A permanent vacation in Argentina: buy your own ready-made vineyard

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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]

Burgundy can be hit or miss, but not the 2005 vintage

Burgundy 2005 Domain Oliver Hillaire Chateauneuf-Du-Pape
Photo by K. Todd Storch

The Wall Street Journal recommends that French wine lovers should run out and grab a few bottles of the 2005 Burgundy vintage:

“Drop everything. Go to a good wine store right now, buy a bottle of 2005 red Burgundy and open it for dinner tonight. Set aside some time to go back tomorrow to buy more to lay down for the future.”

Tastings: The Right Stuff [WSJ.com]

The simple approach to winemaking

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For anyone who wants to make wine the simple and easy way (i.e., with some Welch’s frozen grape juice!), the Beer, Wine and Food blog offers up 8 simple steps to turn juice from the grocery store into a quick batch of wine. Don’t plan on winning any awards with this approach, but it’s a great hands-on experience nonetheless:

“I feel there are numerous people looking to get into winemaking and would like to take a simple approach. Or, maybe you are an experienced winemaker looking to make a batch for quick consumption. Either way, here are the simple steps to making wine. The procedure is designed to make 1 1/2 gallons which will probably end up being about 1 gallon bottled.”

Read on to learn more…

8 Simple Steps to Making Wine [Beer, Wine and Food]

67 of the best American wines for everyday drinking

Food & Wine magazine has a great list of the 67 best American wines worth checking out:

“After tasting more than 300 affordable American wines, Senior Editor Ray Isle reports on his most exciting finds, from Chardonnay to Zinfandel—to buy by the case for everyday drinking or casual entertaining.”

67 Best American Wines | Food & Wine