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2008 - Wine Cabinet

Another Great Wine Cabinet Article

Wine Tasting Ritual De-Mythed: How to Test Wine in a Restaurant


You?re at a restaurant and somehow the job of ordering wine has landed on your plate - literally. You realize that, much to your dismay, not only will you have to order the wine; you?ll also be expected to make sure it?s okay for your table to drink.



You?ve just encountered one of the most intimidating public wine drinking experiences; and, naturally, you?re wondering how to pull it off without looking like a bozo.



First step, relax! This is a simple ? and way overrated -- ritual that has been around for years. And, luckily it?s the same ritual in every restaurant. So learn it once and you?re all set.



This is a three-step process. There really are no time limits; although you could annoy your server to no end if you drag it out too long. And annoying your server needlessly is rarely a good idea.



Step 1: The presentation of the wine bottle



The server is slowly walking up to your table and you swear you hear the theme song from Rocky playing in the background. Take a deep breath and make eye contact.



He or she will execute the presentation-of-the-bottle portion of the ritual. This is simply so you can verify that it?s what you ordered. Hopefully, you can remember.



Take a good look at the label. Is it the correct wine and vintage (year)? If it is, nicely tell the server you are accepting the bottle for the table and to be opened. If it isn?t, nicely point out the mistake to the server. (Hey, no one?s perfect).



As the server is opening the bottle, this is a good time to smile and say something witty to your guests who have been staring at you the entire time. Although not necessary, it makes things a little lighter.



Step 2: ? The opening of the wine bottle



The server opens the bottle and gently places the cork next to your hand. No matter what, fight the urge to smell it! Smelling the cork accomplishes nothing, and will make you look like a dork. Especially if it?s a plastic cork or screw top.



Just feel the cork to make sure the bottom is moistened with wine and that it?s intact. It?s okay if the cork is dry, but it shouldn?t be cracked or falling apart. There?s not much you can learn by feeling a plastic cork or, worse, a screw top.



While you were feeling the cork, the server has poured a small amount of wine into your glass. Simply swirl the wine a tad. No need to go crazy and create a whirlpool in your glass. Just a little, calm swirl. This helps ?open up your wine? or oxygenate it so you can smell and taste the true flavor.



Now, with nose in the glass, take a nice long whiff. Without getting into the complexity of the specific aromas of the grapes, you are simply making sure the wine is not bad. Believe me you will know if it?s bad as the essence of vinegar or mold will be present.



Now taste it. Odds are it will be great. Every now and then a wine will be either ?corked? (the cork has contaminated the wine) or it was damaged by improper storage. If either of those has happened, you will probably taste something like moldy bread or fruit, a wet basement, cork, cardboard, or vinegar. It will be pretty obvious that it should be sent back.



Step 3: Serving the table



If your wine passes steps 1 & 2, then let the server know that the drinking can begin. He or she will pour to your guests first, beginning with the ladies. Your glass will be the last one to be filled. Chances are good you?ll get the bill at the end of the night, too.



Congratulations! You?ve now mastered the ritual that intimidates and scares many people and you didn?t look like an idiot! In fact you undoubtedly looked fabulous.



?2006, Let?s Talk About Wine









Lynne Thomas knows a good glass of wine when she drinks one. She is a founding partner of Let?s Talk About Wine, a wine information resource created to connect people who want to learn about wine the fun, easy way. Visit http://www.letstalkaboutwine.com/ for a few laughs and a lot of info.

A Short Wine Cabinet Summary

Wine Tasting Ritual De-Mythed: How to Test Wine in a Restaurant


You?re at a restaurant and somehow the job of ordering wine has landed on your plate - literally. You realize that, much to your dismay, not only wil...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Recommended Wine Cabinet Items

Riedel 'O' Sauvignon Blanc/Riesling Stemless Wine Glasses (Set of 2)


The Riedel Stemless O Wine Glasses are the newest revolution in glassware. Casual yet elegant these wine glasses are appropriate for fine wine enjoyment as well as casual sipping. The wine tumblers were shaped to fit into a dishwasher and fine-tuned to enhance the pleasure of your favorite wine varietals. In keeping with the Riedel glassware tradition these wine glasses have become the benchmark for stemless glassware. Made in Germany of lead-free crystal. Gift boxed in sets of 2. 4 1/4'H 13 1/4 oz.


Price: 19.90 USD



Wine Cabinet in the news

Domestic wine sales ease in September (Stock & Land)

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:12:58 -0800
The trend estimate for domestic sales of Australian produced wine was 35.3 million litres in September, a decrease of 0.6pc from August 2008, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Exploring Tasmanias Freycinet Peninsula

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:33:51 -0800
Republishing in full not allowed without permission.. Source: roadlesstravelled.com.au GUEST ARTICLE:On our annual ’sister’ weekend away, Jo and I had four days in Tasmania, driving from Hobart, along the East Coast route to Freycinet National Park to do some kayaking and bushwalking. I walked onto the tarmac from my Jetstar flight to Hobart and thought ‘It’s not that cold!’ Within minutes that thought turned to ‘I might put on my polar fleece and wind resistant jacket!’ We rented a car, an

Meet the Store Owner: A Chat with Elizabeth from La Toriana

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:12:22 -0800
Today I’d like you to meet Elizabeth Murphy, proprietor of boutique baby and kids store La Toriana - www.latoriana.com.au. From country Victoria, where Elizabeth lives on a farm with her husband Gary, and 6 year old daughter Tiana, Elizabeth has created one of the finest baby and kids boutiques online. As Elizabeth would say “grab a cuppa, sit back and relax” and enjoy! - Angela. …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… Tell us a bit about yourself -

A Blog from Roger

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:57:26 -0800
I’m sitting here in the most wonderful surroundings of the Ritz Carlton in Santiago, Chile, a most pleasing city with beautiful weather, wide streets, lovely buildings, great people, excellent wine and to top it all off, Santiago is surrounded by the stunning snow capped Andes which can be seen glistening in the sunshine from my top floor suite. I’ve just returned from a relaxing swim, massage and steam room. But it isn’t all relaxing, we worked last night and the show was great, with an amazin


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4:47 AM

11/11/08 - Wine Enthusiast

Today's Wine Enthusiast Article

Don't Miss Out On A Trip To The California Wine Country


For all wine lovers, a trip to San Francisco should also consist of day trip to some of the fine vineyards that are in driving distance of the city. Many of these vineyards have charter packages available that will pick you up and bring you on a tour through the vineyard and allow you to sample their wines and then take you back, no worrying about drinking too much and then driving.

The wines that are available in the Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley of California have been known to change the minds people who claim that they don't have a taste for wine. The vast majority of the wines here are fine quality and are specially selected to show the level of quality that these vineyards have to offer. Whether you are an experienced wine taster or not doesn't matter, you will receive an excellent education about how the wine is made as well as be informed of all the different varieties available in the area.

If you aren't the tourist type and don't want to take one of the chartered bus tours you can also check into the smaller and more intimate option of an SUV tour. Granted, a tour like this will be much more expensive than the bus tours, but if you have the money to spend they are well worth the price just for the level of personal attention that you receive and the piece of mind that someone else is driving instead of you. You will also be able to take in some of the smaller independent wineries that don't make themselves available to the larger bus tours. If you think you may want to try this type of tour, plan ahead at least a week because they do not have the flexibility of filling empty seats that they larger charters have.

When you are going to a vineyard or winery for a tasting experience there are some things you will want to keep in mind to make the visit as enjoyable as possible. One of the things that many people don't think about is wearing fragrances. Don't wear any perfumes or other scents as these will interfere with the taste and fragrance of the wine. Also, to avoid warming the wine you want to hold the wine by the stem. To cleanse the palate you should have some crackers or plain bread that you can eat between tastings.

A visit to the California Wine Country will give you a great education about all of the varieties of wines and the regions they come from as well as the differences between them all which will be fascinating even if you have never had a glass of wine in your life.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about wine and Wine Gift Baskets at http://www.oldworldvineyard.com



Another short Wine Enthusiast review

Don't Miss Out On A Trip To The California Wine Country


For all wine lovers, a trip to San Francisco should also consist of day trip to some of the fine vineyards that are in driving distance of the city. M...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Wine Enthusiast Products we recommend

Riedel Ouverture Chardonnay Wine Glasses (Set of 4)


Riedel overture glasses Through years of research and consultations with vintners and tasters Riedel evolved the ideal shapes to highlight the best characteristics of each variety of wine. Overture glasses are faithful scaled-down translations of the majestic Vinum and Sommelier series of crystal glasses. Because they're so affordable Overture glasses are a luxury you can enjoy every day. No wonder they're Europe's most popular wine glasses! Dishwasher safe.7 1/8'H 9 7/8 oz.


Price: 43.60 USD



Headlines on Wine Enthusiast

Here we go again...

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:46:00 -0800
It's becoming a pattern. And not a very pretty one. The Islanders are up by three early in the game and then fall short at the end of 60. I'm not one that likes change, but this is a pattern I'd like to see them break right now. I'm sure Scott Gordon feels the same way as he seemed to have had a few choice words in the papers today.I watched the last three minutes of the game with TravelChic at the Point Blank party last night. She went to say good-bye as the Islanders were down 3 - 4 and I begg

Bay Vieux Briefs

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:10:50 -0800
Was “Sideways” alone responsible for Pinot’s triumph? That’s been the conventional wisdom for years. Now, Decanter is reporting on a research paper out of Sonoma State University that crunched the numbers and determined that, yes, “The longstanding belief that the film Sideways sent Pinot Noir sales through the roof was confirmed today.” Far be it from me to disagree with a team of academicians. But I’ve always been of the opinion that Pinot Noir was going to happen in America anyway, and all

NOT PC's voting guide for tomorrow:

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:26:00 -0800
Especially, where do you put your 'throwaway' second vote? update 1] HERE'S WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN waiting for: your NOT PC election voting guide to print off, tuck under your arm and take into the voting booth. There's just three things to be said before I get under way. Here's the first: With a few exceptions, the electorate vote doesn’t really matter in terms of the number of MPs in Parliament for any particular party, but it does matter in terms of which particular MPs get to fill that part

If you knock ratings, then don’t rate wines!

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:10:10 -0800
Sante Magazine, which is run by two longtime acquaintances of mine, Mark Vaughan and his brother Byron, isn’t usually something that makes me angry. It’s a solid ‘zine catering to the restaurant trade (and the always interesting sommelier column is written by Evan Goldstein, whom I’ve known since I used to hang out at his mom, Joyce’s, restaurant, Square One, in San Francisco.) I had just finished reading Evan’s latest column, a thoughtful tribute to visionaries in wine and food, when I turned

Interview with Vinapedia: “Wine Knowledge for the Wine Novice”

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:01:51 -0800
I interviewed Michael Mattis, a former Yahoo! blogger now working at BNET .com and such a wine enthusiast that he launched his own site, www.Vinapedia.net. Michael’s perspective is likely indicative of an average wine consumer, so I hope this provides some insight to wineries on how to successfully approach and/or build a relationship with your consumers and thus strengthen your brand. His comment about keeping wine reviews on his site positive is one that resounds among many bloggers and shoul

Interview with Vinapedia, “Wine Knowledge for the Wine Novice”

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:01:51 -0800
I interviewed Michael Mattis, a former Yahoo! blogger now working at BNET .com and such a wine enthusiast that he launched his own site, www.Vinapedia.net. Michael’s perspective is likely indicative of an average wine consumer, so I hope this provides some insight to wineries on how to successfully approach and/or build a relationship with your consumers and thus strengthen your brand. His comment about keeping wine reviews on his site positive is one that resounds among many bloggers and shoul

Royal Tokaji Wine Company 2000 Red Label - Dessert Wine

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:40:46 -0800
Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Royal Tokaji Wine Company from Hungary, European. Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2006! The 2000 Red Label is straw-colored with a hint of gold. On the nose, there are fruit aromas dominated by apricot and quince, with a lovely touch of wild flowers and orange peel. The palate exhibits ripe orange, figs and orange and grapefruit peel flavors, with a hint of honey at the end. This is a well-balanced wine, with a nice velvety texture and excellent length. Six vi


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