I got a cute little ram aerator for Christmas. I kind of knew what aerators were supposed to do, but had never really used one before that gift. An aerator is something you stick in the top of your wine bottle; when you pour the wine through it, air gets mixed in. The same thing…
Category: Interesting Fact
Interesting Fact, Merlot, Non-California
Audacia Winery Says Goodbye Sulfites, Hello Rooibos
by wineforthewin •
The rooibos tea latte at Starbucks is my jam on days I am too hyped up for caffeine, so when I heard about a South African company using rooibos chips as a wine preservative, my ears perked up. Audacia Winery has patented the technique, which reduced traditional preservatives like sulfur dioxide by using the natural…
Interesting Fact, Napa Valley
$300,000-worth of stolen Napa Valley wine found in North Carolina
by wineforthewin •
The majority of the $300,000-worth of wine stolen from French Laundry, a very fancy and famous restaurant in Napa Valley, on Christmas has been found…in North Carolina. Most of the 76 bottles have been accounted for, but some are still missing, local police said. The stolen loot included Burgundies from the Domaine de la Romanee…
Interesting Fact
They throw #wineraves in LA
by wineforthewin •
I see my Twitter feed this morning and noticed something weird, the hashtag #winerave. Some folks–more specifically Max Leer and Adam Vourvoulis, wine curators from Los Angeles’ foodie scene– made some bioluminescent wine cocktails, added glow sticks, topped it off with DJs and voila, a wine rave was born. I missed this one, but I…
Chardonnay, Interesting Fact
Review: 2012 Paperboy Chardonnay
by wineforthewin •
Remember when I told you about wine made in a paper bottles? Well, I drank it for the first time this weekend. Verdict: meh on the wine, cool on the packaging. I had the 2012 Paperboy Chardonnay at a picnic on Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl, one of my fave LA summer activities. A friend…
Interesting Fact
Interesting Read: Wine and Religion
by wineforthewin •
Aeon magazine has an interesting story out about wine’s origins in religion. It touches upon Noah, who is credited with planting the first vineyard, and the famed water into wine transformation by Jesus. The article’s point is that humans have long worshipped wine. Check out this excerpt: You can tell our culture values wine by…
Interesting Fact
Best explanation of tannin
by wineforthewin •
When I first started thinking about wine while a drank it, and reading lots of articles about wine, the definition of tannin escaped me for quite some time. That was until I realized that tannins aren’t something you smell or taste, like much of the descriptors we use to describe wine–fruity, earthy, chocolatey, etc. Rather…
Interesting Fact, Musing
Robert Parker v. Robot
by wineforthewin •
You know Robert Parker, the wine guru? He’s the one who came up with the 100-point system widely used today. He also has a way with words. Check out some of his stand-out musings: When I put my nose in a glass, it’s like tunnel vision. I move into another world, where everything around me…
Interesting Fact, Muscat
Wine milkshake? Red Robin’s got one.
by wineforthewin •
Red Robin, yes, the chain that brought you the a burger called “Burnin Love,” now has a wine milkshake on the menu. The Mango Moscato Wine Shake includes vanilla soft serve ice cream, Skyy Vodka (Moscato flavored, I’ll have to look into that for another post), Moscato by Alice White (the cheap wine you can…
Cabernet Sauvignon, Interesting Fact
I won a 1.5L bottle of Oberon Cabernet Sauvignon
by wineforthewin •
And now I have one in my possession, thanks to Oberon Wines. I entered a video contest to win a free trip to Napa through the Mondavi family label, but I didn’t win. I was told it was a close call, but they probably just tell that to everyone. To lift my spirits though, I received…