmental hazards that can alter their taste, hasten their aging and reduce their overall appeal.

From time to time you can purchase a discount wine refrigerator at a substantial saving at a closeout sale.

Choosing the Perfect Wine

November 13th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

There are no set formulas for choosing the right wine for that special meal, event or person. In fact people have their own preferences when it come to wine. We have listed a few suggestions below to help you pick the right wine for the right moment or special meal. We hope it gives you some helpful insights to serving wines that should please any palate.

1. The White Wines:  Most commonly served as the first course, these wines do not have a really strong flavor, therefore leaving the taste buds relatively unaffected for the next course.  Do not be afraid to ask the wine salesman for his advice.  They will know exactly what year and which grape is best at this time.

When toasting that special event in your life or the life of a loved one the whites are a perfect choice. The more common toasting wine for weddings and anniversaries is of course the more elegant choice of Champagne.

2. The Reds: Now you are ready to serve that special dish you have worked on all day and planned especially for your dearest friends you must choose just the right wine. This is when you go for the full bodied red. One of the most popular is a Merlot. Being a lighter red but still full bodied it is perfect for saute’ed chicken, grilled pork or roasted lamb.

A really nice red wine produced mostly in Oregon is the Pinot Noir.  With its blend of plum, vanilla and blackberry flavors it would be a nice addition to any meal.

When hosting a spicy Mexican meal the Shiraz is a perfect compliment with its peppery flavor that brings out the spiciness of your enchilada suiza or chili verde.

The perfect wine to complete an Italian meal would be a Chianti.  With its rich flavor and deep red color it blends easily with ravioli and pizza.  When you finish the wine, the beautiful raffia wrapped bottles make great candle holders and set the mood for your romantic Italian dinner.

If you are serving a tender rib roast, tenderloin steak, Chateaubriand, filet mignon, or tournedos of beef, a robust Burgundy would be just the ticket.

The main thing when hosting a dinner party is to have several choices in wines.  Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to wines.  We have offered a few guidelines of which wines would compliment a particular meal.  It is also fun to introduce your friends to a new and unusual wine they may not have tasted before.

If you are a true wine connoisseur you may want to experiment with your own creations. Producing your own wine at home can be quite rewarding. You can make a variety of fruit wines that would actually be a great addition with most desserts. If you would like to learn more about making wine visit Fruit Wine Making

Find additional information on wine and wine racks visit Wine Rack Systems

Things to Know About Absinthe

November 10th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Absinthe Drink

Absinthe is a strong liquor which is generally between 45 and 75% ABV (alcohol by volume), which is about twice as strong as other types of alcoholic beverages such as whisky and vodka.

Otherwise known as “The Green Fairy” or “La Fee Verte”, Absinthe was the drink associated with La Belle Epoque and Bohemian Paris. It was given to French soldiers in the 1840s to treat malaria and they brought the drink home with them. Special Abinthe bars opened all over Paris and Absinthe hours or “L’heure verte” took place daily. During the middle of the 19th century, the distiller Pernod, who distilled Absinthe, were making almost 30,000 liters of Absinthe every day for the French people to buy!

About the Drink Absinthe The History of Absinthe

Legend says that Dr Pierre Ordinaire created Absinthe in the Swiss town of Couvet in the 18th century as an elixir or tonic for his patients. The recipte for Absinthe come into the hands of Henri-Louis Pernod who first distilled the drink in Couvet and then alter in Pontarlier, France under the name of Pernod Fils.

Pernod using a wine base with various herbs including common wormwood (artemisia absinthium). aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica, dittany, star anise, nutmeg and juniper.

Well known drinkers of the Green Fairy were Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, and Ernest Hemingway.

When in France, Absinthe became more popular than wine, the prohibition movement campaigned to get Absinthe banned because:-

- The ingredient Thujone, in wormwood, was thought to be similar to THC in cannabis and thought to be psychoactive.
- Absinthe was linked with the loose morals of the artists, writers and courtesans of Montmartre.
- Absinthe was thought to have psychedelic effects, to cause hallucinations, convulsions and to drive people insane.

After it was claimed that an Absinthe drinker murdered his whole family – this excuse was used by the prohibition movement were looking for to persuade the government to ban Absinthe. The buying, selling and consumption of Absinthe was made illegal in france in 1815 and in other countries around this time.

Many studies have shown that Absinthe, including vintage Absinthe, only contains small amounts of thujone and is perfectly safe to drink. Legalized in most all countries since the 1990s, there has been an Absinthe revival in many countries, including the USA.

About the Drink Absinthe About Essences in Absinthe

To enjoy Absinthe, you can either order bottles of Absinthe online or you can make your own Absinthe using essences from AbsintheKit.com. These essences are used by the Absinthe industry and are made using traditional herbs such as wormwood, fennal and aniseed. Simply mix with either Everclear or vodka to make your very own Absinthe. There are several different types of essense availabe.

Preparation of Abinsthe

The proper way to prepare Absinthe is to follow this interesting ritural:-

- Pour 25- 50 ml of Absinthe into an glass.
- Slotted Absinthe spoon may be rested on top of the glass.
- Rest a sugar cube on the spoon.
- Drip iced water over the sugar using an Absinthe fountain or by pouring slowly from a carafe.
- Look for the Absinthe louche.
- Drink this wonderful Absinthe drink.

I hope you have now learned all about Absinthe, the mysterious drink with a very interesting past and a great taste.

What Percentage is Absinthe?

November 7th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Absinthe is a strong anise flavor liquor which is made by distilling alcohol with herbs such as wormwood, and fennel. We know it is strong and can get you drunk easily, but what percentage is Absinthe and what is the proof?

Here are the alcohol by volume levels of popular brands of Absinthe:-

La Fee XS Absinthe Francaise 68% alcohol by volume (136 proof)
Doubs Mystique Carte D’Or 65% alcohol by volume (130 proof)
La Clandestine Absinthe 53% abv or 106 proof
Jade Edouard 72% alcohol by volume or 144 proof
Sebor is 55% alcohol or 110 proof
Jade Nouvelle Orleans 68% abv is 136 proof
Mari Mayans Collectors 70 is 70% alcohol by volume (140 proof)
La Fee Parisian which 68% alcohol by volume (136 proof)
Lucid Absinthe is 62% abv or 124 proof
Jade Verte Suisse 65% abv (130 proof)
Pernod Absinthe which is 68% abv (136 proof)
Kuber 53 is 53% abv (106 proof)
Pere Kermanns 60% abv (120 proof)
Jade PF 1901 68% alcohol by volume is 136 proof
La Fee XS Absinthe Suisse is approximately 53% alcohol by volume or 106 proof
Roquette 1797 75% abv (150 proof)
La Fee Bohemian 70% abv is 140 proof

Let’s now compare Absinthe to other beverages:-

Whisky – Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch 40% alcohol by volume is 80 proof
Absinthe can be 75% alcohol by volume (150 proof)
Regular Tabel Wine 9-12% abv (18-24 proof)
Beer tends to be 4 or 5% alcohol by volume (8-10 proof)

Now, the alcohol-information.com website reports that if you drink 1 shot of Everclear (190 proof) to drinking 2.85 bottles of beer and about 3 brandies. With this information we establish that 1 shot of Absinthe is equivalent to 2.25 cans of beer. So, the twenty-two shots of Absinthe is equivalent to 49.5 cans of beer!

As you can see, Absinthe is much stronger than types of fermented drinks such as wine and beer. We therefore need to be careful when consuming Absinthe, not because it will make us have hallucinations, or any other psychedelic effects, but because it is strong and intoxicates quickly. We need to take particular care when mixing Absinthe with other alcoholic drinks in cocktails.

When your are making your own Absinthe for drinking, care needs to always be taken. If you buy an Absinthe kit like Green Devil then you are simply steeping herbs in a neutral alcohol such as Everclear or vodka. Now, Everclear with an abv of 95% and a proof of 190 — is much stronger than commercial Absinthe. The absinthekit has absinthe essences.some have been mixed with a neutral alcohol such as Everclear or vodka. Your finished Absinthe will be whatever the proof or abv of the neutral alcohol you have used.

In Absinthe what is the percentage? For commercial Absinthe look on the bottle label or, if you are ordering online, look at the product details for abv or proof. If you are making your own Absinthe from a kit, you need to look at the bottle of Everclear or vodka that you are using.

Personalized Wine Bottles

November 6th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Personalized Wine Bottles Video

Personalized wine bottles offers individuals, corporations, wineries, and restaurants, among others, the ability to create their own unique custom wine bottle labels. Choose from a variety of personalized wine bottles and label options guaranteed to meet each person’s custom requirements. Personalized wine bottles make beautiful, unique gifts or can be used to add that special touch to someone’s personal wine collection.

Whether you are celebrating a wedding, anniversary, promotion or just want to say “thank you”, personalized wine bottles make it personal and special. You can take the hard work out of choosing presents by giving custom designed wine as gifts.  It is easier than you think to do with the large number of festive and special occasion label templates available through online retailers.

You may not think you are creative or artistic enough to design your own label.  Relax, they will create one for you or they have templates where you just have to choose colors, fonts and clipart.  They have several types of paper on which to have your labels printed.

If you are planning to market your wine, personalized wine bottles are just the ticket for attracting customers.  An attractive label with your logo and name on it are great advertisements.    

Some wineries or personalized wine label manufacturers also offer premium wines with labels attached with your friend, family member, or client’s name on it.  For instance, you can order a label that says “Congratulations Tina & John on your new baby!” or one that may say “Best Wishes On Your New Life Together Bill & Susan”, etc.  If you are the father of the bride you may want to order several cases of these personalized wine bottles to serve to the wedding guests.    

Order your personalized labels online and you can save hundreds of dollars and save time. These custom bottles of wine make you look like professional.  Leave a lasting mark with a digital label maker of your own.  These machines have their own software with step by step instructions for making the professional looking labels.

The next time you need to thank a few special clients for their patronage or celebrate a retirement, personalized wine bottles are a great choice.

For more information visit Peach Wine

Port Wine

November 2nd, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

How much do you know about Port Wine?

 

You must have heard the name of ‘Port Wine’ off and on as a special type of wine. However, do you have any clue as to what it is all about, the type of wine this is, and why it is given that special name?

 

Demystifying The Port Wine

 

The history of this wondrous wine can be traced to the Douro Valley wineries in Portugal. It is commonly served with dessert because of its sweetish qualities. When you look at the properties of this wine, you will find it richer, heavier and at the same time sweeter than the regular wines. Two port wine variants are most popular, even though there are numerous variants, i.e. port wine that is aged by using oxygen and the other is by reducing oxygen.

 

There are five grape varieties that go into the making of the port wine and these are, the Tinta Roza, Touriga Nacional, Touriga Fanacesas, Tinot Cao, and Tina Barroca all of which are grapes that grow in the Douro Valley (Portugal).

 

The port wine which has been matured within the barrel with very limited exposure to oxygen is known as wine that is oxidative aged wine while the wine that has not been exposed to oxygen at all is known as reductive aged wine.

  

Some Great Port Wines

 

The name port wine encompasses a vast number of different types of wines of all color and taste. White Port is aged for about three years and it has a dry type flavor. Another port wine is aged for about seven years, this is called Colheita Port. This wine is made from only one year’s harvest grapes unlike others which use grapes across different years’ harvests.

 

Among the more expensive one are the Tawny Port which is aged for a very long time – anything between ten and forty years and the Vintage Port which can be aged for about 50 years in the bottle itself; the Single Quinta Port is another wine that is aged for about 50 years as well. These wines are very popular around the world, and so they should be.

 

The Crusted Port is another type of wine that needs mention. There are always sediments in the bottle as the wine is not filtered when it is bottled. 

 

To learn more about different wines go to Understanding About the Different Types of Wine and Red Wine Is A Wonderful Beverage

Next Page »

Copyright © 2008 WineGiftNow.Com