wineries

Affordable Wine Tips: Finding A Great Wine On A Budget

Unless you have an unlimited budget, high priced wines are not usually the first option for most people. Many people falsely believe that a higher price tag equals better wine. Price is not always an accurate indicator of quality. For example, historical success of the winery also contributes to the overall cost of a wine, as well as the usual price increase when supply exceeds demand. However, there are perfectly fine reasonably priced wines available. To get a very good wine without exceeding your wine budget, check out these easy to follow tips.

Look for critics scores

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Ordering Wine Like A Pro: How To Choose A Wine At A Restaurant

You’re going to one of the finest restaurants in the city with a very valuable potential customer and your department head and you’re tasked with choosing a bottle of wine for dinner. The potential client is a very big wine enthusiast and your decision can make or break the deal. What do you do? Do you feel panicky? Shortness of breath? Racing thoughts: What if your client hates the wine? How do you pull this off? First, calm down, take a deep breath, and relax. You’re a professional, you’ll get through this. Choosing wine in a restaurant is not very difficult at all once you know what to look for.

Call Ahead

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Ballentine Vineyards

Ballentine is a bit different than many of the other wineries I’ve featured from the St. Helena AVA for a couple of different reasons. To start, they make slightly more wine. Total production for the winery seems to hover at around seven thousand cases, which is hardly a big production operation but there are some nice side effects of having a winery with that level of production.

To start, Ballentine is still able to hand craft specific wines from small portions of their vineyard. They make, for Napa Valley, a reasonably priced small production Cabernet Sauvignon like many of their neighbors but they also make a variety of other varietals such as Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel and Petite Syrah.

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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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