All About Wine

The space

First thing to do is to find a place where you will build your wine-cellar. You can store it in your house but you will have to find the good place: sufficient space and ideal temperature (50 up to 65°F). You must also plan which type of wine you will include in your wine-cellar. So many options are available that it is sometimes difficult to choose. In order to better prepare your new wine bottles storage, you will test some various types of wine. You will learn much by yourself; for example: identify wine tastes.

As you probably already know, there are many differences between wines coming from great vintages and wines coming from new or immediatly processed wine and that some wines can age, others cannot. If you have just started a wine-cellar, you should avoid buying your wine in great quantities as long as you are not sure about the type of wine that you plan to add to your cellar.

Wine Culture

Participate in purses and tasting events. In these places, you can meet other persons who are passioned by wine collecting and who will give you the best adresses and suppliers. You will learn more about the different brands and their prices.

You can also learn a lot by surfing on the Internet and searching for informations about wine ; by subscribing so some informative newsletters ; by buying some books and read them in order to familiarize with your new hobby.

Supplier

You will also have to choose a good supplier. While visiting your wine supplier, let him know that you are collecting wine bottles ; this person will inform you if the wine that you want to buy can age in a cellar or not. Also ask your supplier if the wines you are collecting are available in his inventory.

If you hope to collect wines from other areas, he may be able to give you contact information for finding the wines you are interested in. Some wine suppliers are available online.

Wine from other Countries

If you plan to collect wine coming from other countries, your supplier will be able to give you the right adresses. Also, you can make a search on Google in order to find the best foreign wine supplier or mail directly the vine-grower or even the castle where the wine is bottled.

A French proverb said: "C'est en forgeant que l'on devient forgeron" ("It is while forging that one becomes blacksmith").

Perhaps you will realize that collecting wine becomes a passion and that you want to start your own wine selling business.

When you will have bought a sufficient quantity of rare wine bottles, you will be able to start your new business and sell your greatest bottles.

France will allow 38 municipalities to join the Champagne "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" ("controlled term of origin").

What does it mean?

Well, 38 agricultural municipalities located in the Champagne Region will have the authorization to grow and produce the fruits and the coveted nectar under the Champagne "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" label.

These municipalities hope to attract new viticulturalists and wine-growers and boost the economy of the region.

This enlargement is due to the success of this wine that represents the symbol of French cuisine.

I'm European and, as many other Europeans, I generally tend to drink only French, Spanish and Italian wines - well, don't like Italian wines too much but sometimes I drink Lambrusco.

Last month, while looking to buy something else than "Liebfraumilch", I ended up buying a bottle of Californian Zinfandel Rosé.

At first sight, the opening of the bottle is nothing but traditional which led me to think the wine could not be good enough but since its price was very low, I bought it and, once at home, made a search on the net to learn more about it. Well, specialists say that Zinfandel has little interest.

Oh my goodness! I was amazed by this wine!

It's fruity bouquet is a pure pleasure!

I personally don't mind if Zinfandel has little interest, I don't mind if the opening is not traditional. Zinfandel Rosé is one of the most tasteful wines I've ever drink! Actually, I'm just a happy consumer and I know that I love the Zinfandel Rosé and that now it is one of the wines I buy regularly, not only because it has a pleasant taste but because it can be part of a dinner from the aperitive to the dessert!

Con: its alcoholic content that is slightly higher than other wines I generally drink; which puts it among the "Mass Wine": sweet but very alcoholic.

Cream of the crop, as many American, African and Australian wines, it's really cheap: 2.99 euro/bottle!

Did you know that the king of white wines is Chardonnay. It has a vanilla or smoky type aroma and flavor and goes especially well with fish and white meat.

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"Liebfraumilch"

This is my preferred wine.

Liebfraumilch wine which means litterally "beloved woman's milk" is a sweet white wine from the Rheinhessen Region (Germany).

Category of this wine is one step above table wine but this wine is perfect to drink as cocktail and with food. Moreover, it is not expensive. Cost per bottle: from 1.50 up to 3.50 euros.

If you've read Georges Simenon's "Maigret" of George Simenon, you know that this police chief likes to drink clear, dry and fresh white table wine, coming directly from the vineyard.

Sometimes, when the weather is hot, I like to remember the savour of Simenon's books, "old Paris" or other regions of France by tasting a glass of table wine "Blanc de Blancs".

It is a dry white table wine, recommended for the meals containing seafood, to be served fresh and coming from the Spanish and French vineyards but generally bottled in France.

Its price varies from 1.19 to 2.00 Euros.
Perfect with a traditionnal belgian meal: "Mussel & fries".

Something unusual currently happens in Belgium: our country is known as the "rainy country" but since four weeks, the weather is hot, very hot, 30°C min.

Yesterday we began the barbecue season and ate beef, spare-ribs, chicken, sausages..., accompanied by salads of pastes, potatoes and various vegetables.

From the cocktail to the dessert, I served a table wine Rosé d'Anjou (but Coke for the kids!).

Serve it fresh: 6°C ; but I prefer to drink Rosé d'Anjou when it is chill.

Rosé d'Anjou is a sweet, soft, light and fuity (raspberry and strawberry) rosé wine, very pleasant to drink and not very expensive (1.5 to 5.00 euros).

For another kind of diner, I serve "Cabernet d'Anjou" which comes from the same region (Val de Loire) and is a great rosé wine too. The price of this table wine varies from 2.00 to 10.00 euros.

Or course, there are different Rosé and Cabernet d'Anjou that you can add to your wine-cellar ; learn more about them by visiting this site: Cooking2000.com

Cheers ;-)

My passion is History of France and I like to visit mediaeval markets where I taste and buy lots of mediaeval things (pastry, meal, wine...)

Unfortunately, these markets are rare and sometimes, I have to make my own mediaeval wine or meal.

The wine I will talk about is called "Hypocras". It is a wine marinated with spices and sugar, very simple to make and great for cocktail and - if it is not cooked - when you eat game meal.

I tested several red wines with which to make Hypocras but I am satisfied only by the Roussillon (France) and Navarra (France & Spain) region wines.

These red wines are sold at very handsome prices (from 2.00 to 15.00 euros).

See you next time for the Hypocras recipe :)

Ingreditents:


• 1 bottle red or white wine
• 60 to 100 G of ginger
• 100 G of liquid honey
• 8 cardamom pods
• 4 cinnamon sticks or 100 g cinnamon powder
• 2 vanilla pods
• 8 cloves
• optional: a peeled lemon cut up
Directions:


• Mix honey and wine
• Put the grated ginger in the wine
• Put spices in a closed fabric (like a cotton bag)
• Let steep the spice bag in the wine during 24 hours
• Draw the bag from the wine
• Filter the beverage
• Serve fresh or chilled.
Note: Hypocras is quite as good without ginger because it will be sweeter.

Cheers :)
Dom

One of the wines that I buy regularly, it is "Blessed Wine".

In Belgium, the "Blessed Wine" we find in the supermakets is a very sweetened white wine, liqueur-like and rather alcoholic (+/- 10°).

We can drink it as a cocktail or with the dessert: it is excellent.

It is not easy to get this wine in the supermarkets: for example, one finds "Blessed Wine" at Super GB and Carrefour but not at Delhaize (Delhaize is Lion Food in the USA).

"Blessed Wine" price varies from 3.00 to 5.00 euros.

Ice Wine - or Eiswein - is a wine created with frozen grape (Riesling but we also find Chardonnay or Vidal).

It is a dessert wine, very sweetened.

Germany produces the best Ice Wine in Europe but Austria also produces Ice Wine (the most expensive: 250 euros/bottle).

North America also produces this type of wine and you can find the cheapest in Canada.