Curious Small Sips #2: Albariño
This aromatic white grape is the star of Spain’s Iberian peninsula, growing typically and abundantly in Galicia, an area hugged closely by the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian Sea.
Small sips
Curious Small Sips #1: Crianza
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.
Small Sips #17: Carbonic Maceration
Carbonic Maceration is a wine fermentation method that’s synonymous with France’s pretty Beaujolais region.
Small Sips #16: Blending
Blends are usually taken to mean blends of different grape varieties, of which classic examples include Bordeaux (Merlot, Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc), Champagne (Chardonnay, Pinots Noir and Meunier) and the southern Rhône’s ‘GSM’ (Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre).
Small Sips #15: Wine Competitions
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.
Small Sips #13: Turning water into wine
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%.
Small Sips #12: world’s most-planted wine grapes
Committed wine drinkers could rattle these off in their sleep but, anyway, here are the world’s top 10 most-planted wine grapes: 1. Cabernet Sauvignon; 2. Merlot; 3.
Small Sips #11: Champagne
The C-wordOkay, 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.
Small Sips #10: Ageing Wine
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 ..
Small Sips #9: Vino de Pago
Innovative VINO DO PAGO is Spain's most illustrious appellation, the highest classification that can be attained under Spanish wine law.
Small Sips #8: Malbec
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.
Curious Small Sips #7: Solera System
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.
Curious Small Sips #5: Screwcap
Use of screwcaps (sometimes known as ‘Stelvin’, a type of screwcap first produced by Le Bouchage Mécanique in Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy, France) is today widespread and growing, especially for early drinking, white, non-premium or New World wines. Some countries (e. g.
Curious Small Sips #4: Port
Port is a sweet, fortified wine made most often in red styles in northern Portugal's hot Douro region, a ruggedly handsome valley 75km inland from Oporto.
Curious Small Sips #2: Ripasso Method
Ripassos have proliferated in Italy’s Valpolicella region since the 1980s and are now basically the ‘second wine’ of Amarone.