Wine Stoppers.......Plain to Fancy

Wine stoppers of all shapes, sizes and materials.
From plain to fancy. Murano glass stoppers from Italy. Plain stoppers in stainless,pewter,chrome, cork and wood. The main idea of a stopper is to stop the oxidation and spoiling of the bottle of luscious wine you have opened. Oxygen entering your bottle of wine after time will change the alcohol to carboxylic acid. Which just really means "vinegar". I am sure most of you have had this happen. You open a wonderful bottle of wine and save some, or should I say have some left, and then the next day go to have a glass and it taste nothing like it did the previous day. Most will dump this down the drain, but I have learned in my ways of being taught as a young girl...waste not, want not....I have dyed unfinished wooden picture frames with it, fabric, and my best find is making salad dressing from it. Use in place of vinegar when making a homemade dressing & you will love what you taste...the extra virgin olive oil will meld together nicely with your "bad tasting" wine. Fancy wine stoppers make great gift ideas and are perfect for "stocking stuffers". I have stumbled upon a site yesterday WineStopperStore
I contacted Walter, the owner, to see if I could promote his business in my blog today. He responded in record timing! Please visit his store to see the very large amount of stoppers he has available & if you do not see the one you are looking for you can feel free to ask him to find it for you. He is very prompt and customer service is high on his priority list. His business started in a one bedroom apartment working on the website nights and weekends all the while working a full time job. I know the struggles of this journey he has taken personally as this is how I built my website. Dedication to his work has developed a wonderful site for him to display his passion to you. So please stop by his site and take a look to see if there is anything you might need for a special gift for a special someone. There still is time to have it shipped to you. Most of the above wine stoppers are available @ TheWineStopperStore
So stop by & tell Walter...."Gabbriella" sent you! Please consider following his blog WineStopperStoreBlog
The crystal cross below is a favorite wine stopper of mine I hope to add to my collection someday.
Good Day for now! Happy Shopping @ The Wine Stopper Store!

COMMENT TO MY ARTICLE CHRISTMAS WINES

Comments

Christmasiscoming said...
Dec-7-10 5:40pm

I have just received a case of wine for Christmas, and I thought I'd share it with you (not the actual wine, although that would be nice) because it sounds like a great idea to me, the wines are chosen by a Wine Master and wine experts to be exactly right for Christmas, I presume the food, festivities and definitely the weather have been taken into account, the website is www.wineforchristmas.com So far I've tried 3 bottles and they have all been lovely, and, they did seem to be spot on for the weather and the festivities, anyway, I thought I'd share this little find with you all seeing as it was relevant to the article... Enjoy!


This comment was left on my Zimbio site which my blogs get forwarded to....Gabbriella

Tuscan Wines

Tuscany is known as one of the most romantic places on earth. Is it because of the background scenery or is it because of the wines?........or might it be a blend of the two? Which ever you decide..... remember "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Wineries can vary in size from tiny farmed estates to the huge colassal firms. Which would you like to visit? I like quaint, old things....I can imagine myself going to the tiny farmed privately owned vineyard. I like a home feeling. I am not into overpowering estates. Although they may be nice or maybe nice is too gentle of a word. Being of Italian heritage I would just love to visit a small vineyard, sit in the Italian flower garden and look out into the fields at a distance while sipping my wonderfully made glass of wine. Taking in every moment around me...the air, the sun, the conversation and every taste of the grapes...to just totally loose myself in the moment of time and keep not only a visual picture in my mind but also the scents of the air around me. My dream vacation...sometime in the future I am sure. Napa Valley and Tuscany....not in any order but both are planned in my mind. On my next trip to the wine store in Boardman, Ohio, my favorite wine store around, I am going to purchase a Tuscan Wine or 2 and hold a taste for myself and then report for you. Even though I am of Italian Heritage I do not really drink Italian wines, shame on me...I know, This will need to change. Although at Thanksgiving dinner a family my son knows who live locally own a vineyard in Italy and their daughter runs it, they brought a couple of bottles to dinner and it was rather enjoyable, pleasing to the palate and of course had good legs. Shame on me again I was so into the turkey and the stuffing that I did not retain the name of the wine in my mind. I will find out soon....promise.....till later...Cin Cin! (Cheers!)

Poppa Donne' homemade wine....

Growing up part Italian, my father was full blooded Italian, I have wonderfully fond memories of my great grandfather "Poppa Donne" and the times I spent with him. He spoke English but chose to speak Italian more. All that was missing at his home was the fact that it was in Pennsylvania on a farm and not in Italy on a vineyard estate. Each and every Sunday Poppa would have the entire family for dinner. Dinner would consist of homemade spaghetti (handmade noodles) homemade sauce from the tomatoes and herbs of his garden, and homemade wine. Poppa would give each great grandchild a shot glass full of his homemade brew. Our parents would argue...No...but Poppa won each time. "Good for their blood" he would tell them! The old timers knew what they were talking about. It was a wonderful celebration each and every Sunday I will never forget. Running and playing on the farm with the fresh air. Climbing the plum trees and picking fruit while Poppa watched with a careful eye as he sat under his grape arbor where he would gaze upon the fruit he would change to wine when harvest season came. I spent many afternoons and evenings sitting with Poppa listening to his stories in broken English of how he made the wines. I would look at the grape clusters and vines and leaves and think "my what a gorgeous site" Never did I think I would someday be doing a study on wine and yearn to be sitting at my Poppa's feet again, not as a young girl of 9 or 10, but as a woman in her late 50's. If only I could have one more sitting with Poppa it would not be just a one way conversation...but now I could chime in with my bits of knowledge I am learning. So my first experience with wine was at about age 7 or 8 and Poppa's was the first to give me happy memories. Now a plan of homes is on the site of Poppa's farmland.....a cousin of mine lives in one of the homes, and we still remember times on the farm & those Sunday meals with Poppa and our family. I had a very fortunate childhood. I not only had both sets of grandparents from mom and dad I also had a great grandfather who was remarkable.
My father's father was Roman, his mother was a Brazilian Italian. I have learned that in ancient Rome wine was linked to authority. If you had a vineyard you had power. Here in America I think Tuscany is the area most people want to visit for wine. Wine is on every table for every meal with the exclusion of breakfast (maybe?) sometimes the meal itself is a slice of bread and the wine. I have been know to do this after a long day at the office and not even bother with a meal...I guess it is my heritage coming through.
The whites grapes of Tuscany are: Chardonnay (the regions most expensive white) Malvasia (now the grape most known for vin santo the desert wine), Sauvignon Blanc (very limited amounts are grown),Trebbiano (used for dry whites), Vernaccia (Tuscany's most traditional refreshing white wine). The reds grapes of Tuscany are Cabernet Sauvignon (often times blended with sangiovese to make Chianti), Canaiolo (declining in use) Merlot (also used to make Chianti), and Sangiovese (the major Tuscan grape).
There is so much to cover with Italian wines. I will get deeper into the study in the next day or so. Some times I need to reread a section to be sure I have the proper understanding. It is written in English but the depth of what they are relaying to the reader is a lot to behold. So till tomorrow....Chow!

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What does the Bible Say.....

What does the Bible say about drinking alcohol / wine? Is it a sin for a Christian to drink alcohol / wine?

I found the above link a while back....being a Christian from time to time I like to include scripture on my blogs. Some may frown upon a Christian for drinking...it is all about a balance in life in my opinion and not doing things in excess to have them cause you or others problems. So read what gotquestions.org has to say about this subject. We need a balance in all area's of our lives or we could fall when faced with temptations of all sorts that come our way. Anything that causes us to stumble with our walk with the Lord is bad for us.

Topic tomorrow.....Italian wines!.....my heritage (and my father from Rome never drank a bit all his life!)

Wine Openers from Pretty to Convenient

These are just a few of the wine openers available in the stores these days. From very attractive to highly functional and then simplicity.There are waiter style, mounted styles, screw pull corkscrews, easy grip corkscrew. They come in all shapes and sizes (even electric) They can be high tech, simply classic or decorative and even pink! They can be all different price ranges. But what really matters is does it do the job. They all eventually get the cork out of the bottle so you can enjoy your wine. It is all a preference of what you want for your collection of bar items. I would love to collect antique corkscrews someday. Not to really use them but perhaps just to display and cherish.
The curly part of the corkscrew is called the worm. It has been told to me that the corkscrew is an English invention. I will need to do more research on this one. The English have brought us many great things. It is said they began using the corkscrew in the 1600's. Not only for wine but also for beers and cider. In 1795, the first corkscrew patent was granted to the Reverend Samuel Henshal, in England. From simple to electric we have come a long way. One will do the job just as well as the other. They all have the same basic purpose in mind...getting the bottle open. This is definitely one tool your bar or kitchen drawer can not be without if you choose to purchase your wines with a cork and not in a box or screw top. I have drank many great tasting and high quality wines from a box and screw top so we can not exactly judge a wine by how it is packaged.
In The Wine Bible you can be guided as to how to properly use the cork screw. I have found that I could never operate the waiter's corkscrew. possibly it is because I just learned that you need between 50 & 100 pounds of pulling force to do so and my hands being weak are not capable of that.
There is nothing easier than pushing a button and getting your wine from a box when you have bad hands, but when I get my trusty, simple wine opener from the department store out to open a bottle of wine somehow it changes the whole atmosphere in the room and the experience is a bit more pleasing to me. You see I have learned over the last decade in my life in learning about wines to make it an experience from the time I decide to go to the wine store to purchase, till I sit down in the comfort of my home or a friends to truly enjoy every moment. You may say that I have "fallen in love". And yes, that would be the proper way to look at it. I love every part of the wine experience. The best parts are when I do have time to go and tour the wineries and see the vines in the fields and get up close and touch them. These are moments I have had and do not forget. I have not been to Napa or Tuscany yet...those trips are definitely what I wish to do in the next decade of my life, but I have been to wineries in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio and I have learned that the more I learn about wines the more appreciative I am of all the work involved with the whole process from the vine to the glass.
Cheers!

PS...Corkscrews can be great stocking stuffers!!!! hint...hint....