Buy a BreathalyzerA Breathalyzer is a portable hand-held device in which you blow, that measures your blood alcohol level. Many good breathalyzers can be purchased on-line. Buy a good one. In general, they are priced based on their accuracy - the more expensive the unit, the more accurate the reading. For about $100 you can find a quality unit that is approved by the Department of Transportation. Do your research, buy one, and put it in your car.This is a... Read More
Red wine spills can be a disaster whether they occur in your home or onboard your $43 million executive jet as members of our corporate flight attendant web community are quick to point out. Taking care of a spill is another thing, but we have discovered two "tried and true" solutions to the problem. Please read on to find out what we discovered:1. If you have just spilled red wine, immediately pour white wine over a red wine stain. The... Read More
So, you find yourself having been invited to a dinner party and decided to bring the host a bottle of wine. But which type of wine should you buy? I am sure you have seen people seemingly bewildered in front of the wine shelves at the local grocery or liquor store. You have seen them, staring dumbly with no idea what wine to pick out. After you read this article, you can be assured you will never be one of... Read More
I manage a highly regarded web community for corporate flight attendants and the subjects we discuss on our forum include: how to get hired, appropriate business attire, taxes and accounting, safety issues, and food service. The latter category can, at times, be a real hot button issue with opinions divurging and colliding frequently, even on the simplest matters. You see, corporate flight attendants really want to do everything perfectly -- the first time and every time -- as their passengers... Read More
There are three methods that may be used to make sparkling wine. These methods are: the Transfer Method, Charmat Bulk process and Methode Champenoise. Methode Champenoise is the most labor-intensive and costly of these.Before we get into how sparkling wines are made, we should first make a distinction between sparkling wine and champagne. Champagne is sparkling wine, but sparkling wine is not necessarily champagne. True champagne is produced in the Champagne region of France by using the Methode... Read More
Follow a Local Wine Trail to Discover the Secrets of Fine WineSuppose you want to kick back after a long day at work. You light a candle and put on some quiet music but realize the evening isn't complete, so you run out to your local liquor store, looking for the perfect bottle of wine to cap the evening. What will you buy? When you see all the choices, you will probably look for a brand you tried before or... Read More
Wine tasting is properly known as 'Wine Degustation'. It is the art of being able to note the various differences between difference types of wine, and even the various differences between the vintages of the same type of wine.There are basically two parts to Wine Tasting, first is 'What are we looking for' the second is 'How are we looking'. We'll start with the How, and move on to the What.Traditionally the seven steps to sampling wine are: see, sniff,... Read More
Pairing beer with the fine cuisine has recently come to the attention of many eating establishments as they try to cater to the 90's micro-brew crowd. No longer is wine considered the only drink fit for a succulent entree. You too can bring this art form into your own home with a few simple tips.Much like wine, you must consider the style of cuisine and the predominant flavors in a dish. Here are a few examples to get you started:... Read More
It was once a ritual usually performed by a man. He would put some salt where the bottom of the thumb met his wrist. After licking the salt, he would take a swig of tequila from a shot glass and then bite into a piece of lime. Ladies were not too fond of this and always drank their tequila mixed into a cocktail. Tequila is listed as a spirit and distilled from the sugar sap of the blue agave plant... Read More
The mere mention of etiquette brings to mind various images, mainly negative. Etiquette means observing set rules. It's not about the quaint traditions but where wine is concerned etiquette matter.The primary connoisseurs of fine wine are oenophiles who are stringent about treating, serving and tasting wine. Then there are wine lovers and those simply appreciating wine. For occasional enthusiasts, collectors and cellar owners, the essence of wine etiquette heightens the experience.Determine Proper Temperature Wine is altered by temperature and... Read More
Here is a quick summary of the different French wine regions you can visit with some idea of what you'll be tasting and the airports where you can conveniently pick up a rental car.Champagne RegionWhat to taste: bubbly, of course! From the twin champagne-making centres of Reims and EmpernayWhich Airport to pick up your Champagne rental car? Paris Charles de Gaulle car hire or Paris Orly Airport car hire.Alsace RegionWhat to taste: sweet and scented white winesWhere to get your... Read More
Although details are understandably sketchy, it is believed that, around 6000 BC, grapes were being grown and wine was being made in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq).Mesopotamia and Egypt Wine was popular with the pharaohs of ancient Egypt from about 3000 BC onwards. Inscriptions and illustrations of grape harvesting and wine making have been found in a number of tombs.Many temples had vineyards attached to them and it is thought that wine was used for religious ritual purposes. However, as is... Read More
People have been drinking fermented beverages since the dawn of civilization. At first, the production of alcohol may have been accidental. Over time, it became an art.Mead is a beverage made from fermented honey. This very drink was the founding father of wine and beer. A purist might just stick to just the simplest recipe of honey, water, and yeast, but some people, like myself, add a few additional ingredients to compliment the main ingredient.My first introduction to mead was... Read More
Keeping a wine bottle sealed is probably the most important factor when it comes to maintaining a good wine.A cork is essential, as it keeps oxygen out of the wine bottle. If a bottle of wine is not airtight then it may become oxidized and undrinkableTraditionally, the only corks worth considering were those actually made of cork. Recently, however, many wine experts have recognized that cork may actually cause more problems than it solves.Cork, due to its malleable nature may... Read More
Wine Tasting Component I: LookThe first step you have to undertake in wine tasting is visual.1. Fill up the glass up to 1/3 of its volume; never fill it more than half;2. Hold the glass by the stem. Initially you may find this too pretentious but there are good reasons for it:а) by doing it this way you can actually observe the wine in it;b) this will keep your fingerprints off the bowl;в) the heat from your palm will not... Read More
Red Wine, Heart Disease, Hungry Sharks and Knights in Shining ArmorWhat is so special about wine? What is it that makes it potentially more protective against coronary heart disease, and perhaps other diseases, that other forms of alcohol?In recent years, scientists have concluded without doubt that many human diseases such as heart disease, cancer and the aging process is caused or stimulated by a ravenous group of chemicals called free radicals, that act like hungry sharks. These highly charged little... Read More
Many people are intimidated by the task of selecting wine in a fine restaurant. This article is intended to provide a simple guide that will enable anyone to feel confident enough to choose a wine that will impress their dinner guests. The focus is on French and Italian wines.While there are no set rules for pairing wine with food, generally a full-bodied red wine should accompany rich and seasoned food. White wines are better suited for lighter fare.These are some... Read More
A good drink is what even Gods enjoy and to most a good wine is the best drink in the world. The connoisseurs of wine say that to find out a good wine is to smell and taste it. Not is the case with the wine racks. It is much harder a task than that for you get to know the insulation, humidity and temperature that your wine needs besides the ambience that your wine drinker needs and lot other... Read More
When it comes to making alcoholic beverages at home, wine making and home brewing is considered sort of a 'niche' market. You either know how to do it or you don't! This is very hard to believe as wine making and home brewing has been going on for thousands of years. Just recently it was confirmed that wine making was invented in Cyprus rather than western Europe. As we still discover the facts about the history, what about the present?... Read More
I must admit, that for many of us, walking into a store to buy a bottle of wine can be a little like visiting a foreign country and not knowing the language. If you're buying wine for yourself that's probably not a big deal, although it might be nice to be somewhat knowledgeable so that you're more likely to buy something you will enjoy. However, if you are buying a bottle of wine as a gift, then being able to... Read More
