Australia has become the 4th largest wine exporter in the world. Italy, France, Spain, Australia, Chili & the US are the rankings.We import all kinds of wines from Australia. It's famous one is Grange by Penefolds Vineyard which is very expensive (in the ball park of $500 per bottle sometimes) Very little of this wine is made. Perhaps that is why it is so expensive. Aside from the fact that it is very pleasing to the palate. I was graced on an occasion several years ago with a bottle of this vintage. But, Yellow Tail is one of our largest imports from Australia, being only $9 a bottle and this is a favorite of mine which I purchase regularly. The Shiraz is my favorite. The Yellow Tail Shiraz was the very first Shiraz and first Australian wine I tried and still today it is my all time fav.
Below are some of the great vineyards of Australia. I am very pleased to say I have had the pleasure of experiencing all except for Brokenwood Wines,Black Swan Vineyards,Juniper Estate and Vasse Felis.....sooooo if there are any samples out there for trying just send them on their way to me! LOL!!!!! Seriously******* I have linked each vineyard below with their links, so just click away and tour their vineyards and learn about their goodness. Till later....Cheers!
ROSEMONT
PENFOLDS
HARDYS
YELLOW TAIL
JACOB'S CREEK
LINDEMANS
ALICE WHITE
WYNNS COONAWARRA ESTATE
MARGARET RIVER WINE CENTER
BROKENWOOD WINES
BLACK SWAN VINEYARDS
JUNIPER ESTATE
VASSE FELIS
The chart above shows dark green and light green area's of the globe as to where people have actually taken the time to read my blog. Goal? To have GREEN everywhere! The blog was started October 25 and so far total times it was gazed upon is 549 times.
You know the Christmas story of old.....It's A Wonderful Life....one of my all time favorites I make sure to watch each year. If you are a wine lover do you wonder if they had us wine lovers in mind? Ok, enough of being silly this morning! I do however remember them drinking egg nog in the movie, but I don't remember seeing any wine bottles or goblets...I will have to watch more closely this Christmas.
If your holiday dinners are like what mine used to be like when married and entertaining, you have shrimp & beef, maybe some sausage and pasta, stuff cabbages, great veggies and the list goes on & on with all the goodies for desert. If I were chosing wines for my holiday entertaining I would chose both a wonderful Chardonay and a great Australian red. (I am partial to Australian wines) I may also have a wonderful port or an ice wine on hand for desert.(these are great poured over a bowl of french vanilla ice cream! yum....yum....yum! But if your family is Italian like mine you would want to have a wonderful Italian pino grigio from northern Italy and maybe a red from Sicily. You may want to start your shopping list now for the trip to the wine store. Figure on at least half a bottle per guest and then you may as well do your New Years Eve shopping while there, so don't forget the bubbly! Grab a bottle or 2 extra to have on hand just in case you unexpectedly get invited out during the holidays. That way you already have your gift for the hostess. Remember it is always grand to show up at the door of someone's home with flowers, candy, wines, candles or some other type of gift for the person who extends a warm welcome for you into their home. My parents raised me to not go visiting without taking a gift of some sort and over time I have had close friends of mine tell me it is because of my doing so it has lead them to do the same when they go out and then those friends turn around and carry on the same when visiting. It is a wonderful feeling to hear this and know it is mostly because of the generous parents I had growing up who started me on this path in life. As the holidays approach I grow a bit sad because both Mom & Dad are gone now. Mom passed on December 6, 3 years ago,and Dad January 5, soon to be 5 years ago,In less than 2 years I lost my heritage....but I have all the memories and traditions left to carry on with. Holidays will never quite be the same but now it is time for me to add into the traditions I already have a few of my own. We tend to miss our loved ones a bit more on these occasions in life, but memories are forever. I do hope you have a few happy memories with your parents.
Sorry.....I get emotional quite often...now back to the holiday wine...
If you are really confused about which wine to choose for your festivities then try out the wine & food paring chart I have in the right hand column of this blog page. It has been a great help to me.
Tomorrow I am going to delve into the Australian wines....being my favorites...I figured I would start there first. So till then...keep warm, (if in the south....keep cool) be safe, and spread some love and joy into someone's life!
God Bless....
Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
In the end it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. Proverbs 23:31-33
This to me is just saying...."don't get drunk on it".....a bit of wine can be good but a lot?.....watch out!
"The most complete wine book ever. A must for anyone who loves wine, whether they are a pro or an amateur. Thorough, authoritative and entertaining"----Robert Mondavi, founder and chairman emeritus of th Robert Mondavi Family of Wines. THIS WAS A QUOTE ON THE BACK OF THE WINE BIBLE WE USE FOR OUR STUDY PURPOSES
What wine will you be serving for the Christmas Holidays? In the next few days I will be blogging about the various favorites I have learned about. If I were entertaining I would have 3 types for my guest to choose from because my sincere opinion stands strong...we should drink what we like...not because someone says it is complimentary to our meal. I drink wine mainly for the health benefits. My doctors tell me for a 57 year old woman my blood levels are impeccable. And all this came about after being told several years ago to drink a small glass of wine each evening. I do this 4-5 times a week and sometimes go 4 or 5 days forgetting to do so. But I do believe it has kept my cholesterol levels where they need to be. I do however value any ones opinion to decide to serve which wines go best with which foods. I just tend to love my full bodied reds. Till tomorrow....Cheers!
Either of these luxury items I would love to have in my home. And I actually do not believe it would be a waste of my money. They come in much larger sizes, but for just myself these would be sufficient. Ideally I would love to have a climate controlled wine room with a small wooden table & 2 stools in the center where I could actually take friends to see the collection I chose and allow them to pick their drink of the evening and sit at the table for a bit and enjoy a taste before going upstairs to the kitchen or living room to enjoy the bottle of wine. Dreams....yes that is what life is made of! Maybe someday I will have that dream. I have learned from The Wine Bible that temperatures in wine vary for each type. So one of these units would surely pay off in itself.
The fastest way to chill wine is of course in a wine bucket. But many may forget to take the wine out after a few minutes and it would be way too chilled for its type. Red wines should only remain in the bucket for 5 minutes, fruity reds around 15 minutes and whiles for 15 to 25 minutes and of course champagne for a half an hour. This is why as attractive as an ice bucket can be & I would love to have a lead crystal one in my home, I think a wine chiller you can program with your type of wine and take out when ready would be the best investment. I like a dry, full bodied red and drink mine at the moment room temperature. I do not enjoy a chilled wine, red or white, although on a hot summer day a glass of chilled chardonay is awesome and refreshing and relaxing at the same time.
I have learned in The Wine Bible that wine doesn't care if it is stored in a $10,000 custom built cellar or in a damp basement or in a closet as long a 3 important facts remain true.....the environment is cool, the bottle is lying on its side or upside down (do not stand upright)and no direct sunlight. Temperatures matter because it will affect the chemical changes taking place as the wine matures. A wine stored at 75 degrees will mature 2x as fast as one stored at 57 degrees. If you store the bottle upright the cork will begin to dry out and shrink. If air gets in over time this will cause the taste of the wine to change.
So....finalization.....I would love to have a walk in, sit down wine room (so if anyone out there is wondering what to get me for Christmas!) but since this of course is a fantasy of mine a single bottle wine chiller would do the job. I will continue to keep my wines as I have, being a box of wine is doing me well for now. But for special occasions I will purchase my wines and keep on a shelf (on their sides) in my basement where the temperature there is much cooler all year round than the rest of my home. If anyone is doing their shopping online and want to check out wine chillers I have found you can do so HERE.
HAPPY CYBER MONDAY everyone!!!!!! Enjoy your shopping experience in the pleasant atmosphere of your home without any pushing and shoving...shopping in your PJ's can be the best!
Cheers!
