Category — wine industry

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…

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.

I heard that recently some manga (Japanese comic book) company has
been doing a serial manga about wines. There’s a mystery story line
that involves talking a lot about different wines, their flavors, and
their food compatibilities, and it’s made wine a bit more popular in
Japan. But where it’s really taken off is Korea and China, once the
manga was translated into Korean and Chinese. The comic is called
Kami no Shizuku (Drops of God), and if I recall correctly, the story
line is about a wine connoisseur (and maker?) who dies and leaves a
strange will. He considers that there are twelve great wines in the
world, which he likens to the Twelve Disciples of Jesus, and he says
that anyone who can name and describe them will win his large
inheritance. Competing are the man’s son and adopted son.

http://uk.reuters.com/news/pictures/popup?picId=903497&refresh=true

As the comics contain vivid descriptions of wines, and are actually
quite educational, they’ve become very popular among college students,
and anyone who wants to impress their friends with their knowledge of
wines.
I don’t think it’s been translated into English yet, but I may be wrong.

posted by Emily Watkins, resident of Japan

Photo by joey norsen.

Stumbled across a study from last year, which points out that the New York wine industry is one of the fastest growing in the 50 states.

With more and more Personalized Winemakers and wholesale customers every day, is it just a coincidence that our winery is growing? Maybe—but we’re definitely working pretty hard to make it happen!

The Northeast also consumes the most wine:

Respondents from the Northeast region exhibit the highest incidence of drinking wine, followed by respondents from the West region. Three—New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey—out of the top ten
wine-consuming states (Adams Beverage Group) are in the Northeast region. Additionally, the New York wine industry is one of the fastest growing in the U.S. (Mintel/Simmons Spring 2006 National Consumer Survey)

I’ll have to dig through this study further to find more interesting tidbits…

Winexpert is proud to announce its newest kit and best kit ever!

While keeping with our reputation for producing the industry’s highest standard for wine kits, we have decided to take on the cutting edge of environmentally appropriate technology both by reducing the carbon footprint of winemakers and improving the environment, making the world’s first truly ‘green’ wine: The Chateau Selection Series Sprirulina Algae Negative Carbon Wine Kit!

Spirulina is a blue-green algae. It is a simple, one-celled form of algae that thrives in warm, alkaline fresh-water bodies. The name “spirulina” is derived from the Latin word for “helix” or “spiral”; denoting the physical configuration of the organism when it forms swirling, microscopic strands.

Spirulina is the “food of the future” because of its amazing metabolic system, based on photosynthesis, a process of direct food energy production utilizing sunlight and chlorophyll, which is typical of plant life forms. This means that during fermentation the kit must receive direct sunlight—in fact, exposure to sunlight during storage and ageing will cause the wine kit to increase in alcohol! And it does this by directly absorbing the carbon dioxide generated by fermentation! Now the only smell your family will complain about will be pure, sweet fresh air coming from your fermentation room!

And that’s not all! Selection Series Sprirulina Algae Negative Carbon Wine Kit will soak up all of the CO2 generated by other fermentations! Make all the wine you want: it’ll only make your Selection Series Sprirulina Algae Negative Carbon Wine Kit produce better wine, faster! Algae to the people!

During the packaging process our Selection Series Sprirulina Algae Negative Carbon Wine Kit is subject to Pasteurizing at 70 degrees Centigrade (160 degrees F). In this intense heat, the naturally blue-green algae turns a frosted white and develops a sweet flavor as its 71 percent protein structure is transformed into polysaccharide sugars by the heat—more polysaccharides mean more flavor!

As a bonus, each Selection Series Sprirulina Algae Negative Carbon Wine Kit purchased April 1, 2008 will come with two cases of recycled cardboard Tetra-Pak™ ‘Friendlybottles’. Made from 100% recycled shoe boxes and the wax from hand-raised Venezualan Yoga Bees™, these containers occupy 1/10th the volume of regular wine bottles and carry the Friendly Hippie seal of approval!

Contact Lakeland Winery today and remember, Save the Planet: Use Your Liver!

Photo by boxercab
In Mendoza, Argentina, you can buy a ready-made vineyard for a permanent vacation:

The foothills south of Mendoza in Argentina have long been known as the agricultural heart that produces the country’s increasingly popular signature wine, malbec. For the past three years it has also been where Americans, Canadians and Europeans looking to fulfill winemaker fantasies have taken advantage of Argentina’s relatively low land prices and bought mini-vineyards.

Money on the Vine [WSJ.com]