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Archive for September, 2010

Showcasing Your Wines

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

The more wine you collect, the more challenging it becomes to find a place for all the bottles. Of course, there are those with huge underground caverns to keep their wine. But most do not.

So what should a person do instead?

Rather than relegating bottles to cardboard boxes in a garage, why not use a purpose-built wine cooler like the dwc612blp?

At 6-feet in height, this sturdy unit has a total capacity of 65 wine bottles. And it’s full-length glass door allows a clear view of all the wines at all times. As solutions go, this is a very good way to preserve a wine collection.

Even better, a refrigerator like the danby dwc612blp makes wine easy to find as well. That’s because the wooden shelves are angled in just the right way to make the wine labels visible. And when combined with the soft interior lighting, you can see all the bottles in even low light conditions.

As you’ll be aware, it’s important to get the temperature right with wines. It has a strong influence on the overall flavor of wines. Furthermore, it’s also important in preserving wines over time as well. That’s why many wine coolers allow you to set the interior temperature very precisely, so you have complete control over this element.

More than anything else, there’s a highly persuasive basis for having a wine cooler. Here it is: it reduces the spread of your wines into one central location. They no longer need to be dispersed throughout many rooms. And they’re not hidden in places you’re likely to forget about completely.

When the mood grabs you to open a bottle of wine, you know exactly where to go. At the same time, you can take as long as you want mulling over which bottle to open while the wines stay cool behind the glass.

There are a ton of top reasons to use a wine refrigerator, as this dwc612blp review has hopefully shown. Keeping wines has never been easier.

Wine – Part Of A Diversified Investment Portfolio?

Friday, September 24th, 2010

Penfolds is the most popular brand among Australian fine wine collectors and it’s also one of the country’s largest wine storage companies – their flagship wine being the ultra–premium Penfold Grange.

Sydney based Wine Ark revealed that Coonawarra wine region in South Australia, is the most popular wine producing region among Australian collectors.

Wine Ark estimates it has more than fifty percent of the national Australian wine storage market.These comments result from an analysis of more than 3 million bottles of wine, worth more than AU$250 million, from more than 8,500 private wine collections in Australia.  That’s an average of $83 per bottle.

Wine Ark CEO, Mr Dean Taylor, said the review is based on the volume of bottles in storage of each wine, and believes it is an accurate measure of variety of collectable wines across Australia.

The Foster’s-owned Penfolds has 8 of the top 50 wines.  The next most popular is also a Foster’s owned brand, being Wynn’s Coonawarra Estate, with 3 of the top 50 collectable wines.

Hardly suprising then that South Australia wine brands account for more than 60% of the Top 50 collectable wines.

Shiraz is the most popular wine to be collected, amassing 46% of the Top 50 wines.  And Coonawarra is the dominant wine region, providing 22% of the top 50.

‘It shows how much Australians have embraced Shiraz,’ said Taylor.
To date, no Pinot Noir made the top 50, though Taylor suggests this is because Australia was still developing the variety, and as yet, not a great deal was being cellared.  Though this is expected to change over time.

Grange is the most collected Shiraz and red wine – and the most collected wine overall.This was followed by Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz blend. That wine was the original leader in collectable wines, when Wine Ark released its inaugral list in 2006.

Interestingly, the most collected Pinot Noir was Mount Mary, from the Yarra Valley.  It might be expected to increase in collections over time.

In the Wine Wines, Leeuwin Estate Art Series was the most collectable wine and Chardonnay.  This was 11th overall.

The top top Riesling amogst Wine Ark collectors was Gosset Polish Hill, which was 13th overall.

The most collected Semillon, Tyrrell’s Vat 1, placed 26th overall.

 

Wine And Vineyard Secrets: The Hunter Valley

Friday, September 24th, 2010

At the core of every visit to the Hunter Valley are the vineyards and quality wine. The Hunter Valley has been producing wine since the 1820′s. The regions semillons and shiraz are well known for their unique style.

No other wine can match the low alcohol (normally around 11%), fresh zesty style of the Hunter Valley semillon. So versatile and it also ages very well. So much so that there are many wines from the 70’s and 80’s that are still drinking well. If only they had been bottled with a screwcap, then some of this wine could be almost immortal.

In a market that is in some places moving towards lower alcohol levels, Hunter Valley semillon is a very neat fit for aging as well as drinking relatively young. The local shiraz is a wine that divides with its more moderate body and alcohol combined with earthy, gamey notes. The Hunter River Burgundy has a reputation for its silky and earthy complexity. These wines can age well as illustrated by some of the Lindemans releases from the 1960’s.

Even more remarkable is that the wines from Maurice O’Shea were made under harsh conditions including without electricity and, in some cases, during the last years of the Second World War. Chardonnay is also a local strength driven largely by the wines of Max Lake and Murray Tyrrell. Despite the warm Hunter climate both wines can age magnificently well. The modern style is much leaner and fresher than some of the heavily oaked and worked examples of the past. Then there is Cabernet Sauvignon – one wine grown on a South-Easterly facing red volcanic hill. Many locals believe is the area’s best piece of dirt. Of course, I am talking about Lake’s Folly. Max Lake was always bucking trends and turning his nose at the establishment.

This is well illustrated in an old bottle of Folly. I recently shared a 1985 Lake’s Folly Cabernet at 12% alcohol from a good vintage that is still singing its varietal and regional origins.

While there is certainly great history to the Hunter, perhaps its strongest suit, for the moment, is a new generation of winemakers exerting greater influence over the local styles, which will continue for some time to come.

Tips For Drinking Beer At Home

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

If you’re hosting a party or get-together in your house, then you’ll need to plan the food and drink situation too.

After all, it’s natural to expect people will get thirsty or hungry at some stage. And as the host, the responsibility falls squarely on your shoulders to cater for these needs. Doing so is an important first step towards creating a memorable event for all the right reasons.

And if you decide that beer is going to be on the menu, then it’s well worth considering getting a kegerator. The sole purpose of these fridge units is to both refrigerate and dispense cool beer. A tangible example for you is the sanyo kegerator bc 1206, yet there are many others on the market.

There’s much less refuse to collect when using a kegerator, which is a major advantage. You don’t have to worry about collecting multiple cans or beer bottles, because each guest has one glass each. When a glass is empty, you simply position it beneath the main tap and pull a lever. And within seconds you have cool fresh beer again.

What exactly does a kegerator look like?

A kegerator like the sanyo bc1206 looks very similar to a normal refrigerator. But it gets a lot more different on the inside. Rather than lots of shelves, the main space is taken up by a keg of beer. Also, there will be a CO2 tank and air and beer lines for transporting the beer.

Above the kegerator cabinet is where the main activity of serving beer happens. The carbon dioxide gas helps the beer move upwards through a tower and beer tap mounted on the top. The process is actually quite simple, and keg coolers like the sanyo bc 1206 beer cooler include clear guides that make it all very easy. Therefore the process of getting everything set up is quick and easy.

Storing Wines

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Now is the great time to get into wine storage and keep those reds in your cellar or under your bed. Don’t you want to have your own wine cellar? You won’t need to renovate your home. A wine cellar can simply be a few cases of red you keep in a cupboard for a number of years.

During this time, your wine begins to evolve from youthful awkwardness to mellow maturity. A pure pleasure to be experienced is consuming a well aged, mature bottle of wine. So you should get wine cellar started.

It is well documented that we are experiencing a wine glut, mostly with premium red wines such as cabernet sauvignon. This situation occurs at the same time as a big shake up with major wine producers Southcorp, Orlando Wyndham and Hardy, and also rising retail competition between Coles Myer and Woolworths.

With wholesale wine distribution been impacted, some larger names including Tuckers have disappearing with new mega-relationships being formed. While wine sales overseas continues to grow for lower end wines, many premium grapes remained are unsold and often unpicked.

Once you’ve determined what wine you want to buy, researching for prices and special on the internet or wine publications is easy. See Houghton, Saltram and Yalumba, Penfolds, Wynns, Hardy. Consider some adding smaller wines to your collection such as Tahbilk, Knappstein, d’Arenberg, Peter Lehmann and St Hallett. Plus you’ll always find newer players are also trying to move up.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the countless number of wines on the shelf, find yourself a good independent bottle shop to get great advise. While maybe not be the cheapest, independent advice may lead to you buying some very valuable wines over time and avoid the duds.

If you’ve decided to store wine, you need to find a cool spot to keep them, ideally a cool place in the garage. Alternatively, go to a storage facility such as Wine Vault, Wine Ark or Kennards and rent some space.Start off with some great 2002 wines and consider some well known 2003 vintages, then the wait begins.

Most red wines are meant to be stored from two to five years, comparatively your bolder, full-bodied reds from should be stored from six to eight years – with some twice that amount of time.

South Australia with its shiraz and cabernet sauvignon grapes, remains the true home of the traditional full-bodied reds. In the Barossa Valley the favourite wines such as Grant Burge, Barossa Valley Estate and Peter Lehmann can be found while some newer brands including Glaetzer, Thorn Clarke and Two Hands are also worth noting. McLaren Vale has some great new wineries such as Mr Riggs, Dowie Doole and Kangarilla Road, to accompany some more established bands like Woodstock, Wirra Wirra, Maglieri, Geoff Merrill and Tatachilla.

Clare Valley names has great labels such as Mitchell, Pikes, Sevenhill, Tim Adams and Kilikanoon who provide earnest, earthy reds for affordable prices. While Coonawarra has emerging winemakers Majella, Penley Estate and Balnaves to accompany their established as Bowen, Leconfield, Hollick and Rymill wineries.

Heathcote region is the best stored Victorian shiraz while you should also look to Jasper Hill, Heathcote Winery and Hanging Rock, Shelmerdine, Heathcote Estate and Shadowfax.

Grampian Red Wines are a great wine to store with Seppelt a leading label plus Mount Langi Ghiran and Great Western. Then look to cabernets from Nagambie Lakes (Tahbilk and Mitchelton) and shiraz and cabernet from the Pyrenees (Taltarni, Warrenmang and Dalwhinnie).

When looking at Western Australia and especially Margaret River, you can find such well reown and rarely disappointing cabernet blends including Cape Mentelle, Cullen and Moss Wood. When looking to New South Wales, you’ll find great red wines to store in in Mudgee. Poet’s Corner reds such as Montrose Black Shiraz and Henry Lawson Cabernet Sauvignon are also great value.


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