Short Review on Chianti Region

Storing Wine: What you need to know about Wine Cellars


It seems that aficionados and connoisseurs of wine are growing exponentially - statistics from the Wine Institute show that in 2005, the retail value ...


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The Best Articles on Chianti Region

Storing Wine: What you need to know about Wine Cellars

It seems that aficionados and connoisseurs of wine are growing exponentially - statistics from the Wine Institute show that in 2005, the retail value of California wines alone, in the U.S. were $16.5 billion. With a growing love and passion for wine, many folks are doing more than just purchasing wine; in fact, many are having wine cellars built for storage and preservation

What is a wine cellar exactly? This is a climate controlled environment that similar to the wine caves in France produces an excellent environment for both storing and aging wine. What the much revered wine caves have taught us is that you don't have to be a commercial wine maker or winery to enjoy in the collecting, aging and storing of wines.

Yet, to mimic the caves, particular design elements must be rendered, and these are different from simply adding another room to the house. Factors such as humidification, refrigeration, vapor barriers and insulation are essential. With so many do-it-yourselfers, many are inclined to build their own wine cellar. Hiring a contractor or a company that specializes in wine cellar design are other options. There are also modular cellar unit kits available.

How one chooses is based on personal preference with budget being a deciding factor. However, remember that with building a wine cellar, one can go for the no-frills storage option: like a wine cellar the size of a closet with modular racking, or go for the-full-frills option, complete with endless customization from floors, counters to a wine room that rivals a Napa Valley Winery.

With any choice, Cellaryourwine.com provides those considering building a wine cellar with information about the necessary equipment from cooling to racking systems to the elements of cellar design with floors, doors and lighting. Information about, custom and modular designs are discussed, as are topics such as wine cellar software, when to choose a wine refrigerator and much more.

About the Author

Nancy Peterson, a self-professed wine lover, recently added a wine cellar to her new home. You can read more about wine cellar equipment and wine cellar racks at: http://www.cellaryourwine.com

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News about Chianti Region

Italian winemaker Piero Antinori is poised to make his own Napa Valley wine (San Francisco Chronicle)

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 07:21:06 GMT
This tale begins, as many do, with love at first sight. In 1985, Marchese Piero Antinori helped a British beer conglomerate examine potential vineyard sites throughout Napa Valley. None impressed the Marchese, an Italian nobleman whose family after 26...

Dreams of wine country The grape debate (Tacoma News Tribune)

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:05:18 GMT
Bottles of Lloyd Anderson’s French-style syrahs bear the Columbia Valley appellation of Eastern Washington on the front of their labels. The South Sound location of his Walter Dacon winery is printed on the backs: “Shelton, Washington State.”

From factories to chateaux: Russia bids for wine fame (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:02:08 GMT
Bordeaux, Chianti... Kuban? For Andrei Piltakian, a small-time wine grower in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains, there is no doubt: Russia can compete with world-class wine regions.

Cheap Wine

Labels: Bakers Rack

Today's Chianti Region Article

Wine Wedding Favors

Wine and weddings are inseparable and it is traditional to toast the bride and groom at their wedding reception and drink to a happy and long lasting marriage. Now wine wedding favors is one of the most fashionable ways to celebrate a wedding.

These specially labeled wine wedding favors can later be kept as mementos of the wedding day. After the wedding, the empty wine bottle can be a suitable holder for fresh, dried or silk flowers and it can be placed next to the framed photo of the wedding couple. A scanned favorite photo of the couple can also be used as the label on the wine bottle. Couples can also make these wine wedding favors more attractive by adding text in a font style and size of their choice on the labels. Their guests not only enjoy the great moments of wedding but also put these wine wedding favors to good use.

Phrases, lyrics from the couple's favorite song, a famous quote, or a poem can be used on the label for personalized wine bottle wedding favors. Couples need to make sure that they include the date (month, day, and year) of the wedding on the wine bottle label. There are various distributors who can custom create labels and fix them to the wine bottles before shipping. Couples who are not interested in making their own labels can use labels created by these distributors.

Couples can compliment the wine wedding favors by adding a few simple items like wine glasses, wine glass charms, wine stoppers, picture frames and wine opener by placing them in a basket with shredded raffia, wrapped with cellophane and tied with beautiful organza ribbon in the colors of their wedding theme. Wine glasses can also be personalized and are ideal for guests who like to entertain a lot. Couples can make their own wine glass charms easily and inexpensively. Stainless steel, pewter and wooden wine stoppers are usually used to accentuate the custom wine bottle and are available in various styles to complement any wedding theme.

Headlines on Chianti Region

Wine producers put regions on the map - Stuff.co.nz

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:07:34 GMT

Wine producers put regions on the map Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand - Sep 18, 2007 Winegrowers policy manager John Barker is touring the wine regions explaining the new legislation and encouraging each region to come up with its own ...

UK: Bordeaux best-known wine region among consumers - survey - just-drinks.com (subscription)

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:30:54 GMT

UK: Bordeaux best-known wine region among consumers - survey just-drinks.com (subscription), UK - Sep 14, 2007 Wine consumers have the greatest awareness of Bordeaux, Champagne and Chianti when it comes to the world's wine regions, according to recent research. ...

Big fruity reds for that dry white bird - Globe and Mail

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 18:41:42 GMT

Big fruity reds for that dry white bird Globe and Mail, Canada - Oct 6, 2007 Now in a handy screw-cap bottle, this bargain red comes across like a baby Chianti, medium-bodied, with a slightly spicy grip. From the recent Vintages ...

Thoughts about Chianti Region

Wine Wedding Favors


Wine and weddings are inseparable and it is traditional to toast the bride and groom at their wedding reception and drink to a happy and long lasting ...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Chianti Region Items For Viewing

The FTD Sunny Day Rose Bouquet


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Labels: Wine Icon | Wine Importers

Today's Chianti Region Article

Worcester Travel Guide in the Winelands - South Africa

The town of Worcester in South Africa was founded in 1822. The town today is mainly the service centre for the surrounding wine and fruit growing areas in the Breede River Valley. Worcester lies at the N1 freeway connecting Cape Town and Johannesburg and is an ideal place for a stopover, since it has some interesting tourist attractions to offer.

At the Kleinplasie open-air museum one can gain an insight into the living conditions of the first settlers. A farm from the 18th century, a hut of the Trekboers and a Khoikhoi camp have been rebuilt and furnished true to detail. Actors in historical dresses reinvoke the rural life of the old days. Visitors can watch how they manufactured soap, rolled tobacco, forged horseshoes, milled wheat, spun wool and much more.

To the wine lover, Worcester offers a big Wine Tasting Centre, where one can savor the excellent Breede River wines. Definitely worth a visit is the KWV Brandy Cellar, where one can gain an insight into art of brandy distillation.

Another attraction is the Karoo National Botanical Garden, about one kilometer north of Worcester. In this 144 hectare semi-desert nature reserve one can find a whole spectrum of Karoo plants.

Glider-flying enthusiasts find the only glider flying airfield in the Cape in Worcester. The Cape Gliding Club owns a whole range of one or two-seater glider planes, a towing aircraft and a tarred runway. Flying activities are usually limited to the weekends only. Visitors are welcome and can, under the supervision of a teacher, try flying themselves. Thermal winds and weather conditions in the Breede River Valley are excellent most of the year.

Worcester lies on the main route to and from Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. With its wide range of services and commercial facilities, it has become the business and shopping centre for the entire valley and surrounding towns.

Things to See and Do:

Kleinplasie:

The Complex (next to the Robertson Road) comprises the agricultural showground's, an Open Air Living Museum, restaurant and wine cellar, as well as the Reptile World.

Kleinplasie Open Air Living Museum:

The unique open air museum depicts the lifestyle of the early pioneer farmers. Throughout the year a variety of activities are presented.

Karoo National Botanical Garden:

This jewel of a garden with 144ha of natural semi-desert vegetation and 10ha of landscaped gardens, features the unique plants of the drier parts of the country. Its greenhouse boast world famous collections of stone plants.

Brandy Route:

During the 325th brandy producing year in South Africa in 1997, the world's first Brandy Route was introduced, causing a stir amongst the world media. Public awareness was roused and brandy-lovers set about finding out more about the production and finer side of this noble fruit of the vine, by visiting the cellars along the Brandy Route.

The KWV Cellar, the largest of its kind in the world, is one of eight cellars on the Brandy Route. It's uniqueness lies in the 120 Woudberg potstills, huge maturation cellar and demonstrations of the ancient craft of barrel-making by the coopers.

The Olof Bergh Solera Cellar, at Goudine, is the other cellar in the Worcester region. Small but prolific, it accommodates 22 Woudberg copper potstills, similiar to those used in Cognac, France, for the distillation of high quality colombar wines. It is the only cellar in South Africa to practice the famous Spanish Solera method of maturation and blending.

Institute for the Blind:

Visitors are invited to come and see how the visually impaired are trained and how they work.

Institute for the Deaf:

Visitors are invited to come and see how the hearing impaired are trained and how they work.

Nuwe Hoop Centre for the Hearing Impaired:

A centre where children between the ages of three and twenty one years receive formal and technical training. Visitors are welcome.

Architectural Walking Routes:

Worcester was laid out according to a definite plan with parallel streets. This enables the visitor to take an easy walk through town and visit some prime examples of early architecture. Brochures are available at the Tourism Bureau.

Gift and Antique Shops:

Several interesting shops are dotted around town.

Chianti Region and More

Worcester Travel Guide in the Winelands - South Africa


The town of Worcester in South Africa was founded in 1822. The town today is mainly the service centre for the surrounding wine and fruit growing area...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Chianti Region in the news

A wine-derful place for a vacation (The Charlotte Observer)

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 07:16:32 GMT
Every time I visit California's Napa Valley, as soon as the big sign appears on Highway 29 that says "Welcome to This World Famous Growing Region," I feel like I'm entering Brigadoon, a magical valley removed from the cares of the world. I was able to return to Napa for a wine course late in the summer, a perfect time of year in this national treasure. The word "napa" comes from the Wappo Indian ...

Memoir is lesson in wine and food (The News & Observer)

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:45:23 GMT
'If it grows together, it goes together." That adage echoes our No. 1 rule of food and wine pairing, "Think regionally," and it applies nowhere more strongly than in Italy, whose food and wine are so regionally driven.

UK: Bordeaux best-known wine region among consumers - survey - just-drinks.com (subscription)

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:30:54 GMT

UK: Bordeaux best-known wine region among consumers - survey just-drinks.com (subscription), UK - Sep 14, 2007 Wine consumers have the greatest awareness of Bordeaux, Champagne and Chianti when it comes to the world's wine regions, according to recent research. ...

Italian winemaker Piero Antinori is poised to make his own Napa Valley wine (San Francisco Chronicle)

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:50:22 GMT
This tale begins, as many do, with love at first sight. In 1985, Marchese Piero Antinori helped a British beer conglomerate examine potential vineyard sites throughout Napa Valley.

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Labels: Varietal Wine

A Chianti Region Artilce for Your Viewing

Screwcaps For Wine - Is It Bye-Bye To The Romance?

Maybe you've noticed screwcaps on more of the higher priced wines lately. The trend is continuing to grow and so is the debate of whether a screwcap or cork is better for wine. The industry has basically "agreed to disagree" as to whether wine bottled with a screwcap or a cork tastes better, ages better and has less of a tendency to spoil.

As more wineries consider using screwcaps instead of the traditional cork, one has to wonder how the public at large will accept the change in tradition. When the occasional wine drinker sees a $20 bottle of wine with a screwcap, will he move to the next bottle on the shelf because he conjuring thoughts in his mind of his college years and Boones Farm Apple Wine?

Corks hold tradition and romance for a bottle of wine. It's hard to imagine dining at a fine eating establishment and ordering a bottle of wine without expecting the waiter pull out his corkscrew. Watching him carefully cut the foil, masterfully twist the screw into the cork, and giving it a pull with a final, ever so slight, pop, is part of what we pay for when we order a bottle of wine. It's shear romance; it's a moment we hold in our memory of a nice dining experience.

Why would a winery want to change an age-old tradition that holds so much charm? Well, apparently the occurrence of wines being spoiled because of the cork is a fairly large problem. One report from the International Wine Challenge, the world's largest wine competition, states that nearly one in 20 bottles, or 4.9% of the 11,033 bottles opened at that competition had spoiled or the flavor had been flattened because of the cork.

How is the cork responsible for the ruin of so much wine? Cork is a tree bark and when wine corks are manufactured, chlorine bleach is used for cleaning and brightening the color. When the bleach comes in contact with the natural molds that are present in the cork, a reaction occurs and a chemical called trichloroanisole (TCA) is produced. If this chemical comes in contact with the wine, it will cause it to taste like damp cardboard. When this happens the wine is then referred to as being "corked", and it is undrinkable.

Screwcaps have proven themselves to be a better alternative to cork. First developed in Australia, the brand name for screwcaps used for wine is Stelvin, so you will often hear them referred to as such. These caps are not the same as those used for food and drink; these caps are specially designed to protect fine wines from tainting for a period of time and to allow for aging. Basically the part of the cap that actually contacts the wine is made from a thin coating of Teflon film over pure tin, this gives the cap the capability to stay stable and flavor-neutral for a very long time.

There are some screwcap critics that say the Stelvin caps don't allow for proper "breathing" so the wine can age, however, this is a myth. If a cork is perfect and works the way it is supposed to work, it will not allow air into the bottle. Actually, oxygen is potentially harmful to the wine and very unnecessary for the aging process. To quote a leading Bordeaux authority Professor Pascal Rib?reau-Gayon in the "Handbook of Enology",

"reactions that take place in bottled wine do not require oxygen".

And one more authority, Professor Emile Peynaud of Bordeaux says,

"it is the opposite of oxidation, a process of reduction, or asphyxia by which wine develops in the bottle"

So, as we watch a trend develop of vintners moving toward using screwcaps we, the wine-drinking public, are just going to have to come to terms with the fact that screwcaps have proven themselves. Because of the Stelvin, we consumers will be able to enjoy better preserved and better tasting wine in the years to come. Actually, instead of thinking about moving to the next bottle on the shelf because of the screwcap, we should be seeking out the wine that delights your palate regardless of whether it uses a screwcap or not.

About the Author

David-The Wine Gift Guy loves to drink wine. Read his experiences, reviews, and recommendations at The Wine Gift Guy. Comments at the site are encouraged, stop by & help David build a great big, snob-free, wine-loving community.

A synopsis on Chianti Region .

Screwcaps For Wine - Is It Bye-Bye To The Romance?


Maybe you've noticed screwcaps on more of the higher priced wines lately. The trend is continuing to grow and so is the debate of whether a screwcap o...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Chianti Region Items For Viewing

Riedel 'O' Chardonnay/Viognier Stemless Wine Glasses (Set of 2)


The Riedel Stemless O Wine Glasses are the newest revolution in glassware. Casual yet elegant these wine glasses are appropriate for fine wine enjoyment as well as casual sipping. The wine tumblers were shaped to fit into a dishwasher and fine-tuned to enhance the pleasure of your favorite wine varietals. In keeping with the Riedel glassware tradition these wine glasses have become the benchmark for stemless glassware. Made in Germany of lead-free crystal. Gift boxed in sets of 2. 3 7/8'H 11 1/4 oz.


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News about Chianti Region

Dreams of wine country The grape debate (Tacoma News Tribune)

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:05:18 GMT
Bottles of Lloyd Anderson’s French-style syrahs bear the Columbia Valley appellation of Eastern Washington on the front of their labels. The South Sound location of his Walter Dacon winery is printed on the backs: “Shelton, Washington State.”

From factories to chateaux: Russia bids for wine fame (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:02:08 GMT
Bordeaux, Chianti... Kuban? For Andrei Piltakian, a small-time wine grower in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains, there is no doubt: Russia can compete with world-class wine regions.


About Wine
Tags: German Wine

Labels: Grape Wines, Hanna Wine