One of the most used drinks in this world is obviously wine. Be it gala lunch affair, dinner parties, weddings or special occasions, wine goes hand in hand with every kind of celebrations or parties. In fact, wine itself means celebrating life and enjoying it in every way possible.

But many a times, we open a good quality wine and wonder how to preserve the half consumed bottle. It is best to keep an unopened wine bottle under normal temperature. But, once you open the beverage, you should take proper care to preserve it. Many people store used and unused wine bottles in a specially made wine cellar or cooling unit. There are many good ways to slow the oxidation process and preserve the taste and quality of the wine. Some of the most popular preservation methods include vacuum pump, gas spray, cooling unit and refrigeration.

Some of the common ways to preserve your wine:

When you open a wine bottle, to preserve remaining wine, you can put a stopper on the top of the bottle. You can also thrust out the air using a pump. Remaining wines should be kept in a cool place, such as refrigerators. As excess heat may oxidize the wine. Re-corked wine can be preserved for 3 to 4 days in a refrigerated condition.

You can also purchase gas preservative and spray it on the wine bottle. It helps to suck out the air in the bottle, and you can close and seal the wine bottle immediately. Some also like to freeze their wine bottles, and again de-freeze it, when they want it again. Some believe to add marbles or glass beads into the wine bottle, so that the level of remaining wine raises and there is no room for air. Re-corking it in such a state helps to maintain its flavor.

You can enjoy different kinds of wines that are easily available in the market. But, the real task is to preserve the wines without losing its flavor and taste. When you are an enthusiast to collect wine cases, you should also provide proper protection to them. Wine is one of the most delicious drinks created by man, which is liked by almost everyone.

Discarding half filled wine bottles is a great crime, if you are sure that you will not be able to finish the bottle. It is better to expose only as much wine that you actually need. Choosing an appropriate wine preserving system is mainly reliant on how much period, you want to preserve the wine and how much you are ready to pay for the preservation method.

If you are on a lookout for fancy cellars, then you may need a dry, dark and cool space that you can use, as a wine closet or cellar. You could utilize the tiny compartment under your stairs or even a small area of the car garage. The chosen place should be well-protected from direct sunlight and should have a cool even temperature.

The first in the process of wine tasting, the five S’s, as mentioned in a previous article, is Sight. The visual sense is the first sense one should use in assessing and determining the origin of the wine. Seeing the wine can provide clues on its age, its variety and style, even the winemaker. It can also indicate the alcoholic content. All of these are found from factors such as clarity, color, and viscosity.

Clarity is the term used when one views the wine against a white background and will show any residue or cloudiness. Some wines will be cloudy because they are bad. With modern techniques this is rare unless air has entered through a faulty seal on the bottle. Residue or sediment is most likely caused by age or by lack of filtration. In either case, the wine is probably fine and requires decanting in some fashion. Generally the wine is bright and reflects the light to give brilliance and sparkle.

Typically wines are thought of as Red, White or Rose if one ignores dessert or fortified wines such as port, sherry and sparkling wines such as champagne. Tilt the glass against a white background to judge the color at the interface of the glass and wine. The entire spectrum of colors can now be displayed from pale or lemon yellow to brick red to almost black. The color provides a great clue as to the variety of grape used. Chardonnays will usually be golden yellow whereas a Riesling will be lemon colored. Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots will be a garnet color while a Burgundy such as Pinot Noir will show brick red. Rose wines such as White Zinfandel can be almost raspberry in color. In general, red wines lose a little intensity as they age, whereas white wines tend to get deeper. One notices these differences as one explores wine tasting.

Seeing the wine can also help detect different levels of the alcohol content of the wine, shown by its viscosity. As wine is poured into the bottle, a phenomenon known as “legs” can appear. Simply put, it is caused by the differences in surface tensions between the alcohol and water contents of the wine causing the alcohol to separate, rise up the glass, and then fall down causing the “legs”, also known as “tears of wine”. Normally this is more prevalent in wines of higher alcohol content, but is not an indicator of the quality of the wine. For instance, a German Riesling or White Zinfandel are low in alcohol, around 12.0%, French reds Bordeaux or Burgundy are higher, up to 13.5%. Californian whites and Shiraz can reach 14.5%. All of these are good to great wines, yet the “legs” will show stronger in the higher alcohol wines.

Use this sense of Sight to give you a preliminary idea of the type of wine being tasted.

N.B. Usually when drinking wine it is preferable to use some crystal stemware designed for the specific variety. As tastings are often done blind, a standard red or white wine glass is acceptable.

If you are looking for a European tourist destination, consider the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Basilicata forms the instep of the Italian boot with two small seacoasts, one on the Ionian Sea in the east and one on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west. Depending on your interests, Basilicata may be an ideal vacation spot. You can get classic Italian food, and wash it down with fine local wine. Basilicata is among the few regions of Italy as yet undiscovered by tourists. There’s a tradeoff; you won’t have to fight the crowds to see what you want to see. On the other hand, you’ll have a hard time finding fancy hotels. And its roads are not always the best, hardly surprising when you consider the region’s mountainous terrain.

Basilicata’s population is only slightly above six hundred thousand. While quite mountainous this is the only region of Italy in which farm workers outnumber industrial workers. Up until the 1970s it steadily lost population to other Italian regions and to emigration abroad. But all is not lost. Its east coast has become an important agricultural area. And the mountainous interior with poor soil and lots of sun; what could be better for producing fine wine? Let’s not forget that many consider Basilicata’s native Aglianico (also found in Campania) to be Italy’s third best red grape, after Nebbiolo and Sangiovese. It sounds like there could be a major breakthrough in Basilicata’s wine industry.

We’ll start our tour of this region in the northeast at Matera. Then we head south and east to Potenza. From there we go southeast to Aliano and then south and east to Terranova di Pollino and the Parco Nazionale. If you want a bit of seaside you could continue to the little town of Maratea on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. When driving in this part of the world, you’ll need a good map and good reflexes; the roads here don’t always go directly from Point A to Point B and rarely go in a straight line.

Matera, population sixty thousand, lies just south of the Apulia border. This area has been settled since Palaeolithic times, in other words for at least twelve thousand years. The Romans claimed to have founded the city in the Third Century B. C. Like so many other parts of Italy it was occupied by an almost never-ending stream of invaders. One of the proudest moments in Matera’s history was in September 1943 when it rose against the German invaders, the first Italian city to do so. We’ll start with the usual sights and finish with something truly unique.

Matera’s Duomo (Cathedral) dates from the Thirteenth Century and was built in the Apulian-Romanesque style (Apulia is the region north of Basilicata, its architecture reflects Greek, Arab, and Norman influences.) There are frescoes and sculptures to admire. Check to see if the Thirteenth Century Romanesque Church of San Giovanni Battista has been reopened for tourists. If so, stop by. But these sights pale in comparison to Matera’s unique old town in which the streets are often rooftops and the houses, churches, and chic restaurants are caves, hewn out of solid rock.

The Sassi di Matera (Stones of Matera) are caves that have been occupied continuously by human beings for an estimated nine thousand years. At twenty years per generation, (remember they didn’t wait to finish law school before starting a family in those days) this works out to an incredible 450 generations possibly living in the same neighborhood. The area has been named a World Heritage Site and numerous bars and restaurants now take advantage of this unique location. What a turnaround from the days when Matera because of the Sassi was called ”la vergogna nazionale,” Italy’s shame.

The area is thought to resemble ancient Jerusalem, and so has become a great place to shoot historical movies such as Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Bruce Beresford’s King David, and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. To quote Mel “In fact the first time I saw it I just went crazy because it was so perfect”.

To quote the famous Italian author Carlo Levi (Matera, 1952) “In the Sassi caves is concealed the capital of the peasants, its heart hidden in their ancient civilization. Anyone who sees Matera cannot help but be awe-struck, so expressive and touching is its sorrowful beauty.” On the other hand he also wrote (Christ Stopped at Eboli, 1946): “They are caves dug out of the hard clay of the ravine…inside those black holes, with earthen walls, I saw the beds, the poor furnishings, the rag spreads. On the floors were sprawled dogs, sheep, goats, pigs. Each family had, in general, a single one of these caves for its entire residence and they all slept here together, men, women, children and animals. Twenty thousand people lived in this manner”.

Potenza with a population slightly under 70 thousand is the capital of Basilicata. Here in a famous battle Carthage definitively lost to Rome. The city has known numerous invasions and earthquakes, the latest in 1980. During the Second World War Potenza was bombed heavily by the Allies. Monuments to see include the Twelfth Century St. Gerard Cathedral, and the Eleventh Century Church of San Francesco which includes a Renaissance painting entitled Madonna del Terremoto (Our Lady of the Earthquake). The Romanesque Church St. Michael the Archangel was also built in the Twelfth Century as was the Church of St. Mary of the Sepulcher. You should also see the Castle’s Tower built prior to the year 1000 and the ruins of a Norman fort, probably built on Roman and Byzantine foundations. All in all there’s a lot of old stuff to see for a small provincial capital that was almost destroyed by earthquakes. But if you don’t have time to see both Potenza and Matera I think you know which one to choose.

With less than twelve hundred inhabitants you might be tempted to skip the village of Aliano. Don’t, it’s living proof of the phrase – good things come in small packages. The scenery is spectacular, cliffs and rivers, and gullies, and local growing things include olive, peach, and citrus trees. This lovely scenery may be typical of the region. However, unlike any neighboring village Aliano is famous thanks to an involuntary visitor who stopped by more than seventy years ago. Between May,1935 and October,1936 Aliano was the home in exile of the well-known author Carlo Levi quoted above. Levi, a painter educated as a doctor, was a founder of an Italian anti-Mussolini movement. This explains his unintentional extended Aliano visit. Once released from exile Levi spent two years in France but returned to Italy and was imprisoned once again. After the war he wrote a book, Christ Stopped at Eboli, about his Aliano experiences. This book exposed the problem of poverty in Southern Italy to the relatively prosperous North. Levi served nine years in the Italian Senate where he continued his fight against poverty. He is buried in the village,. The house where he lived is still standing; it is now the Museo Storico Carlo Levi (Carlo Levi Historical Museum).

Terranova di Pollino is a mountain village in southern Basilicata very close to Calabria. It lies at the entrance to the Parco Nazionale del Pollino (Pollino National Park) the largest in Italy at just under 750 square miles (more than 1900 square kilometers.) Let’s quote their website “With its 192,565 hectares, Pollino National Park, the largest protected area in Italy between Calabria and Basilicata, has a wealth of landscapes to offer: great areas of wilderness where the cuirassed pine -the true emblem of the park- clings to the rocky slopes as the wind shapes its twisted trunk; not far away, rolling hills and valleys, lush slopes with flowering plants in springtime, and then endless upland plains where the sheep still graze like in ancient times.”

But that’s not all. The park is home to a wide variety of endangered species. Many fossils have been found including a very well preserved skeleton of a giant elephant that lived between 400,000 and 700,000 years ago. Other fossils date from the time when dinosaurs ruled the earth. Historic churches abound in the neighboring villages. Many of these villages are home to ethnic Albanians who have kept their language and culture for over five hundred years. Look for their festivals during the spring and summer months.

What about food? Basilicata is very traditional when it comes to cooking. As expected in an economically deprived area meat consumption is limited. The major meat is pork and the locals know how to extract the maximum from their porkers. Hot peppers are popular and can be quite hot. Basilicata bread is consumed in many parts of Italy. Locals make a special pasta from wheat and lard. The Pollino mountains are known for wild mushrooms and for game.

Let’s suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Zuppa di Pesce alla Santavenere (Ionian Fish and Seafood Soup). Then try Spezzatino di Agnello (Lamb stewed in an earthenware pot). For dessert indulge yourself with Frittelle alla Lucana (Doughnuts). Be sure to increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with your meal.

We’ll conclude with a quick look at Basilicata wine. Basilicata ranks 17th among the 20 Italian regions for the acreage devoted to wine grapes and for total annual wine production. About 73% of the wine produced is red or rosé, leaving 27% white. The region produces two DOC wines, Aglianico del Vulture and Terre dell Alta Val d’Agri. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. Only 2.4% of Bascilicata wine carries the DOC designation.

If you like powerful wines, try the Aglianico del Vulture from a local grape that grows on the extinct Mount Vulture volcano or its surrounding hills. This wine may be cellared for up to twenty years. The sparkling version may be dry or sweet. The red Terre dell Alta Val d’Agri is made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and possibly some local red grapes. The rosé version may include some local white grapes as well.

We haven’t been doing too many Canadian wines. Maybe we should. More than three decades ago the Pennachetti family helped to pioneer noble grape varietal wines in the Niagara Peninsula with Riesling and Chardonnay. The hillside of the Niagara Escarpment overlooking Lake Ontario is known as Beamsville Bench. In this fine location a single bloc of 25-year old vines grew the Gewurztraminer grapes that were fermented in stainless steel.

This is a popular tourist area and the winery also offers an inn, a restaurant, and a spa with vinotherapy treatments. What more could you want? Today’s companion wine is a $10 Georgian wine grown from the most popular local grape, the white Rkatsiteli.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed

Cave Spring Estate Bottled Gewuerztraminer VQA 2008 14.0% alcohol about $15

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Medium gold. Intense aromas of lychee, white flowers, candied citrus, and exotic spices. Just off-dry, medium bodied with an emerging lime cordial note on the palate. Very well-made Ontario Gewuerz. Pair it with grilled prawns in a moderately spicy sauce, or lemon grass chicken. (VINTAGES panel, Jan. 2010) And now for my review.

At the first sips the wine was slightly sweet and floral with fine acidity. The initial meal began with some spinach stuffed sesame seed puff pastry. The wine was appley and its acidity was mouth cleansing. The next step was an omelet brimming with chilies. The wine was elegant and tasted of lemons and honey. When it met the accompanying artichoke and garlic tomato salsa the Gewurtz stepped down a bit but it was quite long. In the presence of Greek Kalamata olives I got the image of a fluttering butterfly and there was some nectar. Sliced cantaloupe rendered the wine long and lemony. Honeydew made it very long and the wine’s acidity complemented the not quite ripe fruit.

The next meal was chicken baked with soy sauce, agave nectar, and plums. The wine had bright acidity and lime. It was somewhat oily. Something wasn’t quite ripe. The plums made the acidity somewhat harsh. The fresh pineapple dessert made the wine taste of honey; it was medicinal.

My final meal was commercially prepared eggplant parmiagana. The wine was elegant and mouthfilling. The Gewuerztraminer tasted of spicy lemons and was quite long. For dessert I enjoyed a vanilla ice cream bar coated in high quality chocolate. The wine presented light acidity.

Before going to my usual two cheeses I paired this white wine with Matjes herring. The wine was long and its pleasant acidity cut the herring’s salt. The first cheese was a brick. I expected bland but given its age the cheese was surprisingly strong. The wine was weak, and yet long. The second cheese was a Muenster, the Gewurzt stepped up to the place; it was round and fruity.

Final verdict. This call is fairly borderline. Instead of buying this pretty good but somewhat overpriced wine I may go for another one of the producer’s many, many offerings. There’s a Beamsville Bench Chardonnay that looks promising.

This is our first review of a kosher wine. A kosher wine meets strict growing and production requirements in accordance with Jewish religious law. We are going to open a new column in our website to review kosher, organic, biodynamic and other wines that meet special growing and production requirements. But since this particular wine just made it under the magic $10 limit we decided to review it here. Given its rather special qualities, many people buy this wine without concern for its kosher status. By the way, if you do keep kosher you will be interested to know that this wine is Kosher for Passover and Mevushal, the latter meaning it was flash pasteurized and maybe be served at receptions even if the waiters are not Sabbath-respecting Orthodox Jews.

Rashi Vineyards has properties in Italy and in New York State. They produce some strictly kosher fine Italian wines such as Barolo, the wine of kings and the king of wines. Their vineyards are named for the Eleventh Century Jewish scholar Rashi who was allegedly an extraordinary winemaker. While Jewish and other scholars are still studying his religious commentaries we can’t be sure of his winemaking skills.

I recently hosted a wine tasting and chose this particular wine mainly for its low-alcohol content. It proved to be quite popular. The Joyvin is a fizzy red wine whose label reads Parzialmente Fermentato. I am sure you can decipher this phrase even if, like me, you don’t know Italian. Just like most fine champagnes, this wine doesn’t have any vintage year on the label. But that’s where the resemblance ends.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Joyvin Red K/P M 6.0 % alcohol about $10

Let’s start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Dark pink; sweet cherry aromas; very sweet cherry flavor. Serving Suggestion: Kosher appetizers and toasting. And now for my review.

I started by sipping this wine alone. It was sweet and fizzy. The first meal included boxed spinach, broccoli, and potato blintzes (crepes) with sour cream. The wine presented some cherry flavor and good acidity. But frankly speaking, it was a cooler, not a wine.

The second meal involved a middle-eastern dish called Kube (or Kibbe), ground chicken in crushed wheat jackets slow-cooked in a broth. The Joyvin was syrupy and yet refreshing. It was short. I think that you could duplicate this product by buying an upscale black cherry soda and adding alcohol. Don’t get me wrong; this concoction was not entirely negative.

The final meal was an omelet with sides of grilled eggplant and a grilled artichoke dip. With the omelet my reaction was same old, same old. The grilled eggplant did bring out the fruit somewhat. I have no notes for the artichoke dip and the wine; I don’t think they interacted.

Now for the cheeses. With a Brick cheese I noticed some nice acidity. With the Havarti the Joyvin was fruity but really too sweet.

Final verdict. I don’t know what coolers are going for but my suspicion is that Joyvin is way overpriced. But if you like coolers you may find that this is one of the better ones. That’s not my department. And don’t get the wrong idea. Many of the kosher wines that I’ll be reviewing will be fine wines.

Over the years we have reviewed many Pinot Grigio wines, although most of them were not in the $10 range. We have recently reviewed many Australian wines, although most of them were not in the $10 range. And now they come together. Filippo and Maria Casella immigrated to Australia from Sicily in 1957. These third generation Italian winemakers purchased a farm in the Riverina region of New South Wales in 1965. By 1969 they opened a winery that is now the largest family-owned winery in Australia. Fully 15% of Australia’s wine exports are their products. Casella Wines boasts the world’s fastest bottling line, and is really making use of it.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio 2009 11.9% alcohol about $10

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Pale straw color; aromas of stone fruit, citrus and pear; dry, medium bodied, with crisp acidity, and delicate flavors of fresh apple, herb and nut. Serving Suggestion: Try with cream based pastas, salads or appetizers. And now for my review.

The bottle cap was an accident waiting to happen. After cutting it open, I had to flatten the sharp edges. At the first sips this Pinot Grigio had pleasant acidity. The pear taste hit me but it was fairly short. My first meal started with broccoli pancakes that included potatoes, onion, and oat bran. The wine provided a combination of pears and green apples. With a commercial chicken finger type preparation the apples became greener. The Louisiana pepper sauce increased the wine’s acidity.

The next meal centered on a barbecued chicken breast in duck sauce. The Pinot Grigio was slightly sweet and the now the pears were in the background. In the face of a chickpea, pimento, sliced olive, and canned corn salad the wine seemed stronger. My final meal started with Matjes herring. This wine was not at all weakened by the herring which is often the case.

The main meal was an omelet loaded with crushed chilies. The wine did well; I tasted pears and good, refreshing acidity. There was a lemony taste.

My first cheese was a cheddar. The wine’s predominated but the fruit was gone. Then I went to a better Swiss cheese. The Pinot Grigio’s fruit was still gone but its acidity weakened and then come back. In a sense I felt the opposite of many unsuccessful wine and cheese pairings: it was a shame wasting a fine cheese on this wine.

Final verdict. I would not buy this wine again. I have seen it on the Internet for $7 a bottle by the case. I still wouldn’t buy it.

One must be equipped with an extraordinary combination of knowledge and experience to be able to distinguish between a Dom Perignon and a Marquise de Pompadour NV. The former is high-end French champagne, while the latter is a top-notch Indian sparkling wine.

The only way out for novices to get seasoned is to drink more of wine everyday so as to be able to identify its finer nuances. I would also, all my life want to propagate the practice of drinking new wines everyday to get acquainted, and for the ones who are seasoned, food and wine pairing happens effortlessly. But that makes gourmands of wine connoisseurs. To get back into the connoisseurs’ shoes, one may have to travel down memory lane and taste wines like a novice keeping the conventional food and wine pairing at bay. This might even involve trading a Chateauneuf- du- Pape for a Sherry and gaining an experience that may even be a deja vu. And for the wine infants, every wine tastes the same’ and ‘deja vu’ is an understatement and pairing wine with food seems sheer senselessness where wine tastes super-sour and the blue cheese, gross.

For many of us, tastes and flavours have to be acquired. Wines are not as complicated as they seem. A good sense of smell is what the demand is. One should smell or ‘nose’ the wine before every sip no matter how stupid it seems at this moment as you read this, but I must mention that it makes real sense. Getting most out of every sip is what is expected of all the efforts advised. Wines release their aroma best when they’re swirled in the glass and help reach the olfactory part of the nose effortlessly.

Wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz evaporate and release aromas even otherwise but I would advise the traditional swirling of the glass anyway, so as to slip into the time-honored habit. Yes, habit. ‘Nose’ before every sip of wine, that’s the bottom-line here. Experts may argue that they have never done this before and yet enjoyed every sip as much but I’m sure they don’t know as much. Drinking wine is much about enjoying it than anything else.

Wine is a world in itself in the sense that it is varied in terms of the grape variety or varieties used the soil type, climate, etc. The smallest change in this, changes the way the wine looks, feels and tastes. One major reason why wine is so much known is because of the varied tastes and flavours it can offer. The alcohol often contributes sweetness; the tannin in red wines causes the bitterness and so on. At this point I am compelled to mention that white wines and red wines are made from white grapes and red grapes. Yes, white wine can be made from red grapes as well. What cause the wine to appear red are the skin and not the juice of the fruit. So, the skin must be retained in the juice for a longer time that in case of white wine so as to make the wine red. A colour that is between white and red is called rose or pink. And different wines have different shades. White wines range from pale yellow to golden and red wines range from purple to brown. Wines should be held against a white background ideally so as to be able to see the colour and noting down details while one looks at the wine comes in very handy.

Wines are being made for around 5500 years now and have spread across the world. France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain, USA, Australia, New Zealand are all eminent contributors to the wine industry and many more are emerging. This has led to myriad varieties and ideas being shared across many countries and even cultures. So we have one more reason to socialise, share and learn.

If you are looking for fine French wine and food, consider the Alsace region of northeastern France. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you’ll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour in which we review a local white Riesling winetasted with several meals and paired with imported cheeses.

Alsace ranks tenth out of the eleven French winemaking regions in terms of its acreage devoted vineyards. But don’t be mislead by statistics; little Alsace is a major producer of quality French wine. Its wine growing area is barely 60 miles (100 kilometers) long, and at most 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) wide tucked between the Vosges Mountains to the west and the Rhine River and Germany to the east. But this relatively tiny area is famous for its distinctive wines. Their wine bottles are also distinctive; tall and thin with labels that feature the grape variety, not the usual practice in France. Chaptalization (adding sugar to the fermenting grape mixture) is allowed for many wine categories.

About 95% of Alsace wine is white. The major white grape varieties are Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris, and Riesling, reviewed below. Its secondary white grape varieties include Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner, and Muscat. The major red grape variety is Pinot Noir, reviewed in a companion article in this series.

The beautiful Vosges mountains are located in eastern France near the Rhine River and Black Forest of western Germany. To a large extent they are composed of granite and red sandstone. Their highest point is the Grand Ballon (also called Ballon de Guebwiller) with an elevation of about 4600 feet (slightly more than 1424 meters). The vineyards of its eastern slopes have an elevation of up to 1300 feet (400 meters).

The Vosges mountains are great for tourists. Attractions include beautiful forests, several castles in ruins, and health resorts. If you are so inclined you can hike their usually gentle slopes and are never far from vineyards and restaurants serving delicious foods and local wines. After all, you are on the Alsace Wine Route, at least for the eastern slopes. Don’t forget the winter skiing. The southern Vosges, near the village of Bussang, is home to a lovely fountain exploiting a spring that originates in the Moselle River. I hope you don’t mind that this particular area is just over the border in Lorraine.

Before reviewing the Alsatian wine and imported cheeses that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.
Start with Schniederspaetle (Onion Ravioli).
For your second course savor Brochet d’I a la creme (Pike in White Wine and Cream Sauce).
And as dessert indulge yourself with Strudel aux Pommes (Apple Strudel).

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed

Hattstatty Hatschbourg Riesling 2003 12.5% alcohol about $21.00

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials.

This wine won a Gold Medal at the 2006 Concours Riesling du Monde. Established in 1998, the Concours Riesling du Monde (Rieslings of the World) competition takes place every year in Strasbourg, Alsace. Rieslings from throughout the world are submitted to an international jury of oenologists and wine critics. This hugely respected competition illustrates the diversity and brilliance of fine Riesling from around the world. And now for the review.

My first meal consisted of home made barbecued chicken in a sweet and sour Thai sauce with Portabello mushrooms and red pepper. The wine was fruity, nice and complex. It was quite a good match and I knew that this would be a quality wine.

The next shot was a commercially barbecued chicken leg (of course not as tasty as my own barbecued chicken) with its skin in a paprika sauce accompanied by, Turkish salad, and Greek olives. I started by sipping the wine alone, as I was afraid that I might have lost the bottle because the wine sat in the fridge for quite some time. No problem. This Riesling wine was fine with an appely taste but in the positive sense. In response to the food the wine got even better. It was quite long and powerful and yet delicate. While I liked the Greek olives and I liked the wine, I did not enjoy the two together. The Riesling’s acidity actually intensified in the presence of the moderately spicy Turkish salad. I finished my glass with overripe cherries. This time the wine went flat, especially with the sweet ones.

The final meal was an omelet with a local Provolone cheese and a side of Turkish salad. The wine was nice and crisp. I tasted a touch of lime. As dessert I had a high-quality chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream bar. The ice cream bar was fine but it did flatten the wine somewhat.

My first cheese was a nutty, fatty, and slightly sour Dutch Edam cheese. My German Edam was well beyond edible by humans, although the spores looked like they were having a real feast. Anyway, in the presence of this Dutch Edam the Riesling was round and fruity, with pleasant acidity. In the presence of an Italian Friulano cheese the wine became sour and flatter.

Final verdict. Great wine, I will buy it again and watch my pairings more closely. This should accompany very well the right gourmet meal.

Anti-Aging Resveratrol tabs as recommended by Dr Oz on Oprah’s show come in many different shapes and forms – and in fact Resveratrol has been around for centuries to treat a number of ailments.

The Japanese have been administering Resveratrol supplement extracts for generations to treat allergic and inflammatory disorders as well as offering lipid atherosclerosis medication and liver ailments to assist in the recovery of Hepatitis B.

In fact, the island where these studies were found has not only the one of the largest centenarian populations in the world but Cancer here is virtually unheard of.

Here in Okinawa you have an 86% less of a chance of developing some form of cancer than you do in the west. This is quite an amazing statistic and one which should be worth taking note of.

The same goes for the island of Sardinia. Found to have the largest female centenarian population in the world, this community ,also has very low cancer rates.

Many men and women go on working well into the nineties, and in fact what contributes to their longevity is this same ingredient which scientists have confirmed attributes to the health of Okinawans.

Consumed in both the Okinawan and Sardinaian diets, Resveratrol is derived from two different forms. The first from the Japanese root, Knot-weed and the second from the Muscadine red grape skin.

Resveratrol is found in a number of fruits and vegetables also but the concentrations are that much lower.

What Resveratrol has now been medically proven to achieve, is effectively scrub your arteries .

Resveratrol is a polyphenol, a fungi which protects both plants from bacteria, but when ingested, due to being an extremely highly concentrated anti-oxidant, cleanses your arteries.

This comes as welcome news to many in the west and especially the U.S, as North America has some of the worst artery related fatality statistics in the world.

Anti-aging, scientists agree can be achieved if you not only maintain the health of your arteries on a daily basis, cleansing them naturally so the heart works more effectively but as a result you will ultimately live longer.

Anti-aging Resveratrol tabs are relatively new to the anti-aging market, but if you are serious about longevity then doctors agree, these are one of the most powerful supplements to extend life.

There are a variety of wines ranging in many different tastes and colours including rose, red and white wines. Wines make a great addition to any meal and almost any type of restaurant will have wine available to compliment your food. One of the lesser referred to wines is dessert wine which is best served lightly chilled and is great companion to an after meal dessert.

Not everyone would enjoy a dessert wine and some would quickly dismiss the idea of drinking a sweet wine with their dessert, whereas other embrace the idea whole heartedly and could not think of a better way to end a meal. What actually defines a dessert wine from its counterparts are the levels of sweetness, and the idea is that when you have a dessert, the wine needs to be sweeter so that you benefit from the taste of the wine. A dessert wine that is not as sweet enough would be masked by the dessert and thus you would not notice the lovely flavors and it will have a dry taste to it.

Dessert wines are becoming more popular and they can be enjoyed with more than just desserts. They go really well with other foodstuffs such as chocolates and various fruits and even can be drank with certain starters such as mackerel, and various pates. A good quality dessert wine will have a crisp, sweet taste and leave a nice fruity aroma in your mouth, however it is important that the wine you select has a good balance and is not too acidic. If you have not tried a dessert wine before, it is a good idea to look online at various websites and look at some reviews on the different types of wine so that you have some basis on which one to try.