Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Wines from this wonderful region in the Southern Rhone have very interesting aromas and flavors including the herbs and spices that grow in the region. Grenache is the star red grape in this region.
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Le Crib du Pope |
Côte-Rôtie
Another region in the Rhone Valley in France, Côte-Rôtie are Syrah based wines that are typically quite expensive, and can be a powerhouse of a wine.
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The Slopes |
Champagne
Popping the cork on a bottle of Champagne... let the fun facts fly!
"Did you know": The word Champagne roughly translates to "open country," a region full of more fields than forest and hills.
"Did you know": A bottle of bubbly contains about 44 million bubbles. Don't believe me - check it out for yourself!
"Did you know": Dom Pérignon, a French Benedictine monk is often credited with being the inventor of Champagne. He was in fact the Benedictine Abbey cellar master, and helped further refine the process to produce sparkling wine. The legend likely started from an advertisement in the 1800s by the producer of Dom Pérignon, that may have hinted that the legendary Dom Pérignon actually invented Champagne.
"Did you know": You can buy a REALLY big bottle of Champagne. Having a really big party - the largest bottle is called a Melchizedek, and is the equivalent of 40 regular (750 ml) bottles of champagne. If you don't need that much bubbly, you can go for the Nebuchadnezzar which in equivalent to ONLY 20 bottles! Half as big, but twice as fun to say!
German Riesling
The many names of quality German Riesling denote the ripeness of the grapes at harvest.
"Did you know": Spätlese translates to “late picked.” These grapes are picked later than grapes that go into Kabinett Riesling.
"Did you know": Beerenauslese translates to “berry select”. Grapes are harvested berry by berry, picking only the botrytis-affected fruit.
"Did you know": Trockenbeerenauslese translates to “dried berry select”. Botrytis-affected grapes are harvested after they have shriveled grapes and have been heavily affected by the botrytis.
Gewürztraminer
Although available from various spots around the world, the greatest Gewürztraminer grapes vines are found on the slopes of the Vosgnes Mountains, in France’s Alsace region.
"Did you know": Gewürztraminer's translation includes the prefix (Gewürz) which means ‘spice’, and its suffix (Traminer) refers to the Traminer grape, which was first grown around the northern Italian town of Tramin.
Valpolicella, Italy
"Did you know": The name of this wine region literally translates to the "valley of many cellars." I like it!
The Roman EmpireSure, the ancient Romans loved to party, but...
"Did you know": Wine may have been a contributing factor to the fall of the Roman empire? To make wine for the rich and ruling class, Ancient Romans boiled unfermented grape juice in lead pots. The resulting syrup was added to lower quality wines and then sold to the rich and famous. One teaspoon of this syrup could have caused Lead poisoning, which can lead to brain damage, infertility, learning & behaviors disorders - among other things.
Not all historians agree, but lead poisoning could have caused some of the behavior among the ruling class that ultimately led to the fall of an empire.
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