Tag: sparkling wine

Sonoma Valley Wine Tasting Tour

Posted by on April 4, 2009

On February 24, 2008 these wine lovers went on an interesting excursion out of San Francisco: an ecologically friendly bio-diesel powered van from Incredible Adventures whisked them off to the outlying areas north of San Francisco. After a first stop at Muir Woods to admire the giant redwoods they embarked on a tour to wine country. Through the rain they drove north into the Sonoma Valley, one of the two world-famous wine-making areas north of San Francisco. The other, even more famous wine-making area, is the adjacent Napa Valley.

The Sonoma Valley is actually the birthplace of the Californian wine industry and encompasses 13,000 acres of parkland. Before lunch they stopped at two wineries, Roche and Homewood Wineries, where they got to taste a whole variety of red and white wines and even some local olives and olive oils. For lunch they stopped off on the main square of Sonoma for a tasty lunch at the Basque Café.

After lunch the travelers headed into the Castle Winery just off Sonoma’s main square. The last stop on this excursion were the Gloria Ferrer Caves and Vineyards which produce world-class award-winning sparkling wines as well as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Ferrer family’s involvement with sparkling wine goes back several centuries in Catalonia, Spain, and their most famous product is Freixenet, a world famous sparkling wine made according to the méthode champenoise.

Properly educated about wine and definitely in a much lighter mood after all these tastings, the group started heading back to the city.

At the end of the excursion, the adventurers got conveniently dropped off on the doorsteps of their hotel, the Queen Anne, and after recovering for a bit, then took the 22 bus and went for a nice dinner to Tangerine SF, a beautiful restaurant that features Pan Asian cuisine, located in the SoMa district of San Francisco. After a great filling dinner and a long conversation with the owners Steve and Sean, they walked all the way back to their hotel on Fillmore Street, a pleasant 45 minute walk through beautiful Victorian neighborhoods.

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How To Find The Best Wine Gift Baskets

Posted by on February 9, 2009

For any celebration or glorious moment in life, wine is essential to have.  Parties and celebrations are thought of as being incomplete unless there is wine present, which makes it an ideal gift for virtually any occasion.  Wine gift baskets are a great gift, they are very affordable, and perfect for nearly any occasion - such as birthdays, weddings, festivals, parties, or anniversaries.

In terms of price plus taste- Wine gift baskets are trendy gifts that are very famous.  Along with the bottles of wine, wine gift baskets also contain various accessories as well, such as wine glasses and corkscrews.  With most wine baskets, fruit and chocolate is included as well.  You can also find cheese in some baskets, which most consider to go perfect with fine wine.

It always depend on the occasion, as there are numeous and suitable wine gift baskets to choose from.  When you select a basket, there are several factors that you’ll need to consider in order to make the basket a truly special gift.  If you are giving a basket as a wedding present, then you’ll obviously want to choose a different basket than one you would give to a friend at a party.  There are wine baskets out there that are cheap in price - to those that are more expensive and more suitable for a wedding gift.

If you are buying a wine gift basket for a beginning enthusiast, you may want to include a book on wine that will help them learn more about wine in general. If you are giving the basket to a wine enthusiast with a lot of experience, you may want to include a stopper.  No matter who you are giving the basket to, a wine gift basket with an assortment of fine wine is a great gift that can bring joy to anyone.

For wine lovers, you can find gift baskets that include fruity red wine, tangy white wine, full bodied wine, dry wine, sparkling wine, and even sweet wine.  Red wine is ideal for main course meals such as meats, while white wine is ideal for seafood and white meat.  Sparkling wine on the other hand, is ideal for special occasions.Fizzy wine is a perfect choice that you can not be wrong with, if you are presenting the gift basket as a wedding gift.  Sparkling wine is one of the most popular types of wine - perfect for weddings and anniversaries.

If you have a bit of difficulty choosing a wine gift basket, you can’t go wrong with mixed baskets that offer a mixture of wines.  You can find these types of baskets in local stores or on the Internet.They are very much affordable, starting near 20 dollars and going up from there.  If you are thinking of getting fine wine gift baskets, you should keep in mind that it can be a bit more

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An In Depth Look At Sparkling Wine

Posted by on February 8, 2009

Sparkling wine is well known for it’s tiny bubbles that race to the surface.Fizzy wine is one of the most exotic and refreshing kind of wine, providing happiness and memories after the cork is released into the air.This exotic wine is known as most popular wine for celebrations and special occasions, from several years.

By looking at sparkling wine, you’ll find it to be a complete mystery.When tasting the wine, friends and lovers choose to discuss the refreshing, nutty aroma.  Even though this type of wine is very popular, it can be hard to describe.  Although the taste and aroma can be right there, lingering in the air - it’s still something that is nearly impossible to find the words for.

When you first open a bottle of sparkling wine, the carbon dioxide aroma that instantly fills the air is an experience that you have to smell to believe.  A true feast for all of your senses, sparkling wine can instantly put you at ease.  Drinking this wine is a feast for your taste buds, bringing several different flavors to rest on your tongue at the same time.

Even though the nature of sparkling wine is really unknown, society as a whole as really accepted it.  Although many don’t realize it, the crisp and delicate taste of this wine isn’t what made it what it is today.  Similar to the shine and splendor of the finest diamonds, sparkling wine emits a truly elegant aura and romance that makes it easy to distinguish from other types of wine.

Sparkling wine was first discovered in France by Dom Perignon, who was a monk in the Champagne region.  He actually stumbled upon this fine wine while performing his duties as a cellar master in the Benedictine Abbey.  Dom would hide his discovery for many years, as the public didn’t really respond in the way that he had been hoping.

Although Dom Perignon’s sparkling wine wasn’t popular at first, it would grow and become more popular over the years.  Once people in France and people around the world caught wind this amazing sparkling wine, they simply had to experience it for themselves.  At this point, it didn’t take long for Dom Perignon to become a legend and one of the most important wine makers throughout the rich and cherished history of France. 

The formula and techniques that Dom used to produce his sparkling wine eventually become known as the traditional way of making Champagne.  The process is still used throughout the world today, producing some of the best sparkling wines.  Even though sparkling wine is made in various locations, many agree that the best place is the Champagne region of France - which is where sparkling wine first began and was first introduced to the world.

These days, sparkling wine is an essential part of life, for celebrations and events.  With most celebrations, sparkling wine is simply a must have.  There are many manufacturers of the wine these days, although most prefer to have the original and still the best - Dom Perignon.  No matter where the future of wine goes, sparkling wine will never die.It will always the wine that sparks the celebrations, and the wine that makes celebrations more attractive.  From it’s truly unique and breathtaking taste to it’s amazing look and splendid aroma - sparkling wine has the appeal and the flavor to keep people celebrating and living life for years and years to come.

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All About French Champagne

Posted by on February 6, 2009

Champagne is traditionally used on special occasions like while celebrating a milestone or during marriages.  Considered to be a flexible beverage, Champagne can be served with a meal or with dessert.  For many years, this truly refreshing and exotic drink has been used as a way of celebration and just enjoying the times that lie ahead.

Champagne comes from the vineyards of the French region.  If you get a bottle and notice Champagne imprinted on the label, you can rest assured that the bottle was produced in the vineyards of France.  If you don’t get Champagne that was produced in the infamous French regions, you are pretty much just buying the standard sparkling wine.  You should also make sure that the bottle is spelled “Champagne”, with a capital C.  French manufacturers are very protective of this very name, and therefore are the only ones that are authorized to use it.

Champagne is made using three different types of grape- Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay.  Noir and Meunier are types of black grapes, while the well known Chardonnay is a type of white grape.  The label on the bottle will signify what type of Champagne you are buying, so you’ll know what flavor to expect.  There are also types of this wine that are a blend of different grapes, providing quite an exquisite taste to say the least.

Much like sparkling wine, Champagne is very common with celebrations and such.  Although it is actually considered to be a type of sparkling wine, Champagne is much better.  You have to be careful where you buy it though, as a lot of manufacturers like to use cheaper grapes, which don’t taste the same.  If you have ever tasted this wine before - you’ll know first hand what quality tastes like.

A lot of people prefer Champagne because of the bubbles that are known to spew forth once a bottle has been uncorked.The visible bubbles that ooze out of this type of wine are due to release of CO2 form the carbonic acid present.After the liquid is disturbed, A fizz forms and it is short out of the bottle.  This is a natural reaction of the double fermentation process that can only be found with a bottle of Champagne.

The next time you have a celebration and need something to make the celebration a bit more interesting, you should grab a bottle of Champagne.  Few things compliment a celebration like the bursting bubbles of a fine bottle.  You can find quality Champagne at ABC stores or other stores that sell alcoholic beverages.  Even though it may cost you a bit of money - when you pop the top you’ll be glad you bought it.

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Wine Pairing, Glossary and Wine Types (an iPaper)

Posted by on January 2, 2009

Wine Pairing, Glossary and Wine Types

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