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All Things Wine

For Your Next Wine Tasting Party from RedEnvelope.com

Turn your next wine party into a first-class event. Wine bottles are slipped into faux-suede wine bags with charms labeling them one through four. After tasting each wine, guests write their descriptions on scorecards. Even if no one correctly identifies the wine, engaging conversation is guaranteed, and everyone will leave with a better grasp of the facets of wine tasting.

Wine Tasting Party Kit  |  $75 at RedEnvelope.com

Wine Tasting: You Like What You Like and That's OK

One very important thing I learned from my husband when he began his now four-year teachings of wine tasting is this:  You like what you like.  This was proven at a recent wine club I hosted.  We brown-bagged five wines, ranging in price from $10 to $50.  Many guests selected the $10 wine. You'd assume they would have preferred the more expensive wine, but we all agreed: Everybody has their own taste and that's just fine.

In the November 17, 2005, online edition of the the New York Times, writer Eric Asimov concurs with my counterparts in his article titled "Wine of the Times: Eternal Question Not Really Answered."  In the article, panel members also blind tasted some wines and discussed their favorite Thanksgiving wines.  One thing was conclusive, consensus was rare.

Read full article:   Eternal Question, Not Really Answered

Handmade Wines from Winemakers Around the World by Oriel

Oriel commissions winemakers from around the world to create a limited quantitiy of truly handmade wine that is special to their region.  Assembled all under one Oriel label helps keep overhead low and wines affordable.  Oriel also offers quarterly memberships that include 6 bottles of handmade wine per quarter, special event invitations, and more.  Founder Memberships offer more privileges including a concierge service and access to wineries around the world.

See a sample wine spec for 2003 Courant Cotes du Rhone by winemaker Louis Barruol.

Oriel  |  Official Website

Zinfandel Picks and Other Wines for Thanksgiving

Choosing wines for our Thanksgiving feast is never an easy choice for us at Daily Olive.  It should be so easy, but it comes with lots of anxiety.  Andrea Immer, at epicurious.com, gives us her wine recommendations for Thanksgiving.  Starting with Zinfandels, she also gives her white wine choices preferring Gewurztraminers, and great port and sherry selections for dessert.  Finally, she reminds us that Beaujolais could also be great choices with Thanksgiving turkey.

Wines for Thanksgiving  |  via epicurious.com

Decant your wines easily with the Wine Funnel

Need a quick and effective way to decant your wine?  The Wine Funnel aerates your wine into e into eight separate streams helping smooth out its tannic flavor and improve the taste.  European design also includes a stainless steel filter to catch bits of cork and sediment.

Wine Funnel   |  $20 at UncommonGoods.com

A Retro Wine Rack - The Wine Knot

The Wine Knot is designed by New York based design firm called Mint.  Made of birch and walnut plywood, the Wine Knot is a different take on the standard boxy wine rack designs out there.

Wine Knot Wine Rack  |  $100 at GreenerGrassDesign.com

6 Tips for Hosting a Sake Tasting Party

Join the growing trend of throwing a sake tasting party.  Beau Timken, owner of True Sake, shares his advice on hosting a sake tasting party.

I often get asked what is the best way to entertain with sake and how can we hold a sake tasting that is both fun and educational? The answer is simple really. Just get some sake and get some mouths.

Seriously having a sake shindig is quite like having a wine tasting except people may have less confidence in their sake understanding. But the bottom line is that it is all about people and their likes and dislikes. So the best way to approach a sake tasting adventure is to think about making almost everybody happy. (Some folks will never be happy – so screw them.)

Herewith are some scenarios and methods for having a sake gathering that will leave its mark and make you look like a hero.

Continue reading "6 Tips for Hosting a Sake Tasting Party"

Winesceptre Keeps Wine at Ideal Drinking Temperatures

Winesceptre is a new product that will keep your open wines chilled at the right drinking temperature.  Adopted for use by French sommeliers, using Winesceptre will keep wines at a steadier ideal serving temperature than placing the bottle in an ice bucket  (too cold), or sitting at room temperature (too warm).

Made of high grade stainless steel - the same as used in wine tanks, a chilled Winesceptre is inserted into a pre-chilled bottle of wine to keep the wine at a perfect serving temperature over an extended period of time.  The design also allows you to continue pouring wine without removing Winesceptre from the bottle.

Order directly from Winesceptre.com.

Technorati Tag: wine

Rosendahl WineTube Wine Rack

The WineTube Wine Rack is an elegant and modern solution to wine storage.  With the rack holding the neck of the bottle, you can easily view the wine labels at a glance.

Rosendahl WineTube Wine Rack   |  $79 at Tabletools.com

Taste Test Your Wine with a Clef du Vin

Using a Clef du Vin, or "wine key", helps simulate the passage of time on a bottle of a wine.  Dipped in a glass of wine one second for every year of aging desired, the metal alloy speeds the oxidation process changing the wine's taste, in effect mimicking the effect of cellaring.  Wine collectors will use the Clef du Vin to predict how well a bottle may age helping them decide which wines are worth keeping and when their ideal drinking age will be. 

Clef du Vin Pocket Wine Tasting Tool |  $99 at WineEnthusiast.com

Perfect Christmas Gift for a wine lover--Clef du Vin Wine Tasting Tool built into a classic Chateau Laguiole Corkscrew

Tips on Hosting a Port Tasting Party

As the weather gets cooler, a port tasting party is a great way to warm up and get cozy.  Here's some quick tips on hosting a port tasting party (via WineSkinny.com).

Port makes an outstanding choice for a winter wine tasting. Cold nights, a cozy fire, good friends, fabulous port. What else could you want out of life?

If you are new to port, here are a couple of basics: Tawny port is usually ready to drink, because it's had all the aging it needs before it's bottled. Typically, it has a reddish-brown color and a mature, nutty, dried-fruit flavor that matches beautifully with foods that feature blue cheeses, nuts, certain grains or dried fruits. Vintage port, on the other hand, is bottled after only a couple of years in the barrel and needs quite a bit of aging to soften bitter tannins and to integrate the often harsh spirit into thickly textured, luscious wine.

Continue reading "Tips on Hosting a Port Tasting Party"

Three Wine of the Month Clubs from K&L Wines

When you purchase a Wine of the Month Club package from K & L Wine Merchants, you'll be assured that you'll get a great deal and some excellent wines.  Reviewed by many as one of the internet's best wine retailers (Inc.com, Time, Wall Street Journal, Forbes to name a few), choose from three wine clubs--Best Buy Wine Club, Premium Wine Club, or Signature Red Collection.

Order your Wine of the Month Club directly from K&L Wine Merchants online.

Visit "Sideways" Wine Country without the Crowds

The movie "Sideways" brought mixed blessings not only to the folks and wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley, where the movie was set, but also to the people who visited.  Where there once was a peaceful getaway location to a lesser known California wine country, now there's lots of traffic and lots more people.

Los Angeles Times food writer Ann Herold writes about her experiences in Santa Ynez to find the road less traveled, and some smaller wineries that maybe are better than the Sanford's and Fess Parker's.  All in all, she uncovers a more peaceful way to enjoy your weekend trip and Pinot Noirs in "Sideways" wine country.

Read "Unsideways: The Tour | Secrets of the Santa Ynez Valley" via LA Times

Autumn California Wine Country Bike Tours

Fall weather is the perfect time to enjoy a bike tour of California's wine country.  Offered by Backroads, a 25 year old active travel company, enjoy a six day wine country tour that runs through Napa and Sonoma Valleys, through Healdsburg and Bodega Bay.

Wine Country Bike Tour  |  via Backroads.com

Crystal Wine Duck Decanter by Ravenscroft

Ravenscroft Duck Wine Decanter, made of lead-free crystal, is hand blown to give your wine maximum aeration.

Ravenscroft Crystal is the embodiment of old-world European craftsmanship and a modern understanding of how the composition and shape of a wine glass can significantly enhance the tasting experience. Our designs, developed out of the deepest respect for great wine, are hand crafted in nearly 30 different styles. Each style is the result of thousands of years of glass making trial-and-error, and is individually crafted to enhance both the bouquet and taste of the wine or spirit for which it was made.

Ravenscroft Crystal Duck Decanter  |  $68 at CalVines.com

Luxurious Leather Wine Tote

Two special wine bottles will travel in style with this leather wine tote from Mulholland Brothers--made by hand in San Francisco.

Endurance Two-Bottle Wine Carrier | $220 at eBags.com

Relax in a Wine Barrel Folding Chair

Made from salvaged California winery wine barrels, Whit McLeod has designed and constructed a folding chair out of 100% white oak barrel staves.  Each chair is numbered and branded with the name of the winery where the barrel was used.

Order online directly from Whit McLeod Chairs.

Survey: What's Your Favorite Restaurant in Napa Valley?

Here's our first reader survey!

If you have a favorite Napa Valley restaurant you love, share your experiences with other Daily Olive readers.  Leave your comments below.

2003 Shaping Up to Be a Vintage Year for Port

A couple months ago over dinner with friends, we started our dessert course with a few rounds of port.  With luck, we were in the company of experienced port drinkers and their selections have opened our palates to the wonderful world of port.  Now, we look out for any information to learn more about port wines and here's a few links to get started with.

• 2003 Vintage Ports to Save - More Ports in a Storm via StarChefs.com
• The Origins of Port via TheWineMan.com
• Port Wine via Wikipedia

Read more in All Things Wine

Prepare for Your Northern California Wine Country Trip

Looking to travel to Northern California wine country?  Spending a weekend in Healdsburg, Napa Valley, & Sonoma?  Two new books help you plan your wine country trip this coming fall.  Published by Chronicle Books, check out "The Wine Lover's Guide to the Wine Country: The Best of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino" and "Sonoma: The Ultimate Winery Guide" to prepare for your trip.

via LA Daily News

Get Hip with Stemless Wine Glasses

Over the recent months, we've been seeing more and more stemless wine glasses--in wine shops, restaurants, style magazines, and online wine sites.  It's a bit different and that's probably why we like it.  Next time you entertain, serve your favorite chardonnay or cabernet in a stemless wine glass.  You'll be certain to start a conversation.

"The tumbler glass concept is really new for the industry,' said Maximilian Riedel, 27, who only six months ago launched his family company's line of stemless wine glasses.

Read "Stemless glasses are the new way to drink wine" via Yahoo India.

Shop Riedel O Line Stemless Wine Glasses at WineEnthusiast.com

Read More:  All Things Wine

Start Your Wine Cellar with These 60 Bottles

Starting to enjoy wine enough to think about starting your own wine cellar collection?  Canadian wine writer, Tony Aspler, offers some great guidelines to starting your own cellar.  Along with his tips, he also suggests a list of 60 wines to start your cellaring.

Read Tony Aspler's Tips on Starting a Wine Cellar.

Seattle's Top Wine Seller is Not Your Ordinary Retailer

Seattle friends of ours told us of Garagiste Wine, a unique wine retailer that's unlike any other retailer in the city.  Tucked in an industrial area with irregular hours, Garagiste also happens to be one of the top wine sellers in Seattle.  What's more, they have a national following for founder Jon Rimmerman's email recommendations of collectible, limited production wines.

Sign up for Rimmerman's mailing list at GaragisteWine.com.

Read "Seattle retailer Garagiste has national cult following" via The Seattle Times

Read more wine articles in All Things Wine at Daily Olive

History of the Wine Barrel

When you've gone to visit wineries, of course you'll see the cellars and all those wine barrels stacked up on racks.  Ever wonder how barrels came about for holding wine?  Here's a article about this history of how barrels became used for winemaking.

Read full article "History of the wine barrel" via CorkForce.com

Related Articles:
How to read a wine label
Compare wine prices online

Wine for Women - a new book by Leslie Sbrocco

A majority of wine consumers are women, and Leslie Sbrocco has written a straight forward, easy-to-read book for them in Wine for Women:  A Guide to Buying, Pairing, and Sharing WineYou can also find her on PBS and CNN, plus through her regular column in the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Website - www.lesliesbrocco.com

Japanese Sake Only Specialty Store

We have friends who travel often to Japan and bring us back special bottles of sake.  Since then, we always wondered if there's a place in the market for a specialty sake shop.  Well, we've found one -- True Sake -- located in San Francisco.  They carry only Japanese sakes and the owner, Beau Timken, has an extensive background in sake tasting and all it's background.  With taste testings, and his own True TasteMatch sake taste templating system, looks like Beau is doing all the right things to introduce us to the finer points of sake.

2005 Top Wine QPR

These days there's lots of talk of a wine's QPR, or quality-price-ratio, that rate the best wines that can be had at the best value for the dollar.  At the Wine Lovers Page, here's their list of Top Rated QPR Wines for 2005.

Movie 'Sideways' - Raising Up Pinot Noirs

If you've seen the movie 'Sideways', you probably came away with an interest in Pinot Noirs like many other fans.  Across the country, wine stores and restaurants have reported a rise in the purchase of Pinot Noirs.  Here's a few stories from around the web about the new popularity of Pinots driven by 'Sideways'. 

Sipping Sideways | Time.com
After 'Sideways', Pinot's stock is up | NY Daily News
A Connoisseur's Guide to 'Sideways' | Slate.MSN.com
The Sensitive Guy's Grape | Boston.com
Wineries Bask in Their 'Sideways' Cameo | MSNBC.com

Related:  Find Wines Online with Wine Searcher | Wine Grape Varietal Table

Shop and Compare Wine Prices Online

Sure, you've probably used one of the Internet's many shopping sites to compare prices for your latest household purchase, but have you seen a shopping site for wines?  We have. 

Use Wine Searcher's online search site to find your specific bottle of wine from over 4,000 internet wine merchants.  You'll see all the merchant information plus their prices.  It's a great way to shop for that hard-to-find vintage and compare prices at the same time.

Start your wine search at Wine-Searcher.com.

Gift for Wine Lovers: Wine Grape Varietal Table

Wine Grape Varietal Table is a beautiful wine reference poster that shows you all the different grape varieties in a easy to read chart.  Printed like a fine art print, this poster is a perfect gift for a wine lover, and hangs nicely in your tasting room or wine cellar.  It is packed with information about grapes worldwide and comes with a printed reference book, The Wine and Grape Indexes.

Visit delongwine.com for more information.

Talking Turkey & Wine

From our blogging buddies, thefoodsection.com, here's a great post about wine choices and Thanksgiving turkey with input from other bloggers.

Wine Pairings for Thanksgiving Turkey

From the Food Network, here's a great listing of wine choices for Thanksgiving dinner.  From cheap to expensive, from elaborate dinners to simple, you'll find a wine here to go with your Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

Sponsored Link:  EuroCave - Premium wine cellars imported from France

"Wine for the Confused" Starring John Cleese on the Food Network

This Sunday, the Food Network brings us John Cleese and his British accent in "Wine for the Confused" to help us get less confused about wine and a few chuckles as well. I have a feeling that Cleese's classic humor, known from his hit "Fawlty Towers" and work with Monty Python will be a watchable entertaining hour of Food Network television. For airtimes, click over to the Food Network site.

Looking for a Cocktail Recipe?

CocktailDB catalogs over 4000 cocktail recipes and mixes, and probably is one of the larger cocktail recipe databases online. You can search by drink name or by the ingredients in your desired drink. There's also a Mixalator page where you can search for or create your own drink by picking features that you want in your cocktail. The choices range from complexity level, strength, taste characteristics, to time of day.

How to Read a Wine Label

The label on a bottle of wine undergoes more regulatory and creative scrutiny than perhaps any label on any other commodity. After a design is created and selected, the label must pass muster from the government agency that controls wine production as well as the various government agencies controlling importation and sale in every country where the wine is distributed. [More]

Looking for a Wine Tasting Event in Your Area?

We found a great wine website with a comprehensive list of wine tasting events in regions all over the world. Calling themselves "The Largest Wine & Spirits Calendar in the World", you'll be sure to find a local wine event in your area at LocalWineEvents.com. They even have a wine event email notification that will alert you to upcoming events in your requested regions. Happy tasting!

2004 American Wine Awards by Food & Wine

Food and Wine Magazine presents its 8th annual American Wine Awards. Did your favorite California wines make their list? Food and Wine names the Best Wines under and over $20 plus Best Wine Importer, Best New Wine Shop, Most Promising New Vineyard, and Winemaker of the Year.

Read their full article online.

Dom Perignon Champagne Teams with Architect Richard Meier

Architect Richard Meier has designed a sleek limited edition carrying case holding six bottles of 1995 vintage Dom Perignon. Priced at $2000 and with only 250 of these cases available, the beautiful package makes for an ultimate gift for the art and champagne lover.

Great Read: True to Our Roots by Fetzer Vineyard's Paul Dolan

CEO Paul Dolan has written a book talking about the principles that have guided him in his leadership of Fetzer Vineyard since 1992. This is an inspirational read revealing how personal principles and commitment led a successful winery to use the land and resources wisely while enhancing the lives of its employees, and the community and industry in which they work.

Available wherever books are sold and thru Amazon.com.

Holiday Wine Gift Baskets

Holiday wine gift baskets are suitable for gift giving to many different people on your gift list. There are a wide variety of wine and gourmet gift baskets that are appropriate for business associates and corporate gifts, thank you baskets, and the wine or food lover in your family.

Wine gift baskets are available online at:
Wine.com | Wine Enthusiast | iGourmet | Wine Messenger

Holiday Gift Guide: Pocket Wine Guide for Your Palm Pilot

Wine Enthusiast's Guide for your Palm Pilot turns your handheld into an up-to-date wine guide. Get wine ratings by region and year with reviews to help you conveniently select the ideal wine for your occasion.

For more details, visit Wine Enthusiast Wine Guide - 2003 Edition

Holiday Gift Guide: Brew Your Own Beer at Home with The Beer Machine

Brew your own beer at home? The Beer Machine makes it easy. Fitting inside your refrigerator, you can make your own homemade beer in just 10 days. This could be the ideal Christmas gift for the beer loving guy who loves cooking and tinkering around the house. Beer mixes from around the world are available from light to dark ales, lagers to honey beers to porters.

Click here for The Beer Machine

Choosing Wine for Your Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner

Looking for wine choices to go with Thanksgiving dinner? Here's a selection of turkey and wine pairing links from our friends at thefoodsection.com.

Online Wine Classes from Wine Spectator

Wine Spectator School offers on-line wine courses for the beginner to the experienced wine drinker. How do they do it? Well, each course includes multimedia presentations with class materials and course work that is downloaded and printed. After you've completed the course, you'll finish with a tutored tasting following a supplied tasting guideline. All you need is to purchase a range of wines that you studied in your class from your local wine shop.

Wine Spectator School even offers a free sample course so you can try out their online class format. Classes start at $49, and currently feature a course on California Cabernets.

Bidding on Wine Auctions at WineCommune.com

If you are familiar with eBay, then you'll feel right at home bidding on WineCommune.com for your favorite wines. This site is dedicated strictly to wine and auctions include wine ratings by Robert Parker. Be a bidder or seller, and you'll find it all here from special bottles to cases, from France to South Africa, California to Australia.

Take a look around, and you just might catch the wine auction bug.

Free St. Supery Meritage Label Poster

For a limited time, you can get a free poster of all the St. Supery Meritage label illustrations over the years. Just pay five dollars for shipping and handling.

Visit the St. Supery website to get the poster.

Jerry Garcia's Art and Wine

Greatful Dead's late singer Jerry Garcia's art has inspired Clos du Bois winery to launch J. Garcia wines featuring his art on the labels. The initial release includes three wines--2002 Sonoma County Chardonnay, 2000 Sonoma County Merlot, and 2000 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon.

Official J. Garcia Wine Website

J. Garcia available online at wine.com.

Got Wine Smarts? Get WineSmarts!

Play The Adult Trivia Game All About Wine

Designed as a stylish and useful addition to any coffee table, WineSmarts makes a great gift for someone who has just tasted their first glass or teaches their own wine class. You can use these question-and-answer cards by yourself, like traditional flashcards, to learn more about wine and test your knowledge. Or get competitive and use the cards as a party game.

Click here to order online thru Wine Enthusiast.

Everyone's Favorite Corkscrew

Le Creuset's Lever Model Classic Screwpull has been a classic elegant corkscrew for wine lovers since it was introduced 20 years ago. Designed by an aircraft engineer and inventor, the Stainless Steel model makes a great gift.

Also, recently named in Food & Wine Magazine's 125 Reasons We Love Wine.

Available thru:
Amazon | Sur La Table