10:17 PM

Saturday August 02, 2008 - Wine Enthusiast

Today's Wine Enthusiast Article

A Wine Basket As A Gift - Such A Simple But Clever Idea

Don't you find that birthdays and Christmas's come around so fast and before you know it you need to come up with ideas for gifts. This can become very frustrating for most of us. Well, I have decided that a wine basket is a great idea to give to adults, especially those that seem to have everything.

This is especially good also for people that you do not know that well, like business associates or teachers and so on. Obviously you need to know that they drink wine first. All though wine is not the only thing you can put in a wine basket. I usually put chocolates, cheeses, nuts and dried fruits as well and sometimes I put in a couple of wine glasses to accompany the wine. Really it is up to you with what you would like to add.

You can make the basket as big or little as you wish and fill it with as much as you can afford. There are many shops where you can find baskets at a good price. Then you can wait to find wine or champagne on special if you are on a budget. Add whatever you wish and then cover with some clear cellophane and tie with a ribbon. What a beautiful gift you will end up with.

You can even choose a theme if you wish. Something different for everyone. For example instead of wine you could put in beer along with something sporty like tickets to a football game or a football cap, scarf and so on. For the businessman maybe a bottle of port with a tie, pen and a calculator. I mean the sky is the limit. You just need to use your imagination.

This concept can even be put into action for the non-drinker. Instead of a wine basket you can do a coffee or tea basket. You can add coffee mugs, cups and saucers, chocolates, biscuits and in fact anything that you like. You can buy baskets such as what I have described but I assure you it will be cheaper to do one yourself plus you have the liberty of putting together what you want in there and not just what the shop has put in.

Don't forget the children either as this concept is great for baby baskets along with baskets for small children through to teens. You just have to add what is appropriate for them and go from there. People love getting gifts like these as they look so grand and inviting.

There are so many occasions that involve gift giving and the wine basket idea is a great one to think about. Remember, apart from birthdays there is Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, weddings, engagements, anniversaries and housewarmings just to mention a few. All of these occasions are worthy of some kind of personalized basket. So, put your thinking cap on and go for it. You will be amazed at how creative you can be!

About the Author

Susan Dean is a successful webmaster and publisher of
http://www.bestwinemaking.info
She provides lots of handy hints and advice on
wine making at her web site.

Another short Wine Enthusiast review

A Wine Basket As A Gift - Such A Simple But Clever Idea

Don't you find that birthdays and Christmas's come around so fast and before you know it you need to come up with ideas for gifts. This can become ver...

Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

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Headlines on Wine Enthusiast

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Beautiful Fountaingrove House.

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Serious wine lovers can parlay their passion for the grape into TV fame on a new PBS reality series set to shoot its second season in Northern California’s Wine Country this fall.

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The era was brief, but influential. Revisit those years with a classic road trip. There are plenty of options too -- wine or gold country, or a stop in Carmel or San Diego. Not every history lesson includes margaritas, but this one does.

Australia California France Italy wine tasting review

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Go for a wine country weekend getaway in California's Alexander Valley and Dry Creek Valley - on a bike? Luckily, drinking and cycling isn't against the law.

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The only Chilean wine to be recognized with a medal, PengWine was awarded two Bronze Medals at the Indiana State Fair Indy International Wine Competition--wines from 15 countries were judged on appearance, aroma, and taste by 15 panels of judges at the 17th annual wine competition. Among 3,200 wines, two PengWine wines were awarded medals.

Elderberry Wine
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Labels: Quality Wine | Red Wine

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4:19 AM

August - Wine Prints

A Featured Wine Prints Article

Making White Wine: A Labor Of Love

Wine is made in winery and wineries exist all over the world and come in a variety of sizes. The grapes are grown at the wineries and then turned into wine and there are many varieties of grapes; each one either used either alone or combined to make different wines. But how exactly is white wine made?

To make a white wine, once grapes are brought to the winery they are de-stemmed and crushed before anything else is done. A machine is used to split the grapes to remove stems and stalks from each bunch because they contain astringent tannins, which might be acceptable for red wines, but are rare in whites. To stop the fermentation process from starting and turning the grapes brown and oxidizing (causing a vinegar type taste) a chemical called Sulphur Dioxide is added to the grapes. For those with allergies to Sulphur Dioxide, ?sulphur-free? wine is produced as well, however the lifespan on this wine is much shorter and needs to be consumed quickly.

After the grapes are split and the stems have been removed, they are sent to be pressed. Pressing the grapes releases their juices. The press is a large machine that has a canvas like material that separates the juice from the skins and seeds by allowing the juice to escape. The separated juice is then pumped gently to another steel tank where the sediment is allowed to settle to the bottom before being transferred again. The now sediment free juice is either pumped into another steel tank (unwooded wines) or to wooden barrels (wooded wines) where the preferred yeast type is added and fermentation can begin. Fermentation of white wine can take 3 days or 30 days depending on the type of wine being produced.

For unwooded whites, once the fermentation process is over, the wine is removed from the steel tanks and separated from the dead yeast cells. Whites such as Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are typically unwooded wines, however there are small exceptions. Rieslings in Europe can be made in wooden barrels, though the barrels usually have a crust of tartaric crystals (found in grapes and solidifies in their juices), which acts as a barrier preventing the oak flavor from being infused in the wine. Examples of oaked Sauvignon Blanc can be found in France, however the aging of unwooded Sauvignon Blanc in bottles produces a nutty toasted flavour as if it was stored in wood therefore it really is not necessary.

Why would someone want to produce an unwooded wine? The answer is simple, money. It is much cheaper to produce wine in large steel tanks, and the work required after fermentation is minimal allowing bottling and release to be quicker. This does not, however, mean unwooded wine is in any way inferior to wooded wine. It is simply a different process.

Wooded wines can often begin their fermentation in steel tanks before being transferred to oak barrels to finish fermenting, or they can have a second fermentation known as malolactic fermentation. A third option, barrel fermentation, is to simply ferment the wine once from start to finish in an oak barrel. Malolactic fermentation is the process in wine where malic acid begins to turn into lactic acid. This happens with the addition of bacteria, which in turn gives the wine buttery creamy characteristics. Wooded white wines are in barrels from six to twelve months before being filtered.

The next step in making white wine is filtration. The most common way commercial wineries filter their wine is with a membrane filter, which catches all the particles floating in the liquid. Some winemakers prefer not to filter at all thinking it will remove characters from the wine that were created in the winemaking process. After the wine has been filtered it is bottled and sealed and ready for marketing.

It all seems too easy, but it takes great skill. Climates need to be controlled, ingredients need to be accurately measured and timing needs to be perfect. Sometimes it is easy to forget that a bottle of wine can take so long to make and that patience is key. However, it is this patience and attention to detail that brings out the best in a bottle of wine.

About the Author:

Ken Finnigan is the CEO of Finest Wine Racks a website specializing in quality decorative wine racks and durable wine storage systems.

Short Review on Wine Prints

Making White Wine: A Labor Of Love

Wine is made in winery and wineries exist all over the world and come in a variety of sizes. The grapes are grown at the wineries and then turned into...

Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

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Of sommeliers and stomachs

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Labels: Australian Shiraz | Australian Wine