Known as the worlds favorite white wine. It is America's # 1 white wine varietal. Climbing the ladders of one of the best dry white wines around. The Chardonnay vine is a low maintenance vine which will undergo many climatic changes and still produce well. Chardonnay's have a buttery, oak undertone with fruity flavors to be desired. Aplle, pear, citrus, melon & tropicals all rolled into one. It leaves your palate refreshed and wanting more! Chardonnay serves well with chicken, pork, salads, seafoods and add a cream sauce to your main dish and your in heaven! Jacobs Creek wine is one of my favorites, add a bit of brie and sliced apples & this could be a fantastic meal in itself!
I prefer red....but this white will do wonderfully for me!
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....
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
