The Wine Demystifier

As we gradually approach the festive season – although I admit it’s unlikely many of us are feeling that festive at the moment (thanks COVID) – I wanted to give a quick refresher about the delights of sweet and fortified wines – we need something to look forward to right?  and wine always cheers me up!Details of my Christmas case offer will be out shortly, and there will be the opportunity to ‘pimp your case’ by switch a dessert…

Chatting to a friend at the weekend, she brought up the subject of Orange wine – it was a term she wasn’t familiar with when she heard about it, so I thought it would make a good subject for one of my ‘In a Nutshell’ blogs.First things first, Orange wine is NOT made from oranges! It is a common mistake to make, given you can make wine out of fruits other than grapes (i.e. Elderberry or blackberry wines), but these…

I think it is probably fair to say that most people drink wine without too much consideration for what the liquid in the bottle actually tastes of. As long as it tastes nice and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, that usually is enough. I can hand on heart say that taking onboard a few little tips will really improve your wine appreciation.  I admit, some people may stop reading at this point – that’s fine, at the end…

Everyone knows that to make wine you need to ferment the grapes, and given you can’t get an alcoholic fermentation without the presence of yeast, it is fair to say then that while ‘yeast’ may not sound an appealing topic it is a hugely relevant one when it comes to winemaking! As without yeast there would be no alcohol! What is yeast? Yeast is a naturally occurring single-celled microorganism that is part of the fungus family.  The pre-eminent fermentation…