OKAY SO, earlier on we tweeted a story about a possible looming Prosecco shortage and lo and behold if we didn't end up shortly afterwards speaking about it on Dublin's Spin 1038 FMAnyway, if you like your Prosecco (and who doesn't?), we reckon there's no need to panic.
WITH 70% OF KIWI WINE production (and 85% of exports) accounted for by pungent, ebullient Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand is likely to remain synonymous with this most-distinctive of wine styles for years to come.
Cheers! It's a good day for Ireland.
VINTAGE VARIATION reminds us that wine is really an agricultural product at heart, made in the field.
From an interview with Curious Wines' head honcho and chief wine taster, Michael Kane - from Think Business. BEFORE TAKING the entrepreneurial path at age 35, Mike Kane had a variety of roles with employers such as C&C, Texaco and GE Money.
WOULD A SHINY GOLD MEDAL sway you in the wine aisle? Wineries think so; that's why the globe's most successful wine competitions - Decanter World Wine Awards, International Wine Challenge, International Wine & Spirit Competition - attract many thousands of entries each year.
JESUS GETS A LOT OF KUDOS for turning water into wine but this is a trick that wineries across the world do all the time when they irrigate their vineyards, a widely-used but controversial practice that can increase grape and wine yields by up to 300%.
WHOEVER SAID "don't mix your pleasures" obviously hadn't tried the devilishly good combination of wine and luscious Brix chocolates, now available at Curious Wines. These seriously tasty chocs were developed specifically to complement wine by Dr.
WE AT CURIOUS hate when lazy wine communicators fall back on these tired banalities while speaking or writing about their subject. Wine is the world’s most diverse and thought-provoking drink - how hard is it to come up with fresh, engaging ways of talking about it? Unbelievable! P. S.
COMMITTED WINE DRINKERS could rattle these off in their sleep but, anyway, here are the world’s top 10 most-planted wine grapes: Cabernet Merlot Airén (used for Spanish brandy) Tempranillo Chardonnay Shiraz Grenache Sauvignon Trebbiano/Ugni Blanc (used for Cognac) Pinot Noir.
Okay, let’s be clear: sparkling wine can be any old fizz, but Champagne is always a particular sparkling wine made in a certain way and that can come only from the legally-delimited Champagne region of northern France. (Now, that should keep the Champagne lawyers happy.
ONE OF WINE’S ENDURING MYTHS is that all wines improve with time; in fact the overwhelming majority of wines sold today are best drunk within a year or two of harvest! The reason for ageing wine is to give time for harsh tannins or acidity to mellow, and to allow complex, ‘tertiary’ aromas ..
Innovative VINO DO PAGO is Spain's most illustrious appellation, the highest classification that can be attained under Spanish wine law.
Lactose-intolerant oenophiles will be happy to hear they can enjoy a chilled glass of vinous ‘Cream’ without keeling over – it is dairy free! This Sherry style – whose defining trait is its sweetness – was christened in a moment of inspiration by a nineteenth-century no ..
Do you need to decant your wine? Maybe. Decant if: The wine is ancientTo separate it from its sediment. The wine is a very young 'big' redAllowing it to ‘breathe’ can soften its tannins and encourage it to be more expressive.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST myths around!The majority of today's wines are at their peak shortly after release. Whites, especially, don't take well to years of gathering dust in a drinks cabinet.
MALBEC IS A DARK-SKINNED GRAPE that is most associated with the high-altitude (up to 3,000 metres!), desert vineyards of Argentina's Mendoza region. The variety is in fact originally from southwest France, where it is still widely cultivated today, especially in Cahors.
HOME TO 10,000 GROWERS farming 120,000 hectares, Bordeaux’s 57 appellations churn out everything from weedy dishwater to the world’s most lionized, weepingly-expensive wines.
THE LANGUEDOC, France’s most ‘new world’ wine region, is a massive, diverse expanse, arcing from Montpellier southwest around the Gulf of Lyon towards the Spanish border.
STEAK TARTARE, a legendary French dish dating from the early 20th century, isn't for everyone but if you love steak and you're not squeamish about the whole 'raw meat' thing it can be pretty amazing, and not difficult to do.
SAUVIGNON BLANC, the world’s eight most-planted grape, hails originally from Bordeaux and the Loire but is today cultivated in every country that makes wine. Famous regions that specialise in it include Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Bordeaux, Casablanca (Chile), Friuli (Italy) and the Adelaide Hills.
NEW RHONE SUPPLIER SAINT COSME'S 'LITTLE JAMES' GRENACHE (whose jaunty label appears below) is unique in that - unlike the vast majority of table wines - it is not the product of one harvest but is instead a blend of wines from a number of years.
CRIANZA is a general Spanish wine term relating to the maturation of a wine prior to its sale. But it also has a locally-defined meaning: in Rioja, for example, a red Crianza must legally spend at least one year in oak barrel (generally not new) plus a year in bottle.
A break from tempting you with our lovely wines, I thought a personal note might be in order to make our big announcement and give you an opportunity to become personally involved in the next exciting chapter of Curious Wines.
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