History of American Wine

Early attempts to establish European grape varieties in America met with no success. No one knew why areas along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts were so inhospitable. On the other hand, Pacific regions appeared to be more habitable. Under Church auspices, monks provided their expertise in wine growing. California's Mission San Diego became the first established U.S. vineyard in 1769. Led by Father Junipero Serra, this was the starting point for a rise in wine's popularity.

As others sought to expand their own vineyards, new European varieties continued to arrive. The wine market was small, however, as the popular masses had other taste preferences, particularly beer and whiskey. Advancement continued with ups and downs, including devastation from black rot and other disease. A century later, while Europe was losing its crops to the American-introduced louse, Phylloxera, another type of destruction was looming locally.

Prohibition began its rise in the early part of the Nineteenth century. Early laws prohibited sales of alcohol on Sunday in Indiana. Over the next few decades, a frenzy to go "dry" escalated, culminating with a full-scale ban in 1917 on production and sales.

Hobbyists and bootleggers found ways around Prohibition, while some vineyards carried on with production for sacramental purposes. The majority of production, however, died. By the 1933 National Repeal, the blooming wine industry was almost nonexistent.

A revival in table wines returned in the 1960s. Over the next two decades, a fondness for so-called "jug" wines declined in favor of tastes considered more pleasing to the palate. Today, Americans are still searching for "healthful" benefits as well as a perfect match for their meals.

California continues to reign as king of wine production, but every state can now boast of at least one vineyard.

Source: www.tasting-wine.com

History of French Wine

French wine history, like many other regions, began with an influx of trade ships and the migration of wine growers. Records reflect early imports into Gaul (France) by 600 B.C. However, interest was slow to develop, due in part to Italy's resentment of competition. Monastery-run vineyards persevered and a revival began around 1200 A.D. Interim years experienced development of many familiar areas, including the Rhone Valley, Bordeaux and Burgundy. The first sparkling beverage also found its place here in Champagne.

Wine's heyday continued for France until the American and French Revolutions. Vineyards transferred from churches and wealthy landowners to commoners. A lack of knowledge contributed to decline. Worse yet, American imports were arriving, bringing Phylloxera with them. Americanized vines were immune to this plant louse, but native European crops became widespread victims.

Grafting original vines into American root cuttings eventually resulted in new growth. While not accepted as an improved alternative, growers soon rebuilt their crops, gaining an edge over the competition.

Indeed, when other countries tried to "copy" their wines, France brought "Institut National des Appellations d'Origine" into law. This protected, to some extent, the integrity of regional names, including champagne.

Source: www.tasting-wine.com

History of Wine

Wine-making and drinking bears a long and varied past, steeped in both fact and supposition. From the Bible to ancient legends, tales of intoxication by ingesting fermented grapes abound. Some scientific evidence also traces the remnants of wine's sediments to dated artifacts. In addition, fossilized vines add proof to the fact that the earliest humans recognized the pleasures of this tantalizing liquid.

Wine as an industry has much newer roots in the timeline with respected varieties and vintages coming from around the world. Deep interest in their origins, including a fascinating history of wine in France, leads novices and connoisseurs alike in search of the perfect taste. From the Americas to Europe and beyond, there certainly is a wine available for everyone.

The Earliest History of Wine
Many experts agree that wine probably dates to 6000 B.C. Mesopotamia (an area including Southern Iraq) apparently was a proper host for wild vines. The popularity of home growing eventually spread to Egypt, along the Nile Delta. Greece and Rome soon followed. Spain also played an important role in wine production, later introducing a skill for wine growing to Mexico and the United States.

As time progressed, the wealthy enjoyed the fruits of the vine while some rulers tried to keep this treasure a secret. Christianity swept parts of the world and monks made good use of their time developing the process. Detailed notes on climate and soil became the cornerstone of vineyard growth throughout today's recognized regions. France emerged as a leader with some of the world's most recognized wines.

Source: www.tasting-wine.com

How many types of Beer are available to Drink?

Here are the different styles you may come across at different stores or your favourite local brew pub.

• Ale - originally liquor made from an infusion of malt by fermentation, as opposed to beer, which was made by the same process but flavoured with hops. Today ale is used for all beers other than stout.


• Alt - means "old". A top fermented ale, rich, copper-coloured and full-bodied, with a very firm, tannic palate, and usually well-hopped and dry.


• Amber Beer - an ale with a depth of hue halfway between pale and dark.


• Barley Wine - dark, rich, usually bittersweet, heavy ales with high alcohol content, made for sipping, not quaffing.


• Bitter - the driest and one of the most heavily hopped beers served on draft. The nose is generally aromatic, the hue amber and the alcoholic content moderate.


• Bock - a strong dark German lager, ranging from pale to dark brown in colour, with a minimum alcoholic content of about 6 percent.


• Brown Ale - malty beers, dark in colour and they may be quite sweet.


• Burton - a strong ale, dark in colour, made with a proportion of highly dried or roasted malts.


• Christmas/Holiday Beer - these special season beers are amber to dark brown, richly flavoured with a sweetish palate. Some are flavoured with special spices and/or herbs.


• Dopplebock - "double bock." A stronger version of bock beer, decidedly malty, with an alcoholic content ranging from 8 percent to 13 percent by volume.


• Hefe-Weizen - a wheat beer, lighter in body, flavour and alcohol strength.


• Ice Beer - a high-alcohol beer made by cooling the beer during the process to below the freezing point of water (32 degrees Fahrenheit) but above that of alcohol (-173 degrees Fahrenheit). . When the formed ice is removed and discarded, the beer ends up with a higher alcohol-to-water ratio.


• India Pale Ale (IPA) - a generously hopped pale ale.


• Kolsch - West German ale, very pale (brassy gold) in hue, with a mild malt flavour and some lactic tartness.


• Malt Liquor - most malt liquors are lagers that are too alcoholic to be labelled lagers or beers.


• Muncheners - a malty, pale lager distinguished from the darker, heavier Munich Dark beers by the term "dunkel".


• Octoberfest/ Maerzen/Vienna - a copper-coloured, malty beer brewed at the end of the winter brewing season in March.


• Pale Ale - made of the highest quality malts, the driest and most highly hopped beer. Sold as light ale or pale ale in bottle or on draft as bitter.


• Pilsner - delicately dry and aromatic beers.


• Porter - a darker (medium to dark reddish brown) ale style beer, full-bodied, a bit on the bitter side. The barley (or barley-malt) is well roasted, giving the brew a characteristic chocolaty, bittersweet flavour.


• Stout - beer brewed from roasted, full-flavoured malts, often with an addition of caramel sugar and a slightly higher proportion of hops. Stouts have a richer, slightly burnt flavour and are dark in colour.


• Sweet Stout - also known as milk stout because some brewers use lactose (milk sugar) as an ingredient.


• Wheat Beer - a beer in which wheat malt is substituted for barley malt. Usually medium-bodied, with a bit of tartness on the palate