Exploring Wine

The world has gone topsy-turvy and wine and beer lovers are meeting in the middle. Cornell University offers an advanced course titled “Understanding Wine and Beer.” Topics covered range from the history of viticulture to the microbiology of fermentation to the neurobiology of taste, along with the expected lectures on chemistry, color and tasting methods. [...]

Wine, like anything else, will always change over time. The trick is to control the variables that affect wine storage and avoid harmful changes. The variables needing to be controlled are air, temperature, light, vibration and humidity. Nothing spoils good wine faster than too much air — it causes wine to age rapidly, oxidizing and [...]

It’s possible to get a college degree in Wine. Absent from most curricula, though is a good course on the right way to serve wine. Red wines and whites, not to mention sparkling wines, have different optimal storage methods, serving temperatures and opening and pouring procedures — even different ideal drinking glasses. Reds, it’s often [...]

Skill in the art of wine tasting doesn’t require an advanced degree in oenology (the science of wine making). But listening to professional wine tasters, it’s easy to get that impression. Bouquet, clarity, earthy, crisp, open, nostalgic — huh? So, take a deep breath, get comfortable, and be prepared to take some time to learn [...]

While it’s not that easy to spot a great wine on the shelves of your local wine merchant, it’s dead easy to identify a bad wine with just a sip or two. Even with modern wine making, storage and shipping technology about five percent of all wines arrive at the table bad to some degree. [...]

One of the joys of wine is learning to select wines that you enjoy while continuing to challenge your palette. Nobody can teach you everything you need to know about selecting wine, but we can give you a few starting points. Obviously the selection of a specific type, year and brand of wine is a [...]