The History Of Wine Making

The role of the Church in the production and marketing of wine declined with the Reformation, particularly in northern Europe, but this did not convulse the wine world half as much as the discovery of the usefulness of corks about a century later.

For the first time since the Roman empire, wine could now be stored and aged in bottles. Throughout the Middle Ages wine had been kept in casks which had presented a dual handicap: first, too long kept in wood could rob a wine of all its fruit; second, once the cask was opened the wine inevitably deteriorated unless drunk within a few days.

The bottle, with its smaller capacity, solved the former problem by providing a neutral, non-porous material which allowed wine to age in a different subtler way and removed the latter problem by providing sealed containers of a manageable size for a single session’s drinking.

However, the cork and bottle revolution was not an instant success; bottles were then so bulbous they would only stand upright which meant the corks eventually dried out and as a consequence let in air. But, by the mid 18th century, longer, flat-sided bottles were designed which would lie down, their corks kept moist by contact with the wine.

As a result wine making now took on a new dimension. It became worthwhile for a winemaker to try and excel, wines from particular plots of land could be compared for their qualities, and the most exciting could be classified and separated from the more mundane plot wines. As a result today’s great names of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhine first began to be noticed.

In the early 19th century, Europe seemed one massive vineyard. In Italy 80% of people were earning their living from wine and in France there were vast plantings rolling southwards from Paris. Also the vine had moved abroad thanks to explorers, colonists and missionaries. It went to Latin America with the Spaniards, South Africa with French Huguenots, and to Australia with the British. Could anything stop this tide of wine expansion?

Well, yes and it came in the form of an aphid called phylloxera, that fed on and destroyed vine roots. It came from America in the 1860’s, and by the early 20th century, had destroyed all Europe’s vineyards and most of the rest of the world’s as well. The solution was to graft the vulnerable European vine, vitis vinifera, onto the phylloxera-resistant American rootstock, vitis riparia, naturally a very expensive effort.

The most immediate effect in Europe was that only the best sites were replanted and the total area under vines shrank drastically as a result. Elsewhere the havoc wrought was comparable and vineyard acreage is only now expanding to old original sites destroyed over a century ago.

The 20th century brought further change as science and technology revolutionized viticulture and wine making. But despite the chemical formula and computerized wineries, the grape retains its magic and allure that attracts wine enthusiasts from all over the world.

Learn how to make homemade wine here: make homemade wine

Calories in Wine? Here Are the Answers

By Noel J Ireland

Many individuals forget that when drinking, calories are still being taken in. However, they do generally know how many calories are taken in while consuming solid foods. People who like drinking wine might feel shocked to learn just how many calories wine has. So wine contains what number of calories?

Your judgement calls the answer. Each glass has less than 100 calories, in many types of wines. This is if you are drinking the wine in glasses that are appropriate. Most alcoholic beverages contain more calories than wine. There are 80 calories in a serving of Sauvignon Blanc and White Zinfandel. A compliment for a meal is a glass of wine every evening, as this assists in cardiovascular health.

Chablis only numbers a mild eighty-five calories, and Marsala only contains merely eighty calories. There are 90 calories in a serving of Red Zinfandel, along with many other wines that are popular. There are ninety calories in a serving of four ounces of White Burgundy, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Riesling. You can drink Red Bordeaux, Merlot, Rose, Rhone, Beaujolais, or Red Burgundy, which contains only five more calories.

When you think about it, many individuals do not consume only one glass, and so there is a larger count in calories in the wines that remain. There is a tendency of wine drinkers to consume it vigorously, and in one evening, drinking three to five glasses, with a one four ounce serving contributing 100 calories.

There are 100 calories in Chianti, Mosell, and Pink Champagne. Sauterne, and Sangria add another ten calories. In the middle of the spectrum, there is Dry Champagne at 105 calories.

It is more about the persons participation in the romantic evening, or social events, than the calories contained in wine, when attempting the maintenance of a lifestyle with the consumption of low calories. It is simpler to store some calories, and some do burn easier. Wine is made from fruit, which contains sugar. The calories are harder to get rid of because of the content of sugar in the wine, and calories from wines that are dry are hard to burn away too. Fruit provides a natural sugar that creates energy that is healthy, however once fermentation takes place; there is an elevation in the content of sugar, becoming more fructose like than the original form.

There are wines with lots more calories, when you are counting them. Madeira contains 160, and so does Muscatel. White Port contains 170 and Tokay contains 165. 185 makes Ruby Port the wine with the most calories.

Wine is low in calories when compared to sumptuous frozen drinks, made with alcohol, that contain 800 calories or more, and that there are 280 calories in the average gin and tonic.

We all know of the "beer gut" which isn't called a "wine gut." Light beer is approximately 100 calories, while there is 140 to 200 calories in a serving that is 12 ounces, contained in regular beer. The idea that light beer is generally free from calories has made sales of light beer skyrocket. There is no saving on calories that are significant in this type of beer. They are also full of empty calories.

You can savor a few glasses of wine with your meal, during the evening out occasionally, and still have a lifestyle that is healthy. Big changes in meals, to accommodate a wine's calorie count, do not have to be made for the drinker of wine to savor some drinks. Eliminating approximately 100 calories during a meal for a couple of days, prior to a social event, will assist the occasional social drinker of wine to maintain a solid average per day. Prior to the event, most individuals can leave out desserts that are offered, and eliminate a few meals that are lighter in calories, as there is a lower amount of calories in wine. For routine drinkers of wine, removing some calories from every single meal will let them eat normally and avoid ingesting excessive calories.

You cannot lessen the calorie count by not eating before a social event. Actually, it could elevate the entire calorie count for the night, as blood glucose levels are shrunk by a form of alcohol, which relays a message to the brain that sends a signal to the body that it is hungry. The drinks make the decision that "its only one night, I can have as many as I want!", which is not a health based decision, but a powerless decision or an attitude coming from no willpower. Therefore, yo-yo dieting is created by making up for the evening of plenty, followed with crash dieting by individuals attempting the maintenance of a diet low in calories.

Keep track of each situation's consumption, and, for every glass of wine, alter it by approximately 100 calories to make the adjustment for the calories in the wine. The consumption of alcohol should not make the daily intake of calories from food suffer, unless an individual drinks wine to excess continuously. If this is the case, then it is time to obtain some assistance.

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Wine Tasting Simple Things You Need To Know So You Don't Look Stupid!

Going To A Wine Tasting? Simple Things You Need To Know So You Don't Look Stupid!

Attending a wine tasting can be very entertaining, however there are a vast majority of wanna wine connoisseur's out there who don't like to attend these gatherings as they do not know what they are supposed to do or what way to act when sampling the wine. With wine tasting there is no great mystery, below are just a few things you should keep in mind.

To keep proper etiquette, usually the ladies are served before the gents. With some wine tastings there will be bottled water on offer, this is simply for you to rinse your mouth out before each sample of wine you try so your mouth is clear of all the flavors from the previous wine. Plain crackers are also provided at such wine tastings for this very same purpose. When handling a wine glass attention to should given to where you are holding it, always hold the glass by the stem, this will ensure the wine is not affected by the warmth of your hand and thus the flavour is not altered.

When at a wine tasting try not to smoke as smoking blankets ones sense of taste, also try and steer clear of chewing gum or eating mints as this will distort the taste of the wine as well. Try not to wear a perfume or after shave that is quite strong as this could throw off not only your sense of taste but also your neighbors.

You can tell a lot about a wine just by it appearance. When attending a wine tasting the wine glasses you be crystal clear so you can hold it up to the light and check the body of the wine, also the wine glasses should be set on a white linen table cloth so everything is visible. Do not let the wine category mislead you, for example, white wines are not really white in color, they usually vary in color from yellow to green and even brown.

Red wines also vary in color from a light red color to a deep brownish red and often become lighter with age. One easy way to tell the age of a red wine is by doing a rim test. Tilt the wine towards the rim of the glass and look at the color of the wine.A younger wine have a purple tint to the wine color and an older wine will have a more brown shade of red.

One of the more common actions you see people who know anything about wine doing is swirling the wine in the glass, this is done to release the flavors and aromas of the wine. Remember, these wine may have been bottled anywhere from 1 year to 20 years and some some rarer cases even longer. Swirling the wine in the glass is synonymous with cooking at home and stirring the food to help blend the various flavors.

The colour of the wine is just one area that should be paid attention to when you attend a wine tasting, you will also need to pay particular attention to the wines aroma. After swirling, sniffing the wine is the next step in the tasting process. You have probably observed this done before and wondered what purpose it served, well your sense of smell is very important in the way we taste different things. When this subject was researched it was determined that over 3/4 of what we can taste is due to are sense of smell and the way we perceive the aromas.

Smelling wine is done in a couple of ways; you can takes a short sniff then a longer 1, or just take a long sniff. After smelling the wine, think about it for a minute and the flavors that are being processed by you nasal receptors. Do not taste the wine straight after smelling the wine, but instead let the aroma hit and think of flavors you are experiencing.

Finally, you will need to know is how to taste the wine properly. Your tongue has many taste buds both front and back. These buds give us a wide variety of flavors from sweet to sour to bitter, some of which are more sensitive than others. There are 2 easy steps in tasting wine, the first is the initial taste which is your first impression of the wine, the second is the aftertaste.

The wine should awaken your sense to the flavors, after taking the first drink, you should swish the wine around your mouth for a few seconds to let all your taste buds discover the full flavor of the wine. Think about what the wine tastes like. Is it light or heavy? Is the smooth or rough? The aftertaste is the sensation that remains in your mouth after swallowing the wine. How long did it last and was it pleasant?

Before attending a wine tasting, it may help you feel more confident to read about the different types of wines. This will give you a better idea of what to look for as far as flavor and taste. Next time you are invited to a wine tasting; do not be afraid to go. You may be missing a great experience!

Want To Start Home Brewing? It's Not That Hard!

By Jason Freeman

For some households it has become a tradition to brew their alcoholic and not alcoholic beverages at their home. And this is not a new tradition; in fact it is rather old and dates from the past centuries. With this taken in mind we can conclude that homemade drinks are an inevitable part of every society. However different countries have written different laws regarding home brewing of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages. And although those laws may restrict some alcohol brewing none of them restrict the home brewing of beer. This is why mane households brew beer at their home and this allows them to create a beer that best fits their taste. During the past years more and more stores offer home brewing kits for beer which usually contain hops, yeasts, malt extract and different ingredients and herbs which change the color, aroma and taste of the beer.

Of course you are not obligated to buy those kits and you can home brew beer like our ancestors used to. Supply all your ingredients manually and separately. That way you will be able to select only ingredients of the highest quality which will produce an amazing beer style with astonishing taste, color and aroma. However this is a harder and more expensive way than just buying a home brewing kit from the shop.

Home brewing is a simple process about which you can easily find information on the internet. Home brewing is mainly used for fund saving, because it is quite cheaper to create your own beer than to buy it from stores. Of course money aren't the only reason for home brewing some people may want to create special tastes that aren't available for wide usage and they can achieve that by adding custom ingredients to the beer during the creation process. Another good reason is the creation of beer which has less calories than usual.

Beer styles are rated in many ways. Some of the most important beer characteristics are taste, aroma, palate, clarity, strength and others. However the most important ones are the palate, taste and strength. You probably know what taste is and it depends on the herbs used in the beer. Palate is the way you feel from drinking the beer - is it too dry, how does it taste afterwards and others. It also depends on the amount and types of ingredients used. And finally the strength - it depends on the fermented ingredients which were used in the producing process.

Taking all that in mind we conclude that beer that is home brewed is much better than the one sold on shops. However if you plan to home brew beer you should have plenty of time, because you will need some determination and patience so that you can create the perfect taste. Another good part of the home brewing process is that you don't need special systems that require extra money. Almost everything that you need, can be found around your place and the only things you will need to buy are the ingredients.

About the Author:

Brewing is usually complex but it's getting easier to learn and make your own homebrew. Visit BrewingKB.com to check out our beer brewing recipes and learn more about home brewing. Make sure to check out the forums on brewing as well.

Until the next post....
Chef Brian