Blanquette Wine is a sparkling wine that is drier and more subdued than Champagne — as well as being historically older than it. It is made in the vicinity of Limoux in the Aude area of France. It is produced in sweetnesses of Brut, Demi-sec and Doux (dry, semi-dry and sweet.) The “base” grape used…
A corkscrew is a device used to open bottles sealed with corks by extracting the corks from them. They are primarily now used on wine bottles. There are many, many different kinds now, as everyone tries to invent a better or a novel one. Most, however, have one thing in common still: a screw at…
Falerno is a wine being made today in Italy, in the Falerna region of the province of Catanzaro in Calabria. It is sometimes referred to as “Falernum” for marketing purposes to emphasize Falerno’s “ties” with the Romans. The Falerno wines made today can be white or red. Both have a strong fruity flavour. The belief…
A wine marked “Kosher” does not mean that the wine is free of additives, as some people have come to believe. It may or may not be additive-free, but the main thing that makes a wine Kosher is how it was handled. For a wine to be Kosher, Gentiles must not have touched it at…
Malvasia Wine is Italian red and white wines made from Malvasia grapes. Fruili, Italy, is known for its whites; Piedmont for its reds. The wines can be anything from a table wine to a sweet dessert wine, very dry or very sweet. In all of them, though, the almost spicy aroma of the grapes really…
Must is unfiltered fruit juice that will contain the seeds, skins and stems. The juice is usually grape. Juice will naturally ferment and turn to alcohol: when keeping it at the “must” stage is desired, it must be either frozen, or pasteurized to prevent that. Must is used to make wine from. It is also…
Mustum Tortivum is a Roman term, denoting “must”, as in grape must, obtained from the second pressing of grapes that have already been pressed a first time. The first time, they were pressed by stomping. The second time, they were pressed with a mechanical press to squeeze any remaining juice out of them. First-pressed wine…
The 20th December is Sangria Day. Celebrating Sangria Day is a good way to turn a bottle of wine into a unique, flamboyant, festive cocktail for a crowd.
Tuba is a coconut wine made in the Philippines. It is considered a rural drink, because it has a short shelf life. It is not sold in stores or in restaurants. It is made from coconut tree sap. One tree can produce two to four quarts / liters of Tuba a day. The sap is…
Though Zinfandel is classed as a black grape, its skin is actually a dark red to purple colour. Zinfandel vines require days with many hours of sunshine, but in return will sometimes produce two crops a season. Grapes in the same cluster don’t always ripen at the same time. Its thick, red skin allows it…
