Tag: Wine

How to Cook With Wine

Posted on

Contrary to what you might think, cooking with wine is simple. Now that we got that out of the way, budding cooks can gain a lot when they learn how to cook with wine. Some flavors remain locked and unused without the assistance of wine. Its ability to release the taste of foods is unparalleled in fine cuisine. So, let’s start with the basics.

How Much is Too Much

Cooking with wine is all about what works for you. There are really no hard and fast rules. What you need to remember, however, is to put in a little bit at first. If you don’t follow this tip, you will soon find out that it’s almost impossible to salvage a dish that got drenched in wine. Another thing to keep in mind is that alcohol does not give wine its distinctive taste. Wine is composed of just a small amount of alcohol and most of that evaporates throughout the cooking process.

This presents another thing that you have to be aware of. When you cook off the liquid in wine, the flavor intensifies. When wine is reduced, it gets concentrated and the flavor gets kicked up a notch. So, add it in near the end because you can end up overwhelming the dish when it’s done.

What Makes a Good Cooking Wine

Not just any wine will do. A wine that tastes good when drunk will taste good when cooked with. On the same note, an awful tasting wine will taste even worse when put in food. You don’t need to splurge and get a $ 100 bottle – you’ll just end up not using it as much as you should. There are many good priced one out there. A $ 10 bottle could work fine. You just have to search a little harder.

A common red or white wine that you enjoy would be a good starting point. For marinades, sautéing, chicken, and seafood – applications not requiring intense flavor – it’s hard to go wrong with a Sauvignon Blanc. Red meats or sauces with a red meat base have inherently deep flavor, so a more powerful wine is in order. A Chianti or Cabernet Sauvignon is perfect for the job.

Other Tips

The more you use wine in the kitchen, the more comfortable you will be in experimenting. Before you get to that level, keep the following in mind:

• If a recipe calls for water, put in wine instead.

• You can add a tablespoon or two to your gravy. Simmer until the alcohol fully evaporates.

• Your favorite flavored oil plus wine makes a good marinade for meat and poultry.

• Heat the wine before adding to meat dishes. Warm wine can tenderize meat while cold wine has the opposite effect. Don’t overdo it. Too much heat will cook your wine, robbing it of its taste.

• Heavier red meats need a dry red wine to flavor it or else it will seem that you put nothing in at all. Lighter meats, such as pork, poultry, and fish will be overpowered. It’s best to use white wine in this case.

• You can serve the same wine you cooked with along with a meal. If that is not possible, at least serve a matching variety. It is not very nice to serve a light white wine with a roast dinner flavoured with an intense red.

Final Thought

Cooking with wine need not be complicated. Find out what kinds work with what foods. Experiment and enjoy your culinary journey.

Revealed Inside Story Of Wine Marketing: Wine Marketing Mistakes Brand – Red Wine Distribution, Wine

Posted on

Why do many Red wine Dealers have the same feeling, hard to find Chinese wine sales. But you thought about the reasons for it?

People had learned to drink Beer When no one today would think of such a popular beer popular scenes can be compared, but still can not find this wine good things! Wine Wine Development, although from a high to low alcohol wine, liquor to wine was gradually changing, but over the past 10 years, the overall development of the domestic wine industry is not optimistic, wine from the mass consumer market has not really speak to some extent the establishment of wine Industry Dimensions of “blowout” era seems distant impossible. In my opinion, the reason why wine market trend of slow, slow development, the most fundamental reason lies in the majority of the marketing of wine brands into the Marketing Extreme errors.

First, do not pay attention to the cultivation of the consumer market:
Most manufacturers focus on raising brand awareness, but the cultivation of the consumer market is not enough! Overall, the wine brand in the high-end market concentration is relatively high, there Changyu Great Wall, Dynasty and a number of strong brands, but the relatively middle and low market, the brand was more messy, some fake it is and Society. Although wine drinking wine has become the mainstream consumer market variety, but still people still do not like to drink liquor at home, as wine consumption, more of our time is the dinner at the bar and some business premises to see the figure of wine, wine market consumption in the industry as a whole is not because we do not build more consumers of wine consumption habits, but why not set up such spending habits, it is because our businesses do not fundamentally foster market consumption . There were people laughing at us, like to drink wine like drinking water, do not understand culture, do not understand fashion! But you do not guide the consumer, consumers can buy from you so! We all know that wine contains many nutrients beneficial to human health, but they had to publicity, the public is aware of. Ball net ball of red wine experts: there are four aspects of the wine needs to spread to consumers and guidance: First, the wine product knowledge. It is understood that many consumers on what red wine, dry white is simply confused, and some companies claim that the use of what Cabernet Snake Pearl, plum Zhe, Riesling grape varieties like many people is confused. Second, the health of wine knowledge. Third, wine purchase, consumption and storage methods. Fourth, the wine culture of origin. Currently, most brands are also doing publicity, but basically to the dealer to advertise in, to allow more distributors to distribute their products, but they do a lot of consumers do? Very little!

2, has not addressed the situation to build their own brand culture:

Understanding of wine culture guide will be an effective way to attract more consumers, but we have to create their own culture of wine. Wine in a foreign country as the “Water for Life”, has been a natural Beverages The international mainstream, wine culture in the West, consumers pay more attention to wine characteristics and drinking their own style in the process of sight, smell, taste and other personalized inner feelings, while the Chinese are particular about the form of wine culture, moral, ritual, function. A successful wine brand must have their rich cultural heritage, to enter people’s table wine, it should be emphasized that their own cultural characteristics, if solely emphasizing Western wine culture was blindly pursuing the romantic style of wine, it is bound to our farther away from the civilian population of consumers, which would be very difficult to establish our popular consumer groups. Therefore, China’s wine brands not only have to pay attention to blending of Chinese and Western culture combined with the common people should also consider how the cultural life and spiritual needs of the combination. Suntime wine take the lead in the wine industry thrives on the Movement of civilians, it is gratifying to see what this could be enough for Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung is the spokesperson for the brand, this way instead of stretching the brand and the distance between ordinary people, because In the eyes of the old 100, Liang Zhang in pursuit of a romantic, falls far short of our actual needs. Today, many enterprises in the construction of the brand culture of wine, not everything possible to give your brand personality and characteristics, but trying to stick to foreign brands of light, the results did not, and also we are to achieve the popularization of wine consumption target very different!

Find More Red Wine Articles

Reading the wine label

Posted on

When talking about wine labeling, you will find that it might different in each country. This makes manufacturers have to confirm the laws of the countries where the wine is produced and the wine will be sold. You will find that the newer labels will help you to find the details about the wine. You will also find that some labels are difficult to read.

Related to the wine label, there are several smart tips that you can follow to read the label. By being able to read the label in it, you will be able to serve it well. Thus, you will be able to enjoy it in the event that you have.

The appellation and grape variety
This is the first term that you should understand in the wine label that you might find. Grape variety means the type of grape that is used to produce it, while the appellation indicates the place where the grapes were grown. You will find that the wines that are made in South America, North America, Africa, Australia put the grape variety on the label such as the wine was made with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or Sauvignon Blanc grapes.

Burgundy, Loire region and Burgundy are appellation of wines in France. You will find that wines from this country have the appellation of origin on the label. Thus, you should know the kinds of grape that grow in those regions in order to determine the flavor of wine that you want.

Class of wine
This indicates the type of the wine for example, it will be labeled as “class one” if it is table wine and “class two” if it is sparkling wine. You will also find that there are other types of wine such as aperitif, citrus, fruit and imitation wines. However, you will find that the most common one is the table wine. Sometimes, this also refers as “light wine”.

Alcohol content
This is another thing that you might find in the wine label. This indicates the sweetness of the wine. In this matter, the wine that contains less than 11% alcohol will tend to be sweeter. Meanwhile, the higher percentage of the alcohol in the wine will make it drier.

Vintage
The vintage shows the year when the grapes used to produce the wine were harvested. This is important for you to know the best time to drink the wine. This is because there are some wines that are best to be drunk after some times. It is also important to know the vintage of the wine if it is produced in the fluctuating weather area.

Those are some things that you should know for reading the wine label. You will find that there are many other terms that you can find on the label that will tell you the flavor of the wine itself. Therefore, you should read the label in order to get the wine that you want.

Related Syrah Wine Articles

Wine Bottle Holders

Posted on

Wine Bottle Holders are a fantastic gift idea for anyone who loves their wine. Our great selection has such a variety of themes and designs you are sure to find something for the wine lover in your life. Brilliant for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, Valentines or even as a thank you gift, these are a great gift idea that anyone would love to receive.

The wine bottle holders in this range include a whole host of animals and characters. We have dog wine bottle holders and cat wine bottle holders for pet lovers, as well as many other themed wine bottle holders for shopping addicts, party girls, motorbike fans and foodies amongst others and they are all made from 100% recyclable metal. Wine Bottle Holders make a great centrepiece for a dinner party. Why not give one to your host instead of the usual box of chocolates it will certainly be a talking point. And it is something your host can keep and use time and time again. These wine bottle holders are each a little work of art bringing something fun and eye catching to the dining table. And theyre useful too as the wine bottle is placed in the holder, those annoying drips of wine (especially red wine!) no longer get onto your tablecloth or wood staining and ruining them.

Wine Bottle Holders even look great out in the kitchen and are an ideal place to store open bottles of wine which do not need to be refrigerated. However it is always important to ensure that unopened bottles of wine are stored at their correct temperature and in their best environment. This ensures that the wine maintains its character and taste. Because each wine is different, it is best to find out the recommended storage for that particular grape so you get the best out of it, especially if you have a really good bottle of wine.

If youre picnicking then a wine bottle holder is a must. Safely tuck your bottle of wine into its holder as you lay out your food and you wont have to worry about finding a non bumpy bit of ground on which to store your bottle. If you are on a romantic picnic with the girl of your dreams the last thing you want to be worrying about is spilled wine and shell be very impressed with your organisation skills too! If your picnic is on the beach then using your wine bottle holder is even better. Keeping your bottle safely stored in its holder means you wont knock it into the sand or stones. And you can guarantee that even if the wind is blowing everything around when you eat outside at least you know your bottle of wine will be safely secured in place. Dining al fresco was never so easy!

Wine accessories such as these wine bottle holders make excellent gift ideas for wine lovers. Why not give a bottle of their favourite wine with the holder. It is a gift that can be used time and time again. For the full set why not also add a wine bottle stopper so all their wine drinking needs are catered for.

More Malbec Wine Articles

Semillon – An Adaptable Wine in Oz

Posted on

Semillon is an underrated wine that has hidden its light under a bushel for so long. The Semillon grape variety is grown mainly in France and Australia but can be found in numerous other wine growing countries all over the world, especially Chile. The beauty about Semillon is that it has a chameleon-like character and adapts to its surroundings like no other vine. This is what makes it so interesting.

Rather than producing similar style wines from country to country, Semillons from most of them are fairly ordinary most of the time, but very occasionally a stunning wine is produced. This is a breath of fresh air as we have been used to drinking say a Chardonnay from one part of the world tasting identical to one from another part. This is dull for the consumer but is regarded ‘safe’ by the producers, but what we need is to find totally individual wines in small volumes, and this is where Semillon comes in.

In France, particularly the Bordeaux region, the variety is primarily used for blending with Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle to produce the Bordeaux white wines. Semillon is used to make the classic dessert wines of Sauternes where the grapes are left on the vine long after they have ripened and allowed to rot. With high autumnal temperatures this fungus induced ‘noble rot’ occurs as the grapes become infected with the Botrytis cinerea fungus. This fungus consumes the water content of the grape which in turn concentrates the sugar within the fruit. The rot is not always ‘noble’, in bad years of poor weather botrytis can actually destroy the fruit completely.

Semillon accounts for around 80% of the blend (the other 20% is Sauvignon Blanc) in the worlds most exclusive sweet wine from Château d’Yquem. The reputation of the the château relies totally on the Semillon grape getting this noble rot, so here is an example of how a producer has worked with nature to achieve something very individual and special in their wines.

In Australia in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney the variety is also known as ‘Hunter River Riesling’. However, when the grapes are picked early with low natural sugars and therefore low potential alcohols, these Hunter Valley Semillons are fairly neutral, acidic wines. But with several years maturation in the bottle they undergo an amazing change by gaining character and body as well as developing an interesting honeyed toasty flavour. This maturation gives the wine the impression of ‘oak aged’, but Hunter Valley Semillon is never matured in oak.

A few facts about Semillon:

Sparsely cropped Semillon, when fully ripe and reared in not too hot a country, produces a wine that is high in extract and alcohol, but reasonably low in acidity and aroma.
Semillon in conjunction with Sauvignon Blanc displays its best as in the case with the top Sauternes properties.
Will it keep? Australia’s best Hunter Valley Semillons should last for 10 years or more easily.
When young it is often lemony and responds well to oak ageing attaining a rich slightly ‘waxy’ flavour, as well as a deep golden colour with hints of orange.
Over-production has been responsible for much of the thin, characterless, lower priced Semillons of the past.

What food accompanies Semillon best? A citrousy slightly acidic wine would complement a light chicken korma very well or fish cakes with tartare sauce and even a lovely rice pudding would go well with it.

So instead of sticking with the usual commercial wines try hunting down the more individual ones and you will be rewarded with a host of new flavours and characters.