Gaia Wines Contemporary Winery: An Emblem of Indiana’s Growing Wine Industry

Wine making and wine tasting has long been a favorite American pastime, particularly in western states such as California – a subject humorously portrayed in the hit 2004 film, Sideways.

Yet, this pursuit seems to have traveled across the United States, with wineries appearing in the most unlikely of locations. Indianapolis, for instance, is highly valued for being a dedicated centre of sport; yet in 1996, Indianapolis saw the opening of Gaia Wines Contemporary Winery, the 19th winery in the area.

Named after the Greek Goddess of the Earth, Gaia Wines is owned and run by Cellar Master Angee Wallberry, and is the only winery in the US owned solely by a woman. Since its opening, Gaia Wines has tried to fit into its surroundings, but has also endeavored to create its own unique niche in the marketplace. Located in the central, up-market historic gallery and theater district on Massachusetts Avenue, only a few minutes away from the luxury Conrad Hotel, it has had to quickly establish a high reputation for itself – and to no little success: since its opening, Gaia Wines has managed to pull off the amazing feat of creating 14 new award winning wines, introducing tours and wine tasting events to the winery, as well as providing meeting rooms and playing host to public functions.

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Making A Wine May Not Be Easy, But It Could Be Simple – Starting Off Small

A few years ago, a friend decided he wanted to put out a wine under his own label. His strategy was to test the markets reception and then decide whether to sell the wine in the future. His wine was a chardonnay named after his wife. He randomly contacted a custom crush facility in Napa to explore the options involved. Ultimately, he decided he wanted to buy his own fruit directly from a vineyard owner and have the fruit delivered to his custom crush facility. The rest of the work was in the hands of the facility staff. He specified in laymen terms, his label look, specifications relative to taste, tannins, alcohol, oaky aromas, and acid levels. In 12 short month’s his family and friends were toasting his new wine. Do you have a similar dream?

Digressing for a moment. In the late 60’s I visited the Robert Mondavi Winery; they were finishing building their new winery. And for a long time after that I equated a bottle of wine with a physical winery; one having a grand building and surrounding vineyards. Reality isn’t that. In reality, a winery may not include a physical plant and support facilities surrounded by their vineyards. In the past, consumers perceived premium fine wine was considered premium if made by wineries that owned their own vineyards and buildings. Continue reading “Making A Wine May Not Be Easy, But It Could Be Simple – Starting Off Small”

Technology Enhances Wine, Spirits and Beer Labels

What’s the purpose of a wine label; or for that matter a label on spirits and beer? Obviously, the first response to that question is: to satisfy the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) regulations. Once that is accomplished, the label space remaining may be used for branding and marketing copy. The fact is, there is very little space on bottle labels to get creative with messages. Now technology is helping solve the limited space on labels by way of RFID (radio frequency identification/ID) technology. Tap a smartphone on a NFC (Near Field Communications) tag embedded on a bottle and see what comes up on your smartphone; assuming there is currently a tag on the label.

Depending on a winery’s budget and the number of smartphones enabled with RFID tag readers (newer smartphones have built-in reader capability), wine, beer and spirits producers can communicate directly with the consumer while they are standing in front of the bottle or can. These electronic tags can impart information in any format. The information can be audio, a message or automatically opening a website page; the choice is up to the winery or craft beverage company. The most economical tag option is to use NFC tags embedded in a label or a very thin flexible film adhered to a bottle. Continue reading “Technology Enhances Wine, Spirits and Beer Labels”

Oak Wine Barrels – A Short History

The person who makes oak wine barrels is called a cooper. It comes form the latin word “cupa” which means vat. Research has not uncovered who actually made the first wine vats, but it is known that the Celts arrived in Burgandy, France, in the 13th century BC. They were a much progressed “tribe” who worked with all the materials of the day, such as wood, clay, stone, iron and precious metals. They were into building wooden boats and are credited as the people first to realize that wood could be bent using steam and heat, allowing them to make boats that were more efficient in the water. The hulls of their boats were smooth and moved through the water much easier than the earlier designs. This also allowed them to build bigger boats.

The idea of bending wood was then used in building wooden containers that were the ancestors to the modern barrel. This was a large improvements on the clay or earthenware containers that were used previously. The wooden containers could be made almost any size and they were not as heavy. Continue reading “Oak Wine Barrels – A Short History”

The Wine Cork Mystery

I was browsing through my local paper the other day and came across an article by Jon Rogers. Jon, of Wines Without the Mystery, is a wine educator and consultant who teaches a wide variety of classes. The article was entitled: You have no need to fear ‘the cork ritual’. The article presents some great advice on the presentation and evaluation of the cork in a restaurant. While his article was extremely informative, the questions that popped into my head were much more basic. For example, when did cork become the favorite way to plug a wine bottle? Where does the cork come from that wineries use everyday? I figured it was time to get back to my research to find some answers.

The Egyptians first used cork as a stopper thousands of years ago. Later, ancient Greeks and Romans used cork for a variety of uses, including stoppers for vessels of wine and olive oil. In the 1600’s, a monk called Dom Perignon was using wooden stoppers wrapped in rags to seal his bottles of wine. These crude plugs most often just popped out and were ineffective. He started using cork plugs and successfully stoppered his best wines. Wine bottling would never be the same, as cork soon became the essential answer to successfully sealing the bottles. Continue reading “The Wine Cork Mystery”

A Wine’s Bouquet

Bouquet is a French term for a wine’s scent. Younger wines have aromas, which are the smells associated with a particular grape and/or spice, its variety, region, or condition. Older ones have bouquet; the complex and deep aromas that develop with age. They are attributed to the process of fermentation, processing and aging, and largely develop after bottling.

You can tell 75% of what you want to know about a wine by the way it smells. Your sense of smell is much better than your sense of taste. You can smell as few as 400 molecules, but you can only taste 25,000 molecules or more. Your nose can distinguish between some 5,000 smells, but your palate can only register 4 tastes: sweet (this is the grape), sour (the acidity), salt (the rare saltiness), and bitter (this is the tannins). It is at the top of your nose that these 4 basic tastes are combined into thousands of nuances. Continue reading “A Wine’s Bouquet”

The Wine Lover’s Guide To Wine Bars

Over the course of the last few years, more people have started to regard going out for light snacks and drinks as a bit more of a fancy affair. They don’t mind getting a little dolled up for a fun evening, and some of the main destinations they have in mind are wine bars.

Wine bars are one of the hottest trends in the restaurant industry, and given the great ambience, convivial atmosphere, and rustic nature of these social hotbeds, it really should be of no surprise to anyone. However, if you’re a wine lover, you might find yourself a bit torn about whether or not it’s the proper way to really enjoy wine.

After all, there are centuries-old documentation of some vineyards, and families still take their stewardship of their family’s wine lineage very seriously many generations in. The notion that such a refined beverage as wine could find itself being consumed in a bar seems outrageous. Continue reading “The Wine Lover’s Guide To Wine Bars”

Wine Storage in the Tropics

Wine storage has been a skill that came along with a technology ever since the first grapes had been fermented. You will find people who have to grasp the most clever methods, for their wine is a good investment that must be protected. There are other people who simply need to know how to preserve the half bottle of wine they did not finish yesterday at dinner.

While all wines are produced in countries with a cool climate, a large quantity of wines are now drunk in the tropical countries and island resorts with tourists coming from the wine producing regions. So restaurants must now come up with careful plans to keep their good wines in tip top conditions. One of the most popular methods will be to use a wine cooler and the Avanti Wine Cooler is one of the most popular choices. The Avanti Wine Cooler comes in a variety of sizes and blends very well in any restaurant or a wine bar.

The Avanti Wine Cooler is quite, does not emit much heat and thereby causing the least problems to the food and beverage outlet. Even though most of us do not have wines of adequate value and high quality to manage and store them for years till they reach maturity as well as excellence, some people do. Average folks may end up with a bottle of wine which deserves special treatment. For example, a young couple may be given a wedding present of wines which will require maturing till the time of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. This type of bottle will need cautious dealing with and therefore a wine cooler will come in handy

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Rogar Wine Opener – Why You Should Buy a Rogar Tabletop Lever Wine Opener

The Rogar Lever Wine Opener is one of the most impressive functional wine openers you could own. If you want a wine accessory that is more than just a good opener, or are looking for a special gift for a wine lover, (even if it is you), then the table or bar top Rogar wine bottle opener is one you should consider

The Rogar story:

Rogar is an American company that hand assembles its Rogar lever openers in the state of Virginia. The concept of the Rogar wine opener is based on the “Champion Cork Removal” system patented in 1897. Their wine openers duplicate the design and mechanical concept of the Champion system, but they do it with modern materials and 21st century technology.

The Rogar Lever Wine Opener:

Rogar’s openers work on a very simple concept – pull a lever to uncork your wine, and push a lever to re-cork your wine. So simple. No messing with the wine bottle foil and trying to get a twist-corkscrew centered on the wine bottle cork. No struggling with turning the corkscrew through the cork, and then using brute force to pull it out of the bottle. The Rogar does all this with simple lever action. Continue reading “Rogar Wine Opener – Why You Should Buy a Rogar Tabletop Lever Wine Opener”

A Wine Aficionado’s Guide to the Story of Boeger Winery

Knowing the history and culture behind the making of a bottle of wine can often make that glass of wine even tastier. If you’re planning to serve wine when entertaining, share this incredible story while pouring your guests a glass of Barbera wine from Boeger Winery.

By the early 1970s all most all traces of a once flourishing California wine industry had been destroyed over time, at first by the California gold rush bust that diminished the population, then by the long years of Prohibition during the depression that destroyed the vineyards, and finally by isolation in what had become a remote and sparsely populated region. The story of Boeger Winery begins in 1972 when Greg Boeger purchased an 80-acre property in Placeville, El Dorado County, California, one of four diminished wine-producing counties in the Sierra Foothills.

Grandson of Napa Valley winemaker, Anton Nicholini, Greg Boeger was the first to envision a revival of the region’s bountiful viticultural past and has successfully done so as Boeger Winery has grown to producing 20,000 cases of premium wine a year. After 30 years of viticulture, winemaking, business management, sales, marketing, and serving on the county’s agricultural commission, Greg Boeger now has a partner in the winery, his son, Justin. Continue reading “A Wine Aficionado’s Guide to the Story of Boeger Winery”