Wine and all things related to the juice

[QUOTE=GoddessofSnark]any tips on getting cork out of a bottle.

And how long can you keep wine uncorked? Does it ever go "bad?" I know it looses it's flavor fast, but the alcohol stops it from going rancid or anything, right? Cause I kinda went to uncork a bottle of red and the cork disintergrated into the bottle.

And if I may just interject my personal favorite wine, I suugest it to everyone as it's easily affordable (12$ a bottle) Julius Clauss Reinheissen. Comes in a really pretty blue bottle. very crisp, very sweet, definitly the best wine I've had in a long time.

And is there a trick to savoring reds? I'm a big white person, reds tend to taste too bitter and too strong (I'm going to guess because of the tannin level?) or is it all personal preference? I'm a fan of light crisp whites, (Reislings, Zin, etc) and I'd like to enjoy reds more (since I have the better part of a winerack full of reds) they just are too intense for me...would sitting out and letting them oxidize a bit help?[/QUOTE]

the best way to enjoy the wine is to simply leave the cork in the bottle - it won't affect the wine anymore than the length of time it was in contact with the juice anyways, plus its pretty tough to remove the cork as a whole. Now as far as disintigrated cork - this usually implies a bad wine as the cork has failed. but the best trick here is to decante the entire bottle into another glass container, straining the wine through a fine seive or fine mesh loose tea strainer, or at the very least an UNBLEACHED coffee filter. this will remove the cork particles and will preserve the wine as best as it has been so far.

I love German wines as well - good balance of sweet, sugar and acidity.

the trick to savoring reds....

My own personal opinion is as follows - you need a gateway drug like a pretty fat RED Zinfandel, or a Shiraz, something with a lot of fruit and not a lot of tannins as you alluded to - this usually implies a wine that is not overly oaked and usually not a cabernet - these wines tend to be towards teh end of your journey down the red wine road. letting the reds air out a bit will soften them, but it basically turns down the volume on all aspects of the wine versus just the ones you are wanting to exclude - it'll drop down the fruit, the oak, the tannins, etc... better to hit your favorite wine buyer at a reputable shop and tell him of your plight, have him make some suggestions - and I'd start in these fruitier red categories and work your way up, soon you will grow a fondness for the other nuances like some herbal qualities, tobacco, smoke, leather, etc...

but like anything, you can take it as far as you wish to go. if you want to learn reds and like them, it'll take some commitment and a good local wine shop.

hope this helps.

thanks!

Yeah, I need to find a decent wine store around here, most of the local shops cater to the yuppie soccer mom "I just want something that sounds fancy" crowd, or the malt liquor crowd (the joys of living between three colleges, one of the most crime ridden cities in the nation, and one of the richest communities in the nation...) most of my wine is bought through online wine clubs, they work pretty well.

I think i might start with red zin, the last glass of Shiraz I had was so strong I took one sip and nearly dropped the glass. The bottle with the disintergrated cork is a bottle of Merlot, and it's not bad, for a red. I think part of that is because well, it's been sitting out uncorked for so long.

I'm really more a whiskey girl myself, give me a nice glass of scotch, but wine is just so varied, there are nuances to each blend of scotch, but there is not the huge range of flavors that there is with wine.

How about Belgian ales? Know anything about that stuff?

[QUOTE=kasey_carpenter]i'll forgive the yellowtail.

:friday:

no, it;s good wine, just a lot of bad politics and business behind the brand. but that style, yes, not a bad way to cut one's teeth...[/QUOTE]
please elaborate! this is my go-to wine when i'm entertaining and want to serve something everyone will like.

Mo is making a batch of blueberry wine tonight (and making jellies and jams and frozen preserves ), per Uncle Buddy's recipe. The berries are from a 3rd generation family-owned berry business near Sydney, FL.(So is Uncle Buddy) I'll let ya know how it turns out.

Why does shit come out dark green the day after drinking large amounts of red wine?

Last night I watched [URL=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0466506/]John Cleese's Wine for the Confused[/URL]. It's a great look at all the processes, terms and deffinitions of all things wine. If you are interested in knowing more about wines, the film is a non-snobby and lightly funny look at the vineyards and people with a passion for making wine that happen to be surrounding John's home in CA.

[QUOTE=meatthinker;782339]How about Belgian ales? Know anything about that stuff?[/QUOTE]
They make them in abbeys
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The best way to know a lot about wines is trying as many types as you can.
Don't trust other people's opinion!

[QUOTE=meatthinker;782339]How about Belgian ales? Know anything about that stuff?[/QUOTE]

That's more a beer thread thing than a wine thread. Though as beers go, some of the Belgian stuff blurs the edges (see below).

[QUOTE=alicia maria;887475]They make them in abbeys
[LEFT][/LEFT][/QUOTE]

Some of them, yes, the abbey ales such as Chimay (actually three commercial brands come from that brewery). There are six abbeys that produce beers generally described as abbey ales. Five of those are in Belgium, one in Holland. The abbey ale tradition, roughly speaking, is to have a 'small beer,' a table beer that is for the monks' every day consumption, and to make stronger 'dubbel' and 'tripel' beers mainly for sale to the outside world (and for the occasional holiday). This stems from the rule of St. Bennedict, a monk must live by the work of his hands. The monastery does its own laundry, grows its own food, etc. In Italy, this means wine. In Belgium and the Netherlands, it means beer.

The abbey ales tend to be very fruity and phenolic, with a lot of flavors/aromas that would not be welcome in a glass of Coors. These also tend to be strong beers, though mild by wine standards (maybe 6% to 9% ABV).

But not all Belgian beers are abbey ales. Belgium is a wonderland for beer lovers, with a staggering variety of styles. Lambics, made in a tiny district by wild fermentation, witbiers (cloudy wheat beers spiced with coriander and bitter orange peel), Flanders reds, odd reinterpretations of British ales, Saison, etc.

If you took all the varieties of wine in Europe and concentrated them into a single small country, you'd have the wine edition of Belgium.

Also, some of these beers can come off rather wine-ish. Lambics have been called (by Napoleon among others) the Champagne of Brussels. These intensely sour, wild beers with aromas described as 'barnyard' and 'musty' and so on bear so little resemblence to what most Americans would describe as beer they might as well be made strictly of fruit. Especially the fruited versions (kriek, framboise, etc.)

[IMG]http://URL=http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vacacioneseuropa2006008oc5.jpg][IMG]http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/9387/vacacioneseuropa2006008oc5.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/IMG][QUOTE=Chixulub;887495]That's more a beer thread thing than a wine thread. Though as beers go, some of the Belgian stuff blurs the edges (see below).

In this village is where they make Leffe and drink it.I was there last summer.

Some of them, yes, the abbey ales such as Chimay (actually three commercial brands come from that brewery). There are six abbeys that produce beers generally described as abbey ales. Five of those are in Belgium, one in Holland. The abbey ale tradition, roughly speaking, is to have a 'small beer,' a table beer that is for the monks' every day consumption, and to make stronger 'dubbel' and 'tripel' beers mainly for sale to the outside world (and for the occasional holiday). This stems from the rule of St. Bennedict, a monk must live by the work of his hands. The monastery does its own laundry, grows its own food, etc. In Italy, this means wine. In Belgium and the Netherlands, it means beer.

The abbey ales tend to be very fruity and phenolic, with a lot of flavors/aromas that would not be welcome in a glass of Coors. These also tend to be strong beers, though mild by wine standards (maybe 6% to 9% ABV).

But not all Belgian beers are abbey ales. Belgium is a wonderland for beer lovers, with a staggering variety of styles. Lambics, made in a tiny district by wild fermentation, witbiers (cloudy wheat beers spiced with coriander and bitter orange peel), Flanders reds, odd reinterpretations of British ales, Saison, etc.

If you took all the varieties of wine in Europe and concentrated them into a single small country, you'd have the wine edition of Belgium.

Also, some of these beers can come off rather wine-ish. Lambics have been called (by Napoleon among others) the Champagne of Brussels. These intensely sour, wild beers with aromas described as 'barnyard' and 'musty' and so on bear so little resemblence to what most Americans would describe as beer they might as well be made strictly of fruit. Especially the fruited versions (kriek, framboise, etc.)[/QUOTE]

This was a much more enjoyable thread than the Skinhead one. Kasey, you still talk to your Sonoma buddies? I've got a handful of vineyard friends up there too.

Malbec's are very good reds. I go down to Fredricksburge sometimes to go wine tasting art their vinyards. They have the best Malbec I have ever tasted. Its got a very good spice flavor to it, hints of clove.