The Ultimate Wine Guide

Britain now imports more wine than any other country on the planet. We imported a staggering total of 1.six billion bottles in 2007, equating to 35 standard bottles for every adult in the country which is absolutely staggering figure. The average British adult now drinks 12% more wine than they did just five years ago and forecasts predict our consumption will continue to grow far beyond that figure. Global wine consumption is on the rise in past years and also forecast to grow considerably. The US are predicted to eventually become the world’s biggest consumer by 2012. The UK is 13th in the world, in terms of consumption per adult and despite Britain being a massive importer, the amount we drink is dwarfed by other neighbouring European countries including France.

Red wine and white wine sales are on the increase as well as champagne, whisky and cognacs. This has incidentally caused an increase in the sale of almost all drinking glasses, including crystal glass and the humble whisky glass. The British public consumed 720 million bottles of red wine and seven hundred and sixty four million bottles of white wine in 2008 and that figure is expected to grow for 2009. However red wine is rapidly falling in popularity, as white wine and rose wine take larger shares of the increasing market industry.

Wine merchants have been incredibly busy for the year of 2008. Additionally, reports have indicated that many wine accessories such as glass vases, decanters and dinnerware have been selling extremely fast as a natural accompaniment to wine. The thirst for wine is set to deepen in emerging economies such as China and Russia, whose consumption levels are soon expected to overtake that of Spain which is another nation historically associated with wine. It predicted that the financial and economic crisis affecting many wine consumer countries worldwide would only have ‘limited’ consequences for the growth of the wine sector. The report forecasts incredible growth for the coming four years roughly in line with pre-crisis trends. Either way it is a very crazy thought.

What is wine?

For millennia, wine has been made from only a couple of incredients. They are grape juice and yeast. Any fruit juice can be used, as a matter of fact, but grape juice is the most popular.

We tend to think of wine as a special treat, a gracious gift (as in a wine and cheese basket), a beverage of celebration or a drink to serve with a special meal. For much of history, though, it was a drink of necessity due to the often poor standards of the available water.

Yeast is the magical ingredient that turns grape juice into wine. Interestingly enough, there is actually wild yeast spores in the air and all that is really needed to make wine is an open container of grape juice and time. The result however, would probably not be the most palatable of beverages.

There are numerous strains of yeasts and the types used to make wine have been cultured just for this purpose. The strain of the yeast has an impact upon the wine’s eventual flavor. Well anyway, yeast is a living organism that feeds off of sugars in the grape juice in a process called fermentation. It is the fermentation that causes the sugars in the grape juice to turn into alcohol.

Once all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed, the yeast will fall to the bottom of the container. The wine is removed from the container, leaving the yeast, and is trasferred to another container to mature while waiting to be bottled.

How does wine get its color?

You probably know that there are green grapes and black grapes and different grapes are used to make different wines. The color of the wine, however, does not directly reflect the color of the grape. In fact, grape juice is largely clear no matter the color of the original grape. The color of wine is determined by whether (and for how long) the skin is allowed to remain in the juice during the fermentation process.

What gives each wine its taste?

Even though there are very few ingredients, there are many things which influence the taste of wine. First of all, there are many varieties of grapes. Each grape variety will produce different flavors, aromas, and even textures. In addition, the soil and climate where the grapes are grown drastically affect these variables. Not only that, but the wine maker can control various things by the technique, temperature and yeast used during fermentation. Other variables such as fermenting or storing in oak barrels will also affect the taste.

It is because of all of these variables that a wine drinker can always notice a flavor difference from one wine to the next. This can make for an interesting hobby of never-ending discovery.

What is tannin?

Tannin is a substance in wine that causes a firm, mouth-drying feeling in your mouth. It is extracted from the skins, seeds and stems of the grapes so red wines will contain more tannin than whites. White wines will get a degree of tannin when oak barrels are used for fermentation or aging. Eat just the skins of grapes or drink strongly brewed, unsweetened tea for a good idea of what tannin feels like in your mouth.

Because of the brevity of this description, this has been only a tiny overview of what there is to know about wine. Hopefully, though, it has given you a few nuggets for your conversation at the next wine and cheese tasting that you attend.

Despite what some people might believe, wine has not always simply been an enjoyable drink. Documents have been found over the years that suggest people once thought wine could cure stomach ulcers, stop cancer spreading and even reverse the effects of aging.  In reality, wine is almost definitely responsible for more ailments and injuries than it cures. Believe it or not over 1500 people injured themselves in 2008 in the U.S just by using a bottle opener.That said, every now again wine surprises everyone by showing some amazing qualities, which is exactly what has recently happened at the University of Minnesota, where a wine-massage study has shown the healing effects of both the red and white varieties.

The claim follows a 7 month trial carried out at the university, where mainly athletes with muscles tissue damage had wine applied and rubbed into the skin as part of the recovery massage regime. The study showed that remarkably, those people who had wine included in their massage sessions, showed around a 20% increase in the rate of muscle recovery.Liam Herring, head researcher for the study notes that “muscles, regardless of how vigorously they are used, will always pick up damage of some sort…the research that we conducted showed the the healing of this damage was speed ed up when wine was included in participant’s recovery massages.The experts that carried out the study have suggested that the alcohol in the wine is partly responsible for this effect, as it allows the muscles to relax even more than normal by desensitising nerve endings. This relaxation then allows a vaso-dilation of the blood vessels that surround muscle tissue and means more healing nutrients can get to the damaged tissue.This said, when the scientists tested other beverages with similar levels of alcohol content, the same positive effects on muscle healing were not recorded, which suggests there are additional elements in the wine that influence the process.

You probably won’t find that there is a rush in wine rack sales from health spas around the country, but maybe they will invest in some slow wine pourers just to give it a go.

Chances are you have at least one friend who has devoted a large part of their life to wine. They like nothing more than enjoying a fine Chardonnay on a summers evening, which is great for them, but they probably don’t realise just how hard they are to buy for. You want to get them something they will like (which is naturally going to be an something wine gifts related), but they have every wine book, gadget and bottle under the sun. So what do you buy them?

Wine Key. They may have bottle openers, cork crews and champagne cutters, but chances are they they don’t have a wine key. These are a great new product that makes opening a bottle of sparkling wine easier than opening a can of cola.They also stop wine pouring out everywhere and ruining your clothes, not to mention wasting precious drops of the stuff.

Cheese Gifts. You’ll find that most wine lovers also enjoy a nice bit of cheese with their tipple. eIt makes a change from buying them strictly wine-related items and there are a whole rang of cheese gifts out there. Aside from actually buying some nice cheeses, you can purchase dinnerware such as cheese boards, plates, knives and even cutting wire.Its always a good idea to find out what type of wines your friend likes and then researh which cheeses go best with them. Once you’ve got the right ones you can even give them the book you used to swat up with as well.

Vouchers. If you still can’t think what you buy your annoyingly kitted-out friend, then there is always the option of a wine gift voucher. You can get them from almost all high-street and many internet wine shops and, it means that the receiver doesn’t have to buy something right away, but can instead wait until they actually want something.

Gift giving can be a gruelling time for a lot of people. Thinking of what to give a person that will get a great reception can be a very time consuming task as well. This is where the idea of a wine gift basket can be grand option. Just a bit of creativity and you can have an amazing gift that anyone would appreciate receiving!

There are a variety of containers that a person can choose to use for the wine gift baskets that they make for others. An ice bucket is a common choice, not to mention very practical as well. Many people place a bottle of wine into the ice bucket along with other accessories that would be suitable with the wine that you are giving.

Try putting a corkscrew in the bucket as well. Many people are in need of this item when they want to open up a bottle of wine. I know in my own experience that it can never be found at the time that a person needs it. So, with this in mind it could be the perfect item to go with the wine.

Another very nice thing that you can include in the wine gift baskets that you make would be a nice complimentary cheese. There are a huge number of cheeses that are available that can go along with the wine that you have chosen very well. Take a look around some specialty shops and you will definitely find something.

While looking around the specialty shop, take a look at the variety of crackers that are also available. They could be the perfect little extra that you can add to the basket. It is always a nice snack when you pair cheese and crackers with one another.

Is the gift to honour of an engagement or an anniversary of some sort? If this is the case then you may want to consider adding a cute set of wine glasses in the basket as well. This is gesture that will definitely go over well and the couple will have memories of your gift that will last them a lifetime as well.

You can do anything you want when it comes to wine gift baskets, all that it really takes is a bit of an imagination. Just let yourself go and brainstorm a bit. You will be surprised at the things that will come to mind. Keep in mind the occasion of the gift basket and the person or people that it is for and it will surely turn out to be a very well received gift.

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What did the grape say when it was rolled over by a beer keg?

Nothing – it just let out a little “wine”!

What we drink says a lot about who we are – if you believe the marketing companies who target the mass markets with multi-million dollar commercials and campaigns. But is this really true?

Enjoying both beers and wines is not a mutually exclusive pastime – I personally drink both and conform with neither stereotypical image of either drinker – I’m not a young stud hanging out with great looking babes in a bar while ice-cold longnecks are guzzled by the truck load nor a wrinkly, liberal-looking, spectacle-wearing foodie with leather patches on my elbows.

Beer and wine have very long histories and a deep, cultural significance which is practically universal around the globe. The actual inventor of the wine and beer is not known, but what is known is thta they originated from the Middle East and most likely have been around since Neolithic times (around 5000 B.C.) – certainly the ancient Egyptians and various empires based to the East of the Mediterranean Sea have documented wines and beers as well as irrefutable archaeological evidence.

Certainly in those ancient times, there was no such thing as an NFL or Nascar event while cheese & wine parties were not exactly on the social menu. The division of potential consumers using marketing, and by extension, social stereotypes for beer and wine markets has created a false picture of who actually drinks them. Since wine producers in California started making headway in international markets bck in the 80’sWine was the alcoholic drink of the masses in Europe and not the upper crust – beer was drunk as water, simply because it was safe to drink due to the alcohol content and in fact, beer was not brewed for the purpose of getting drunk, at least, not in the beginning but to purify water.

Mass production of beer really started in the 20^th Century – in previous centuries other forms of alcohol dominated demand for getting smashed – and wine was one of the dominant beverages. With the coming of mass production also came mass marketing and in the case of beer, blue collar workers became the targeted demographic hoping they would want an ice-cold beverage after a hard day’s work. Girls, cars, smiling friends and being Mr. Popular in the bar were all part of the marketing mix thrown at potential beer drinkers being sold on fizzy, yellow brews. The self-owned breweries that have a good brew have been left out of the mainstream beer industry but appreciated by beer aficionados.

Marketing perception is rarely an accurate reflection of reality, if you consider that wine was discovered probably at an earlier date than beer from the archaeological evidence, wine would appear to have been the caveman’s first choice of fermented brew. If a caveman preferred wine to beer, this hardly matches the marketing perception that beer drinkers do not have taste nor being a hard-working macho-man precludes you from enjoying wine. Wine is also more potent than beer for those who wish to see who can get drunk the quickest.

On the other hand, wine experts and followers will probably point to the labor and skill which goes into creating a fine wine – the reality is that brewing beer also requires just as much artistry and imagination as producing a good bottle of plonk. The plethora of small breweries and family-owned brewers that have maintained their tradition for generations gives testimony to the great diversity of skill, taste, and ingenuity when it comes to making the best alcohol possible.

The bottom line – downing a beer or slurping a wine is not predetermined by social status or marketing categorization – it all comes down to one thing no matter who you are or what you do – your own taste.

By Mark Trumper, the guiding force of MaverickLabel.com, the Internet’s leading provider of labels, custom stickers and custom wine labels. From asset tags, to shipping labels to custom wine labels, MaverickLabel.com can provide all of your label needs. Call 1-800-537-8816.