Curious Small Sips #28: Pinot Grigio
Pinot Grigio is an incredibly adaptable grape, making it one of the most popular among winemakers globally. (Which accounts for its frankly ridiculous number of aliases: 227 in total.
Tagged: #Winemaking
Small Sips #16: Turning water into wine
Jesus got 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%.
Curious Small Sips #12: Old Vines
Vine age can be estimated by simply observing the width of the trunk and is considered an important factor in wine quality with the consensus being that old vines — a hazy term not defined anywhere except in the Barossa (but generally meaning plants at least 20-30 years old) — make the best wine.
Curious Small Sips: #6 Verdejo
A characterful grape with a distinctive blue-green bloom, Verdejo is the grape mascot (grapescot?) of Spain's Rueda region and the dominant constituent in blends from the area along with (the imported) Sauvignon Blanc.
Curious Small Sips #5: 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).
Enter the stylish world of organic Veneto winemakers, Terre dei Buth.
Veneto winery Terre dei Buth, purveyor of organic, vegan, fresh and fruity Prosecco, and elegant Pinot Grigio, is making a splash with a strong, clean design aesthetic and a genuine environmental sensibility. These factors combined make it one of a growing number of sustainable wine estates to watch.
How do you solve a problem like Sylvaner? (Clue: it might involve superstar premium Rheinhessen winery Bischel)
At the beginning of Argentinian French novelist Julio Florencio Cortázar’s experimental novel 62 Modelo para Armar, the protagonist and intellectual, Juan, asks himself the question ‘And why did I ask for a bottle of Sylvaner?’ You might wonder why indeed, as it seems like an inauspicious ..
Digging for buried treasure in Piedmont with Bosio Family Estate’s Barbera blend, ‘Truffle Hunter’.
What is it about the mysterious tuber-like truffle that seems so luxurious compared to its more pedestrian cousin, the humble mushroom? The truffle belongs to that top-tier of niche culinary curiosities which also includes famously rare delicacies such as Beluga caviar, Iberico ham and Foie gras.
Beauty and Terroir — The Importance of Place to Smith & Sheth
Let everything happen to you:Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling isfinal.
The challenge for the modern winemaker
The 6th edition of the International Seminar on Successful Wines & Styles was held last week in Argentina. Twelve winemakers from around the world focused their lectures on how wines of the future should be, and the general consensus was fruity and sweet, with less oak and lower alcohol.
Smart winemaker or cheat winemaker?
We've discussed in this space before about the rising alcohol content of wine. Worldwide, many consumers are having to search a little harder to find sub-14% wines. Here in Ireland, we like to take our time with reform.
Turning juice into wine (2/2)
There are several types of vessels in which the fermentation process can take place. Anything from a small plastic bucket in someones home, to old oak barrels or massive temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. It's all being done.
Turning juice into wine (1/2)
With early harvests across Europe, it's around about now that winemakers will be commencing or monitoring the fermentation process - put simply, that all important conversion of sugar to alcohol. Open up a fermentation tank and it will look like a boiling pot of grape juice.
Yeast: Our little sugar munching friend
There's nobody else in the wine world who could put it quite so elegantly:"yeast, microscopic, single-celled fungi, having round to oval cells which reproduce by forming buds, are vital to the alcoholic fermentation process, which, starved of oxygen, transforms grape juice to wine.