Does a Bottle a day keep the Dr. away?

Dr. Arriola’s study found that drinking a bottle of red wine reduced the risks of developing heart disease by 50%.   So, while a bottle a day may keep the Heart Dr. away, you might want to prepare for the some help with your liver or brain.

Wine Specator 2009 Top 100 - What’s your favorite?

Wine Spectator has released their 2009 Top 100 listing of this years most existing wines.

Check out their pdf listing with rankings and price for more details.

Do you have a favorite?  or…disagree with any picks?

Empress Josephine responsible for French Bourdeax Success

Empress Josephine was one of the first French royalty to favor Bourdeaux wines.  Louis XVI did not have even a single bottle recorded in his cellar.

Josephine’s handwritten cellar inventory was found after her detah in 1814.  The special listing of 13,286 wines along with her stemware and other treasures are display at Le Cave de Josephine through March 2010.  Her collection included wines from Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, and Hungary.  But, Napolean and her both favored bourdeaux.  Josephine is likely the catalyst that spurred the Bordeaux popularity we see today.

Grape Update: Gamay

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, a quick lesson on the Gamay grape, the grape famous for Beaujolais wines.

The Gamay grape is an ancient natural clone of Pinot Noir, and its full name is Gamay Noir a Jus Blanc.  Wines from this grape has a distinctive “Pear drop” aroma.  Three types of Gamay wines are typically made.

Beaujolais Noveau - Producted in the Beaujolais region in France, this wine is fermented for only a few weeks using carbonic maceration to vinitify the wine.  The rush is all about getting the first wine to market, usually around Thanksgiving.  But, these wines are also not known to be of the highest quality.  Check out Wine Specatators 2009 Reviews if you want to try some this year.

Beaujolais Villages - Also uses carbonic maceration but typically uses better fruit and is not rushed thru the fermentation process.  They are usually still a lighter tine and should still be drank young (1-2 years usually).

Beaujolais Cru -  A select few of the classic Beaujolais crus can even be aged 10-15 years and will develop pinot noir traits.  Typically they may not even say Beaujolais on the label, so plan to do some research or ask the resident wine expert in your store.

The greyer the berry the sweeter the juice?

Have you ever enjoyed an Auslese or Beerenauslese wine from Germany or even an Italian Amarone? If so, then you’ve probably consumed wines that are derived from grapes with a grey fungus called Botrytis cinerea.  A botrytized wine comes from grapes covered in grey mold and is commonplace, especially in German wines. Boytris is caused by a continually humid environment that can lead to a destructive form of the fungus called gray rot that will destroy whole harvests of grapes.  If wet weather conditions are followed by a drier condition it leads to noble rot (Pourriture Noble in French) which is a benevolent form of Botrytis cinerea.

When grapes are picked during certain beneficial stages of this process they yield sweet concentrated yet fine wines. Many times noble rot does not affect a ripened bunch of grapes simultaneously, so the grapes must harvested using a number of passes through a vineyard to select grapes at the right stage of infection. The grey fungus thrives off the water in the grapes, leaving behind a high concentration of fruity acids and sugars. This leads to a wine that has high concentrations of sugars and acidity.

Is Wine Your Aphrodisiac?

Florence study found that women sexual desires were higher for moderate red wine drinkers, compared to others who preferred other alcoholic drinks or none at all.

How, you ask? Researchers are not really sure. But, the current guess is that antioxidants contained in red wine help widen the blood vessels which increases blood flow to many key areas of the body.