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Apple Hill Wineries

Author: Rick Keel

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 Read the rest of this entry »

Wine Numbers: 9892

9,892 feet is the altitude of Argentina’s Bodega Colomé, which is the world’s highest commercial vineyard.

Chenin Blanc and the Loire Region

Author: Lindsay Alston

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 Read the rest of this entry »

The Mourvèdre Grapes in Blending

Author: Lindsay Alston

The names Mataró and Mourvèdre may come from the towns of Mataró in Cataluña and Murviedro near Valencia, suggesting an origin on that coast. Though the origin of the grape may be Catalonian or Spanish, the name Mourvèdre is of French descent. The grape was accepted in the 16th century, and extends eastwards towards the Rhone. It was hit hard by the Phylloxera outbreak, but has been rising in status lately.

Mourvèdre is an assortment of red wine grape developed around the world. In Portugal and North America it is known as Mataró, even in some parts of France it is known as Estrangle-Chien. In Spain it is known as Monastrell. It creates tannic wines that can be high in alcohol, and is mainly triumphant in Rhone-style blends. It has a particular similarity for Grenache; make it softer and giving it formation. Its taste differs greatly according to area, but often has a wild, gamey or earthy flavor, with soft red fruit flavors. Substantial confusion has resulted for internet reports that DNA fingerprinting Read the rest of this entry »

Wine Tasting Bike Tour from Vienna

Do you like biking and enjoy wines? If you answer yes, this special offer is not to miss. The discounted wine tour comes from Vienna in Austria and will be available till August 31. You’ll be getting a 10% off if booking now.

The tour will last about 8-9 hours and you’ll be riding your rented bike in the Wachau Valley - one of the best Austrian wine regions. Prepare yourself for a ride in the open air enjoying the magnificent vineyard views. You’ll stop at six different villages along the way and will sample wine at every local winery. Besides, there will be plenty of photo opportunities so make sure you’ve got your camera loaded, you might even go swimming to the Danube and play some beach volleyball as well. The professional guide will help you explore the ruins of the Dürnstein fortress, the one that became King Richard Lionheart’s prison.

Enjoy strolling around on your bike and learn how the real Austrian schnapps is made. Click here for more derails and to proceed for booking.

The Life and Times of Red Zinfandel

Author: Lindsay Alston

Red Zinfandel, also known as Zinfandel, is a type of red grape that is planted in over 10 percent of California’s vineyards. Usually, it is a robust Red Zinfandel, but in the USA it has also become a blush wine called White Zinfandel. White Zinfandel has over six times the sales of the Red Zinfandel. The taste of the Red Zinfandel relies on the maturity of the grapes from where it is made. Red berry fruits outweigh in wines from cooler areas such as the Napa Valley, while blackberry, anise and pepper notes are more common in wines made in warmer areas such as Sonoma County, and in wines made from the earlier-ripening Primitivo duplicate.

There are little plantings in South Africa, Western Australia and the McLaren Southern Vales Area of South Australia. The Croatian form Crljenak Kaštelanski was not bottled as a varietal in its own right in Croatia before the relation to Red Zinfandel was discovered. Now UCD has sent replicas of both Red Zinfandel and Primitivo to Prof Maletic in Croatia Read the rest of this entry »

Wine Numbers: 400

400 years: That is the age of world’s oldest grape vine located in Maribor, Slovenia.

With an age of over 400 years it is registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest vine in the world. Local and French vine genetics experts from Paris confirmed the age by conducting precise measurements, besides it is also representing in a few 17th century paintings. The vine grows on the front of a house and the symbolic annual harvest is about 35-55 kg from which 2,5 deciliters of wine are bottled. The grape type is Žametovka or Blue Franconian and it is usually harvested as a part of the Old Vine Festival which is held every year in Maribor.

How to Read a Wine Label

Author: David Cowley

When was the last time you went to a nice restaurant and ordered a bottle of expensive wine? When the waiter or waitress brought it over, did he or she show you the label before uncorking it? Did you understand anything on that label, or did you simply scan it and nod just for show? Many people are at a loss when it comes to reading wine labels, whether it’s at a restaurant or in a wine store; to them, it’s all just fancy numbers and letters and means no more to them than the chemicals contained in a can of Coke.

If you know a little bit about wines, you’re already well on your way to understanding the wine labels. They typically tell you, at a glance, the alcohol content, the growing region, bottle volume, name of the wine, quality and type of wine, the producer, and the variety and vintage.

The alcohol content and bottle volume may be the easiest to recognize on a wine label. Read the rest of this entry »