Wine sales, consultancy and education
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…
First things first, I expect most readers are wondering how on earth you pronounce it? It is actually quite easy...phonetically it is pronounced as “See-no-mav-ro”. Second main point: Xinomavro is a grape not a wine. About the grape – Synonymous with Greece, in particular the northerly Naoussa region, this black grape is widely considered the finest of the Greek varieties. Literally translated as ‘sour black’ – not a hugely appealing translation on the face of it I admit! ....and…
Sounds weird right? Truth be told, “W” proved more problematic than I thought it would when doing this A-Z, but then I though about a term I hear quite a lot when referring to a wine making process and one that you sometimes see mentioned on labels so I thought I would do a very quick (and hopefully not too geeky) explanation. What is whole-bunch fermentation? (aka whole-cluster) As the name alludes, it is a process which involves fermenting…