Our latest Groupon deal is for up to 15 people to make 30 bottles of the award-winning Island Mist wines.

Up to 15 people come together to make 30 bottles of Lakeland Winery’s award-winning Island Mist wines under the guidance of passionate oenophilia. The five-step winemaking process is simple and engaging; it involves slowly mixing water with bentonite, juice, and then additional ingredients such as elderflowers or oak. Later, after fermentation, groups will cork and label each bottle to take home. Groups are encouraged to bring their own hors d’oeuvres to the party.

Lakeland Winery’s expert winemakers guide you through the five-step winemaking process. Bring your own hors d’oeuvres to the party. Island Mist combines the crisp freshness of distinctive varietals wines with delicious fruit flavors.

1. Serving red wines too warm. Don’t drink a red wine if it’s over 70 F — anything more stimulates alcohol evaporation and ruins the flavor.

2. Drinking the wine as soon as you open the bottle. You may be thirsty, but wine needs time to breathe. Letting a wine sit for a few minutes after opening softens tannins and activates aromas.

3. Over-chilling wines dull the flavors and aromas.

4. Not giving wine a second chance.  Many things affect the wine drinking experience, so that wine you tried and didn’t like the first time could taste completely different if you pair it with a different food, let it breathe longer, or serve it at a cooler temperature.

Our Fresh Blueberry wine is made only with freshly picked New York State blueberries. Blueberries are really good for you with all their antioxidant properties. I say, have brunch every day and pour some over pancakes. Mix the Fresh Blueberry wine with lemonade. Buy the Fresh Blueberry Wine and get another one half-off all this month!

My fellow older-millennials and I — those of us who are between the ages of 25 and 34 — are a big deal because we’re the second largest age group of wine drinkers next to our parents in the 55 to 64 age group, who are doing the most wine drinking.

According to the 2012 Wine Consumption Report by Napa-based firm Invictus Marketing, more millennials than ever before are drinking wine. Interestingly, the top two age groups are almost in a dead heat in their monthly wine consumption. Thirty five percent of older millenials drink wine at least once a month and 35.2 percent of 55 to 64 year olds drink wine once a month. I concur with these results based solely on anecdotal evidence. At least once a month I drink the wine my parents bought. Wine unites generations.

Invictus Marketing contends that despite these strong numbers of young wine drinkers, traditional wineries aren’t catering to this demographic and missing out on a great opportunity. Even if this is the case, I’ve seen a number of wine companies that are trying to make inroads with the millennial generation, and frankly, they seem a little out of touch to me.

Be. wines is marketing to young women with four wines to fit the four “moods” young women presumably ever have: Flirty (Pink Moscato), Radiant (Riesling), Fresh (Chardonnay) and Bright (Pinot Grigio). What about other moods such as Annoyed Cabernet Sauvignon and I’m-Being-Condescended-To Pinot Noir?

TXT Cellars is hip with the lingo with LOL!!!Riesling, OMG!!!Chardonnay, LMAO!!!Pinot Grigio and WTF!!! Pinot Noir. WTF is right.

The Washington Post reported in March 2012 on a Wine Market Council survey showing that millennials closely resemble high-end wine buyers who are more likely to try new wines, read reviews and visit wine bars — this description doesn’t seem to fit someone who might flirtily imbibe Moscato. I would think that a high-end, wine-drinking millennial is just as likely to tour wineries and try new wines at wineries as their older-generation, wine-drinking compatriots are.

The plant sale is open to the public on Saturday, May 19th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Raffles and food will be available at the public sale. Admission is free.

The sale at The Woods features native plants including ferns, shrubs, and spring and summer blooming plants. Check out the full list of plants being sold here. The plants are specially grown for Baltimore Woods by the Phoenix Flower Farm.

Baltimore Woods Nature Center is a nonprofit environmental education center with hiking trails, and teaching and interactive programs for students and the public.

I’m not really one for beauty pageants, but I think Germany’s Wine Queen pageant is one I can get behind.

The Vinography blog met up with the 2012  German Wine Queen, Annika Strebel, at ProWein, Europe’s largest wine exhibition. Becoming the German Wine Queen is no joke.

Vinography notes:

”The wine queen program is a remarkably savvy idea that celebrates many of the best things about wine and culture without falling prey to the trashier aspects of many beauty pageants. By celebrating beautiful, intelligent young women that are passionate about wine, the program both serves to attract younger people to the culture of wine, while at the same time demystifying and glamorizing it.”

Wine queens not only have to be lovely and enchanting in evening gowns, but these women must also be serious wine connoisseurs. Wine Queen contenders must pass a series of tests to win the crown. Vinography reports that the hopeful Wine Queen must give an impromptu speech on a randomly chosen German wine region; she must be able to answer questions about the differences between wine regions and grape varieties; perform a blind sensory analysis of a sample of wines; describe winemaking techniques for any type of wine; and make a speech about German wine in English using key words provided by the jury. Phew.  I’d stumble over that like a certain 2007 Miss Teen USA contender from South Carolina every single time.

The Wine Queen devotes an entire year to her reign, and according to Vinography, it’s a huge time commitment. Past queen Mandy Grossgarten told Vinography that being wine queen ”pretty much turns your world upside down.” Many wine queens are students who must take a year off from their studies to participate in hundreds of publicity engagements. Strebel recounted that she participated in an underwater wine tasting in SCUBA gear as part of her queenly duties.

Strebel, who is taking a year off from her studies at the  prestigious viticulture and enology program at Geisenheim in Hessen, Germany, plans to eventually take over winemaking at her family’s Weingut Strebel winery.

Piceattonal is found in both red grape seeds and the skins, as well as in blueberries and passion fruit.

Kee-Hong Kim, an assistant professor of food science at Purdue, and coauthor of the study, explains:

“Piceatannol actually alters the timing of gene expressions, gene functions and insulin action during adipogenesis, the process in which early stage fat cells become mature fat cells. In the presence of piceatannol, you can see delay or complete inhibition of adipogenesis.”

The Purdue researchers say they plan to do more research on this compound and whether it could be used as a method to counteract obesity.

Royalty Free/Corbis

French wine from the Bordeaux producer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The French are trying to conquer America, and that doesn’t mean they want to buy Louisiana back. Americans are purchasing French wine in record amounts, helping propel the Gallic wine industry to new highs. French wine and spirits exports hit $13 billion in 2011, and America was the dominant trading partner, providing 18 percent of that figure. Despite the intense focus on China in recent years, the United States is importing more French wines from almost every region. That’s spurring the French to invest more marketing and sales efforts in America.

via Americans Love French Wine | Wine Spectator

Roses get their blushy, pink color by keeping the red grapes in their skins for a shorter period of time than for red wines. You could even call rose an unfinished red wine. Red wines usually sit in the grape skins for two weeks, while roses are left with the skins for just a couple of days. After the skins are removed, roses ferment as white wine. Roses may also be made by mixing red and white varietals.

Spanish roses can be made from Garnacha or Tempranillo grapes. Our Spanish rose is made with Tempranillo, which means “little early one” because of the grape’s short growing season. Most Spanish roses come from the Rioja and Ribera del Duero growing regions of Spain.

So in preparation for summer, we’re selling our Spanish Rose for $8.95. Whether you’re heading off to a bull fight or just your backyard, come in and pick up a bottle or two!

Genius Idea: Think of Vinyou as an events board for wine lovers. The site is set up so you can browse upcoming wine tasting events in your area and also post your own events to the community at large.

Still, let it be known that the Syracuse Wine Meetup Group has the best wine events in the Finger Lakes, and Central New York, Lake Ontario wine regions.

Find Upcoming Wine Tastings Near You [Mashable]