If you have a cat, you won’t have
to sip wine alone anymore. A Japanese company, B & H Lifes, has come up
with wine made specifically for your feline friend. It’s called “Nyan Nyan Nouveau”. “Nyan
Nyan” means “meow meow” in Japanese. The wine does not contain alcohol, but
juice made from Cabernet grapes mixed with catnip. In Japan, it costs about $4
a bottle and only about a thousand bottles have been made. These folks must
have had a few too many when they thought of this. I wonder what animal activists
make of it. This “cat wine” or “Chateau Puss Puss” could easily start a new
trend. What’s next… “Bark-o-Velha” for your dog, “Rabbit Riesling” for your
hare or “Parrot-tage” for one’s
pet bird?
Monday, November 30, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
Perception of Components
When it comes to perceiving components
in wine, like sweetness, acid (sourness), tannin (dry puckering sensation on
the gums), consumers are all over the place. Some folks think a particular wine
is too dry while others not so much. Many people find a specific vino too
acidic (sour) when other tasters find the same wine quite palatable. Many more
react extremely to tannin or bitterness in one wine while others find the same
wine fine. It all comes down to an individual’s threshold or sensitivity to
certain components. We’re all different and only by tasting with others and
comparing notes can individual perceptions to components be realized. Once realized,
you can compensate for your individual sensitivity to some extent.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Nouveau Wines
This is the time of year when all the
“nouveau” wines come out on the market to celebrate the latest harvest. Whether
it’s French Beaujolais, Italian Novello or others, these are wines made in a
hurry that cut corners in their production. Hype is built up about them weeks
before urging the consumer to be the first to taste the new wine from the
harvest. It’s a great excuse for restaurants, hotels, bars, clubs and private
individuals to host celebrations to herald this event. Artistic labels, that
become collector items, are often commissioned for the bottles. It’s really
marketing genius. One must however keep in mind that these are not serious
wines that will keep or age. They’re theoretically created to be consumed
before Christmas.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Versatile Riesling
One of the greatest white grape
varieties on planet is Riesling. Why? First of all, it’s relatively easy to
grow as compared to other varietals and what you get out of the vineyard
basically goes into the bottle. There’s very little manipulation in the winery
and it remains pure as it does not see oak. Secondly, it is extremely
versatile. It can be made bone dry, dry, medium dry, medium sweet or even
extremely sweet. It is very susceptible to noble rot making some amazing
dessert-style wines. Riesling Icewine is fabulous and probably the best in the
world. Some great sparkling wines are made from it as well. From a taste
perspective, it has great acidity that makes it amazingly food-friendly and
age-worthy.
Monday, November 2, 2015
World’s Largest Wine Producer
For the last number of years, it’s
been a battle between Italy and France as to who produces the most wine on the
planet. Sometimes Italy, sometimes France! Last year France reigned supreme,
but this year Italy has regained the lead edging out France as top dog. Italy
was up 10% from 2014 while France increased only 1 %. There are so many wines
produced in Italy that some aren’t even definitively documented and many do not
leave the area of production. They simply get consumed right where they are
made. Spain took third spot while the U.S. Argentina and Chile followed.
Australia, South Africa and New Zealand were next. Overall, global wine
production was up 2% from last year and the year isn’t even over yet.
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