Yeast-Free Living – Can I Drink Wine?

Okay, so you’ve recently found out that you need to avoid yeast. But you’re wondering about alcohol. You like the odd glass of wine with an evening meal. Who doesn’t? You’ve heard that drinks such as bear have yeast in them, but what about wine or other alcoholic drinks?

Well, the good news is, it’s very unlikely that any commercial bottled wine has yeast in it. If it still had any yeast in it, then it would start to ferment again, it would turn cloudy, taste horrible, and possibly even the cork could end up being pushed out. This is different to beer, which does contain yeast and should therefore be avoided if following such a diet.

You see, the thing is, when wine is made, although it is initially fermented using yeast, it is refined to take away any dead yeast cells once the fermentation process has completed. This is the reason why wines you buy in the shop look clear when you pour them into your glass. All of the other remains of the fermentation process have been removed. Continue reading “Yeast-Free Living – Can I Drink Wine?”

Wine and Health – An Introduction

The use of wine and our strong convictions of its health benefits, abstainers and teetotalers notwithstanding, are probably as old as wine itself dating back to the first civilizations in the ancient world. In Mesopotamia ca. the third millennium BC, the Babylonians believed wine to have medicinal and therapeutic effects and it was considered so pure and free of contaminations that it was preferred-along with beer-over water. In Ancient Egypt more than two thousand years BC, wine also became a common ingredient in “prescription drugs” for curing a variety of ailments. The drugs were formulated using other ingredients too, such as water and particularly those derived from medicinal plants.

And stories abound from the Far East where the Chinese would lace wine with animal parts to concoct drugs to cure just about any ailment. Even Hippocrates, the father of medicine who had a keen sense of physiological and metabolic reactions in the human body not only used wine as a prescription drug in Ancient Greece but also pioneered it into an antiseptic for treating wounds. Continue reading “Wine and Health – An Introduction”

6 Must-Haves for Building Your Own Wine Cellar

For people wanting to build the best wine cellar possible, there are certain crucial, ‘must-have’ conditions to keep in mind if your wine cellar is to operate at its best.

Temperature

Temperature control is debatably the most important aspect in setting up a wine cellar. The most desirable temperature for long-term wine storage is between 12 and 16 degrees Celsius. However, it is crucial that the temperature is always constant. A gradual shift in temperature (e.g. between seasons) is acceptable, but any major temperature shifts throughout the course of a day or two may considerably cause harm to your wine collection. Warmer temperatures will accelerate the aging process, and frequent temperature changes will ruin the condition of the cork as it constantly expands and contracts.

Location Continue reading “6 Must-Haves for Building Your Own Wine Cellar”

The Secrets to Making Good Mulled Wine

Traditionally mulled wine is a warm drink that only seems to appear around Christmas time, but why is this so? We all associate drinking mulled wine in cold weather and during holiday time, this obviously gives us the feel-good factor for the beverage. Therefore, if we feel so good whilst drinking mulled wine, why don’t we drink it anytime during the year especially during the cold, dull winter months when we really need cheering up?

Mulling a wine (or any beverage for that fact) is simply infusing it with herbs and spices and then heating it up to release these wonderful aromas. In days gone by when a wine had lost it’s freshness and started to oxidise, mulling it was a good way of rejuvenation and making it palatable again. By adding spices and a little honey this ‘old’ wine was given a new lease of life, and what’s more tasted really good. Continue reading “The Secrets to Making Good Mulled Wine”

Wine Investmentment: Pros and Cons of Investing in Wine

Investing in wine is a wise option since there are a lot of advantages to such an investment. Still you need to be aware of a few common pitfalls to protect yourself. We will explore the Pro’s and Con’s of investing in wine in the following article.

Pros:

i) The yield from investing in wine can be exceptional when compared to other kinds of investment products that most people traditionally invest in. Wine investments can typically yield up to 30% per year. Additionally, wine investments have consistently outperformed the stock market for about 3 decades (which honestly, is not saying a lot).

ii) Investments in wine can be good for both short term, as well as long term investments. Short-term investments can be as little as one year, and long term investments in wine span a period of about five years. Wines investments are also hedged because the supply keeps diminishing while demand keeps increasing constantly. Continue reading “Wine Investmentment: Pros and Cons of Investing in Wine”

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.

Continue reading “Gaia Wines Contemporary Winery: An Emblem of Indiana’s Growing Wine Industry”

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”