by Tom Lewis
Most wine books I checked out in advance of this recent tasting at the Cambridge Food and Wine Society politely suggested that Greece's history as a wine-producing country rather overshadows its present. They have a point: Greece more or less invented wine-production in Europe some several thousand years ago with references to wine dating back to the C9th BC in Homer. Moreover, the Greek word for wine, oinos, has also come variously into most European languages as vin, wien, vino and so forth, as well as giving us the words like oenology (the science and study of wine and wine-making).Compare all this to a tawdry glass of retsina on a cheap package holiday and its easy to see why wine books have, until recently at least, harped on about Greece's history more than its present.That is not to...
by Tom Lewis
When I was asked to do a wine tasting for my company summer party, I decided to pick some good, classic but perhaps not so trendy wines to see if people preferred them to the usual Kiwi Sauvignon or Pinot Grigio. With hindsight, I guess it was always going to be a bit of a gamble - my wine tastes are, if I'm honest, distinctly old school and I rarely have wine without food, so I tend to choose food-friendly, rather than quaffing, wines.I was also working to a budget that was more sensible than restrictive, but which precluded any decent Pinot Noir or impressive labels; that meant, in general, wines from humbler origins which would have to impress on their own merits alone. In the end, there was a mixture of value wines from southern France, inland Spain and the Loire, some stuff from the N...
by Tom Lewis
Bellwether Wines is a newly-established independent wine merchant based in Peterborough set up by Louise Steel with her brother, Michael. Louise recently took time out from the trials of running a successful start-up business to present some of her South American wines (mostly Chilean) to the Cambridge Food and Wine Society. Louise, the most charming lady you could meet who obviously knows a lot about her subject, started her career in the drinks industry working for family firm Adcocks; founded by her ancestors 100 years ago next year, in 1928 it took delivery of a then state-of-the-art Model T Ford for deliveries.Several decades later, Louise's father was bottling and manufacturing soft drinks which were delivered locally to shops and licensed premises. Needless to say, there was never a...
by Tom Lewis
Cheese, like wine, is an artisan product - largely hand-made, a living, breathing product that matures and changes over time, each example being ever-so-slightly different from the next and respondings minutely to processes and storage conditions.If you want to see what could happen in the world of mass homogenisation of wine under a fiver in a few years' time, just look at a row of pre-packed, industrially-made cheeses on your local budget supermarket shelf for the potential consequences.In this country, at least, cheese has gone the way of chicken and salmon - a once expensive and flavoursome delicacy, it is now frequently a mass-market, mass-produced product whose only role is to provide bulk, but not flavour, to a meal.But it was not always the case - in the days before refrigeration, ...
by Chef David Darugh
Brigadoon is a place that is idyllic, unaffected by time, and distant from our world of tension and stress. Crane Creek Vineyards fits this definition perfectly. Gayle and I have traveled the world in quest of food and wine and few locales feel as cozy and comfortable as Crane Creek Vineyards.Owners Eric and Deanne Seifarth have assembled a “family” of employees and constructed a small “village” of operations at the very northern boundary of Georgia in the Shadow of Brasstown Bald. With an infectious smile, Eric told us “wine is second; the experience for our visitors is the first priority. Making wine is just the controlled spoilage of grape juice.” We can certainly attest that Crane Creek has assembled a wonderful crew of helpers. They ensure that every guest gets greeted im...
by Chef David Darugh
The enjoyment of food is as much visual as it is about taste and smell. Both Gayle and I care about how food is presented to us. Maybe it’s because of our artistic backgrounds. Before I became a chef I was an artist, specifically a painter, as was my mother. Gayle is a musician and comes from a family of musicians. Now, looking back after long careers, we can see that the connection between cooking and art is pretty direct. Food presentation goes beyond the arrangement of finished ingredients on a plate. We decorate around food, making our tables beautiful, honoring community with flowers. It is also a reflection of the specific chef’s background, experience and the venue in which the chef practices. The chef in a cafeteria may sparingly dole out few sprigs of parsley, while a chef in...
by Stefanie Phillips
Home wine cellars are now a big part of home design. If you’re a wine lover, nothing says luxury quite like a home wine cellar. Unless you’re building a new home, however, finding a place to put your home wine cellar can be a challenge. Consider some of the following ideas:Convert a walk-in closet. Do you have a walk-in closet in a guest bedroom or a large linen closet that could be transformed into a wine cellar? Convert a former pantry. Many older homes are lean on closet space. However, many do have a pantry located off of the kitchen. Just be sure the space is located far from appliances if you don’t plan to add a temperature control system.Utilize the basement. Homes with a finished basement or utility room might have an extra corner where you can install a home wine cellar. U...
by Ron Kapon
The Texas wine grape industry started in 1650 when Father Garcia de San Francisco y Zuniga, the founder of El Paso, planted vineyards for the production of sacramental wine (he is credited with the first vineyard planted in North America). He planted the Spanish black grape appropriately named 'Mission,' as did most padres who established missionary outposts on the Texan plains. The Franciscans developed irrigation techniques and the vineyards flourished. Viticulture remained an important industry until the early decades of the 1800’s. European settlers to South and Central Texas started vineyards using grapevine cuttings brought over from their homelands. Though the post Spanish era increased the population of Texas to around 100,000, for the "gringo" whisky was king. It was not until t...
by Stefanie Phillips
1.corked2.cooked3.oxidized4.sediment5.sulphur6.refermentationEven with modern winemaking, wine storage, wine cellars and shipping technology, about five percent of all wines arrive at the table bad to some degree. Here are some tips on how to spot and avoid bad wine.CORKINGIt all begins with a cork. Even in this day of high-technology plastics, many bottles still have a cork stopper. Cork, a product of the bark of selected Mediterranean trees, has many highly desirable and hard to duplicate attributes. It is lightweight, resistant to disease and airflow, flexible and attractive.But as a natural product, cork is subject to attack by microorganisms. Certain species of fungus, present anywhere wine is stored, can infiltrate the cork producing a compound called TCA ( or 1,2,4-trichloroanisole)...
by Alexandra Ronca
Wine making is a very delicate process. The slightest modification during production can drastically change the balance and flavors of the wine. In order to achieve a consistent and enjoyable blend, everything that comes in contact with the wine must be immaculate and thoroughly sanitized. It is essential that tanks, barrels, and pipes be sterile at all times. The smallest impurity can spoil the quality of the wine. This sanitation process is incredibly tedious. Wine naturally contains a very low level of sulfites. However, to combat impossible sanitation challenges, wine makers infuse additional sulfites into the wine during production. Sulfite additives preserve the natural flavors and conditions of the wine and inhibit the growth of bacteria. By adding sulfites, the risk of contaminati...
