Penfolds Grange is produced using a majority of Shiraz (Syrah) grapes and a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon. Produced from what many consider to be Australia’s ‘first growth’, Penfolds Grange is regarded to be Australia’s most collectible wine.

Without the passion and dedication of winemaker Max Schubert, Penfolds Grange might not exist today. Touring around Europe and spending a lot of time in Bordeaux, France, Max spent much of 1950 learning winemaking techniques. After returning and resuming work at Penfolds in 1951, Schubert produced his first batch of experimental Grange, a wine designed to rival French releases in aging potential and quality.

After its initial release in 1951, Penfolds Grange was not a big seller due to Fortified Wines being the latest trend in the wine world. As time went by, sales did not pick up, prompting Penfolds management to cancel production in 1957.

Schubert was not phased by management’s decision and continued to secretly manufacture Grange. It was in 1960 that the wines truly began to be appreciated for their quality and aging potential by the wine community. With increasing sales and popularity, Penfolds management ordered Schubert to resume producing Grange, oblivious to the fact that he actually hadn’t stopped in the first place.

It was first entered into wine competitions in 1962 and since has been collecting gold medals from numerous wine awards, including the Wine Olympics.

Older labels of Penfolds Grange still bear the name ‘Hermitage’ which was originally used in Australia as another term from Shiraz. In 1990, the name ‘Hermitage’ was excluded from the label after objections from the European Union for Penfolds using a recognized French region name.

Wine fans who are familiar with Penfolds Grange will also notice a large ‘Bin 95′ stamped on the label. This indicates that the wine has been stored in Bin 95, which has remain unchanged since 1964. Originally Grange was stored in Bin 1 and later, Bin 4. Following vintages were stored in various bins until it found a permanent place in Bin 95.

No other wine in Australia has such a rich and diverse history as Australia’s Penfold Grange.

Follow the link for more information on penfolds granges.

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Since homemade fruit wine making is an interesting hobby, many of us look for good wine making instructions to make this hobby more successful, easy and fun. Truly, whenever we think about wine making, we cannot resist thinking about grapes. But the fact is you can use other fruits as well.  Using an instruction guide such as the ultimate fruit winemaker’s guide will help you with your winemaking ambitions.

All you need to do is to follow simple wine making instructions, especially during the fermentation phase. Grapes are naturally complementary to the wine making process and require very little adjustment during fermentation.

You might want a citrus wine favor. If so, you can use oranges, apples, grapefruit or gooseberry. If you want something a little less citrus flavored, you might try bananas, cherry, pear, peach, strawberry or grapes. There are people who use dandelions and rhubarb as well as watermelon and ginger root to make wine.

The next step in the wine making process involves fermentation. This is really where the magic is in the process and if left to its own devices, the must or juice will begin to ferment naturally within about eight hours, with the aid of wild yeasts in the air.  In clean wineries and vineyards however the fermentation process is quite different. Once fermentation begins, regardless of the chosen path, it will normally continue on until all of the sugar has been converted to alcohol and a dry wine is produced.

You make have heard of people who like a specific fruit mixed with another fruit, well this might just make a great wine as well. If you like a can of fruit cocktail, you might try making a fruit cocktail wine. There are some people that mix fruits and the wine is to die for. It has a taste you cannot find with any other wine around. Home wine making opens up new avenues for wine enthusiasts. If you like wine, you will love experimenting with new tastes.

Enjoy your wine as a professional wine taster. When the wine is ready to be opened, try a little taste before taking a few drinks. You want to savor the taste before making a judgment as to how it tastes. Your home wine making skills might have created a extraordinary bottle of wine. You might want to share some with friends to hear their opinions about the taste. A good wine maker always shares to find reviews. Once the reviews are in, you will know whether you have a great wine or maybe a best seller as well.

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A fine combination of food and drink, a wine gift basket is appreciated even by those who never imbibe. Looking for that great Bordeaux in a special setting? Wracking your brain to think of the best way to present that perfect port? A wine gift basket is the answer.

Wine baskets are undoubtedly one of the best options as a gift if you don’t know what to get someone. It will leave the recipient overjoyed and be remembered as a great gift, even after the wine, cookies, nuts and fruits have been enjoyed.

Amongst all the other treats you get in a wine gift basket, wouldn’t it be great to find your favorite Merlot or Sauvignon Blanc nestled in there too? You can enjoy a glass or two while you munch on some nuts or indulge in a chocolate while you sip on that Cabernet you have been eager to taste for months.

The wine gift basket can come with bottles of wine in any size; the hotel miniature ones are particularly nice to receive. It could in fact be filled with a mixture of wine varietals in these small sizes so you can try a bit of each.

But the wine itself is only the beginning. A wine gift basket is filled with traditional and creative items. Delicious gourmet crackers sit beside irresistible truffles. Chocolates go well with a fine Sangria. Dried apricots and other fruits are the perfect companion to a stellar Chardonnay.

For an extra special feast for a 21st birthday, a wedding or a unique anniversary gift, you can also get a wine gift basket with deluxe sparkling wines or champagne and a gourmet selection of cheese, nuts, chocolate and other delicacies.

The baskets themselves are also not run-of-the mill designs either. You can get high quality, fabulous-looking baskets made from dark wicker, contemporary metal and porcelain to suit every occasion. For a business colleague, a plastic composite gray style would be perfect. Look around and you will find an endless assortment of wine gift baskets to choose from.

Any occasion is great for a wine gift basket and there will always be that perfect person to buy it for. You can be sure your recipient will truly appreciate the thought, detail and great vintages that your wine gift basket holds. How about a sparkling wine gift basket with crackers and an assortment of cheeses and chocolates for an office promotion or for a wedding anniversary.

Whether it is a birthday, anniversary, or even a corporate event, you’ll find that a wine gift basket is one of the best gift basket ideas. Everyone will appreciate it, and it will be a gift that they remember for a long time.

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Storing your wine properly is very important. Improperly stored wine will not age correctly and not increase in value. You don’t have to break the bank when buying a wine rack. This is many times an issue if you desire to keep your overhead low on your wine cellar. Figure out what you want your wine rack to look like first, and how much you want to spend. Your wine racks should be of good quality because you want them to last for a long time.

The worst thing that could happen is not having enough space for your wine rack. When storing your wine, make sure it is in the correct environment. Don’t forget the big three when storing your wine: temp, light, humidity. Heat and light are wines worst enemies. Heat will cause the wine to age too fast and become ruined. Keep the wine temperature from rising and falling more than necessary. Unless you have one of the new style corks, wine should be stored on its side to keep the cork wet. If you already have your diy wine cellar constructed, then you are well on your way.

A Monthly Wine club takes all the work out of finding the best wines as you grow your collection as time goes by. Any true wine afficionado knows that good wine cannot sit under the cupboard forever. Many wine racks are designed to make the most out of the available space. They let you store many bottles of wine on each shelf. Reading of wine labels and finding different bottles is quick and easy as well. Metal wine racks and wooden wine racks make excellent choices. You can get a discount by buying wine by the crate. Look around for a wine rack design you like, and then build it yourself to limit spending.

A DIY wine rack is probably the cheapest option out there. It is not difficult to make a wood wine rack, it also impresses the wife. All that is required are some standard tools and some free wine rack plans you can find anywhere on the internet. You can build a racking system for under ten dollars if you wanted to.

Likely the cheapest option is to build your rack with wood and bricks. Just stack the bricks and planks for a simple rack that will make due until you get a proper one. You make the call how expensive your wine racks will be. Making a budget wine rack is a great cheap and easy option that is simple to do for anybody. Visit the wine cellar website to see other money saving tips.

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When you are passionate about wine you begin collecting it. It could be you sign up for a wine club and now are bringing in valuable wines. Many times you will end up with more wine than you can handle, storage can become an issue. A pantry can smoothly be converted into a very handy custom wine cellar to protect your highly prized wine collection.

Be sure you spend plenty of time taking the important details into consideration. For instance where is the closet in relation to the rest of the house? Avoid converting a closet against an outside wall into a wine cellar. Temperature, temperature, temperature, outside walls make it very hard to keep this steady as they face the elements. Choose an internal closet where your wine can be stored in a more stable atmosphere.

A critical part to storing wine is monitering the temperature changes that could take place. You don’t have to maintain a perfect temperature at all times, it can vary a little, as long as it is a gradual change. The same change each day will harm your wines by ageing them too rapidly. When the temperature flucuates wine becomes shocked, the rule is steady constant temperature with no or minimal variations.

It’s easy to spot. Look for the sticky deposit that often forms around the capsule. The repeated changes in temperature of the wine will fragment the cork. As the temperature rises and falls, it is as if you were removing and replacing the cork each time. When this happens, minute quantities of wine may be pushed out along the edge of the cork allowing air to seep back in. The process of oxidation cannot be stopped once the wine contacts oxygen. Your wine is ruined. Keeping the temperature the same year round is hard but keeping it a comfortable 54-57 degrees is just fine. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow down the ageing process. Irreversible damage will be done if your wine is kept at a temperature above 82ºF for even a month.

You don’t want moisture to build up. Mold like the humid environments that are good for wine. Also think about a little better wine cellar cooler for management of the humidity and temperature.

The designs are beautiful, no detail is left out. Carry that same dedication over to the next phase: wine cellar construction. Making a wine cellar can be fun! You will need to purchase a few essential items. Purchase some inexpensive wine racks from a hardware store or online retailer or storage shop. With some cheap racks you’ll have a simple but very effective mini wine cellar. Wine rack designs will vary in bottle density. Price variations are more to do with aesthetics than efficiency. Individual racking is the most convenient for selecting bottles.

Make your wine cellar with scalability in mind, only put the racks on one side, leaving the other side empty. Then you may still have floor or shelf space available for wines that you purchase by the case. Constructing a custom wine cellar on a budget is simple and easy at home. Let your wine speak for itself. If building your own cellar is too daunting then you might want a Cuisinart Dual Zone 15 Bottle Wine Cellar.

Be sure to delight in your newly created wine cellar!

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It is a popular belief that the glass you use to serve a fine wine is almost as important to how much you enjoy the drink as the wine itself. The shape, colour and fabric of wine glasses are all supposed to influence the way you appreciate the flavour and aroma of a wine. Whether there is really much truth to this or not remains to be seen but there are some convincing arguments that a wine really does taste better if drunk from the right glass.

So how do we know which ones are the best to use? With so many different glasses out there it’s hard to know which ones will be the best. Most people agree that a specially dseigned glass is needed for certain types of wine. The most common example of this is tall, thin flute-shaped glasses for champagne which are designed to retain the ‘fizziness’ in sparkling wines by reducing the surface area at the top of the glass. A serious wine enthusiast will also use different glasses for red and white wines – a rounder, wider bowl for reds to allow more space for the wine to breathe, and a slightly smaller, tulip-shaped bowl to help keep whites cool.

But some take this theory a lot further. Real wine geeks claim the difference between wines runs a lot deeper than just the colour, and that for each different variety of wine there is a glass designed specifically to enhance the experience of drinking it. No one has taken this further than Austrian wine glass manufacturer Riedel, the company that came up with the idea. They actually produce different glasses not only for different types of wine, but also for all the different varieties and vintages within each type – although not many people could afford to collect the whole set!

As for what the glass is made from, lots of people believe a fine wine tastes better if drunk from a crystal glass. This is not entirely true – although drinking from a lead crystal glass is generally considered to be more enjoyable. It’s actually more about the aroma than the flavour, the majority of what we ‘taste’ when we drink wine is in fact a combination of its smell and the effect of the evaporated aromas in the mouth. Crystal wine glasses, due to their heightened lead content (for a glass to count as ‘Crystal’ in Europe it has to contain at least 24% lead) have a slightly rougher surface than glass, which helps to release the aroma better by causing friction as the wine moves inside the glass.

Aside from this, the differences are almost entirely aesthetic. A lead crystal glass is clearer and shows off the wine better, allowing serious wine tasters to examine its ‘legs’ more easily. It’s also quite a lot heavier than glass – again because of the high lead content – not to mention it’s more sparkly and makes that nice ringing sound when you tap it – science aside, crystal glasses are just generally more satisfying to drink from!

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The Loire Valley which runs from the Massif Central mountains to the Atlantic coast is one of the best known wine regions of France and the home of the world famous Muscadet dry white wine which is enjoyed by millions of drinkers every year.

Situated near Nantes in western France, the Loire Valley is one of the most picturesque winemaking areas anywhere in Europe. Following the course of the Loire river, the valley meanders from Auvergne and the Massif Central mountains to the Atlantic coast.

The climate varies considerably over the wide area of the Loire valley with relatively mild weather in the west, influenced by the winds coming off the Atlantic ocean, to cold winters and warm summers in the east of the region and history shows that vines have been grown here for many centuries with wine being produced since 380 AD, if not earlier.

The main grapes of this region are the Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon which account for about three-quarters of the regions production as white wine, with the remaining one-quarter being red wine produced from Cabernet Franc, Gamay and Pinot Noir grapes.

The vines of the Loire valley are grown predominantly in limestone and clay soils and production, which is approximately 400 million bottles annually, ranges widely from both sweet and dry whites to ross and fruity reds.

To the east of the region around Pouilly and Sancerre the majority of the grapes used in winemaking are Sauvignon Blanc and these are used to make the delicious dry, white Pouilly-Fum.

Moving west into the province of Touraine the predominant grape becomes the Chenin Blanc, which forms the base of the fruity Montlouis. Some of the superb red Loire wines including Bourgueil and Chinon are also produced here, made mostly from Cabernet Franc grapes.

To the west of Touraine, Anjou-Saumur also produces a white wine from the Chenin Blanc which is famed for its smooth quality and winemakers clustered around Angers produce the well known Ros d’Anjou which was reportedly a favorite of King Henry II of England.

But we cannot leave our brief tour of the Loire valley without a mention of Muscadet which lies at the far western end of the Loire Valley. Producing some 100 million bottles a year, Muscadet is known throughout the world for its pale dry white wine which is best enjoyed when it is fresh and young.

GreatWineTastings.com provides an introduction to the wines of the world and, if you are not sure whether to buy a French red wine or a Californian white wine, then you will find this is the perfect guide to wine for dummy wine drinkers.

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The Champagne wine region of France is not the largest wine producing area in the country, but certainly produces what most people agree are the best wines in the world.

The Champagne region of France is the world’s most famous wine growing region, or at least the region which produces the world’s most famous wine.

Lying some one hundred miles to the north-east of Paris, the Champagne region’s 75,000 acres of vineyards are in fact divided into three main wine growing areas; the Cte des Blancs, the Valle de la Marne and Montagne de Reims.

The largest of these three areas, the Valle de la Marne, is a predominantly chalky area with a thin layer of topsoil which provides perfect drainage for the vines and also an excellent base which reflects the heat of the sun to help ripen the grapes. The finest vineyards in this region are also situated on ground which is high enough to escape the frost of the winter months and low enough to be sheltered from the searing heat of the summer.

The Montagne de Reims, which lies on a forested plateau south of Reims, is also an excellent area for growing vines with a deep layer of crustaceous chalk under a thin layer of topsoil which provides perfect conditions for growing grapes. This area boasts several Grand and Premier Cru wines.

The Cte des Blancs lies on a ridge to the south of Epernay where the chalk subsoil is excellent for producing Chardonnay of the highest quality.

Mention should also be made here to the newest of the Champagne region’s wine growing areas, the Cte de Szanne, which has only been producing wine since the 1960s but which is proving a considerable addition to the region and yielding a very high quality Chardonnay.

Finally, attention must be drawn to one of the northernmost areas, that of Montagne, which enjoys an almost unique micro-climate and producing some of the best Champagne in the world.

One very important thing to remember about Champagne is that it is not a wine in itself, but a blend of several different wines. Accordingly, the great wine houses of Champagne hold many millions of gallons of wine from various different vineyards throughout the Champagne region which are then blended to produce the finished product.

It is thus the blender’s art which produces the truly great Champagnes and the manner in which blending is carried out remains a closely guarded secret known only to those working in the great Champagne chateaux.

GreatWineTastings.com provides an introduction to the wines of the world and, if you are not sure whether to buy a French red wine or a Californian white wine, then you will find this is the perfect guide to wine for dummy wine drinkers.

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A brief guide to picking the perfect wine rack for your home. Do’s and dont’s when selecting a wine rack all in a handy essay.

For many people starting out, it can be a very difficult and oftentimes overwhelming experience picking out the perfect wine rack. While there are many things to take into consideration when deciding which rack is perfect for your needs, deciding which rack to use to store your collection should never be a cause of stress.

One of the first things to consider when choosing a wine rack is whether you want to store your wine in a vertical or horizontal rack. While some prefer a vertical rack because it allows the labels to be easily viewed, wine stored on these types of racks are more likely to have the cork dry out and shrink causing air to enter the bottle and contaminate the wine. It is for this reason that horizontal wine racks are the most popular choice.

The second and third factors to take into consideration when picking a wine rack are the material it will be constructed of and the style of the rack. There are a variety of styles of wine rack, the most conventional being wall mounted, counter top, hanging and free standing. The most common wine racks are made of metal or wood. If metal is your preference, you can select Vintage View wall mounted wine racks, counter top wine racks, or custom made wrought iron hanging or free standing wine racks. While metal wine racks are commonly made from wrought iron, wooden wine racks are available in an array of finishes. The most frequently used woods used to construct a wooden wine rack are maple, mahogany, and walnut, however pine and redwood are also often used. Choose from single or double finished wall mounted wine racks, free standing wine racks such as Wine Cubes, Waterfalls, and Curved Corner Racks, or counter top racks such as the Pyramid wine rack.

The last thing to consider before purchasing a wine rack is the size of the rack and the cost. Wine racks for personal collecting can cost anywhere between $20.00 and $1000.00, it all depends on the size, style and finish. Even though there are a few things to consider when purchasing a wine rack, the variety of racks out there means that finding the perfect rack for your wine collection is simply a matter of knowing where and what to look for.

Finest Wine Racks
Finest Wine Racks offers a variety of quality wine racks and excellent customer service to help you pick with perfect wine rack for your home.

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Most people could quite easily name some of the wine regions of France but would have difficulty in naming any of the wine growing areas of Germany. Despite this, Germany is a major wine producer and boasts some of the world’s finest wines.

When you think of the wines of France the names of the various wine growing regions such as Bordeaux and Burgundy immediately spring to mind and yet surprisingly few people could name even one of wine growing regions of Germany. However, most people will have enjoyed one or more of Germany’s world-class wines, especially if they are lovers of white wine.

There are five main wine regions in Germany:

Baden

Baden is the most southerly wine growing area of Germany and lies close to the Black Forest and extends south from Heidelberg down to Lake Constance. It is not the largest of Germany’s wine growing areas, but it is perhaps its most famous.

The soil in this region is quite varied, ranging from a mixture of gravel and limestone to clay and volcanic stone, and the area supports the Pinot Gris, Gewrztraminer and Riesling grapes as well as the perhaps not so well known Gutedel and Mller-Thurgau.

Mittelrhein

Mittelrhein is a quite small wine producing area running south from Bonn along the banks of the Rhine for a distance of about 100 kilometers.

This area, which boasts a largely clay-like slate soil, supports predominantly Riesling, Mller-Thurgau and Kerner grapes which have a delightful acidity and produce a number of sparkling wines which are simply the best in the world.

This region is also famous for the wines produced around Bacharach, a village named after the Greek god of wine Bacchus, which has been producing wines of the finest quality since the Middle Ages.

Rheingau

Rheingau is one of the oldest of Germany’s wine regions and is situated between Lorch and Hochheim on the Main River.

The wines of this region, which once graced the table of Queen Victoria, have been developed and perfected over hundreds of years by the inhabitants of the region’s many monasteries and cloisters and today the oenological institutes of the region are rightly recognized as some of the finest in the world.

Rheinhessen

Rheinhessen, is the second largest wine growing region in Germany and lies between the Rhine to its north and east and the Nahe to its west.

The region supports a variety of different soils and micro-climates and has several wine producing communities such as Bingen, Mainz and others. The area is especially well known for its distinguished Portugieser red and the ancient Silvaner.

Pfalz

Pfalz is Germany’s largest wine growing area and is bounded by France to its east and south and by Rheinhessen to its north. The region boast some of world’s finest chalk, marl, and clay soils which support a number of grape varieties including Kerner, Morio-Muskat, Mller-Thurgau, Silvaner and relatively new red from the Dornfelder which produces a wonderfully complex and full-bodied wine.

Winemaking within the Pfalz region has been developed to a very fine art and the area rightfully stands at the pinnacle of winemaking.

GreatWineTastings.com provides an introduction to the wines of the world and, if you are not sure whether to buy a German white wine or a South African red wine, then you will find this is the perfect guide to wine for dummy wine drinkers.

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