8:20 PM

February 2009 - Champagne Bottles

Another Great Champagne Bottles Article

White Wines - The Most Popular

Wine. Not what you do when you don't get your way. What you drink with a fine meal. Well, maybe not what you drink, depending on your tastes, but what a lot of people drink. Some would say that there is nothing like a fine wine. So the question we're going to try to answer in this article is just what IS a fine wine?

Well, there is basically red wine and white wine. And since it's bad etiquette to mixed them together we're going to concentrate on what are considered the finest white wines in this article.

Naturally there will be experts who will disagree when it comes to what the finest white wines are but the following list is a pretty safe bet with most people.

One of the most popular white wines today is Pinot Grigio. The wine comes from the Northeast region of Veneto and Friuli. The tastes of this wine range from melon to pear and some even offer a subtle tropical or citrus fruit, often there is a honey or smoky flavor component as well. As for color, Pinot Grigio is typically a pale, straw-like yellow with some golden hues thrown in to boot. This wine goes very well with seafood, light pastas and cheese cracker combinations. Since this wine is fairly acidic itself, avoid drinking it with foods that are high in acid concentration, like citrus fruits or tomato-based recipes.

Another very popular white wine is what they call a Chardonnay. There are many types of these wines. These are what they call "low maintenance" wines that adapt well to a variety of climates which means that quite a bit of this wine can be produced, usually in the millions of bottles per year. Because of this you can get a good Chardonnay for around $10. Some of the more popular Chardonnay wines are Jacob's Creek, which goes great with chicken, veggies or shrimp, Eola Hills which is fine with grilled salmon or smoked tuna, Carmenet, which is wonderful with cheese, Round Hill, which is a great wine to have with pork and poultry and the list goes on and on.

Another very popular white wine is champagne. Yes, champagne is a white wine, just a very fancy one. There is a light taste and fizz to champagne that is unlike any other white wine. There is no denying that nothing tastes quite like champagne. That is why you will find this wine at the fanciest parties and gatherings and of course it is the drink of choice for New Year's Eve. The best champagnes are very expensive. They are derived from a blend of grapes such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. Champagne is considered a sparkling wine, due to the bubbles, which are formed during a second fermentation process. This second fermentation takes still wine and seals in the carbon dioxide that is formed when yeast converts sugar into alcohol, making for millions of bubbles with no place to go. The most expensive popular champagne of today is Deutz 1990 Cuvee William Brut at $215 a bottle. So if you're going to drink a lot of champagne prepare a nice budget beforehand.

The above is only the tip of the iceberg of white wines but they are the most popular. In our next article we'll see what red wines have to offer for our tastes.

About the Author

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Wine

Short Review on Champagne Bottles

White Wines - The Most Popular

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Sunday 02/22/09 - Wine Industry

The Best Articles on Wine Industry

A Guide to South Africa's Winelands

In 1652 the Dutch East India company establishment a refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope aiming to provide fresh food to the company's fleet on voyages to India and surrounding areas. As a result of this trading station South Africa now boasts a flourishing wine industry and colourful, multi-cultural nation.

The fertile soil and Mediterranean climate of the Western Cape, makes the Cape Winelands one of the most renowned wine producing areas in the world. The Western Cape is also cooler than its position of 34? South of the equator might suggest, making the area ideal for growing a wide range of noble vine varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinot Noir. The traditional wine growing areas along the coastal regions are seldom more than 50km from the ocean and are exposed to cool breezes blowing in from the sea.

All the wine grape varietals cultivated in South Africa, belong to the Vitis vinifera species, originally brought from Europe. Unfortunately these European vines were susceptible to phylloxera and as a result many South African viticulturists these days often have to graft their vines onto American rootstock in order to resist the insect.

Although Cape Town and the nearby Boland basin is best-known for it's superb Bordeaux-style red wines, the wine-producing regions of the province extends further north- and eastwards and has established itself as producer of world-class red, white, fortified and sparkling wines from a wide range of varietals.

Constantia

The oldest and one of the most famous wine farms in the area is Groot Constantia, which was granted to governor Simon van der Stel in 1685, by the Dutch East India Company. The estate is located on the Southern Slopes of Table Mountain and is still world-renowned for it's superb wines and breathtaking location. It's beautiful Cape Dutch homestead also forms part of the Iziko South African National Museums. The Constantia region also features such formidable estates as Steenberg well know for it's Reserve Sauvignon Blanc and Semmilon while the nearby Buitenverwachting produces outstanding Chardonnay. Both estates feature award-winning restaurants.

Boland

From Cape Town, the Winelands spread north-east and eastwards to the beautiful Boland basin with Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek and Wellington being the most prominent producers. Some of the oldest wine farms in South Africa are situated in and around this beautiful Cape Dutch village, which at over 300-years old, is the oldest town in the country. Although the area hosts an endless amount of superior wine estates, well-known farms towards the east include the Shiraz and Port producing Alto; the prolific Blaauwklippen estate which produces one of the only Zinfandel's in the region; the red wine producing Delheim; the famous Lanzerac estate and hotel; the prominent Middelvlei; the international award-winning red wine producing Rust en Vrede estate; Vriesenhof with it's outstanding white wines; the exclusive Engelbrecht Els estate and the beautiful Tokara with it's adjoining restaurant managed by famous local chef and saucier Etienne Bonthuys.

Towards the west of the town there's the well-known Beyerskloof, famous for it's award-winning Pinotage; the superior sparkling wine producing House of JC Le Roux, the scenic Meerlust estate with it's legendary Rubicon blend; the family-run Overgaauw; the "Cap Classique" producing Villiera and Zevenwacht estate.

The nearby Franschhoek, which translates as "French corner" also boasts some of the country's oldest estates: The beautiful Boschendal with it's typical Cape Dutch homestead; Cabriere Estate with it's flagship range of Pierre Jourdan "Methode Cape Classique" sparkling wines; Graham Beck with it's signature Brut Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine and Rhona Muscadel; and the beautiful La Motte estate which produces outstanding Shiraz.

Overberg

On the otherside of the Franschhoek and Hottentots Holland mountain ranges, the Overberg region includes quaint villages such as McGregor, Montagu and Robertson - the latter boasts the De Wetshof estate, owned by the prolific Chardonnay producer Danie de Wet, while the nearby Hemel-and-Aarde valley close to Hermanus is home to such spectacular wineries as Hamilton Russel with it's well-known Pinot Noir and the legendary Bouchard Finlayson.

Swartland

North of Cape Town, the predominantly wheat producing Swartland region includes the fructuous Riebeek valley, well-known for it's Shiraz wines and olive farms. This region hosts such prestigious estates as Kloovenburg, Allesverloren and Twee Jonge Gezellen, as well as the larger co-operative wineries such as Riebeek Cellars, Swartland Cellars and Darling Cellars, extending further east, towards the Hexrivier Valley at De Doorns and north towards the Olifants River valley close to Citrusdal and the fruitful Orange River Valley near Upington in the Northern Cape.

About the Author

To plan a hassle free trip to Cape Town, use CityGuideSA - a comprehensive online travel resource with up-to-date information on where to Eat, Stay and Play in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and the Garden Route.

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