December 26, 2011
If you’re like most people, the upcoming new year will bring a host of new resolutions. Some will resolve to spend less. Some will stop smoking. Some will try to spend more time with family and friends. However, the number one resolution each year is to lose weight. With this resolution, a variety of methods will emerge – a daily exercise regime, a membership at a gym, giving up certain foods completely. More than a few people will swear off alcohol, especially since most of it is so high in calories. However, you don’t have to give up your favorite red wine!
Extraordinary Health Benefits Await
The latest news about this wonderful beverage is wonderful for those who appreciate a glass with dinner. The French have long enjoyed wine with their meals and they also have one of the highest longevity rates of any nationality. Coincidence? Not at all. There is a direct link between this favored drink and a long life.
A glass of red will give you about 640 mg of Resveratrol. If you haven’t heard about this substance, then you may be surprised at the benefits. Resveratrol is a naturally occurring antioxidant found in high concentrations in the skin of red grapes. It offers a number of benefits, including promoting a healthy immune system, lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, and has shown promise in slowing down the growth of certain cancers. Research has also shown that Resveratrol can lower blood pressure and even reduce or slow down certain signs of aging. However, that’s not all that a glass of each day can do!
Red wine also contains high levels of flavonoids, which are powerful antioxidants that can reduce the risk of cancer. It also has anti-bacterial properties and has been proven to reduce ulcer infections. However, one of the best benefits of red wine is that it has a calming effect. When you enjoy a glass with a good meal, you can feel the day’s trouble’s ease away. You can begin to unwind and enjoy the rest of evening. With less than 100 calories in a four ounce glass, you needn’t have to worry about your diet either!
Add a Glass A Day to Reap the Rewards
The French have discovered one of the true secrets of longevity and good health. Isn’t it time you added this phenomenal, low-calorie, preservative-free beverage to your daily dinner menu? You won’t even have to worry about breaking one of your New Year’s Resolutions!
If you simply love a great glass of red wine, then take a look at the Wineweaver. With a combination of one complete breathing system and a beautiful, artistic design, this wine aerator brings the very best aroma, flavor, and character directly to your glass.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Magill
Technorati Tags: benefits of red wine, best red wine, good red wine, new year's resolution, red wine
December 12, 2011
There are a few things you need to keep in mind about red wine storage. Here are some simple tips to properly store your red wine.
- The storage temperature for your red wine is important. Make sure you store your wine in a place that is around 50 to 60 F. Even if your wine is stored for a short time at or above 90 F, there is a high chance it will be damaged. You also want to ensure your wine is not stored in direct sunlight. The best location is in a cool, dark basement or cellar. The other option is to invest in a wine refrigerator that allows you more control over the temperature.
- Store your wine on a very study wine rack or storage unit. Wine that moves around a lot during storage can be damaged, even if it’s stored at the proper temperature.
- Always lay the bottles on their side during storage. This ensures the cork doesn’t dry out during storage. Also, make sure you check that it’s not only on its side, but that the cork is facing down and the wine is keeping it from drying out.
- You can store it for a few months or a few years. Red wines that are aged usually bring out more of the flavors in your wine. You will enjoy your wine even more. Check the storage time for the specific wines you are storing, since there is a slightly different recommendation on storage times for the different types. Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah wine are two that can be stored for longer periods of time.
- It’s also important to understand how to store it. If you store your opened wine properly, you can drink it for up to a week or more. Once you open the wine, make sure you store it in a cool place to slow down the aging process. If you drink less than half of the bottle, move it over into a smaller bottle to reduce the amount of oxygen that is mixing with the wine during storage.
These are just a few quick tips on how you can preserve your precious wine during storage, both before and after you’ve opened your wine.
Jill Loeffler has more red wine storage tips and information about enjoying red wine on her site at AllAboutRedWine.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jill_Loeffler
Technorati Tags: best red wine, good red wine, Red Wine Storage Tips
October 24, 2011
In France and a large part of southern Europe, drinking red wine has been a part of everyday life for hundreds of years. But in American red wines remained a small and relatively unpopular drink until early nineteen nineties. Ever since the prohibition days of the nineteen thirties the wine industry had tried to make America a wine drinking country, but with very limited success. Then in 1991 something happened that changed everything and made red wine, and especially Merlot, a household drink in America. What was this one pivotal event that changed American wine culture forever?
In 1991 an episode of 60 minutes dedicated to what would be termed “The French Paradox” aired on US television in prime time. It put the spotlight on the paradox that despite the French population eating almost three times as much saturated fat as the American population, the French have a much lower incidence rate of coronary heart disease. In fact the French consumes four times more butter, three times more pork and about 60 % more cheese.
The program speculated that the lack of heart disease was connected with the French habit of drinking red wine with their meals. Almost immediately the sale of red wine in the United States increased by more than 40 %. But one type of wine in particular exploded in popularity, the Merlot.
With the American people now being told to drink a couple of glasses of red wine a day for their health, they went looking for a wine. They did not necessarily like the taste and smell of red wine; they just wanted a wine that was mild, and easy to drink.
The Merlot, long considered in France to be a second grade grape compared to its noble sibling the Cabernet Sauvignon, fit the bill perfectly. All of a sudden, the much-criticized weakness of the Merlot grapes became its biggest selling point. The very qualities that the French disliked about the Merlot, the Americans loved, and the Merlot took its rightful place in the sun.
And it has remained popular ever since. Between 1985 and today the area dedicated to growing Merlot grapes in the US have exploded from approximately 800 hectare to over 20 000 hectare. And other countries have embraced the Merlot grapes as well, in particular Chile and Australia.
Never before or since has a television program had such an effect on a nations drinking habits. It was sixty minutes of television that gave birth to a star, the Merlot.
To learn about the different types of white wine, including Pinot Grigio wines visit us at our website dedicated to wine.
Jamie Welding
Wine Enthusiast and Writer
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamie_Welding
Technorati Tags: American red wines, drinking red wine, merlot, popular red wine, red wine
October 17, 2011
Ideally, Italian red wines are best enjoyed in Italy, in the wine growing areas made famous over centuries of wine production – Chianti, Lambrusco and Barolo – with Chianti perhaps the best known of all with its distinctive raffia-clad bottles providing an extra air of foreign charm.
Italy’s red wines are produced in great quantity and account for 20% of the world’s production. Grown on mountainsides and hills with a great variety of soil and climate conditions, over sixty percent of the wine grown in Italy is red, with variations according to the different wine-growing areas. The cool, mountainous northern region of Emilia-Romagna produces crisp, austere wines, like Lambrusco which is light and slightly fizzy, so is often served cold. Renowned for its subtle berry flavors, Lambrusco’s fizz comes from a second fermentation process done under pressure.
A very different red wine is Barolo, with a high tannin content which softens as it ages into a full bodied red much sought after by connoisseurs. Barolo comes from the Piedmont area and is made from Nebbiolo grapes. Another quite different red wine is Amarone, from the Corvina region, made from partly dried grapes with other syrupy fruits added. The sunny, temperate central region of Tuscany yields bold, lusty, full-bodied wines such as Chianti, with many different qualities according to the winery, but the best one is Chianti Classico. Normally Chianti has a fruity scent and tastes dry and soft. Chianti from Tuscany remains the all-time favorite with tourists particularly and is best enjoyed with a Tuscan sunset turning the fields to gold and the cypress trees a dark green as they outline the curves of the romantic Tuscan countryside.
There was a story, perhaps apocryphal, that Italian wines did not travel well and thus there was always enough kept at home in Italy for the Italians to enjoy. Not true today when Italian wines are exported all over the world for international wine lovers to enjoy as well. Choosing the right red wine to go with a meal can be as complicated as you wish, but a general rule is to enjoy it with red meat or strongly flavored food, as white wine seems to go better with chicken and fish. Rules are made to be broken however, if you find a red wine you particularly enjoy, you can drink it with any meal, especially if you are dining on Italy’s rich cuisine.
Another notable Italian red wine is Barbaresco, similar to Barolo but it tends to be softer and slightly more graceful. There are just three, small growing regions for Barbaresco compared to Barolo’s eleven. Barbaresco, too, requires aging to reach its full potential but is drinkable a little sooner than Barolo.
Bardolino is another famous red, lighter and fruity from the Veneto region of Italy. Named after the town of Bardolino on Lake Garda, this wine has faint cherry flavors and just a hint of spiciness. The star of Italian red wines however is Brunello Di Montalcino from a little medieval town just outside Siena. Brunello, “the nice, dark one” in local dialect, is Tuscany’s most expensive, rarest, and longest-lived wine. Whether it is Chianti, Amarone, Barolo, or Barbaresco, enjoying Italian red wine is a unique pleasure, suitable for all occasions and for all seasons.
Find out best reviews and useful information about Italian Red Wine online at MyReviewsNow.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Willie_Gross
Technorati Tags: drinking red wine, dry red wine, Italian Chianti, Italian red wine, red wine production
July 16, 2011
A lot of people are now starting to entertain their friends at their homes rather than go out to clubs to socialize with them. The economy has made this a growing trend, because the cost of a night out at a club has become unaffordable to a lot of people. Of course people have also realized that entertaining their friends in their home allows them to have a more private time, and they do not have to be on the roads after having a few drinks.
The problem for the majority of people is that they do not know how to have the perfect home bar. There is no way that the homeowner can have every liquor option that a commercial bar has. What they really do not realize is that this large choice of liquors, and drink combinations is not really necessary to have the perfect home bar.
The perfect home bar will have the drinks that you and your friends enjoy, and will not try to cover every known drink. Most people tend to stick to the same types of drinks as their friends. You will find that among a group of individuals 8 out of ten of them will drink the same type of drink and the ones who do not usually drink that drink will generally be open to trying something new if their friends enjoy it.
So you should set a budget for how much money you are willing to spend to stock your perfect home bar, and then go to the local market and purchase some of your favorites. You can always buy special ingredients on the occasion that you want something different, but for the staples you need to stick to two or three of the drinks that are most popular among your group of friends.
Make certain that you stock plenty of mixers such as soda, lemon, water and fruit mixers. It is usually a good idea to have a nice white wine on hand, and have plenty of non-alcoholic selections for the designated drivers in your group.
Remember when you have a gathering where alcohol is served that friends do not let friends drive drunk. Establish this point before anyone begins to drink, and enforce the point if your friend has been drinking. It will be a better outcome for you both if your friend stays put until they have gotten the alcohol out of their system, or that they ride with someone who is sober, and retrieve their vehicle the next day.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ador_Talukdar
Technorati Tags: benefits of red wine, perfect home bar, red wine, white wine
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If you’re like most people, the upcoming new year will bring a host of new resolutions. Some will resolve to spend less. Some will stop smoking. Some will try to spend more time with family and friends. However, the number one resolution each year is to lose weight. With this resolution, a variety of methods will emerge – a daily exercise regime, a membership at a gym, giving up certain foods completely. More than a few people will swear off alcohol, especially since most of it is so high in calories. However, you don’t have to give up your favorite red wine!
