Category — drinking wine

Stories and news from the wine world:

• Wine Word of the Week: Clarification
  — Clarification is the wine-making operation which removes suspended and insoluble material from grape juice, or new wine, in which these solids are known as lees.
• Sulfites in Wine
  — Sneaky Sulfites Cause Splitting Headaches, or Do They? The truth behind sulfites used in wine.
• Wine May ‘Protect Against Dementia’
  — The beneficial effects observed are due to compounds called flavonoids, found in red wine.
• Time Works Against Opened Wine Bottle
  — The problem arises when you taste several wines or simply don’t want to drink an entire bottle by yourself or with a friend.
• Report: American Wine Industry Healthy
  — Wine Intelligence, a London-based wine industry consulting and market research firm, is reporting that American wine is doing just fine…

This is a shameless plug for Ytb Travel Network and Ytb, International, the parent company of my travel company, and 26th largest travel company in the world. These photos are of me and the Syracuse contingent at the recently attended Ytb, Inc. International Convention in St. Louis.

So, here’s my story: A few months ago, I had been thinking of setting up trips for my wine drinking customers to visit wineries all over the world, but hadn’t a clue how to get started. A month or two later, I’m serving wine at the farmers market and need water to wipe up some spilled wine. Nearby there was a guy at a table with lots of plastic water bottles at his display. I went over to him and he said, “how would you like to get paid to travel and have that money go back into your business”? That was all I needed to hear. Several weeks later I joined Ytb Inc, and started Lakeland Travel Club. You can see it at www.lakelandtravelclub.com.

In a nut shell, I get paid to do what I love doing…travel. And, you can too! Just visit my website; watch the video; sign up to become a member of Ytb and begin working at the most exciting and potentially rewarding business you’ve ever owned. Make money from commissions paid by airlines, hotels and car rental agencies when people book travel on your website. It’s not easy, but what is? You have to work it, like any job. Tell people your reason for joining. Everyone has their own story. What’s yours?

Want to know more? Call me at (315)572-4763 and reserve 30 minutes of your time to find out more.

Andy

Stories and news from the wine world:

• The Vintner’s Case for Global Warming
  — French winemakers are buying land in northern areas that haven’t been able to produce wine in centuries. Areas like upstate New York, Ontario, and British Columbia that were marginal wine producers are becoming important winemaking centers.
• Winemaking: Requested Recipe (Pineapple Wines)
  — By the time the fruit reaches your local market, the intense flavor and sweetness made be decidely reduced. For that reason, pineapple wine made from canned pineapple or pineapple juice are, generally speaking, every bit as good as wine made from fresh pineapple fruit.
• Using Wine Recipes for Fruit Wine
  — Once you have all the basic equipment together you can start looking for wine recipes to make your own fruit wines.
• Winemaking Calculators Go Online
  — New website’s free tools provide help for busy winemakers.
• Wine Critics and their Discontents
  — You might think that the job of wine critic would be heavenly—traveling the world, tasting wines and talking and writing about them. What could be better? But there are downsides and trade-offs to the job.
• Wines to Make a Party Swing
  — So you’re having a party? There is nothing worse than going to a party and being given a bad tasting glass of wine. There is no excuse for this, and so this article gives you a few ideas on what to serve your guests.
• The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home
  — Written by a vintner and science editor with twenty-five years experience, The Way to Make Wine is the most readable and reliable handbook among the many winemaking guides.

The results are in from this year’s NYS Fair Home Wine Making Competition. Of 283 entries, 25 entries were from juice/concentrate, like the kind you make at Lakeland Winery. Nearly ALL the Concentrate wine won a medal! A DOUBLE GOLD went to Chocolate Raspberry Port (which is available for you to make in November) and the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. GOLD went to Strawberry Riesling; Peach Apricot Chardonnay, and Orange Blossom Muscat. SILVER went to Sangiovese; Montepulciano; Cabernet Sauvignon; Grenache Mourvedre; Stag’s Leap Merlot, and Green Apple Riesling. BRONZE went to Rioja; Shiraz; Merlot; Gewurztraminer; Three berry Pinot Grigio, and Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon.

Thank you to those who made their wine at Lakeland Winery and submitted it for a chance to win. I’m sure your efforts were noticed by the judges, who some were surprised that your wines would taste so good.

As the organizer for this years competition, I am planning to also be part of next years event at the State Fair. I hope you will join me and learn what’s involved in judging wines. Get a close up, personal view of how judging is done.

These are the final comprehensive results for your viewing: 2008-home-wine-competition

Stories and news from the wine world:

• The Step-by-Step Process of Making French Wine
  — There is extra care put into a French wine and this thoughtful consideration adds something special to every single French wine on the market today.
• Making White Wine: A Labor of Love
  — The grapes are grown at the wineries and then turned into wine and there are many varieties of grapes; each one either used either alone or combined to make different wines. But how exactly is white wine made?
• Making Your Own Wine: Where to Buy Wine Bottles
  — If you are interested in making your own wine, there are a few ingredients and pieces of equipment that you are going to need to purchase. One of the most important, of course are the wine bottles that you are going to use.
• Wine Region Map of Spain
  — With detailed illustrations of its varied terrain and topography, the map artfully showcases Spainâs vast variety of wines resulting from distinctive terrain, climate and winemaking styles.
• Crop Forecast Increases for 2008 California Wine Grape
  — Wine-type variety grape production for California is forecast at 3.40 million tons, up 6 percent from both the July forecast and from the 2007 crop, according to the USDA-NASS California field office.
• Green Your Wine Cellar
  — The environmental benefits of boxed wine is that cardboard and plastic bags weigh much less than bottles.
• Bargain Wine and the Big Mac Index
  — Wine prices in the U.S. appear to be heading up - what’s a bargain-seeking shopper to do? That’s the question I was asked by the wine and spirits editor of a major cooking magazine. The answer is to try to make the exchange rate work for you, not against you.
• The WineRack - A Wine-Filled Bra!
  — The WineRack has a “special boob-enhancing polyurethane bladder” that holds up to 750ml of the alcohol of your choice.
• What to do with Leftover Wine
  — While it’s easy to throw a vat of macaroni in a Tupperware bowl or wrap a piece of bread in a plastic baggie, the same can’t be said for wine.

This year will be a huge success and adventure for newbies at the New York State Fair Home Winemaking Competition. As this year’s new organizing official for the competition, I am encouraging everyone who has ever made wine at Lakeland Winery to enter a bottle of their wine. You may bring in a 750ml bottle and I will transfer it into the required two bottles, using two 375ml bottles (FREE).

Use this link below to download the application, and get your wine to me by the new deadline of August 13th. I will be available Monday and Tuesday for drop off at Lakeland Winery. The competition date is August 17th. The fee is only $10.00 each entry, and you are SURE to win a beautiful gold, silver or bronze medal. We need Volunteers!

Cut and Paste this link: http://www.nysfair.org/docs/entry/Home-Wine-Entry-Form.pdf

To Summarize:

Home Wine Submittal Deadline: August 13, 2008

Log-in and set up Date & Time: August 16, 2008

Volunteers: please arrive at the Art and Home Center at 9:00 AM.

Home Wine Competition Date: August 17, 2008

Volunteers: please arrive at the Art and Home Center at 7:30 AM.

Lunch provided to all volunteers.

Awards Ceremony: August 22, 2008 at Noon

Two 375ml entry bottles of wine may be substituted for two 750ml bottles.

If you have any questions, please call Andy at (315)572-4763 (cell phone)

Mail by UPS to: Agriculture Suite, 581 State Fair Blvd., Syracuse, NY 13209

Dispelling myths about what it takes to call yourself a wine enthusiast:

Myth number three — you cannot be called a wine enthusiast unless you belong to the elite wine club of your area and have a good knowledge about wines. There is nothing further from truth. Anyone who loves wine can be labeled as a wine enthusiast, period. Once you discover the love for wine, you would be thirsty to know more about the origin, various types, methods of serving, storage and other aspects of wine—just because you love this royal beverage. If you look closely, this is what actually describes the wine enthusiasts all over the world.

Exploding Some General Myths Concerning the Wine Enthusiast [WineXpert]

Photo by ricko
Researchers have discovered that drinking a nice Cabernet with your juicy steak at dinner protects your body from harmful toxins released during digestion. Red wine helps neutralize these toxins with antioxidants called polyphenols:

In a study on rats, scientists at Hebrew University in Jerusalem fed some of the animals ground meat, and fed others the same meat infused with red-wine extract. Subsequent tests revealed that the wine-dosed rats had lower levels of the fat-derived toxins.

“Diets high in fat and red meat are contributory risk factors,” the study’s authors write in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. But if you do indulge in a grilled porterhouse now and then, you can reduce the risk with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

The study helps to explain the so-called French paradox—the relatively low heart-disease rate among wine-drinking Frenchmen and -women, despite diets high in cheese, butter, meat, and other forms of fat.

Wine, the antidote to a grilled steak [The Week]

I was recently asked to Judge the NYS Fair commercial Wine Competition last Saturday. This definitely was a day to remember - tasting and spitting; tasting and spitting, all day long. Of course, I had never experienced this before…usually I drink my wine. But seriously, there were some VERY good wines from all over the State. One thing I was thinking as I sampled the many different wines, “my own wines would win medals at this competition”. And I plan on entering some of them next year. Wish me luck:)

NEW YORK STATE FAIR COMMERCIAL WINE COMPETITION-2008

The committee was pleased to have 20 wineries entering for the first time.  There were 67 wineries entering a total of 437 wines.  On Saturday, June 21, 2008, twenty four judges from the east coast manned six panels to taste wines representing all seven wine producing regions of the Empire State.  The judges were selected on their knowledge of wines made from cold climate grapes.  The judging panels were representative of professionals in publishing, education, distributing, sales, restaurants, broadcasting, advertising, wine making, consulting and journalism.

Nearly every winery won an award.  There were 19 Double Gold awards given as well as 26 Gold, 133 Silver, and 161 Bronze.  The Best of Show “Blue Ribbon Award” went to Long Point Winery for their 2004 Long Point Cabernet Sauvignon.  This same wine took Best of Category-Red Wine.  In addition, Goose Watch Winery’s NV(non vintage) Snow Goose won Best of Category for White Wine.  The Best Sparkling Wine award went to Swedish Hill Winery for their NV Blanc de Blanc.  Hunt Country Vineyards won Best of Category Dessert Wine for their 2006 Vidal Blanc Ice Wine, Estate Bottled.  The Best of Category for Fortified Wine went to a first time entrant, Hudson-Chatham Winery for their NV Paperbirch Raspberry Fine Ruby. The Best of Category Fruit Wine was Torrey Ridge’s NV Scarlet Red.   Penguin Bay was awarded Best of Rosé/Blush with their 2007 Rosé of Chambourcin. As examples of consistency in winemaking, as well as judging, these last two wineries won the same awards in 2007.  A complete list of all the winners can be found online at www.nysfair.org/competitions.

A crew of 14 dedicated volunteers worked hard to keep up with the washing and polishing of glasses, pouring and serving the wines, and data entry of the wine scores, all while maintaining the integrity of a totally blind judging.  The State Fair Entry Department was notified of the results at the conclusion of the competition.

The committee was especially pleased with the 37 awards won by wineries that had entered for the first time.  Several judges commented on the high quality of wines entered this year.  We are excited that our competition continues to grow and improve.  We wish to express our thanks to all who participated and our congratulations go out to all the award winners.

Fairgoers can view the top award winning wines, which will be on display in the “Giant Wine Bottle” in the Horticulture building during the fair.  Samples of wines entered in the competition are available to fairgoers following most of presentations in the Demonstration Kitchen in the lower level of the Arts and Home Center.  Again, volunteers will be on hand to serve wine and answer questions.

A few weeks ago, our wine club the Syracuse Wine Meetup Group caravaned into the Finger Lakes Region of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. Using designated drivers, we stopped at several different wineries, some very ostentatious looking buildings having mediocre wine. Our last stop was this little ‘hole in the wall’, and our group was blow away by their wines. Silver Springs Winery only had a small number of red wines, but we agreed they were the best reds we had that whole day.

I’m coming from a history of not liking wines until only a few years ago (I’m 53 now). As one liquor store owner told me last week: “The taste of 95% of our wines aren’t worth selling”. I had the unfortunate experience of not tasting wines before I purchased them. All that has changed since I began making wine at Lakeland Winery. Because of the thousand’s of different wines (and the tastes change EVERY year) being produced,  my advice to new wine drinkers is take the recommendation of a trusted source. Than, as your experience and tastes grow, trust yourself. I’m still not to the point where I appreciate the driest wines, but who cares. I’m having fun along the way:)