Archive for August, 2010

Best Food to Enjoy With Kosher Red Wines and White Wines

Love your Kosher white wines and red wines? Then you probably love a good Kosher meal, too. Kosher white wines and red wines can do wonders to bring out the rich, complex, yet simple, and satisfying taste of home-cooked traditional Kosher meals, whether it’s spaghetti and meatballs, a veal chop, or a rich stew of beef and potatoes. Different foods will help you uncover different features and joys of Kosher online wines. Here are our top five favorite Kosher meals for pairing with red wines and white wines. Enjoy!

1. Beef Stew – A beef stew couldn’t be easier to make. Simply cook 4 pounds of good-quality lean beef chunks, a diced onion, 4-5 diced carrots and 4-5 medium-sized red potatoes and bring to the boil. Add a handful of broken up thin spaghetti, and when all the ingredients are soft, add a can of baby peas. Serve piping hot with your favorite Pinot Noir red wines. It’s sure to warm you up on a cold winter’s night.

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The Wonderful World of Wine Barrels and Creative Ways to Reuse Them!

Wine Barrels have a specific purpose when created, most obviously to hold and allow wine to age. Aging in oak barrels enriches the flavor and contributes to the character of the wine. It can impart a smoother, softer, richer feeling on the palate. The science behind the barrel is actually quite fascinating, as subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences in each barrel can affect the end product of our vino. Wine will take on a different personality and quality depending on the type of wood/oak used, as well as the process by which the barrels are constructed, and also whether or not the oak is new or has already experienced use. A well-made vino so-to-speak will have just enough oak to give it added complexity without suppressing other flavor elements, whereas too much oak will overpower the more delicate scents and flavors, actually making the wine less complex. Each time a wine barrel is reused, the wine will extract less oak flavor, until the barrel is practically void of its oaky contribution. The life span of a wine barrel averages around 3-5 years for these primary purposes, and then the barrels may be sent on to make liquors such as brandy, sold to various artisans or dealers, or often even sold off as firewood.

In my opinion, a new type of fun begins when the wine aging process ends! Wine barrels can take on a new and exciting life after their initial purpose has been fulfilled. There are gorgeous wine racks, wine cabinets, and all kinds of furniture out there today crafted from recycled wine barrels. You could build shelves for your wine books, or how about hardwood floors-how cool! And what personality wine barrel parts would lend if incorporated into wine cellars, tasting rooms, kitchens, or perhaps unique artwork. Use them as large pots and fill with vines or flowers, or how about using the old barrels to collect or store rain water? There are so many imaginative and inventive uses at present and the scope could be endless with all of the creative minds out there. One of my favorite recent news pieces was on how the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park is using old wine barrels to successfully breed hornbills – quite a home and romantic breeding venue if you ask me (or better yet, the hornbill!)

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How to Tell the Difference Between Port and Madeira Wine

Port and Madeira are two distinct drinks from Portugal in Europe. As we begin to educate ourselves in all things wine we should know the essential differences between these two exports.

Portugal has produced these two fortified wines for centuries. They are sweet and not to everyone’s taste but they are much better known than the countries fledgling red and white table wines such as ‘Vinho Verde’. Port is deep, sweet with hints of nuttiness as well as spice, pepper and dark red fruits. Port can vary in quality and taste like all wines but they can be classified into vintage and non-vintage.

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Frozen Wine Slush Drinks

Over the past few years, wine slushies (frozen wine slush drinks) have been gaining huge popularity all across the country. The combination of wine, fruit flavors, sugar, and other sometimes exotic ingredients combine to create a tantalizing taste. However, when you freeze this concoction, that’s when your tongue throws a party for your mouth. Freezing it, or making it in a blender, makes all the difference. Refreshing beyond description.

There are two ways you can go about making wine slushies. One is to find a good recipe, buy all of the ingredients and make it from scratch.

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