The third Thursday of November is Beaujolais Nouveau Day. The first young red wine of the year in France is released at precisely 12:01 a.m.
Wine
Blanquette Wine
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…
Corkscrews
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.
Drink Wine Day
The 18th of February is Drink Wine Day. Try a wine you’ve never had before, splurge and treat yourself to an old favourite, or try making a recipe with wine!
Falerno
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…
Kosher Wine
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
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…
Meditrinalia
The 11th of October is Meditrinalia. It was a minor Roman festival celebrating what they felt were the health-giving properties of wine.
Must
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
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…
Red Wine Day
The 28th of August is Red Wine Day — even though most red wine lovers don’t need a special day to drink red wine!
Sangria Day
The 20th of 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.
St Vincent Patron Saint of Winemakers
The 22nd of January is the feast day of St Vincent, the patron saint of winemakers. As the biggest celebrations are in Burgundy, France, you could mark the day by enjoying a nice bottle of wine this evening from the Burgundy region.
Tuba
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…
Wine and Cheese Day
The 25th of July is Wine and Cheese Day. It can be a day to enjoy old favourite combinations of wines and cheeses, or perhaps a day on which to experiment with finding a few new favourite pairings.
Wine Day
The 25th of May is Wine Day. Treat yourself to a glass of wine today! Perhaps one a bit more pricey than you usually allow yourself…
Zinfandel Grapes
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…