Celebrating Life

Wine grape varieties represent only a small portion of the more than 600 kinds of grapes. Each grape variety has its own unique combination of characteristics including color, size, skin thickness, acidity, yield per vine and flavors. Only a few of there grape varieties are suited to produce fine quality wine.. While many grape varieties are used to produce wines, only a few grapes have distinguished themselves as being particulary suited for the production of fine wine. These 'noble grape varieties' must still be matched with the right micro-climate and winemaking techniques in order to live up to their potential. Click on the links below to find information about each wine grape variety. White Grapes Aligoté Chardonnay Chenin Blanc Columbard Folle Blanche Gewurztraminer Grüner Veltliner Malvasia Marsanne Melon de Bourgogne Muller-Thurgau Muscadelle Muscat Palomino Pedro Ximénez Pinot Blanc Pinot Gris Riesling Rousanne Sauvignon Blanc Scheurebe Semillon Sylvaner Trebbiano Ugn...

The Basics Start with a clear wine glass. The rim of the glass should bend inwards to help funnel aromas to the nose, and allow you to swirl without spilling on your $50 tie. Never hold the glass by its bowl, only by its stem. Now pour a little wine into your glass. An inch or less is best. If you are tasting several wines, begin with the lightest (sparkling wines, roses, then light whites followed by full-bodied whites) and progress to the heaviest (light reds to more full-bodied reds followed by dessert wines). This will help keep your taste buds more sensitive so you can better appreciate each wine in the series. A sip of water between wines can also help preserve your palate. First notice the color of the wine. It often helps to hold the glass up to light or hold it against a white background, like a white napkin. The color can give you a clue as to the age of the wine. White wines generally gain color as they age. Red wines lose color. That is, young red wines are more red or bu...

http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/online_exhibits/wine/wineintro.html Fermented beverages have been preferred over water throughout the ages: they are safer, provide psychotropic effects, and are more nutritious. Some have even said alcohol was the primary agent for the development of Western civilization, since more healthy individuals (even if inebriated much of the time) lived longer and had greater reproductive success. When humans became "civilized," fermented beverages were right at the top of the list for other reasons as well: conspicuous display (the earliest Neolithic wine, which might be dubbed "Chateau Hajji Firuz," was like showing off a bottle of Pétrus today); a social lubricant (early cities were even more congested than those of today); economy (the grapevine and wine tend to take over cultures, whether Greece, Italy, Spain, or California); trade and cross-cultural interactions (special wine-drinking ceremonies and drinking vessels set the st...