Wine Writer Information Blog

9:51 PM

2008 - Wine Oak

A Wine Oak Artilce for Your Viewing

What You Can Learn From Wine Labels



Have you ever stood in the wine aisle staring at row and row of wine bottles wondering which wine you should buy? Most people will select a wine because they like the label. They are usually drawn to an interesting graphic or clever name on the label. Wine labels are important marketing tools, but there are also facts to be learned by actually reading the label.


Who? The wine label will always tell the name of the winery that made the wine. Wineries often add a proprietary name to the wine. This is usually a marketing tool to encourage interest in the wine.


What? The label will state what type of wine is in the bottle. If it is labeled as a specific type of wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, this means that at least 75% of the wine was produced from Cabernet grapes. Blending juice from other types of grapes is a common practice and often will improve the flavor and aroma of the wine.


When? Vintage is the term used to refer to the year in which the grapes were grown. In the United States wineries are allowed to blend in wine from other years. However, 85% of the volume must be from the year on the label. Not all wines are bottled as vintage wines. If you don't see a year on the label, it is not a vintage wine. Vintage becomes important when wine from a particular year is known to be of better quality than wine from other years. Vintage is also important in aging wines.


Where? When a wine label states that a wine is made from California grown grapes, 100% of the grapes used to produce that wine must be from California. Other states are not as strict and usually require that 75% of the grapes come from a particular state.


Sometimes wine labels will specify which officially designated viticultural area a wine came from; usually this is a region such as Napa Valley that is noted for high quality wines. When this occurs, it means that 85% or more of the grapes must have been grown in that area.


Some vineyards have become known for producing wine of a superior quality. The winery will want to mention the vineyard on the label. Vineyard specific wines like these need to use 95% or more of the grapes from that particular vineyard.


There are wineries that specialize in "estate bottled" wines. Usually this would be included on the label. Estate bottled means that all of the grapes were grown by the winery and that all of the wine making processes were also under the winery's control.


The next time you are shopping for a bottle of wine, take a closer look at the wine label. You will find that wine labels can be quite informative.



About the Author


Kathy Howe and her husband, Steve Howe, spend much of their free time tasting and enjoying wine. Their interest in wine is reflected in their web site, http://www.cheers2wine.com. They continue to explore wineries throughout California to keep up-to-date on the California Wine Country.

Thoughts about Wine Oak

What You Can Learn From Wine Labels


Have you ever stood in the wine aisle staring at row and row of wine bottles wondering which wine you should buy? Most people will select a wine beca...


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The Right Move, Paso A Paso, Tempranillo (2007)...Red Wine for Consumed to Thrifty Times

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Besides Don Quixote, the region of La Mancha (Castile) brings some good wines at great prices to the table. A few days ago, I picked a bottle of Paso A Paso, Tempranillo (2007) and did not regret my choice. The grapes are hand harvested. After fermentation, this wine is aged for 6 months in French Oak. It offers a nice combination of fruit, earthiness and spice, has legs and wraps itself in a ruby red robe. The Paso A Paso is robust enough to stand up to hearty fall and winter dishes say a

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One year we were given a time share condo. It was a one bedroom unit and most of the time when we tried to trade it for some place we actually wanted to go, there were no one bedroom units available for the next three hundred years or so, so eventually we gave it to relatives as it had been given to us. But one year we took off for New Hampshire around our anniversary in October. We flew into Boston and rented a car to drive up to New Hampshire somewhere around a lake (narrows it down, doesn’t

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6:47 PM

Tuesday October 14, 2008 - Muscat Wine

A Muscat Wine Artilce for Your Viewing

BubbleFlo Generates Excitement at Wine & Beer Show


New Winemaking Technology Introduced at St. Catharines Conference in Canada





International trade across the Peace Bridge may have just taken a big leap forward with the introduction of BubbleFlo?, an amazing new instrument that assists home winemakers in monitoring the fermentation of their wine. BubbleFlo takes the guesswork out of the fermentation process. BubbleFlo is the brainchild of two Buffalo entrepreneurs whose invention quickly captured the attention of participants at the Home Wine & Beer Trade Association (HWBTA) conference in St. Catharines during the second weekend in June.



?We received a terrific response to BubbleFlo from some important members of the trade in St. Catharines,? says Dan Kornacki, Bubble Flow, Inc. CEO. ?Distributors for home winemaking products in North America were very impressed with our product.?



Everybody knows that wine is becoming big business as the nation?s alcoholic beverage tastes encompass more reds, whites, and blushes and new labels seem to materialize at each visit to the wine shelves. But not all of the wine poured these days is being sold by wine merchants. An increasing amount of good serviceable table wine is coming from the bottles, vats, and carboys of North America?s burgeoning number of home winemakers. This operation usually goes on at home but can also take place at a u-vint, a store where knowledgeable wine folks will assist your winemaking efforts. With do-it-yourself vintners rapidly increasing on both sides of the border, Bubble Flow hopes to corner both markets with its new product.



The trickiest and most delicate part of making a decent wine is getting the fermentation right. Today?s commercial wine kits provide all of the necessary ingredients, primarily the grape juice and the yeast, but calculating the progress of fermentation is largely a matter of guesswork. That?s where Bubble Flow?s principals saw a niche for a product that would monitor the fermentation, take out the guesswork, and enable the home winemaker to make ?great wine every time.? To keep things simple, they named the product BubbleFloTM, the same as the company, without the w. But what is a BubbleFlo and how does it work?



?Several years ago I was making a batch of wine and the anaerobic fermentation seemed to go on forever,? recalls Andre Pazik, who is the Executive VP and Chief Technology Officer. ?I watched the airlock for activity and dipped into it to do hydrometer tests even though it risked contamination. I just wanted to know when the fermentation would stop.



Mr. Pazik set about to create an instrument that would quantify the fermentation rate and alcohol production rate. This technology would enable anyone to make great wine, from the novice following step-by-step instructions to the expert using charting and data analysis tools.



Mr. Kornacki contracted John Chew, a former associate, as a consultant to organize marketing and launch BubbleFlo into the eager hands of winemakers and distributors.



With a patent for the product in hand, the company is moving quickly to capitalize on the excitement generated among the trade at the HWBTA conference. An introduction to world markets is planned for later this year.



Bubble Flow?s successful product introduction has been assisted by a $200,000 venture loan from the ECIDA/Niagara Region Ventures Fund (www.nrvf.com) and the Buffalo and Erie County Regional Development Corporation. Al Culliton, CFO of the development corporation, stated, ?RDC and the Niagara Region Ventures Fund are happy to assist in the commercialization of new technologies by local companies.?



Bubble Flow is located in and supported by the University of Buffalo?s Baird Research Park, 1576 Sweet Home Road, Amherst, New York 14228.



For more information on BubbleFlo?, please contact Dan Kornacki at 800-817-1440 or dkceo@bubbleflow.com, or check the website at http://www.bubbleflo.com





For more information on BubbleFlo?, please contact Dan Kornacki at 800-817-1440 or dkceo@bubbleflow.com, or check the website at http://www.bubbleflo.com

Another short Muscat Wine review

BubbleFlo Generates Excitement at Wine & Beer Show


New Winemaking Technology Introduced at St. Catharines Conference in Canada


International trade across the Peace Bridge may have just taken a big...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

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