Blueberry Wine Information Blog

10:55 PM

Tuesday 08/05/08 - Wine Spectator

A Featured Wine Spectator Article

Wine and Dine Them


For friends that enjoy the finer things in life, a wine gift basket is a tasteful choice that they will be sure to appreciate. There are also gift baskets available with champagne, beer, hard cider, and even specialty soft drinks for those that don't drink wine.

For friends that enjoy the finer things in life, a wine gift basket is a tasteful choice that they will be sure to appreciate. There are also gift baskets available with champagne, beer, hard cider, and even specialty soft drinks for those that don't drink wine.

Wine gift baskets center around all varieties of wine and champagne. If the recipient has a preference for a certain type of wine, for instance Chablis or Merlot, you can probably find a basket featuring it. If you aren't familiar with wine, most local wine and liquor stores can answer your questions. Some even offer classes on wine appreciation and wine tasting. If you are shopping online, contact the seller of the wine gift basket you are interested in purchasing. If they are unable to answer your question, they can probably direct you to a good resource that can.

Small and local wineries may offer wine gift baskets. If you live near a wine producing area such as California's Napa Valley or New York's Finger Lakes region, you may be able to purchase a basket in their gift shop. Don't worry, if you don't live somewhere convenient to a winery, though. Online retailers have a great selection and can ship your purchases to many locations. Because champagne and wine are alcoholic beverages, there may be more shipping restrictions than with other gift basket choices.

Champagne and wine gift baskets start at under $50 and can range to $300 or more. At the less expensive end of the spectrum, generally they include a bottle of wine or champagne, chocolate or other food item, and possibly a stuffed toy, corkscrew or other small item. More extravagant baskets may contain a variety of gourmet goodies in addition to the wine.

A wine gift basket is a simple and elegant gift that complements every occasion. The recipient is sure to appreciate both your taste and the thought that went into selecting such a personal gift.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Bob Bassett is the owner of Unique Gift Baskets Online which offers a wide selection of gift baskets for any occasion including baby gift baskets, food gift baskets, wine and corporate gift baskets. http://www.uniquegiftbasketsonline.com



A synopsis on Wine Spectator.

Wine and Dine Them


For friends that enjoy the finer things in life, a wine gift basket is a tasteful choice that they will be sure to appreciate. There are also gift bas...


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Recommended Wine Spectator Items

Pommard - Cuvee Suzanne Chaudron - Hospices de Beaune


We purchased the Cuvee Suzanne Chaudron at the Hospices de Beaune auction that was held November 17th, 2002, and we have been eagerly anticipating its arrival! This Pommard was matured for 12 months in French Oak Barrels. The nose is open and frank with a bouquet of fresh black fruits, a touch of truffle, leather, and spices. It is clean in the mouth with a fresh, full-bodied attack that follows with a powerful and long finish with fruity and roasted flavors. The Burgundy wines from Pommard are well-known for the boldness and pair well with more powerful red meats and strong cheeses. PHB02 PHB02


Price: 119.99 USD



Wine Spectator in the news

Eunice Voters to Decide on Beer and Wine Sales (News West 9 Midland)

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:23:17 PDT
Eunice residents will decide on Tuesday whether they want to buy beer and wine with meals at restaurants.

Main Line Eden (The News Journal)

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:40:06 PDT
Creativity makes Chanticleer one of America's great gardens

Vinfolio Announces Partnership with CellarCentral (PRWeb)

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:00:30 PDT
Foremost fine wine and collector services company partners with leading cellar monitoring service to offer enhanced services to wine collectors (PRWeb Aug 4, 2008) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/08/prweb1171694.htm

Vinfolio Announces Partnership with CellarCentral (PRWeb via Yahoo! News)

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:30:00 PDT
Foremost fine wine and collector services company partners with leading cellar monitoring service to offer enhanced services to wine collectors

Recent Original Stories (OS News)

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:25:10 PDT
"Welcome to Issue 7 of the ReactOS Weekly Newsletter, as persistant as a Jehovah's Witness. This week, I'll be taking a look at the NDK used by the ReactOS developers, covering WINE 0.9.2, and detailing the latest SVN activity."

Brad Bollinger: Railroad Square transit-oriented development gets new chance (North Bay Business Journal)

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:58:38 PDT
With last month’s agreement allowing developers of the SMART transit-oriented development near Railroad Square to purchase the 5.3 acre site, the unique and visionary project now stands a chance of moving forward.

Recent Original Stories (New Mobile Computing)

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:30:45 PDT
Lots of news on SkyOS . Kaffe using GNU Classpath (without AWT) is now working fine on SkyOS, just like Wine. Although there is no Wine graphics driver yet, you can already start Windows console applications directly from within SkyOS (once a Wine/SkyGI backend is available Wine should run on SkyOS as good as it does on Linux, and will be available via Software Store).


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1:54 PM

August 04, 2008 - Beginner Wine-

The Best Articles on Beginner Wine

I Love Italian Wine and Food - Reviewing The Whites



I recently finished a wine tour of Italy's twenty administrative regions, briefly describing each region prior to tasting a representative wine with food, and at least one imported Italian cheese. I enjoyed the experience so much that I plan to repeat it, but only after doing something similar for France and perhaps a few other countries. I am happy enough with Italian wine to continue to drink it for the rest of my days, but there are other wine-producing countries out there, and other wines to drink. I am going to give you a bit of a report on the white wines I encountered on this wine tour, but only after a quick summary of Italian white wines, as if such an endeavor was possible. Look for a similar article on Italian red wines.


You wouldn't be alone if you immediately think red when the subject of Italian wine is raised. In spite of extreme variations in climate, soil, elevation, and other geographical conditions, every single one of Italy's twenty regions produces white wine. Of course the percentage varies widely from 84% in the central region of Latium to 9% in the southern region of Calabria. Many of the best-known Italian white wines come from northern Italy.


But the reality of Italy wine is more complex than first meets the eye. Who would have thought that Sicily, a southern Italian region if ever there was one, produces almost as much white wine as red wine. Considering that Sicily holds first place for Italian wine production that's a lot of white wine. In fact, Sicily's annual white wine production is greater than the total wine production of all but five Italian regions. Not all of it is good. But not all of it is bad, and in fact some Sicilian white wine is excellent.


In chronological order we tasted a white wine from the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, the central region of Umbria, the southern region of Campagnia, the central region of Molise, the northern region of Friuli-Venezia Giuli, the southern region of Sicily, the northern region of Veneto, and finally the northern region of Tuscany while describing its neighboring region of Liguria. I was unable to find a Ligurian wine.


These eight wines varied in classification from basically unclassified table wines to IGT, DOC, and DOCG. In short all Italian wine classifications were represented. IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which may be translated as Typical Geographic Indication, in other words a wine that typifies its specific location. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin. DOCG stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Guarantita, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin.


The wines varied in price from $6 (actually $8 for a one-liter bottle) to $20. Interestingly enough they all contained from 12% to 12.5% alcohol. They were all 2004 or 2005 vintages. In contrast, the grapes used varied widely, including both international and strictly Italian varieties. Some wines included multiple grape varieties, others did not. And now for the question that you've been waiting for, what about the quality, and in particular the quality as a function of price? That too varied widely, there were both positive and negative surprises. We overpaid and there were definitely some bargains. Which was which? Read the articles.



Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His wine website is www.theworldwidewine.com .




About the Author


Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His wine website is www.theworldwidewine.com .

Thoughts about Beginner Wine

I Love Italian Wine and Food - Reviewing The Whites


I recently finished a wine tour of Italy's twenty administrative regions, briefly describing each region prior to tasting a representative wine with f...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Featured Beginner Wine Items

Le Montrachet - Grand Cru


The Protheau Estate began in 1720 with 55 hectares in Mercury. Since then they have grown to 280 hectares with 130 hectares covering most of the important growths of the Cote d'Or and the southernly Cote Chalonnaise. Now based in Meursault, the firm produces 69 Burgundy appelations which include 23 Premier Crus and 3 Grand Crus. The Protheau Montrachet is golden yellow in color with a nose of white flowers, green apple and hints of oak and vanilla that jumps out of the glass at you. The mouth is quite mineral with modest, mature acidity and hints of ripe pears. A very exceptional Montrachet. (Subject to Availabilty) LMO98 LMO98


Price: 461.99 USD



Beginner Wine in the news

Being Gas-Worthy: Diary of a Cheapskate : DivineCaroline

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:16:55 PDT
Saying goodbye to a friend is never easy. But at $3.41 a gallon, it’s absolutely excruciating. It’s been a rough few days. I’m currently nursing a hangover (at least it was cheap wine, my favorite kind) and a slightly bruised spirit.

SimpleFoodie.com - Recipe Mulled Wine

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:24:11 PDT
If you really want to get into the European holiday spirit then make some Mulled Wine. The aroma of the Mulling Spices will fill your home and give you that cozy feeling.

Live voting: good Budget, bad Budget?

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:02:00 PDT
The Chancellor has raised duty on spirits, wine and beer - by as much as 55p for a bottle of spirits. Do you believe this is enough to tame the binge-drinking culture?

Budget: your views

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:31:28 PDT
Life’s little pleasures will cost more from midnight Sunday, as beer will cost 4p more a pint, cider 3p a litre, wine 14p and spirits 55p a bottle. The tax on 20 cigarettes will increase by 11p and a pack of five cigars by 4p


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