Posts Tagged "Wine Aging"

Animals on Wine Labels? Hi – An earlier eWine newsletter talked about the marketing power wine label design elements have… Many consider the quality of a wine to be relative to its ‘cool’ looking label. Part of the reason for such labeling… from birds, fish and kangaroos, to reproductions of fine art and comic relief, is a move by wine makers to make their bottles more of a novelty, instead of something...

Wine Extraction… part 1 Hi – Grapes contain flavor compounds that must first be removed from solids in order to impart and coax character thereafter. Extraction must be appropriate in duration and strength in order to achieve the wines ultimate taste and color results. Of course, compounds in the skin of the grape account for wine color, as well as much of its flavor and tannins. Extraction of these molecules, through a...

Bigger and Bigger… large-format wine bottles continue to attract attention.     Hi – Big wine bottles are fetching some good dollars at auctions, there are other advantages to the larger format(s). Even though they can be unwieldy to handle, slow to mature and have to be consumed (for the most) in a single sitting, their appeal lies partly in their impressive size, and the fact that they promise a longer and some...

            History of Port (part 1) Port wine traditionally comes from the Douro Valley in beautiful Northern Portugal. The wineries are called Quintas and they line the terraced hills rising up from the mighty Douro, east of Oporto nearly reaching the border of Spain. The name Port Wine is protected by the Appellation system (Denomination of Origin), just as Champagne can only be placed on a bottle if...

Oak Barrel Aging…     Hi There… You know that the majority of fine wines are aged in oak barrels… But why? What are the advantages? Are there different types of oak? What do these differences mean? Aging Wine Before It is Bottled… After fermentation is completed and wine is racked several times to remove the largest solids, the young wine is usually rough, raw and green and needs to settle for a...