The Benefits of Wine

Sitting down at my family dinner table one night, my brother brought out a bottle of wine and poured my family a glass each. I being a non-drinker refused the glass, however my brother vehemently insisted that I take it and drink it for the good of my health. My health? I'm supposed to drink alcohol to better my health?

It's true actually. Studies have shown that those that consumer moderate amounts of alcohol on a regular basis are at a lower risk of heart disease. This is more prevalent in studies done with wine than with any other alcohol. Studies with red wine have even shown to help prevent cancer. This is thought to be due to the presence of a chemical called resveratrol in red wine.

Resveratrol is produced by the natural reaction of grape skins to the yeast used in the fermentation process of red wine. Resveratrol combined with antioxidants and flavanoids present in the wine are all thought to help contribute to the health benefits of wine. Recent studies have even shown that the regular and moderate consumption of wine may actually help to reduce signs of aging and promote a longer life span.

Amazing isn't it? That small vice of having a glass of wine with your dinner has turned out to be a healthy practice. Now this isn't to say that everyone should suddenly start to drink red wine daily. As always with alcohol certain precautions must be taken. First it is wise to take in wine with a meal and not alone, and of course do so when it will not be a hindrance and put you or those around you in danger.

Also certain medications are not to be taken with alcohol so make sure that any prescription medication you take is safe to take in with a moderate amount of alcohol. Those with asthma should also take precautions as sulfites that are naturally present in wine may cause restricted breathing and other allergy symptoms.

Of course a serious concern anytime alcohol is consumed is to make sure that you do not overindulge yourself. A glass or two is all that is needed to take in the benefits from drinking the wine. Drinking too much can lower your blood pressure to dangerous levels and over time cause damage in the liver leading to cirrhosis.

Just remember that the key to the health benefits of red wine are moderation and regularity. It will not help to go out and drink a bottle one night and never drink it again. Try going to a winery and ask for suggestions for first time drinkers and find a taste that you like.

When you've found something you like keep a few bottles in a cupboard and have a glass with dinner a few times a week. Drinking a glass of wine every now and then doesn't seem like too harsh of a routine does it? Especially when there are so many health benefits that comes from it.

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Red And White Wine - The Differences

Most people have tried various red wines and white wines and they still have no idea what differentiates both. If you have no clue, then this article will give you the factors to look for; apart from the color which is obvious. Red and white wines can either be dry or sweet or anywhere in between.

The red wine is more robust, more complex than white wines. White wines are generally lighter without the complexity of reds. Though the grapes used do matter, but the main difference is in the fermentation process. Red wines are mostly made from red and black grapes, and white wines from green grapes. Sometimes red, black and black grapes are combined.

During the fermentation process for white wine, the stems, seeds and grape skin are gently removed from the grape juice after it has been squeezed from the pressing machine. On the other hand, during fermentation process for red wines the grape stems,seeds and grape skins are left in the squeezed juice. By leaving the stems,seeds and grape skins in the juice it produces tannins and pigments and are the ingredients that is also responsible for the complexity of red wines.

Tannins are compounds that are present in grapes and other plants. When you partake in drinking a very strong cup of tea, the bitter, sharp taste is caused by these tannins. These tannins act to prevent oxidation of the wine during the aging process. This prevention is very important in red wines, since they're usually aged and matured for much longer period of time than white. Because it is aged longer the tannins provide another layer of flavor, therefore increasing the complexity of the wine and also making it more robust. The bite of the tannins will diminish and be mellow as the wine ages.

Both red and white wine can make an excellent addition to your delicious meal, depending on what brand and flavor you chose. The rules for picking the type of wine to match your meal is not edged in stone, but the differences in wine do provide some guidelines. I will pick red wines to go with my strong flavored meals, because it is more complex and robust in taste.

White wines on the other hand I will pick for my less flavored meals. Some people prefer red for meat dishes and white for fish and chicken dishes. The most important factor in choosing a wine for a meal is your own taste. Do you like it dry, light, sweet or slightly in between? Regardless of what wine you chose for your meal, just sit down and relax and pour yourself a glass as you slowly enjoy your meal.

As you enjoy your meal take a sip of your favorite nice wine without any food in your mouth. Some people make the mistake of sipping wine while still chewing. The proper etiquette is to sip your favorite delicious wine after chewing your food. This is the only way to truly enjoy your meal and get the true of your wine.

How To Serve Wine

Perhaps you have selected an occasion to open that special bottle of wine that you have been saving, or maybe you are hosting a dinner party.  Knowing how to properly open, serve, and enjoy your wine will make the experience that much more memorable, as well as allow you to experience the wine that much more fully.  Wine service has a few basic elements of importance, including temperature of the wine, opening the bottle, allowing the wine to breathe, choosing glasses, and pouring.

The temperature of the wine when it is served is imperative.  White wines should be served chilled, which can be accomplished in your refrigerator.  Place your whites in the refrigerator one to two hours before serving, allowing their temperatures to drop to about fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit.  White wines are served chilled due to their high acidity levels, which are moderated when cooled.  Be sure not to store your wine in the fridge, however, as this can destroy the flavor, making it dull and flat.  If you do not have two hours to spare, placing the wine in a bucket of ice water will effectively cool the wine.

Red wines are served differently.  They can be chilled via refrigerator for thirty to forty-five minutes, until they have reached about sixty-two degrees Fahrenheit.  This is considered “room temperature.”  Reds are served at a slightly cooler temperature because it slows down the evaporation process, which will improve the bouquet and flavor of the wine.  If you serve red wine at an overly-chilled temperature it will take on a bitter taste.

Should you forget about the red wine in the refrigerator and it becomes too cold, there are various remedies to this situation.  Try pouring the bottle into a warm decanter or warm wine glasses.  If you are in a real jam, you can use the microwave, but use caution; cooked wine is not good.  Place the bottle in the microwave for only about fifteen to twenty seconds.

After you have prepared your wine to the proper temperature, it is ready to be opened.  Begin by removing the metal foil that surrounds the cork.  This can be accomplished with either a specialized foil cutter or a sharp knife.  Most all in one corkscrews will be equipped with this type of apparatus.  Be sure that no jagged pieces remain, as they can be very sharp and cut your fingers when you are pouring, or cause the wine to dribble out all over.  Remove the cork with the corkscrew.  Should you experience problems with the cork, such as splitting, you may be left with no choice other than to push the cork back into the bottle.  Using a small skewer to hold back the cork, pour the wine into a decanter, straining it with either small vegetable steamer or coffee filter.  This will ensure that any damaged cork does not appear in your next glass of wine.

If you are de-corking a sparkling wine or champagne, use caution.  These bottles are opened by twisting off a metal guard.  Use a spoon to achieve this as it is much easier on your fingers and nails.  Untwist the guard carefully, and then pop the cork off with the bottle facing away from yourself and other guests.  Be sure not to have shaken up the bottle in the process, or the instantaneous contact with the open air will cause an eruption of your wine.

You may choose to allow your reds to breathe directly after opening, especially for that serious bottle.  Pour the wine into a decanter and allow the wine to open up for a couple of hours.

After pouring, you are ready to choose the stem-wear for your wines.  The most common of glasses is the tulip shape due to its wide bowl and narrower top with long stem.  This makes an ideal glass for swirling the wine, as it gets a lot of movement with little fear of spillage.  The narrow top also traps the bouquet, making it more able to deliver the fragrance.  A long stem is advisable for holding the glass during enjoyment, as this prevents any change in temperature.  Using this type of glass is usually acceptable for both reds and whites, especially if you do not want to have to clean more than one round of glasses.

There are a new variety of wine glasses available; those without stems.  They sit up on the bowl of the glass.  They allow the wine to breathe wonderfully during consumption and display remarkable aroma.  They can cause the drinker to leave fingerprints on the glass as well as change the temperature by constant handling, but the choice is yours.

Be sure to fill your glasses about half way, especially since most of the glasses we use are considerably large.  This also gives the wine a chance to breathe upon pouring, as well as allow for swirling.  Be sure to serve light bodied before full bodied wines, and young before olds.  This keeps the palate fresher longer.

The Flavors Of Wine

Although the four main flavors - sweet, salty, sour, and bitter are all your tongue is really capable of tasting, the long lasting impression that wine leaves in your mouth is far more complex.  When you drink or taste wine, your taste buds and your sense of smell are involved, adding to the way you interpret wine overall.  The flavors, aromas, and sensations that wine is comprised of provide the interaction that you taste when you sample wine.

Sweetness is something that wines are well known for.  With most types of wine, grapes are responsible for the sweet taste.  Grapes contain a lot of sugar, which breaks the yeast down into alcohol.  The grapes and yeast that were used to produce the wine will leave behind various sugars, which your tongue will be able to quickly detect.  Once your tongue detects these various sugars, the stimulation of sweetness from the wine will be ever so present in your mouth.

Alcohol is also present in wine, although your tongue doesn’t really know how to decipher the taste of alcohol.  Even though the tongue doesn’t really taste alcohol, the alcohol is present in the mouth.  The alcohol found in wine will dilate blood vessels and therefore intensify all of the other flavors found in the wine.  After you have samples a few types of wine, the alcohol level can easily have an effect on your taste buds, making it hard to distinguish other drinks that you may have.

Another flavor is acidity, which will effect the sugars.  With the proper balance of acidity, the overall flavor of wine can be very overwhelming.  Once you taste wine that contains it, the flavor of the acidity will be well known to your tongue.  Although acidity is great with wine, too much of it will leave a very sharp taste.  With the right levels, acidity will bring the flavors of the grape and fruits alive in your mouth - providing you with the perfect taste.

Yet another effect of flavor are tannins, which are the proteins found in the skins of grapes and other fruits.  If a wine has the right amount of tannins, it will give your tongue a great feel, and bring in the sensations of the other flavors.  Once a wine starts to age, the tannins will begin to breakdown in the bottle, giving you a softer feel to the taste.  Tannins are essential for the taste of wine - providing the wine has been properly aged.

The last flavor associated with wine is oak.  Although oak isn’t put into the wine during the manufacturing process, it is actually transferred during the aging process, as most wines will spend quite a bit of time in oak barrels.  Depending on how long the wine is left in the oak barrel or cask, the ability to extract the flavor will vary.  Most often times, wine will be aged just enough to where the oak taste is visibly there - and adds the perfect sentiment to the taste.

Although there are other flavors involved with the taste of wine, they aren’t as present as those listed above.  The above flavors are the most present in wine, and also the flavors that you need to get more familiar with.  Before you try to taste wine or distinguish flavors, you should always learn as much you can about the components responsible for the flavors.  This way - you will know more about what you are tasting and you’ll truly be able to appreciate wine.

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How To Make Homemade Wines

Prepare the Produce – First, inspect the fruit to ensure the grapes are ripe and free of insects or other contaminants. Put the grapes in the straining bag and measure the sugar level using your hydrometer. A hydrometer can be purchased at any wine making store. The sugar density should be 22 ideally. Also, remember to remove the stems from all grapes in order to make your wine smoother and sweeter. Finish this step by transferring the ingredients into the jug. Wine has been an important part of any occasion. It is commonly made from fermented grape juice, flowers, and grains. Countries like Italy, Portugal, United States, and Argentina are among the largest exporters of different wines. Art of Wine Tasting.

The most expensive kind of wine is called “vintage”. Vintage wines are made from the highest quality grapes that are harvested several years before they are sold to the public.

While some wines are very expensive, there are some of good quality and that are relatively inexpensive. Among these wines are homemade wines that are commonly served to show old English hospitality.

Home winemaking is an exciting hobbiy designed for people who love social drinking or who are fond of giving away wine as gifts. Here are some tips on how to make homemade wine:

1. Get fresh produce from fields and orchards that let buyers pick their own fruits. Another option is getting fruit concentrate being sold by local winemaking stores.
2. Buy equipment needed in home winemaking. These are fermentation locks, Demijohns, plastic funnels, trial jars, siphon tubes, and wine bottles with corks.
3. Gather necessary ingredients to put flavor and a distinct taste to the wine. These are yeast, pectic enzyme, wine tannin, acid blend, and campden tablets.
4. Get recipies of the favorite wines to have accurate information about the exact amount of ingredients to use. The tip in making the best wine is accurately mixing ingredients to achieve desired taste.
5. Use fermentation bags in collecting pulp and submerge it into the wine mixture. Set aside covered fermenter within 24 hours.
6. Put yeast on the grape juice surface and cover it. Let the mixture ferment within 7 days.
7. After 7 days, discard pulp and siphon the mixture to prepare for secondary fermenter.
8. Add water to the wine mixture and allow it to ferment for 4-6 weeks or until it appears completely clear. Use hydrometer to make sure fermentation has been completed. Hydrometer should show 0.989 and 0.990 on its gravity scale.
9. The wine should be cleared completely after following the first 8 steps. After that, siphon the wine and add five crushed campden tablets.
10. Bottle the homemade wine and let it age.

Today, the best wines on the market are home made. They are surprisingly delicious and inexpensive. Anyone can make wine by simply following these 10 basic steps and then you can start impressing friends and family members during get-togethers.

Home Wine Cellars

If you want to create your own wine cellars, take note of the following considerations.

Wine connoisseurs often spend a lot of money on wines, and they naturally want to protect their investment by purchasing home wine cellars.

Some companies offer factory prices, free cad design services, cooling equipment and refrigeration doors. They can turn any room, even a large closet, into a wine cellar. If you are on the look out for wine cellars, choose one that has superior design, with complete project management and high quality installation by experienced craftsmen.

The wine cellars should be made of the finest and clear redwood available. A red wood is ideal, since this rare type of wood made from the heart of the red wood tree can resist rot and mildew.

A good inventory control system is of primary importance, but the least considered element when constructing your own wine cellar. Wine cellaring is considered the turf of the rich. Nowadays, a lot of people own good cellars. They are wine lovers who know where to find the best bargain when it comes to wine cellars.

Also, find out the proper way to choose the shape of the wine glass that increases wine drinking enjoyment, along with the right way to hold a wine glass. It won’t hurt to know why oak barrels are used, and what the markings on the barrels mean.

Discover why wine should be stored in darkness, and the effect of the ultraviolet rays of the sun on the wine. Corks should be stored face down, and you should know what happens when the corks dry out.

Lastly, determine how large the wine cellar should be, and how many wine bottles will fit into the cellars. It is also valuable to know the four steps in tasting wine, similar to way wine experts do it. Find out what to look for in temperature controlled wine cabinet.

Choosing The Right Type Of Wine

Wines as we know them are generally distinguished as either red or white wine. However, this distinction is much too simplified considering the various types of wine depending on the grapes they were made of and the location of the vineyard where they were grown.

Having invested possibly hundreds of dollars in your latest bottle of vintage wine (ah well, we can but dream), the next important decision is where to store this prized possession?

The knowledge that wine can come in hundreds, perhaps thousands of flavors, can leave you with a feeling of dread especially when you have to order wine in restaurants. The basic rule is that there is no one perfect wine because it really depends on your own taste buds. An expensive wine that may taste perfect for one can taste horrible to another.

When ordering wine in restaurant, ask for the wine you personally prefer or have gotten familiar to the taste of. If you are the adventurous type or you really don't have an idea which wines are good, then it is always practical to ask the help of the waiter or the restaurant staff taking your order. It is proper to surmise that the staff or waiter should have been given instructions and the basic training in wine selection by the restaurant owner or manager. But what if the waiter is just as ignorant as their customers about their wine list? What if the big decision as to which wine to order is left in your hands? Art of Wine Tasting.

If no one on the staff is knowledgeable about wines or can't make suggestions, ask the waiter to just come back and then ask your companions about their preferences. Ask your dining companions whether they prefer red or white wine. The most common choices would be chardonnay for white wine as this is the king of white wine, or cabernet sauvignon for red wine as this is known as the king of red wine. No other choice could be much safer.

Wines benefit from being kept in dark conditions. Although this is not always practical, wine should certainly be stored in an area that is not exposed it to direct sunlight.

If you are eating white meat life fish or chicken, it would be best to order white wine. If you have chosen red meat like pork or beef roast, then red wine lie Pinot Noir would be an ideal wine to order. Ordering wine by the bottle is sometimes cheaper than ordering wine by glass. There are restaurants that offer discounts to customers who order two or more bottles of wine.

Whether or not you have a limited budget, it is always wise to ask for the price of wine per bottle or per glass, if only to have a stock knowledge of their prices the next time you are tasked with the same decision to order wine for the group. If money isn't a problem for you, then Dom Perignon would be a good choice although this wine is higher priced than the others. There are equally good wine sparklers like Iron Horse or Domaine Chandon which are priced reasonably, depending on where you are eating.

There are wines that are better when they are less than three years old. You can try ordering white wines like Pinot Blanc or French Macon are dry white wines that command good prices and can be eaten well with appetizers. Wines are best drunk when they have been properly chilled.

Many modern wines do not need to be aged over a great period of time; therefore extensive cellars are often unnecessary. Having said this, if you have the time, space and resource to excavate a cellar, your wine will surely benefit. A purpose built cellar is not normally an option for most households and so suitable alternatives must be explored.