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Q:  Is it true that red wine is good for one’s health?

A: As long as it’s not abused, red wine can, indeed, have a beneficial effect on your health. For a long time researchers were aware of the cardiovascular benefits of the flavonoids contained in red wine. More recently, they’ve discovered two other classes of antioxidants that further contribute to the well being of the drinker. The first, called saponins, act to prevent the absorption of cholesterol in the body while the second, resversatrol, is thought to inhibit tumor development in some cancers.

Flavonoids are antioxidants found in the skin and seeds of red grapes. They are known to reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the so-called “bad” cholesterol, while boosting levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or “good” cholesterol. There’s also evidence that flavonoids help keep blood vessels dilated and stop red blood cells from clumping together, thus diminishing the risk of heart attack or stroke.

The skin of the red grape is also the source for saponins. This cholesterol inhibitor is also found in soybeans and peas. Its concentration in red wine is 10 times higher than in white wine. Resversatrol also comes from the grape skin. As well as it’s potential benefits for cancer patients, this antioxidant appears to help in the formation of nerve cells, which makes it important in the treatment of such neurological diseases as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. There has also been some publicity to the effect that resversatrol may have an anti-aging effect. This is based on a Harvard study in which the life span of yeast cells was extended by 80 % when resversatrol was added to them. It remains to be seen whether the same benefits will result with human cells.

Another compound found in the skins of red grapes, polyphenol, acts to inhibit the chemicals in the body that make blood vessels constrict. This reduces the fatty streaks in the vessels, making them healthier which, in turn, makes their owner less likely to suffer a heart attack.

However, there is a negative side to counter all of this good news. It appears that just one glass of wine (red or white) per day is enough to increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer by 6%. As a result many health professionals are wary of recommending regular red wine consumption, despite the proven cardiovascular and other benefits. If you do decide to regularly partake for your health’s sake, keep it to around a glass per night.

Trying to figure out the name of this dining show. I saw one episode where you go down an ally to a courtyard of a really good place, and I am trying to figure out the name of the place.

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South America has gradually become one of the world’s largest and best-loved wine producers. Like Australia and New Zealand, it has taken time to develop and grow its market, but it now makes up a huge proportion of the wine that is available to us through our supermarkets, retailers and wine distributors.

In Latin America, the two countries which produce the most wine by far are Argentina and Chile. Both have wine traditions which go back to the times when they were Spanish colonies and hence viticulture is very much part of the region’s history. In this article, we will look at both countries, both historically and as to their position in today’s wine market.

Argentina now stands proudly in the top five of the world’s biggest wine producers. It has a high consumption within the country itself, Argentines are very fond of red wine to go with their high consumption of local red meat, and exports have risen over the years, making it one of the world’s most exciting New World wine regions. Initially, wine making was introduced to the country by the Spanish, but the industry has been influenced by immigrants such as Italians and Germans, whose love of viticulture has transformed the Argentine wine making patterns and helped make it a successful Export business.

Because of the extensive history of wine making in the region, Argentina has seen the evolution of many local grape varieties, including Torrorité’s (white wine), Malbec (red wine) and Corbeau (also red). Malbec is the favoured Argentine variety, and it has also been found to be the most successfully exported variety. The other industry that has grown on the back of wine making is wine tourism, which means Argentina is the place to go for a different kind of wine holiday than you get in California, France, Italy and Germany.

Wine making in Chile has a similar kind of provenance to that of Argentina. However in Chile Bordeaux varieties arrived in a big way as early as the mid 1800s, and Chile is now one of the top wine producers in the world. Traditionally, Chilean vineyards were in semi-arid regions which are irrigated by water from the Andes, but there has been a surge in interest in the cooler areas, for instance the Llegda Valley which is starting to become recognised for its Pinot Noir.

New World Wines are generally grown in hotter climates than their more Northerly cousins. The grapes tend to get riper, and therefore the resulting wines tend to be more alcoholic – something to keep an eye on when drinking these nectars. The wines are also fuller in body and therefore go well with highly spiced foods and red meats.

For a great range of South American wines, or just to browse wine in general, it is a good idea to consult an independent online wine retailer. You can browse wines in your chosen price range, and you can research before you buy.

Very recently we reviewed a Chilean red wine made from a Bordeaux blend. Here we review a Chilean Viognier white wine. For a relatively small country, Chile has many wine regions that are developing their own personality. The wine reviewed below comes from the Colchagua Valley situated about 80 miles (some 130 kilometers) southwest of the capital Santiago. This lovely valley with its Mediterranean climate calls itself the next Napa. In 2005 Wine Enthusiast awarded it the Best Wine Region in the world for producing world-class red wines. However, this is a white wine.

The Viognier grape has quite an unusual history. About forty years ago it was limited to some 35 acres (14 hectares) in the Rhone Valley of southeastern France. These few acres included the grapes that were transformed into Condrieu, considered the best white in the Rhone Valley. Now Viognier has become an up and coming white variety found in many countries including the United States, especially California, and in Australia. If you are tired of Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs (or even if you aren’t) you may want to try a Viognier such as this one. And next time you are in the mood for a Chilean red look for Colchagua Valley on the label. We will do so ourselves but won’t be surprised if we can’t find any in the $10 and less category.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price. Wine Reviewed Cono Sur Viognier 2008 13.7% alcohol about $8

Let’s start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Pale gold color; tropical fruit aromas with melon, peach and orange blossom notes; dry, medium bodied, with great acidity and flavors of grapefruit, peach, green apple and pineapple; good length on the finish. Serving Suggestion: Serve with stir-fry or wok-sautéed white meats, vegetables and creamy poultry dishes. And now for my review.

I started by sipping this wine without any food. I got the characteristic honeysuckle. It was long and slightly sweet and had pleasant acidity. The first meal included a purchased barbecued chicken leg with the paprika-dusted skin on. The sides were a slightly sweet noodle pudding and a white bean and grilled red pepper combo. With the chicken the flavor went from honeysuckle to honey. This Viognier was persistent with a note of lemon peel. I tasted lemon and orange when it was paired with the noodle pudding. But the bean and red pepper combo stole some of the wine’s fruit. Talking about fruit, I finished the glass with some orange fruit juice candy. At first I thought the pairing wasn’t very good, but I changed my mind. The wine displayed bright acidity and was almost feathery.

The second meal involved a middle-eastern dish called Kube (or Kibbe), ground beef in crushed wheat jacket slow cooked in a peppery tomato sauce. Once again I tasted honeysuckle (the dominant flavor of most Viogniers), citrus, and honey notes. I liked its sweetness. With seconds the acidity became softer.

The final meal was an omelet with sides of grilled eggplant and a grilled artichoke dip. When facing the omelet the Viognier was slightly sweet with lingering acidity. I can’t say that the wine and omelet really meshed, but an omelet isn’t much to mesh with. The artichoke dip intensified the acidity and the eggplant intensified the fruit.

Now for the cheeses. With a Brick cheese the wine became weaker. The Havarti was a better match. Even though this cheese was stronger tasting than the Brick, the wine remained fruity – go figure.

Final verdict. If you are in the market for a different white wine at a low, low price this is a good one. Personally, I am not very partial to Viogniers so I probably won’t be buying this one again in the near future. And at $40 or much more, it may be a long time before I review a Condrieu in my French fine wine column.

The table is set , the food is almost ready but you are unsure what to serve with it and how you can be certain that you will impress your friends with the food, wine and atmosphere of your party.

There are loads of reasons why wine will impress your guests but the best way to make sure that you are serving the best wine to your friends is to do a bit of research to find out: what will go well with the types of food that you are serving; whether the wine should be served cold, chilled or at room temperature and to make sure that any wine that you buy is of a good quality.

A good quality wine will impress your friends or that someone special. But how do you know that it is a good quality wine? And how do you know that it is something that will suit you or your companions palate?

A great way to find out more about wines is to go to a wine tasting event. Many companies hold wine tasting events across the country and they are a great way to get to know wine in more detail. One tip to be aware of is that some companies only carry a small selection of wines – so make sure you go to an event held by an independent retailer, that way you can be sure that there will be a wide range of wines on offer and not just wine from a particular region or country. At a wine tasting there are three things to look out for: appearance, aroma and taste. It is best to taste wine during the daylight hours as this ensures that you can get a good look at the colour of the wine that you are drinking. Look out for clear, bright colours. Secondly, make sure you are not near anyone with gallons of perfume on – you want to be able to smell the wine, not Chanel No 5. Thirdly, don’t eat whilst tasting wine – the flavour of the food will taint the flavour of the wine that you are tasting, if you are really desperate for food, have some dry biscuits.

Another way to ensure that the wine that you serve is of a high quality is to buy a fine wine. This is a term used fo wines that have achieved status within the industry. They can be from on of the world’s finest producers or from a region which is well known for producing high quality grapes. The best way to get into buying this kind of wine is to seek the service of an expert. Many independent online wine retailers employ people who can give you this kind of help to ensure that the wine you buy really is of a high quality.

And one last thing that will definitely ensure that the wine you serve will delight your guests is to make sure you serve your wine at the right temperature. Nothing is worse than a warm white wine! In general a white wine needs an hour in the fridge before drinking and a red needs to be served at room temperature. If you have forgotten to chill your wine and need to do it in a hurry a bucket of ice and water will bring the temperature down.

I made some wine about 5 months ago and finally drank some last night. It tastes fine but this morning I had the screaming shites and I feel like crap. I know it isn’t a hangover.. from 2 glasses of wine? Any help would be appreciated.. God, I hope I don’t go blind!

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There are many wine writers and wine competitions throughout the world, all of them rate wines by scores out of 10, 20 or 100 or by awarding stars or medals. These medals are given by experts of wine who taste the product using a blind tasting method. The results of the tasting determine which wines are judged as being of particularly high quality. The Gold Medal Wines have been declared by the panel to be particularly good examples of wine using the grape and from the area they have been produced in.

One of the foremost of these competitions is the International Wine Challenge, which is an annual competition held in London. No less than 9,300 wines from 35 countries were reviewed in 2007, judged by a panel of 400 experts from 19 countries and the resulting winners are awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. A total of 260 gold medals were awarded in 2007 (representing 2.8% of entries). 1,129 wines won silver medals (12.1 per cent) and bronze medals were awarded to 1,839 wines. Other prestigious competitions are held in Macon, Paris, Brussels and Vienna. If you think you prefer the same tastes and flavour components as the experts, why not use the guide of medal winners to guide your decision.

But where can you get your hands on bottles of Gold Medal winning quality?

One of the best ways of picking up a gold medal wine is to look for it online. Independent online retailers are able to buy directly from smaller wine producers and are therefore able to get their hands on more sought after vintages and fine wines.

But just because it has a Gold Medal does not mean that it has to cost the Earth. Some medal winners come in at about £6 a bottle. A great deal on a wine that comes recommended by impartial experts.

Using an online wine retailer means that you will be able to spot the gold medal wines immediately â?? there is a section on the pages telling you what awards the wine has won â?? something to look out for is that some of the wines have won more than once. Surely if a wine can win more than one competition you have to be onto a good thing.

But remember the golden rule of wine, just because it has won copious awards doesnâ??t mean you will like it, if it is a style of wine that doesnâ??t suit your tongue. Stick to types of wine you usually like and then look for the ones which have won medals. That way you know you will like it and you never know, it might just blow you away with its fantastic taste and smell â?? thereâ??s something really special about the unique subtleties of medal winning wines.

Why not take a look at the gold medal wines available from an independent online retailer? For more information on competition winners and Gold Medal wines go to Laithwaites.

Bottling the Beer

Bottling is not a hard part of the home brew process, but is important that you take your time and not contaminate the beer or the bottles during the procedure. Things to consider when choosing beer bottles:

1. Made of glass

2. Colored glass (brown and green) is favored over clear bottles. Light damages beer and the colored glass helps in protecting your brew.

3. Do not use twist off bottles. The caps will not seal along the threads.

Bottles can be bought at a local beer-brewing retailer, or to save money you can reuse bottles that you have consumed in the past. I prefer to reuse bottles because it saves money and either way, you will still have to sanitize the bottles.

Equipment Needed:

• Bottles

• Caps

• Siphon

• Tubing (usually part of siphon)

• Bucket

You may notice that your beer (before bottling) is still flat. It will remain flat if you do not add supplementary sugar to the beer right before bottling. Although your beer seems to be inactive, there is still a little amount of yeast left in the brew. Adding sugar gives the yeast something to consume and create the CO2 needed for carbonation. Like many stages in the brewing process, it is important that you get the proportions correct.

Storing the Beer

Sunlight and florescent light will cause beer to become skunky, so when storing your beer, try to minimize exposure to any light. Bottling your beer in brown bottles helps minimize this effect too.

Your beer should sit for at least a week before you drink it. During this first week, you should try not to move your bottles too much because there will still be some reactions taking place. It is also important to store your beer at a temperature that will let your yeast continue to react. If you are using yeast for an ale beer, store your bottles at room temperature (65-75 degrees.) If you store them in the fridge, the cold temperature will prevent the yeast from creating CO2 and your beer will remain flat.

Don’t store your beer for too long. The longer your bottles sit, the greater chance your beer will become oxidized. It is my recommendation that you drink your beer within a year of when you brew it. Beyond this point and there is a good chance that your seal has leaked and effected the taste of your beer. However, don’t rush. A year is a long time.

Drinking the Beer

You may notice that there is a thin yeast layer at the bottom of your homebrew. This has to do with the final yeast reactions that take place after your beer is bottled. When drinking from the bottle, the extra yeast will not bother you until then end of the bottle when it is stirred up. There is no way to avoid this layer, so I recommend pouring all your homebrews into a glass before you consume them. If done slowly, the yeast layer will not be transferred to the glass or mug and you will have a perfect brew to enjoy.

Pat McLoughlin is a avid homebrewer and enjoys writing about it on his website homebrewhints.com. Home Brew Hints gives step by step instructions on how to brew beer at home as well as a collection of helpful hints that can assist you in your homebrewing process.

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Wine is in the final stages of having reinvented itself as a cool new-age drink of choice for all.  What was once as a stuffy, sit-down drink for the elite is now crossed over the class barrier and is a common affordable drink for all occasions.

What was essentially French and German a few decades ago is now made available in new-age Californian, Australian, Chilean and Indian brands, and that to at affordable cost and supplies all over the world.

Though wine was traditionally paired with exclusively with continental dishes, but today some red wines are perfect and fitting compliments with any meal and at any time of the day. Wine and its association with women, is as old as its origin. Beyond the veil of mystique and intrigue, wine
grew up to be associated with women because it was considered a mild drink fit for women.

Yet it has evolved into a stylish unisex drink, fit for all occasions and times, from break fast till bed.  Wine is a heritage that is glamorous which has promoted wine into the most discussed, most celebrated, most worshipped drink of choice in the recent decade.

One primary reason for the popularity of wine in the new age is its new image as moderating health drink with mild intoxicating properties and also its world wide affordability and availability.

Wine is now being pressed and processed in the cellars of California, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Chile, where the great vineyards of the new age are flourishing. The center of gravity of wine production has shifted from the traditional set up of France or Germany and without this decentralization of production, the new-age image transition of wine would never have happened.

Far from the industry set up, wine making has made its way into a lot of homes, as it can be an exciting as well as fruitful hobby for all with or without any disposition to home wine production. All it takes is a bit of involvement in the subject of wine making, even if you are a first timer, to relish that very satisfying experience of making your own wine and drinking it too.

There are wine making kits available which can help any starter of home wine making with enjoying his first batch of home produced wine. These home wine making kits include all necessary equipment and ingredients to get started from concentrates or fresh fruit.

For the more seasoned amateur, wine making kits might take the fun out of home wine making and so might prefer a more baser and real-time approach to wine making.

With only a hand-full of common household and over the counter ingredients like acid blend, yeast nutrient, yeast energizer, tannin, pectic enzyme and campden tablets your home wine, will become a reality to enjoy and treat friends and family with. Wine is being paired up with almost anything and everything on the table. The best wines often are higher in price, and come with more subtle flavors and aromas.

Good Wine Advice brings you all that is good in wines. Their site offers you some great information about wine and cheese ,wine clubs and wine information, from growing regions to the latest in how to store and where to store.

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“Wine cheers sad, revives old, inspires young and makes weariness forget his toil“, it`s truly said that wine brings smile, pleasure and happiness on everyone`s face and provides respite from daily stressful work. The essence of wine makes it a favorite drink loved by wine enthusiasts from ages.

It has become an indispensable part of everyone`s lifestyle that festives or celebrations seems to be incomplete without it. Since older times, wines symbolize and define style for accentuating any glorious moment or special occasion, nowadays wine is considered as a drink of sophistication.

A true wine aficionado only knows beauty and elegance of wine that is just more than its taste; serving wine is an art and enjoyable experience that adds grace and beauty to overall celebration. Right type of wine glasses arouse pleasure and makes evening more attractive and delightful.

Wine glasses, as slim and sleek glasses, exemplifies taste and complements the way wine is being served. As wine flows into wine glasses, true look, aroma and flavor of wine is revealed, its color and texture shines, sparkles and enhances personality of wine, thus driving everyone crazy.

In today`s fashionable world, wine glasses are a hot rage and are hitting global markets with heir immense presence, making them quite popular as no other glasses seems to provide same exquisite and refined touch as wine glasses does. It makes drinking more enjoyable and creates a fun and frolic atmosphere.

A perfect blend of style and functionality, wine glasses are crafted in superb shapes and accented with detailed designs and etchings, making them perfect for every special occasion may be weddings, birthday party or family gatherings. These are even considered as wonderful gifts for someone special.

A wide assortment of wine glasses in wonderful shapes, sizes, designs and colors are available in market to match needs of every modern user; with so many choices, it becomes quite tricky and one gets mystified in choosing right type of glasses; you can select as per your personal taste and lifestyle.

Only wine lover knows importance of wine glasses; right type of glasses will surely surprise you as it has an extreme effect on flavor of wine and significantly enhances its personality, thus making your experience memorable. The shape and size of wine glasses determines nature and type of wine to be served.

Nearly all glasses are somewhat narrower towards top and wider at base so as to let everyone have pleasure of both its fragrance and taste; material of wine glasses is an important factor to consider, mostly lead and crystal glasses are favorite among wine fanatics to woo and entertain guests.

Different type of glasses range from red wine glasses, white wine glasses to champagne flutes and more that allows one to enjoy exact flavor of wine. Red wine glasses are round in shape with wider bowl; white wine glasses are slightly narrow than red wine glasses and champagne flutes are slim glasses featuring long stem with tapered bowl.

Whatever style you choose, wine glasses provides artistic and aesthetic appeal; offers a sense of satisfaction and happiness that will definitely be treasured for future generations to come. Internet is a great marketplace that lets you search for perfect wine glasses from an amazing collection keeping budget in mind.

Shop online! Online shopping is an excellent and safe way of shopping in comfort of home that saves precious time and money; coupons and promotional codes lets you save good amount of money and free shipping offers allows delivery of product right at your doorsteps. Product reviews and price comparison sites lets you find best deal at affordable prices.

Entertain guests with beautiful wine glasses!

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