The first step to tasting wine is a visual one, fill the wine glass to no more than half full at most, one third is better. Secondly, hold the wine glass by the stem so as not to influence the taste by heating it with the heat from your hand and also so that you are able to better see the wine. Observe the intensity of the color as well as how transparent the wine is. When observing the intensity you should look at it from above.

Now comes the fun part, swirl the wine in the glass to prepare it for tasting. The wine will leave small traces inside the glass, the more alcohol the more traces it will leave. Next, observe the color which shows the variety of grape that the wine comes from. Generally speaking you will find a cabernet sauvignon is usually violet to dark while pinot noir is more of a ruby color.

The color of a wine is also determined by the conditions of the climate during the season of growing and harvesting that the grapes went through. For example a very hot summer combined with a dry fall will produce full ripe grapes with a very dark color while a cooler summer and wet fall will give more undeveloped grapes which are much lighter. The type of wine making process has a lot to do with the color as well; red wine is fermented with the skin and the longer the process the darker the wine ends up.

The age of a wine also tells its color. When a wine is young it is full of coloring agents that make it denser and rich looking and as time goes by these agents are affected by chemical reactions that result in sediment being formed at the bottom and the color lightens up. When you see a wine with a lot of sediment at the bottom you can usually assume that it is older and has been aging for quite awhile.

So there you have it a basic overview of wine tasting that will at least give you some semblance of knowing what you are doing, so enjoy!

Gregg Hall is a consultant for online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. Find out about personalized wine bottles at http://www.winebottlespersonalized.com

The most widely-acclaimed and successful wine-making region in the United States is California’s Napa Valley. The Napa Valley is just 30 miles long, only a few miles wide, and nestled in Northern California. A number of world famous wineries are located in this region. One such winery which will appeal to race fans and wine fans alike, is the Andretti Winery in Napa, CA. The Andretti Winery was founded by legendary Indianapolis 500 champ, Mario Andretti. Perhaps the most famous and most successful Napa winery is the Robert Mondavi Winery located in Oakville, CA. Mondavi offers tours year-round except on major holidays. Making an appointment is recommended but not necessary.

California isn’t the only place you can visit an American winery. You may not have realized this, but there are also wineries in the Northeast. One such winery is the Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery located in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania. Mount Nittany Winery produces a variety of dry and semi-dry whites, dry and semi-dry reds, and sweet and semi-sweet wines. Tours are offered throughout the year. Advanced notice is necessary. Here you’ll learn all about the wine-making process as well as some history of winemaking in the Central PA region.

New York features some of the oldest wineries in the country. The first wine grapes were planted there over 300 years ago! The first serious wine-making operation there began in the 1860’s. One popular New York winery is the Applewood Winery in the town of Warwick, in the Hudson River Valley, located barely an hour away from the hustle and bustle of New York City. Applewood Winery produces a wide variety of wines, some of which you’ll find nowhere else as they’re made from unique local ingredients such as Macintosh apples.

Wine makers have set up shop in the South, too. One such winery is the Habersham Winery located just outside Helen, Georgia. The Habersham Winery has been in operation for over 20 years. The Habersham Winery offers tours for groups of 10 or more and requires an appointment. You can visit their gift shop any time, though. Here you’ll find their complete selection of wines, as well as gourmet foods, and local treats.

Another lovely Southern winery is Chrisman Mill in Nicholasville, Kentucky. They produce a number of international recognized, award-winning wines. Come by the winery Tuesday through Sunday and enjoy a sumptuous lunch in the Chrisman Mill Cafe. Enjoy their surprisingly excellent wines and be impressed with their chef’s top-notch cooking.

If you’re looking for a fun way to spend a day, a weekend, or even a whole week, travel to a winery or wine-making region and discover the wealth of wine produced throughout the country.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as wine gift baskets at http://www.winegiftbasketsplus.com.

A unique way to let that special someone knows you care is to personalize the bottle of wine. You can custom design labels, names and even messages to be printed on the wine bottle that will be a cherished gift for years to come. Even if your loved one is not a wine drinker the personal message label will make an excellent decoration and conversation piece in any home. With a bit of creativity in your message and design the bottle alone will be cherished.

A great accessory to give with your bottle of wine is a corkscrew. There are elaborate designs available that will tell the person you give it to that you put a lot of thought and care into choosing their gift.

For someone who is a bit of a wine connoisseur, there is the pocket vineyard. This glossary of wines includes vintage wine charts, and suggestions and ideas for pairing wine with food. It is a small handheld electronic device easily fitting in a pocket or purse. For the wine lover in your life it would be an unexpected and unique treat.

Many local stores carry fine wines that make excellent gifts. You could have a pair of wine glasses etched with a special message and give it along with the bottle of wine. Even etching the names of your friends on their glasses would be a great gift for the couple you know who has everything.

Wine is also a great gift for an employee to show you appreciate the time and effort they put into their work. A small basket of cheeses and chocolates will pair nicely with the gift.

There are many places where you can get ideas on the proper wine to buy, from local stores to specialty shops. Even online there are plenty of sites where the gift of fine wine can be purchased. You can look online to find the best wine for a certain meal and put the ingredients with a recipe card in a basket to accompany the gift of wine. It is another unique way to present your gift.

As the next holiday nears don’t forget that special person in your life, impress them with a gift of wine. With so many ways to give a simple bottle of wine you can find the one that fits your style of giving best.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as Stemware and Dinnerware at http://www.dinnerwareandstemware.com

Suppose you want to kick back after a long day at work. You light a candle and put on some quiet music but realize the evening isn?t complete, so you run out to your local liquor store, looking for the perfect bottle of wine to cap the evening. What will you buy? When you see all the choices, you will probably look for a brand you tried before or a name you recognize?perhaps White Zinfandel by Sutter Home, the California winery.

What you might not realize is the wines that are stocked in local liquor stores tend not to be local, but are from the largest wineries that can afford a wide distribution. Often, small, local wineries have a smaller distribution, and even though their wine is better, you will have a harder time finding it unless you buy from the winery itself.

There are probably many local wineries within a short drive of your house. A quick online search reveals that, around Detroit (for example), wineries exist in Ann Arbor (less than one hour away), Albion (less than two hours away), and even in south-western Ontario (less than one hour away). All fifty states have wineries, and each winery often produces their own distinct-tasting wine. A merlot, for example, will taste different depending on geographic location and the particular winery. Some wineries specialize in creating basic wines (i.e., merlot) while others focus on creating fruit or specialty wines (i.e., blackberry merlot or ice wines).

One way of discovering these wineries is to take a day, perhaps on a weekend or during a vacation, and visit several of these wineries. Because of the conditions needed to grow and harvest good grapes, many wineries are often clustered together along a very scenic ?wine trail.? Following a trail can be very informative and educational, as you learn about wine-making and taste many of the different wines the wineries make.

Once you have followed your local wine trails, you will know how to pick out a good local wine you will enjoy. You?ll probably even buy several bottles from the wine trail you visited! Not only will you be drinking good wine that you didn?t know about before, but you will be supporting your local economy.

Another benefit to visiting a wine trail is that you can turn the visit into the perfect family trip. Many wineries have U-Pick fruit orchards, so you and your family can pick fresh fruit during your winery visit.

One way to begin learning more about wine and local wineries is to make a commitment to following one wine trail each month. You can begin in your home state, visit a few wineries, and then begin branching out to other nearby states. By the end of a year, you will have visited many of your own local wineries, as well as wineries in many other states!

Jim and Laura Hofman are avid travelers who enjoy exploring and learning about various wineries and wine regions in the United States. Known as unofficial travel advisors for their family, friends, and business associates, the Hofmans enjoy the simple pleasure of sharing a bottle of wine and enjoying life. Subscribe to their free, monthly online newsletter at http://www.WineTrailsUSA.com

The red Bordeaux wines are almost always blends which include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with sometimes small amounts of Malbec and Petit Verdot. The white and dessert Bordeaux wines consist of mostly Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Many of the world’s most spectacular and sought-after wines come from this region, including Chateaux Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild, Petrus, Cheval Blanc, Haut-Brion, Latour, d’Yquem, etc.

With 57 appellations, more than 9,000 wine-producing chateaux, and 13,000 wine growers in the Bordeaux region, you can find sophisticated Bordeaux wines, refreshing wines, aged wines and young wines. Though the top-quality Bordeaux merit the higher prices they command, there is virtually an endless choice of Bordeaux wines in every price category. Some of the lower prices Bordeaux wines are of an execellent quality. If you enjoy red wines, hen Bordeaux can be a great choice. The Bordeaux’s produced in France are some of the best the world has to offer.

Wine Ratings - Wine ratings, wine and winery related information for the enjoyment of fine wines.

Residential wine cellars allow a wine connoisseur to store wines for a long period of time, or age the wine. Aging a wine contributes to its taste and sophistication. Since a wine also records its environment in its taste, temperature, humidity, light, and vibration will also impact the taste of the wine in residential wine cellars. Generally, 55?F is the average temperature that wines should be kept at. 50? to 60?F is usually acceptable, but some white wines like to be as low at 45?F.

Sudden fluctuations in the temperature can adversely affect the wine’s taste. Humidity of your cellar should stay between 60% and 80%. Exposing your cellar to light should be avoided, because light disrupts the aging process. Excessive vibration of your wine can disturb the sediments found in the bottle.

Residential wine cellars don’t have to cost a lot of money. In fact, you can probably build residential wine cellars yourself with your extra basement space or use an alternative area in your house or apartment. A dark interior closet or pantry will work nicely, although don’t store the wine near strong-smelling foods. Keep your wine away from stoves and heat sources, as they would allow the temperature to fluctuate too much. Cool, damp basements are good as well.

Find wine, bar and alcohol accessories online at WineandBarAccessories.net: whether you’re hosting a dinner party or a wine tasting event, there are a variety of wine and bar accessories any good host should have on hand. From wine racks to cabinets and glasses and corkscrews, a variety of items exist for the wine lovers and hard liquor drinkers in your life. For more on information on fine wines of the world visit Killerwines.com

When discussing white or red wines, it is always important to remember that much of the discussion falls into a bit of a fuzzy area. Why? Well, white wines are rarely white for the first thing. Second, many a winery actually mixes wines of all varieties together to produce a desired flavor and aroma. Thus, the ?white? wine you are drinking may not be entirely white. Having said that, there is little reason to avoid discussing what are traditionally known as white wines.

The dominant grape in the white wines is undisputedly the Chardonnay. It is a rare day you can find any wine drinker who has not sipped more than a few Chardonnay whites. The wine is incredibly popular for a number of reasons. First, there is a lot of it because the vine can be grown practically anywhere and is! Second, the wine is known for an ?oak? flavor, which is extremely popular with wine drinkers. Third, the wine is very flexible and can be produced with a wide variety of fruit aromas and flavors. Chardonnay white wines traditionally have been very dry and full bodied. With the wide range of wineries producing vintages, however, a wide variety of flavors and bodies are on the market.

Sauvignon Blanc should either be next or dead last on our list of whites. This is a take it or leave it grape. The taste is sharp and dry. This is a not a wine where you will find fruity mixes and such. It is a classic, traditional white that people either love or hate. Personally, I love it and it goes number two since I am writing this article!

Riesling white wines are next on our list. This is a German wine that is excellent if you buy from a German winery. You can find French and American wineries producing it, but it simply isn?t the same. This is a light wine often described as ?refreshing? although I must admit I have never understood that term. The Riesling whites take a beating by wine gurus, but you can find this dry, light white to be just the trick. It is markedly different than the Chardonnay, so give it a try.

There are a variety of other white grapes that are used to produce interesting vintages, but we are going to skip them to discuss a less-known grape that is up and coming. The Viognier grape is found in the Rhone Valley in France and is used to produce a flavorful, dry white that is excellent. It is typically a medium body wine with low acidity and often has a fruity aroma to it. It is a personal favorite that I suggest you try.

When it comes to white wines, there is no disputing Chardonnay is the king of the vine. Still, you should make an effort to move beyond the king to discover the interesting other vintages available.

Xavier Moldini is with WineriesforYou.com - a directory of wineries.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a medium to full-bodied, densely-colored wine, rich in berry flavor with a distinct herbaceousness. A true Cabernet Sauvignon is unblended, austerely tannic, and characterized by the flavor of tea or herbs, leaves and stems.

Cabernet’s complexity is endlessly intriguing, partially because it melds brilliantly with other grapes. When blended with the Merlot grape for instance, a softer and more subtle Cabernet emerges without surrendering its quintessential character. Cabernet Sauvignon can be a delicious wine.

The aging process is critical to the taste and flavor of Cabernet Sauvignon. Winemakers often age Cabernet Sauvignons in barrels of different woods, each imparting a unique flavor. Some vintners use barrels of different woods in succession to add complexity. Most winemakers use their smallest barrels to age a full-bodied varietal like Cabernet Sauvignon. The smaller the barrel, the more pronounced is the influence of the wood.

Wine Ratings - Wine ratings, wine and winery related information for the enjoyment of fine wines.

When you are given a glass of wine, the first thing you should do is look. The color of the wine can tell you a few secrets. In red wines the color lightens as it ages therefore the lighter color the better the taste. For white wines, the color will darken with age and the older the white wine gets the fewer flavors remains.

After you have looked and examined the color the next step is to swirl the wine. Swirling is why wine testers pour only a couple of ounces in a glass. You gently swirl the wine around in the glass. The point of this is to aerate the wine, or let oxygen into the wine. The flavors and aroma will become stronger when you do this.

The next step is to put your nose as close to the wine as possible and sniff. The first sniff is to smell for anything bad, or if the wine is past its prime. If you detect any sour or vinegar smell it is bad and then returns it for a fresh bottle. After you have found the first sniff okay swirl the wine slightly and take a long deep smell. You can now close your eyes and try to decipher the smells. Do you smell berry, oak, rose? With a little practice you will be able to soon decipher the smells and tell what kind of wine you have.

The next step is to sip. This may sound easy but be sure to take your time. Take a slow sip but don’t swallow yet! Slowly swish the wine around your mouth so all four taste buds on you tongue get a taste. Is it sweet, bitter, fruity? As you swallow part your lips and take a small breath in through your mouth. This allows you to taste what you smell! Is it dry or wet, sweet? As you swallow wait for the aftertaste. The longer the aftertaste the better the wine, is the aftertaste smooth and long lasting?

At last stop and savor! Think about the flavor, was it fruity, woodsy, or sweet. Did the flavor linger or go away quickly? Was the smelly smooth or dry? Was the wine worth the money you paid for it?

Now that you can taste wine properly there is only one more thing to know. Wine taste is about a matter of opinion. How do you know if the wine was good or bad?

If you liked it then its good, if you didn’t it’s bad! Enjoy you’re new talent!

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as Stemware and Dinnerware at http://www.dinnerwareandstemware.com

Finding a Winery

There are many sites online that can help assist you in finding the perfect winery to visit. All American Wineries is one great resource, as it lists wineries, the states they are in, and shares people’s opinions/reviews on some of the wineries. Looking online helps you find smaller wineries, which do not share large-advertising budgets to get their name out, but could be just what you’re looking for.

If you are traveling spur-the-moment, or do not have internet access, you can check the phone book, or simply ask around, many smaller wineries are well-known to people around town.

Wineries tend to utilize the type of grape that is grown in their region. Because of this, wines have a unique taste and zest, specific to location. Those producing this wine generally have taste for what best compliments their wine. In effect, you can go to almost any winery and have a completely unique experience!

Contrary to popular belief, wineries do not have to be located near a vineyard, because grapes can be shipped in, and because wine can be made of other fruits and plants. Specialty wineries are also located in the US (although they are less common). Some different types of wine: dandelion wine, apple wine, strawberry wine.

Wineries offer many different activities, but they are usually special events that happen occasionally. If you are looking to pursue one of these events (like sample wine from wineries all over the world), you might have to do more extensive research. You can find what you’re looking for by calling different wineries and asking if and when they are doing something of the sort, or by simply looking more extensively online.

Winery Activities

Different wineries offer different experiences, taste-wise, and activity-wise. There are constantly different festivals and events occurring (depending on season, location, and reason). Some wineries offer private tours of the valley, wine facility tours, catered lunches, taste-testing, live music, and other activities to pursue during your time there.

Location

If you cannot decide which winery to pursue based on information about the winery, you might want to consider traveling by location. This is a realistic possibility as there are wineries scattered all around the US. For example, if you might want to do more than check out the winery, you could chose your winery according to whether or not you want to ski, surf, or shop.

There is an anonymous quote saying life is too short to drink bad wine, and by doing your own research and not settling for the most-advertised, or most convenient winery, you are certain to find a perfect wine, and have a wonderful time doing so.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as Fruit Baskets and Wine at http://www.fruitandwinebaskets.com