Northern Vintners Work To Improve Wines' Quality

Marquette grapes

The Editor: An interesting article on how northern vintners are improving cold climate wines. That link to the story is here.

Why Moscato Wine The No. 1 Wine In America

Moscato...The No. 1 Wine In America -- Wall Street Journal

Lettie Teague, wine columnist from the Wall Street Journal, takes a trip to a Union Square wine store where she explains why Moscato wine is so popular in the Unites States and why it has been for the past two years. The link is here.

Oval Fermenters May Make Egg-Ceptional Wines

Photo: In this photo taken Wednesday, March, 21, 2012, Eileen Crane, left, founding winemaker and president and TJ Evans, right, Pinot Noir winemaker, talk about their concrete egg fermenter at the Domaine Carneros winery in Napa, Calif. Evans credits the six-foot tall and 2,000

Fans Say Oval Fermenters Make Egg-Ceptional Wines -- Washington Post/AP

NAPA, Calif. — Do you like eggs with wine? How about wine IN eggs?

Sounds a bit dicey, but it’s been happening more lately as winemakers embrace concrete egg-shaped fermenters as a way to add unique flavors to their wines.

The eggs, which can be 6 feet tall or higher, have a cuteness factor not usually to be found in farming machinery. In fact, the Domaine Carneros winery in the Napa Valley was inspired to get in the seasonal spirit and had their 2,000-pound egg decorated for Easter complete with a frieze of white bunnies.

Despite appearances, there’s a serious side to this fresh approach. And it all starts with permeability.

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My: Comment: I must confess ... the science is interesting.

The Growth Of Wine Storage Facilties

Wine Storage Facility To Open In East Sacramento -- Appetizers/Sacramento Bee

In terms of naming, the new wine storage facility called Caverna Fifty-Seven makes perfect sense.

For starters, these lockers are tucked into a building near "antique row" on 57th Street in east Sacramento, and a temperature of 57 to 58 degrees is considered ideal for storing wine.

The final construction touches at Caverna Fifty-Seven are currently under way, and once all of its storage lockers are installed the facility will have space for more than 3,400 cases of wine.

The prices are competitive, too. A 10-case wine locker will cost $39 a month, and $59 for a 16-case space. 32-case lockers run for $96 per month, and $159 for 64 cases. Compare that with $100 a month for an 8- to 15-case space, or $150 for 16 cases or more, at midtown's 58 Degrees and Holding Co.

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My Comment: Smart concept. The website is here.

Is Expensive Wine Worth The Money?

Is Expensive Wine Worth The Money? -- The Telegraph

Why does one bottle of wine set you back a fiver and another cost five times as much? It’s all in the detail.

Jean-Claude Lapalu makes beaujolais that’s as thick as blood and as soulful as a patch of wilderness. He is a humble man, a paysan, but also one of the region’s stars. A bottle of Lapalu Brouilly sells in a shop for £20 or more.

“Why not make more of it and get rich?” I asked him as we sat outside at a scruffy table near his winery a couple of years ago. “Land in Beaujolais is relatively cheap. You could buy more vineyards…” He regarded me wearily. “It’s already completely exhausting me,” he said with a shrug at the madness of the idea. “I’m not sure it could be done.”

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My Comment: Sadly .... price usually does reveal the quality of the wine. The more expensive the wines .... the better they are.

A Look At Cider

Cider Is A Refreshing Alternative To Wine, Beer -- Pittsburgh Tribune-Live

Visit local pubs throughout England, Ireland, Brittany, Normandy and even northern Spain's Basque region, and you'll find regulars imbibing hard cider, a refreshing, generally low-alcohol, and relatively dry apple wine.

England alone produces a staggering 600 million liters annually. The United Kingdom has the highest per capita cider consumption worldwide while accounting for total annual sales of £2.2 billion (about $3.5 billion) according to Mintel Research.

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My Comment: Being one who enjoys cider .... I agree.

A Look At The Only Brewery In Pakistan

Ale Under The Veil: The Only Brewery In Pakistan -- The Telegraph

The Murree Brewery is thriving in one of the world's strictest Islamic states.

Pakistan is one of the last countries in Asia where you would expect to discover a flourishing – and legal – brewery, especially these days. There is only the one. But its beer is a world-class lager, long celebrated throughout the subcontinent.

And the Murree Brewery Company, established in 1860 to slake the thirst of Her Majesty’s soldiery in their broiling Punjab cantonments, is also a distillery that produces a prize-winning malt whisky. Moreover, it is one of Pakistan’s most beloved and successful business enterprises.

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Editor: The Murree Brewery Company's website is here. The product line looks impressive.