Loire Valley Wines – 5 Wine Appellations Sprinkled Among the Historic Chateaux
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The Loire River in France flows through the Touraine region for almost 100 kilometres dotted with many amazing French chateau open to the public and a wonderful location for a holiday. There are 5 AOC wines (Appelations d’origine Controlees – wines of controlled origin and quality) awarded throughout this region: Touraine, Touraine Amboise, Touraine Azay-le-Rideau, Touraine Mesland and the latest being Touraine Noble-Joue awarded its AOC status in 2001. The combination of vineyards and chateau make the Touraine region of the Loire Valley an incredible destination for any wine lover and his or her family.
The Touraine Amboise vineyards totalling 236 hectares are located between Tours and Blois extending along both banks of the Loire. The reds are a wild cherry colour produced from a blend of Gamay Noir and Cabernet and have scents of red fruits. Their palate is sold and full. The whites produced from Chenin Blanc give dry, medium and sweet white wines. Their straw yellow colour turns gold after 3 to 4 years of cellaring. Their aroma is all quince and honey and they have a supple palate because of the more continental climate that favours late-ripening grape varieties. The roses are light in colour with a bouquet of roses and lilac and are refreshing to taste and suitable for early drinking.
It is delightful to combine a day of tasting Touraine Amboise AOC wines with a visit to Chateau Close Luc, Leonardo da Vinci’s chateau now a museum with working models of many of his inventions and an amazing interactive park adored by children and Chateau Amboise which is da Vinci’s final resting place.
The Touraine appellation covering 5,282 hectares differs depending on the terroir on the slopes of the River valleys. Half the production is red. The Gamay and Cabernet reds are cherry coloured. The Gamay has a strawberry or cherry flavour. They have a dominant fruitiness with discreet tannins and should be drunk within 2 years. The Cabernet red has a raspberry, green pepper and liquorice fragrance and can be laid down for 2 to 4 years because of its good tannic support. White wines made from Sauvignon produced mainly in the Cher valley are straw yellow in colour and have a floral fragrance with a touch of gooseberry or blackcurrant mingled with traces of spices. On the palate the sauvignon whites are delicately lively. The methode traditionnelle sparkling wines have mouth-filling flavours of brioche and apple.
The must see Chateau to visit in the region of this appellation is Chateau Chenonceau which spans the River Cher.
The Touraine Azay-le-Rideau is a small region totalling 45 hectares south-west of Tours stretching along the Indre valley between Montbazon and the Loire river producing whites and roses. The roses are dainty with an aroma of marshmallows, lilac, almond and roses. They are lively and delightful to drink in summer. The white are fresh and have floral and fruit aromas of peach apricot and green apple with a soft mineral edge.
You must visit the spectacular Chateau du Azay-le-Rideau when in this appellation region. The chateau is turreted and surrounded by water which gives amazing reflections for the son et lumiere (light show) held in summer.
Touraine Mesland is situated west of Blois, planted on the slopes of the Loire facing Chateau de Chaumont, which holds a spectacular garden festival each summer based on a different theme each year and definitely worth a visit especially if you have children tagging along.
The reds have a substantial taste and are the colour of a well-ripened cherry and have complex aromas of very ripe fruits and prunes. The roses sparkle with salmon highlights. And have a fresh delicate aroma of spices and red fruits. They have a solid palate making them suitable to accompany an entire meal. The whites carry an aroma of pear and spices and are lively and round on the palate.
The appellation of Touraine Noble-Joue is only 25 hectares producing a characteristic rose with flower aromas of peony and hyacinth followed by notes of redcurrant, cherry and ripe pear. The rose palate is round with flavours of morello cherry and a dash of cloves.
The chenin blank whites of the five Touraine appellations are all stray-yellow in colour can be cellared for 5 to 15 years.
As well as these five AOC wines there is also Vouvray in the Touraine and Cheverney, Cour-Cheverney just South of Blois.
What better way to enjoy these clovely wines than driving through the Loire Valley visiting historic chateaux, maybe a hot-air balloon ride in the morning, gourmet lunch in village bistros, meeting wine and cheese producers sampling their products and returning at night to a friendly inviting boutique chateau hotel. Don’t just visit a french chateau – stay in one and truly experience the grandeur of living in a castle in France. You will be amazed. Make your next holiday a gourmet wine lovers chateau holiday in the beautiful Loire Valley. If you love good wine you will not regret it.
Corina Clemence
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/loire-valley-wines–5-wine-appellations-sprinkled-among-the-historic-chateaux-93668.html
I drank some bad homemade wine, how long will the hangover last?
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I tried to make wine from grapefruits. It fermented about 3 weeks and I drank half a bottle last night. It didn't seem strong at the time but this morning I overslept and I feel like I have a bullet in my head. How long will this last?
It's okay Joe, go get a big glass of ice water and you will feel great in just a few minutes. Really, you get a new buzz going, and your day will be good again.
if you usea balloon/plastic bag instead ofan airlock on homemade wine andthe gasses can't escape what happens?
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i understand that when yeast is eating sugar and changing it to alcohol it produces co2 which an airlock would allow to escape. if you are making wine in a jug with a balloon on top and planning on letting the balloon fill up, then deflate, then drinking what happens?
The balloon will slowly get bigger and bigger. You need to make sure to release some of the gases every couple of days so that the balloon does not explode. If it does then you have defeated the purpose of the balloon. The only reason to use a balloon or air lock is to prevent the outside air from getting it. Its to prevent cross contamination.
DeVine Vacations: ‘Sleeping with the Vine’ and Other Unusual Wine Vacation Experiences
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Wineries have always attracted wine lovers for tours and tastings, but some people now want to get closer to the action. In fact, some people aren’t content to gaze out on the vineyard 10 feet away, but want to work in the winery. It’s sort of like being an extra in a movie in order to be on the set and mingle with the cast.
You don’t have to settle for just a glass of wine and a tour of the vineyard, because in many of the world’s wine regions, Inns and B&Bs are now providing lodging within the actual winery. And when you stay on the winery grounds, you have the additional advantage that you don’t need to drink and drive.
These new wine experiences are popping up all over. For example, the Rust Ridge Ranch Winery in Napa Valley, CA, will let you lend a hand when the winery harvests its grapes in early fall. Since wineries work round the clock during the “crush” you can even turn your visit into a fun-filled all-nighter! Their folksy salesman on the website is their beloved dog “Tosca,” who tells you, “Welcome to our Web Site. When you arrive at our B&B we will greet your car personally. We spend a lot of time at the winery during harvest. The grapes taste very sweet and even the horses like to eat them. The B&B is a fun place to hang out. In the mornings and afternoons we take our guests on walks to visit the horses, over to the winery, up the trail to our swimming ponds and out in the vineyard. Sometimes the guests play tennis or relax in the Jacuzzi. In the warm summer evenings they sit out on the deck and sip wine. Please come and visit!”
If you want to have another “crushing” experience, drive near the Sierra Mountains and stay at the Fitzpatrick Winery . The B&B is a massive log lodge with the winery in the basement and they offer their guests a Irish country theme. The inn serves a full Irish breakfast, free Irish beers and a traditional ploughman’s lunch.
Another move toward de’vine vacations are places that enhance the overall pleasure of your experience. Imagine yourself perched above the vineyards of the Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District at the Poetry Inn of Clif Lede Vineyards. This luxurious inn offers all of the sensory pleasures of the wine country, with suites that boast of wood-burning fireplaces, sanctuary-like marble bathrooms with soaking tubs for two, and large, private balconies with outdoor showers. Kick off the day with a breakfast of Brie-and-strawberry-stuffed French toast at a table overlooking the vineyards.” Travel & Leisure magazine said it’s “…one of the most tranquil spaces in the buzzing Napa Valley.
In the Carmel Valley you can stay at the Bernardus Winery, another luxury resort with an epicurean flair. Enjoy the gracious intimacy of one of five deluxe suites with feather beds, cozy fireplaces and oversized bathtubs for two. Their spa has a meditation garden, a warming room and a soaking pool.
And of course, not all the wine lodging is in California. At the Keuka Overlook Inn in New York’s Finger Lakes region, you can watch wine being made and enjoy night time tastings with the winemaker. The winery is located on one of the highest hillsides in the Finger Lakes with sweeping views of pristine Keuka and Waneta Lakes. The Inn is a Victorian Farmhouse originally constructed in 1896, and most rooms have incredible lake views and you can enjoy the lake breezes from a swing on their wrap around country porch as you sip wine and enjoy the sunset.
A good glass of wine is still one of the simple pleasures in life, and now it can be enjoyed even more by experiencing the good life of where wine comes from.
So make plans for taking a de’vine vacation sometime in the near future. And when your there, raise a toast with me, “To The Good Wine Makers Everywhere!”
Randy Gilbert
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/devine-vacations-sleeping-with-the-vine-and-other-unusual-wine-vacation-experiences-80106.html
Google Adsense is the Easiest Way to Make Money Online
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All you have to do with Adsense, is placing ad on your pages and driving high traffic for high demand keywords. The higher the cost per click is the more you will earn each time someone clicks on an Adsense ad on your site/blog/page.
If you are new to this kind of market, there are two major factors that you must know and which the webmasters use in order to earn money more easily through Adsense.
Place Adsense blocks on pages that produce little or no profit ; they will stay on your site or will click on the ads in place of following the links included in your page.
Visitors will come more often and easier on your website if you offer them some free marketing or niche resource (for example, if you build a site about wine, offer them an opportunity to receive an ebook and to subscribe to a newsletter dedicated to wine).
How can you optimize your Adsense income?
Choose an Adsense blocks color that matches with your site: if the background of your site is blue, then use the blue background for your Adsense blocks. Make sure that your Adsense links look like your site.
By using the formats which proved that they are most profitable until now (for example: the 336×280 rectangle or the 250×250 square). The 336×280 format tends to have the most output because it looks like the links that one sees on the Internet and people tend to click on this type of advertising link as they are accustomed to click on the navigation links.
Do not put Adsense at the bottom of your pages: preferabily place them at the top of the pages. Your visitors must immediately see them while arriving on your site.
Do not use the 486×60 size: this ad looks like a banner and will be ignored by your visitors.
Do not place the adsense ads in a seperate area on the page: embed the bloc inside your content area, preferably on the right of your article. Use a floating block like “Adsense Code”.
Never click on the Adsense ads on your own pages, it will result in Google disabling your account.
Dominique Halet
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/google-adsense-is-the-easiest-way-to-make-money-online-134434.html
Wine Making- is there any special equipment needed for making homemade wine?
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We have wild grapes that grow in our fields and we are tired of jelly, can you make wine without any specialty equipment? I have a stockpot, canning jars, and a canner (pressure cooker). I would love a recipe if anyone has one, also!! Thanks in advance!!!
CONCORD GRAPE wine recipeS
Concord grapes are the most popularly planted native American grapes. Early colonists embraced them, harvested them, and used them to make wines, jellies, jams, and tarts. They were the first of the native vines from which cuttings were planted to form vineyards. A variety of Vitis Labrusca, the Concord Grape is resistant to many of the diseases which destroy the European grape, Vitis Vinifera; they were the first onto which Vinifera cuttings were grafted to combat insects and disease and the first to be successfully cross-pollenated with European stock to produce hybrids. Most notable of these hybrids are French-American, but crossings were also made with German, Spanish, Portugese, Lowlands, and Baltic grapes. The resulting vines are hardy and produce good yields.
The Concord, however — even its hybrids — rarely contain the high amount of natural sugar that pure Vinifera varieties contain. They also contain more pectin and acid, and their wines may exude a musky aroma disagreeable to some. For these reasons their juice is always reinforced with added sugar, almost always diluted with water to balance the acid, treated with pectic enzyme to ensure that it clears, and may be flavored slightly with certain aromatic herbs or spices to counter the natural muskiness.
We have included three recipes below. The first produces a dry wine, so you may want to sweeten it slightly before bottling if you're not partial to dry wine. The second is diluted only slightly and requires a good many more grapes to produce, but results in a full-bodied, sweet dessert wine. Both wines should be stabilized before final sweetening and bottling, either with a commercial stabilizer (such as Sorbitol) or one crushed Campden tablet and 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon. Final sweetening is always accomplished using two parts sugar dissolved in one part boiling water and allowed to cool. This syrup must be clear, so stir until every granule of sugar has dissolved. The third recipe is a "second wine," made by using the grape pulp from the first batch of wine. Grape concentrate is added to provide body and vinous quality.
If you wish to add an aromatic agent to your wine, any of the following will work: anise, bitter almond, camomile, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, corriander, juniper berries, whole nutmeg, fresh rosemary, saffron, sage, summer savory, thyme, tonka bean, woodruff, or vanilla bean. Do not use ground spices, but rather the leaf, seed, or — in the case of cinnamon — bark. Place an amount (one tablespoon per gallon for most, or two nutmegs, tonka beans or vanilla beans) in a finely meshed jelly bag, tied, and place it in the must during the primary fermentation only. Squeeze gently before discarding.
When adding sugar to raise specific gravity (S.G.), a tablespoon less than 8 ounces will raise the S.G. of one gallon of must 0.010. For grape wines, the beginning S.G. must always be at least 1.095 to achieve an alcohol content of 12.7%, while 12% is required to preserve the wine. This, however, presumes very little liquid will be lost during racking, which is a bad assumption. It is therefore wiser to begin with a starting S.G. of 1.105, which under ideal circumstances will produce 14.1% alcohol by volume. Because you will lose liquid during racking, the finished figure will be closer to 12.7%.
Concord Grape wine must age two years in the bottle before being considered ready to drink. It always astounds the novice how greatly wine improves with age. A wine that is terrible after one year will be delightful one year later and wonderful in the third year. Therefore, the best plan for one to follow is to make a set amount (3-5 gallons) every year, set the bottles on their side in a cool, dark closet, and forget about drinking any until you begin the third year's winemaking. Even then, you may want to age them further. Just remeber one thing: it takes five 750 ml wine bottles to store one gallon of wine; 25 bottles to store 5 gallons.
Concord Grape Wine (1)
* 6 lbs fresh Concord grapes
* 5 pts water
* 3-1/4 cups granulated sugar
* 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1 crushed Campden tablet
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* wine yeast
Wash and de-stem grapes, discarding any less than perfect ones. Put in nylon mesh bag, tie securely, and vigorously crush grapes over primary, being sure to crush them all. Place bag of pulp in primary and add water, sugar, nutrient, and crushed Campden tablet. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover securely with clean cloth and set aside. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme and recover. After additional 12 hours check specific gravity. If not at least 1.095, add sugar and stir until dissolved, then add yeast. Stir daily, squeeze the nylon bag to aid in juice extraction, and check the S.G. When S.G. reaches 1.030 (5-6 days), lightly but steadily press juice from bag. [Set bag aside in bowl to make a second wine (see third recipe below).] Siphon liquor off sediments into sterilized glass secondary and attach airlock. Check S.G. after 30 days. If 1.000 or lower, rack into clean secondary and reattach airlock. Rack again after 2 months and again after additional 2 months. Allow to clear, stabilize, sweeten if desired (1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar syrup per gallon), and rack again into sterilized bottles. Allow to age two years in bottle before tasting. Improves further with additional aging. [Adapted from Raymond Massaccesi's Winemaker's Recipe Handbook]
Concord Grape Wine (2)
* 12 lbs fresh Concord grapes
* 2 pts water
* 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 tsp pectic enzyme
* 1 crushed Campden tablet
* 1 tsp yeast nutrient
* wine yeast
Wash and de-stem grapes, discarding any less than perfect ones. Divide grapes into two nylon mesh bags, tie securely, and vigorously crush grapes over primary, being sure to crush them all. Place bags of pulp in primary and add sugar already dissolved in water, nutrient, and crushed Campden tablet. Cover securely with clean cloth and set aside. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme and recover. After additional 12 hours check specific gravity. If not at least 1.095, add sugar and stir until dissolved, then add yeast. Stir daily, squeezing the nylon bags to aid in juice extraction, and check the S.G. When S.G. reaches 1.030 (5-6 days), lightly but steadily press juice from bags. [Set bags aside in bowl to make a second wine (see third recipe below).] Siphon liquor off sediments into sterilized glass secondary and attach airlock. Check S.G. after 30 days. If 1.000 or lower, rack into clean secondary and reattach airlock. Rack again after 2 months and again after additional 2 months. Allow to clear, stabilize, sweeten (1-1/4 cup sugar syrup per gallon), and rack again into sterilized bottles. Allow to age two years in bottle before tasting. Improves further with additional aging. [Adapted from Raymond Massaccesi's Winemaker's Recipe Handbook]
Concord Grape Wine (Second Fermentation)
* pulp from 6-10 lbs Concord grapes
* 1 gallon (minus one cup) water
* 8-10 oz red grape concentrate or Concord grape juice
* 2 lb granulated sugar
* 2 tsp acid blend or juice from 1 lemon and 2 thin slices of winesap apple
* 1/8 tsp tannin or 1 used teabag
* 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient
* wine yeast
Begin this wine as soon as practical after pulp is removed from previous use, as you will be using the yeast already present in the pulp (do not allow pulp to dry out). Mix all ingredients except pulp in primary, stir well to dissolve sugar, then add pulp still in nylon bag. S.G. may be lower than expected because of alcohol still trapped in pulp. Cover and ferment, stirring and squeezing bag daily, until S.G. drops to 1.010. Siphon liquor into secondary. Squeeze bag well to extract all juice possible. Add juice to secondary and fit airlock. Rack after 30 days, then every 2 months until wine is clear and no more yeast deposits form after 10 days. Stabilize, sweeten if desired, and siphon into bottles. Taste after two years. [Author's recipe]
how to prepare a good homemade wine ?
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pls help me in preparing a home made red wine.
this is a complex subject with no easy, short answer
i'd recommend doing a few things first:
- go to a bookstore, to the food section, and get at least one book on home winemaking (sooner or later you will probably acquire additional books),
- subscribe to a magazine like Winemaker
- check out websites like http://winemaking.jackkeller.net
- subscribe to free online groups like http://www.winepress.us (there are additional groups on Yahoo Groups, just do a search
Home Wine Making – The rubber Bung on the Carboy was sucked into the bottom. Any ideas on how to remove it.?
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The carboy is hard plastic. Maybe there is a tool our there to get the rubber bung out.
I have a tool for removing corks from bottles that works on rubber bungs also. The carboy has to be empty. It is a three pronged device with very stiff wire prongs that traps the cork or stopper an allows one to pull it out. Your local wine making shop should be able to get one from L D Carlson Item Number 9009.
The New Wine Diet: How Adding Wine to Your Meal Could Also Add Years to Your Life
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You like to look and feel great-and you love your glass of red wine at dinner-but conventional diet gurus say you can’t have both.
How can you rationalize keeping the wine when you want be healthy?
If you think that you have a tough decision to make, then think again, because most diet plans don’t take into account all of the latest facts.
More and more studies are showing that although there are about 120 calories in a six-ounce glass of red wine, you should not stop having wine at dinner, because there are too many significant long-term health benefits and they outweigh the mere calorie intake.
In fact, wine might even be considered the new health drink.
For example, heart disease is the number one killer in the US and clinical studies have proven that, in moderation, men can lower the risk of heart disease by 50% by drinking two glasses of red wine a day. And women can reduce their risk by almost 30%, by drinking one glass of red wine a day.
Another top killer is cancer. Because red wine contains antioxidants, which scavenge destructive free-radicals that cause cellular damage, drinking wine in moderation will help prevent certain types of cancer such as prostate, colon and skin cancer.
Wine also helps our body to excrete excess sodium, so red wine acts like a diuretic, which lowers our blood pressure.
And in recent years, research studies have trumpeted a growing list of health problems that red wine can help fight such as arthritis, cataracts and kidney dysfunction. And, a new study in mice holds out hope for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
If this list doesn’t convince you that red wine should remain on your table at dinner and be long term part of your life, then check this out-wine helps reduce stress and digestive problems.
So, if you are a busy person and live life in high gear (as so many of us often do), then its recommended you enjoy at least one glass of wine with your meal, because wine relaxes us (including our digestive muscles). And we all know that digestive problems and high stress levels are the cause of innumerable health problems.
Now that you’re convinced that keeping wine at dinner is a good idea, you probably want to know; “Are all wines equally ‘healthy’?”
And the answer is NO. Red wines in general contain more antioxidants than white wine (and all other alcoholic drinks as a matter of fact).
And, even among red wines there are those that will do you more good. Specifically, red wines that improve with age, which means French Bordeaux, premium Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir as well as Merlot and Malbec.
It’s been shown that red grapes grown in higher altitude and cooler climates (like Chile, Argentina, some parts of California, Oregon, and in New York’s Finger Lakes) have more antioxidants than grapes grown in warmer climes on valley floors.
There are two reasons for this. First, the production of antioxidants are stimulated by ultraviolet light, which are more intense at higher altitudes. Secondly, in cooler climates, grapes ripen more slowly and therefore tend to be harvested later, which allows for a greater concentration of antioxidants (and better flavors too).
In summary, the decision is easy. Keep the wine and get rid of some other calorie source, because it couldn’t possible come close to the health benefits of a glass of a good red wine.
So enjoy your wine at dinner and let’s toast “To Good Wine and Healthy Pleasure!!!”
Randy Gilbert
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/the-new-wine-diet-how-adding-wine-to-your-meal-could-also-add-years-to-your-life-80138.html
Wine, a True Passion for Millions
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Wine S.O.S: the secret professional wine tasters donât want you to have is yours for the taking! Thatâs right, cutting edge science has created an all natural answer to wineâs harmful side affects allowing you to taste the wine, swallow the wine and repeat without worrying about a hangover!
Wine S.O.S helps balance the bodyâs internal chemistry to allow you to drink the wine at a wine tasting without waking the next day with a splitting headache. Wine contains non-alcoholic ingredients known as congeners which give each wine its unique and tasty characteristics.
These congeners have been found to cause allergic reactions in some people and amplified the hangover affects in others and made every wine taster worry about swallowing the wine.
Wine S.O.S has been specifically designed using all natural herbs in FDA approved laboratories to make it possible for you to taste your wine, swallow your wine and repeat without suffering the negative affects of the congeners in wineâGUARANTEED.
Thatâs right, guaranteed. Wine S.O.S guarantees you will not feel a hangover the morning after a wine tasting or you will receive a full refund. So go out and do what your doctor recommendsâenjoy a great glass of wine and let Wine S.O.S take care of you the next morning.
john_beck204
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/wine-a-true-passion-for-millions-138370.html