Testarossa Winery Account Manager, Marie Bourdet, Wine Educator, Bob Zamora, and Winemaker Bill Brousseau enjoy a taste of Chardonnay.
If you’ve ever been inside a cellar, you’ve probably seen ample evidence that winemakers are clean freaks. From workers hosing down tanks to pristine wine thieves, the clean machine is in force at today’s wineries.
How you store your wines can significantly change what you taste in your glass. Whether you are storing wine for a few months or a few decades, there are some basic rules to help prevent wines from aging prematurely.
In this short video, “How-to Store Wine Properly,” we’ll cover humidity level, temperatures, location and discuss storing cork versus screwcap bottles. You’ll get some easy tips to help keep your wines in perfect condition.
There is no “wrong” way to serve wine, but these tips can help elevate our wine club members’ experience.
Wine can be served many ways.
Let It Rest To Avoid Travel Shock in Wine
Most of our members would be happy to drink their monthly wine club shipments right away, but when you receive a shipment of wines, it is best to let them rest for a few days in a cool, dark place before enjoying. This should eliminate any travel shock.
“In vino veritas (In wine there is truth),” said Alcaeus, a Greek poet who lived in the 6th century BC. Wine should be fun, and always an adventure. While we love all things wine, there are some outdated ideas that need correcting. Here we dissect a few of the most pervasive misconceptions and get to the truth of the matter.
Fermentation is the essential process of that magical transformation of grapes to wine. “The complexity and completion of fermentation should be a celebration of the land, a reflection of the vineyard, whether of a site, a style of vine husbandry, or vintage,” says Winemaker Greg LaFollette (also known as “The Grape Whisperer”). See what is going on in that bubbling fermentation tank.
See why some winemaking techniques will never go out of fashion.
Winemaking Technique #1: Foot-Trodding
“For our white wines, grapes are typically put directly into a press so the juice can be extracted and fermented. This only provides an hour or two of skin contact. For our Roussanne, we prefer more skin contact so we foot stomp the grapes until there is enough juice to cover them. We then wrap the bins, add some dry ice and let them sit overnight. In the morning, we press the grapes. We do this to extract more color from the skins but also to extract tannin and phenols which adds texture to the finished wine.” — Co-Founder Scott MacFiggen, Sosie Wines
Prohibition set the California wine industry back decades. Most wineries never recovered, and there was a devastating loss of expertise as winemakers moved on to other professions.
When Prohibition began in 1920, there were 713 bonded California wineries. By 1933, the vast majority were out of business. See how some wineries managed to survive, and even thrive, despite this “dry spell.”
“14 years ago, I began painting with wine,” says artist Dr. Ruth Jaffe. “We were visiting a gallery that had adjacent to it a wine tasting room. Or rather, we were in the wine tasting room and adjacent to it was a painting studio. I remember it very clearly, almost like a photograph in my mind. I was tasting a red wine, and I was looking through a door to where there were some easels with some paintings, and I thought, hmm…”
The California Wine Club member Jim Schwenke from Connecticut introduced us to Ruth’s art. Jim’s library was exhibiting her work, and he thought other members would find Ruth’s art as intriguing as he did. Happily, when we tracked Ruth down, she was gracious enough to tell us all about herself and our favorite art medium.
“I’ve dabbled with painting all my life,” explains Ruth. “I’ve always been interested in art and I started to paint more steadily about 19 years ago. I am a psychoanalyst, that is my profession, which goes right along with painting as my own personal therapy.” Ruth has shown her paintings in group shows in New York, California, and with the Washington Arts Association in Connecticut.
100 years ago when Prohibition began in 1920, there were 713 bonded California wineries. Some pivoted to making sacramental wine, and some sold their fruit to home winemakers across the U.S. But by 1933 when Prohibition ended, the vast majority were out of business. Here’s how a one winery survived.