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Champagne, or sparkling wine as it is known outside of France, certainly conjures up romantic images. Champagne has a reputation for being THE beverage to serve at most special occasions. And rightfully so. At it’s finest, Champagne is delicate, crisp and clean. A good bottle flirts with the perfect qualities of the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, or other grapes from which it was made.

Champagne should be served cold. Most experts suggest 45 degrees Fahrenheit as proper serving temperature. Bottles may be stored on their sides or upright. It is best not to store Champagne in an area where the temperature fluctuates greatly. Incidentally, a great tip for rapidly chilling a bottle is to fill an ice bucket around the bottle with equal amounts of crushed ice and ice water. Always keep the champagne on ice, not in the freezer, between servings.

Color and sweetness are characteristics of champagne that one sees on every bottle. Champagne is not always made from white grapes, hence the different colors. Rose, for example, is created by adding red, still wine to the cuvee. The same effect in rose can be achieved by utilizing the color of the red wine skins. Red Meunier or Pinot Noir grapes are used to make a sultry and delectable Blanc de Noirs Champagne.

Next time you check out the label on a Champagne bottle, you’ll see references to it’s sweetness. Brut, as a classification, is probably the most dry. Perhaps you enjoy a dry Champagne, but want a touch of sweetness. Your best bet is a classification known as “extra brut.” Interestingly enough, should you see a classification that reads “extra dry”, it represents medium dryness. You like your Champagne sweet? Make sure the label reads “sec”, or “demi-sec.” The latter being quite sweet, and is frequently served as a dessert wine.

As far as price is concerned, French Champagnes are going to be the highest priced. If you are reluctant to spend the “big bucks” on French Cahmpagne, their are some very good alternatives. In recent times, some legendary French Champagne makers have started making an American variety in California. Mumms, for example, has a wonderful Cuvee Napa made in California. Very tasty and reasonably priced! Also, try some Spanish “Cavas”, they are very inexpensive and quite good

O.K., hopefully this information will be helpful the next time you’re asked to pick the Champagne for a special occasion. The truth of the matter is, let your taste be your guide. Hey, I’m sure you’ve got good taste, you’re reading this article!

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Many of us have fond memories of the late Julia Child enthusiastically adding wine to many of her most popular dishes. Europeans, particularly the French and Italians, have been creating culinary masterpieces with wine for centuries. Americans, in recent times, have started adding wine to popular recipes. Achieving success cooking with wine is relatively easy, provided one follows some basic guidelines.

The “rule of thumb” when selecting a cooking wine is to select a wine you would not mind drinking. Definitely avoid selecting a wine you prefer to drink. The truth of the matter is that all fine wines lose their wonderful characteristics during the cooking process, anyway. It is a good policy to avoid “cooking wines” from the grocery store, as they are often laced with additional sodium. In fact, it is perfectly acceptable to use whatever wine you have on hand. The type of wine used for cooking does not have to match the wine being served with the meal.

The great fun of cooking with wine is the experimenting! Their are very few hard and fast rules. Generally, white wines are better for cooking with poultry, fish and pork. Red wines are generally better with beef. Your taste buds are always the best judge. White wines can add some needed acidity to rich, creamy sauces. Unless it is specifically noted in the recipe, use dry wines for cooking rather than sweet wines.

The amount of wine you add to your dish depends on personal taste and the volume of food being prepared. You want to be sure that the wine has the opportunity to “cook off”during the simmering process. Too much wine will make that process take too long. Once you have determined the right amount of wine to add to a particular dish, definitely make a note on the recipe of the amount. Voila! the trial and error is done. Knowing how to cook with wine will greatly enhance the flavors of many of your favorite dishes.

Ultimately, experimenting is the key to your success. Oh, and what fun that is!

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One of the top and most widely used wine ratings system is Parkers 100 Point Scale. The scale, which was founded by Robert Parker and his friend Victor Morgenroth, rates wines from 50 - 100, 100 being, “An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase, and consume,” and 50 being, “A wine deemed to be unacceptable.” All wine rankings are based on the wine’s color, appearances, taste, aroma, bouquet, flavor, finish, and overall quality level or potential.

Another wine ratings scale is Wine Spectator’s 100 Point Scale. The scale was imitated from Parker’s Scale and used mostly for their magazine readers. It has the same principles as Parkers, but a little less detail in the actual rating and it’s more frank. A wine rated at 100-95 is considered a “Classic: a great wine,” and 74-50 is rated as a “Not recommended.” A score that was given a range is usually the preliminary score and is usually based on barrel tasting. As of March 2008, the wine ratings have switched to rolling four point spreads for unfinished wines. Wine Spectator believes it will “better reflect the subtle differences between wines, and give our readers better information for their buying decisions.”

A different wine ratings site is Wine Enthusiast Magazine. They have a unique search engine that allows you to find wines based on rating, price, type, vintage, blend or varietal, region, brand, special qualifiers, publication date, reviewer, and records per page. Their wine rating system is also based on a 100 point scale with 100 being “Classic,” and 80-82 as being, “Acceptable.” They do not include any lower numbers since none of their users look for anything under 80. You have a choice to either smart search or field search on their web page for the wine of your choice.

As a final point, we have our own wine ratings expert Michael Zimberg. He has an actual grading system for wines instead of a point system. He uses the school based method of grading from A-F. He believes that regardless of the cost of wine “region and rarity also play a factor.”He also grades based upon something that is fun and different to try so it may merit a higher grade. He has an exceptional sense of taste and always knows the perfect thing to drink.

Lindsay Alston is a contributing editor for Classic Wines, specializing in wine ratings

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Sulphur dioxide is used in the wine making process for fermentation as it can preserve the character of the wine including taste, flavour and colour. Sulphites are a natural byproduct of winemaking and has not been considered dangerous in small quantities. Over time, cheap bottles of wine have added sulphites to help enhance the flavour cheaply. However, some people are highly allergic to sulphur and therefore they should avoid anything that contains it. Low sulphite wine contains quite negligible amount of sulphites and therefore consuming it is normally considered safe even for people allergic to sulphites.

Though sulphur dioxide is used to preserve the taste of wine, if used in excess quantity, it can cause an unpleasant taste evident at very low concentration. Wines with high level of sulphur dioxide are known to cause some health issues including fatal allergic reactions and terrible hangovers. Another reason for people to look for low sulphite wine is that when sulphites are added in high quantity to wines, fewer grapes are required to make a bottle of wine, thus making it cheaper to produce.

Different types of wines contain different levels of sulphites and the knowledge about this factor will help a person in finding out a low sulphite wine for consumption. Red wines are having the lowest level of sulphites because they naturally contain anti-oxidants acquired from their stems and skins during fermentation. However, wine makers add some sulphites anyways to this low sulphite wine to maintain the flavour on the cheap. White wines and roses have higher levels of sulphites as they need anti-oxidants in the form of sulphur since they are not left in contact with their skins during fermentation. Sweet wines will be having the highest level of sulphites as sugar will combine with sulphur. Therefore more sulphur is added to get the same level of free sulphur dioxide.

The difficult task of finding low sulphite wine has been made easy by the Internet. You just need to do a quick search in the search engines to find a good low sulphite wine. There are a lot of online stores that provide the product and you can purchase it online as well.

Find low sulphite wine at the online store of Good Wine Online, as well as further information on sulphite intolerance, and what you can do about it.

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Chenin Blanc is a white grape variety that appears to produce wines built to last eternally. While many Chenin Blanc wines are somewhat insipid, at their best they compete with the finest of any varietal. For the most part the best Chenin Blanc wines start young, with a level of acidity that disprove the sweetness waiting to mature; as these wines age, they develop a full, smooth body that is unrivaled in nearly any other wine. A good Chenin Blanc can continue improving for over a decade, and can apparently last eternally.

Chenin Blanc is a predominantly resourceful grape that is used to create dry white wines, sparkling wines, dessert wines and brandy. It provides a somewhat neutral taste for the appearance of terroir, vintage variation and the winemaker’s treatment. In cooler areas the juice is sweet but high in acid with a full-bodied fruity varietal taste. In the variable summers of northern France, the acidity of under developed grapes was often masked with inadequate outcomes; despite the fact that now the less developed grapes are made into popular sparkling wines such as Crémant de Loire. The white wines of Anjou are possibly the greatest appearance of Chenin as a dry wine, with flavors of quince and apples. In nearby Vouvray they intend for an off-dry style, cultivating honey and floral distinctiveness with age. In the best vintages the grapes can be left on the vines to develop noble rot, producing an intense, viscous dessert wine which will improve considerably with age.

The best depiction of the Chenin Blanc grape can be found in the Loire Valley of France more specifically, the regions of Vouvray, Savennieres, Anjou and Samur. The adaptability of the grape permits it to produce wines both dry and sweet, still and sparkling and you can find all examples in the Loire. It’s found in South Africa as well, where it’s called Steen and is usually made in the dry style.

In California, the wines made from Chenin Blanc have a tendency to be mass produced wines for common use, and as such are significantly more unbiased in tone and character than the Loire Valley Vouvrays. Much of this has to do with the amount of yield the vines are pushed to, with California Chenin Blanc producing many times the grapes as those in the Loire Valley. It is rare for Chenin Blanc to be combined with any other grape, particularly in its sweeter incarnations. When it is matched with another grape, however, it tends to be combined with either Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, both of which complement Chenin Blanc’s acidity.

Lindsay Alston is a contributing editor for Classic Wines, specializing in Chenin Blanc wines.

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Winemaking in California has never been an unsupervised industry. The first vines were brought to the Pacific shores by Cortez. When the ruthless conqueror of Mexico failed to find gold he decided to develop the country as an enormous vineyard. He commanded every landowner to plant, every year for five years, 1,000 vines for every 100 Indians living on his land. Years later Spain sent her high priests of civilization into the barren wilderness of Baja, California, with the understood provision that wines would be made for sacramental purposes at their mission outposts.

In 1769 Padre Junipero Serra, the beloved Franciscan, established his first mission in Alta California-Mission San Diego de Alcala. He brought vine cuttings with him, vines which originally came from Spain. They were set out around the new mission and as they flourished, more cuttings were planted in San Gabriel where sun and soil proved even more fruitful for the vines. The gnarled, twisted trunk of the first vine planted at San Gabriel still bears its annual harvest of Mission grapes. This single species planted along El Camino Real by the Franciscan priests, by its abundant yield, established California as a vine land.

The first commercial vineyard was established in Los Angeles in 1824 by one John Chapman who set out 4,000 vines. He was followed seven years later by an even more enterprising pioneer from France, Louis Vignes. His vineyard, on the site of the present Union Station in Los Angeles, was a profitable venture, providing wines and brandies not only for the young City of Angels but for the northern ports of Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco.

The big excitement, one hundred years ago when gold was discovered in California, created such a fantastic period of American history that the grape rush never received much publicity. It followed the gold rush, and quite logically. Every boom town was a market for wine and grapes. Prices were fabulous. If, many thought, good grapes could be grown in Southern California where the wines were coming from; they would probably do as well elsewhere in the State. New species, such as Chenin Blanc, were imported and they flourished equally well.

Like a thunderbolt sensational news arrived from Europe. The vineyards of France were dying of an unknown disease. California would become the vineyard of the world. Every ship sailing into the Golden Gate confirmed the tragic and wonderful news. By 1855 the boom was on. Landowners all over the State caught the wine fever. By planting a few thousand vines they could become rich, with a world market waiting. Vineyards sprang up all over California. In 1858, bearing vineyards in Los Angeles were selling for $1,000 per acre.

Boom-and then bust!

A poor crop in 1859 was followed by an equally poor harvest in 1860. The State Agricultural Society, formed in 1854, recognized that something must be done to save the young industry. Each year the Society had sent several of its members, by stagecoach and horseback, to widespread areas of vine plantings to report back on economic and agricultural conditions. The most successful vintner was a Sonoma vineyardist, Colonel Agoston Haraszthy. His success with foreign grape varieties, such as Carignane, had sent land values in the vicinity of his Buena Vista vineyard from $6 to $135 per acre.

Col. Haraszthy’s achievement was by no means accidental; his entire lifetime had been spent in seeking the right place in America to make fine wines. In 1847 he planted his first vineyard in Wisconsin shortly after he arrived in this country from Hungary. Undaunted by failure there he moved to San Diego, primarily for his health. He imported more than a hundred and sixty-five different species of grapes from Europe, including Zinfandel which has now become the most widely planted grape in California.

Dissatisfied with the quality of the wine he could make there he moved north to the present site of Crystal Springs Reservoir, just south of San Francisco. Here he discovered he was too near the sea; his vines suffered from strong winds, fog, and lack of sunshine.

He made a fourth attempt, in Sonoma, after seeing the flourishing vineyards of General Vallejo in that county. With renewed inspiration he transplanted his imported cuttings and set out the Buena Vista Vineyards in Sonoma in 1856.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in the history of wine, winetasting, and fine wine varietals. For an amazing selection of wines, please visit http://www.wineaccess.com.

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The world of sparkling wines, or champagne, as it is also incorrectly called, is pretty exciting. Most events that sparkling wine is used for are those of celebration. Celebrations such as parties, promotions and fancy dates many times will use it to mark the event. For this reason, champagne is seen as the party wine. The origin of sparkling wine is almost as fun and interesting as drinking it itself and the process of making this type of wine is exciting as well.

It is a common wine legend that sparkling wines were created by accident. Supposedly, some monks from Champagne, France discovered the method because they incorrectly fermented some wine. When they uncorked it, it had that bubbly appearance and they thought it was spoiled. It actually took years for champagne making to be recognized as a intentional process, rather than a mistake.

The old way of making sparkling wine was through temperature changes. The wine was cooled below fermenting temperature before all the sugar turned into alcohol. It was then reheated later on to the fermenting temperature, which created the carbon dioxide reaction that forms the sparkling bubbles.

Real champagne one only comes from Champagne, France and a group of localized wineries there. Any other winery that claims to make champagne is faulty unless they actually use grapes that are specifically from Champagne.

The process of making sparkling wine has stayed pretty much the same throughout the years. The process has become modernized, but for the most part retains the spirit of the old ways.

The first step in making champagne and sparkling wines is to pick the grapes over a period of time so that every grape is at its ripest. Sometimes, different grapes from different vineyards are used to retain the best qualities of each variety. The grapes are then pressed and stored, usually in stainless steel barrels to ferment.

This is done over a period of at least three weeks, until all the sugar is turned into alcohol. It is then separated from the bits that sunk to the bottom of the barrels and is transferred to other barrels, sometimes wood, to ferment longer or is mixed in with older wines to retain a particular flavor.

For the second fermentation, extra sugar and yeast is put in with the wine to make the bubbly texture. And that is how it is made! There are many different kinds of sparking wines and they are all made a little differently, but the basic process is the same.

So that is a brief overview of how sparkling wines were created and how they are made. There are so many different kinds of sparkling wine, that it would be impossible to name them all in one article. Visit a wine club or indulge in some books for more information. Just remember, a sparkling wine is not true champagne unless it comes from Champagne, France.

Visit Mike Selvon portal for more information on sparkling wines, and leave a comment at our wine tours blog. Don’t forget to claim your FREE gift.

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The Apple Hill wineries are scattered among apple orchards just off of highway 50 in the Sierra Foothills in El Dorado County in California. Most are in the town of Camino with a few in Placerville. The area is known for its rural ambiance and apple orchards offering pies and cider. The wineries are family-run and make small lots of wines. There are over a dozen wineries in the area and wine tasting is typically complimentary.

You can reach the wineries by taking three different exits off of highway 50. The first exit traveling east on highway 50 is the Schnell School exit in Placerville. This takes you to the west end of Carson Road where you will find Boeger Winery. Fenton Herriott Vineyards is also near by. The Carson Road exit is next, but can be very busy in the fall during the peek of the apple season. This exit takes you to five different tasting rooms on Carson Road including Jodar Vineyards and Coulson Winery. The last exit, the Cedar Grove exit, is at the east end of Carson Road near Primus Vineyards.

Boeger Winery features the award wining Estate Zinfandel and Barbera wines. The original tasting room, built in 1872 from stones cleared to plant the vineyards, is still standing. Boeger has beautiful grounds complete with a pond. If you continue up Carson road heading east, you will come to Union Ridge Road on your left. After turning left on to Union Ridge Road you will see Hassler Road on the right. A little ways down Hassler Road is Fruitridge Road, where if you turn left it will take you to Lava Cap Winery. Lava Cap is known for its rich and elegant wines such as Petite Sirah, red Bordeaux varietals, Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. They have a large tasting room and an outside deck that has nice views of the vineyards.

Further up on Hassler Road you will come to North Canyon Road. Make a left and Stones Throw Vineyards is there at the corner of Hidden Valley Lane and North Canyon Road. The Apple Pantry Farm is right next store, so you can have some apple pie or cider before or after wine tasting. Stones Throw offers a “family friendly” winery where the wines are hand crafted in the old world style. The winery offers a variety of wines from Port, Muscat, Zinfandel, Syrah and Merlot to apple wine. Just up Hidden Valley Lane, you will come to Wofford Acres Vineyards. Wofford specializes in white and red wines. Their motto is “Come for the wine and stay for the view”. The winery does have spectacular views of rolling hills covered with pine trees. The picnic table area is a great place to have a picnic while relaxing and enjoying the view.

Visiting the Apple Hill wineries is a relaxing trip in the pine covered foothills of the Sierra Mountains. The wineries are about an hour and a half drive from Sacramento and well worth the trip. You can learn more about this area and other wineries in Sierra Foothills by visiting SierraWineries.com

When a person consumes alcohol, the body responds to that alcohol in stages. A person typically won’t go from sober to completely trashed right away. It’s a gradual thing. The six stages of inebriation are euphoria, excitement, confusion, stupor, coma, and death.

Euphoria

A person is in euphoria if their blood alcohol content, or BAC, is between .03 and .12. During this stage, the person may be more self-confident and daring. In addition, they might have a shortened attention span and may appear flushed. Euphoric people have lessened judgment. This means that, during a conversation, the individual may say the first thing that comes to mind rather than give an appropriate comment for the situation. Euphoric people may have trouble with fine movements like writing or signing their name.

Excitement

Excitement is the stage when a person’s BAC is between .09 and .25. This stage overlaps with the later stages of Euphoria as different people react slightly differently to an amount of alcohol. Excited people become sleepy, may have trouble understanding or remembering events, and do not react to situations as quickly. In addition, they demonstrate uncoordinated body movements and begin to lose their balance easily. The senses start acting up as well as they may have trouble hearing, tasting, and feeling as well as experience blurry vision.

Confusion

Confusion is classified as the stage in which the inebriated person has a BAC of between .18 and .30. This too overlaps with Excitement. It is called confusion as the drunk may not know where they are or even what they are doing. They might feel dizzy and stagger, rather than walk, when moving. Confused people are highly emotional. They are capable of being aggressive, withdrawn, and overly affectionate in quick succession. They exhibit uncoordinated movements, are sleepy, can’t see clearly, have issues not slurring their speech. The most dangerous part is that they may not feel pain as easily as a sober or less drunk person.

Stupor

People in a drunken stupor typically have a BAC of between .25 and .40. These people are barely moving, and do not respond to stimuli, for the most part. In addition, they are not capable of standing or walking. They might also vomit and lapse in and out of consciousness. A person who achieves this stage should not be left alone as they may vomit and choke to death on it if they are not conscious when vomiting. These people should be monitored and sleep on their sides.

Coma

People in a coma have a BAC of between .35 and .5. They are unconscious, have depressed reflexes, feel cool or cold, breath more slowly or shallowly, and may have a slower heart rate than normal. At this stage, death is possible.

Death

People with a BAC of more than .5 typically die. They stop breathing and then die.

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Investments come in many different forms, such as stocks and bonds, race horses, baseball cards and many others. When looking to start an investment in something, it is always best to think slightly out of the box.

If you want to invest in something that will be fun and laid back, then consider investing in fine wines. The best wines command high prices, especially if they have aged over a number of years. This article will teach you how to invest in wine efficiently.

Before you start purchasing any ol’ bottle of wine you will want to learn everything you can about wine. There are a few ways you can go about this. You can choose to do it on your own. Gather up some books and learn the basics on how vintage wines are made, everything from genetics of the vine to the climate.

All of this will be important when choosing your fine wines. You can also employ the expertise of someone called a sommelier, which is a person who purchases high-end wines for restaurants and clubs. Having a sommelier at your beck and call can be handy after you have begun investing as well.

Once you have retained all of the knowledge you feel you will need to be successful in investing in fine wines, you can then move on. You can choose to travel to different wineries or simply investigate them by phone or online. By doing this you will learn all about their reputations as well as their quality of vintage wine.

This should help you choose which area you will be collecting from and investing in. It is best to stick with one area so that you can become an expert. Consider investing in wine from outside the country, such as French wines. Of course you won’t be traveling to France, or will you?

Just like with every other kind of investment, investing in fine wines requires you to take caution in certain areas. If a wine has a high price tag, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is a vintage quality wine; it may just be popular at the moment.

This doesn’t mean it isn’t worth investing in; it just depends on your tastes. Also remember that many new wines are not meant to be aged, and may only last for a year or two. Once you notice all of these things and learn what you can, you will be on your way to a great wine investment!

Visit Mike Selvon portal for more information on fine wines investment, and leave a comment at our wine tours blog. Don’t forget to claim your FREE gift.

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