Wikis related to Wine-and-Spirits

Written By Chef Peter Martin Having grown up in the restaurant business and being surrounded by great food, I am hard pressed to think of many food related revelations or epiphanies that I have had.  Sure there have been some great moments such as my first taste of Foie Gras, my first bite of a Maine lobster, or the first truffle I ever tasted, but these events were not life altering.  No, these events haven't had nearly the same impact on me as my first experience with great beer.  I wasn't 2 months into my culinary education at New England Culinary Institute, when, one weekend, looking...

Wine is very much a product of the moment. Similar to music, it can be enjoyed even more when you are with good company. Conversely, a great wine can seem mediocre when you're not in a pleasant mood, or if things aren't just right. The seasons also contribute to the experience, and there is nothing better than having certain wines at different times of the year. This leads me to the sometimes forgotten sherry. With the weather getting warmer, there is nothing better than enjoying certain beverages outside, ones that are refreshing and easy to drink. Sherry is the perfect drink for this...

Spain is a country rich in culture, history, culinary artistry, and of course, wine. Within the past decade, Spain has undergone a renaissance in their wine industry. Even though technology is not something that I like to include in a conversation about wine, it has truly been a blessing for Spanish wine. It has been a tremendous help in improving the quality, longevity, and overall flavors of the wine. While retaining the incredible flavors of each area, which is key. For a long time the wines from Spain would reach the United Stated in a poor state. They would not travel well and would be...

You probably, like many other people do, think that Tequila is just another fashionable and cheap spirit from an exotic country which is just intended to get you drunk and of course give you a really bad headache. Well, unfortunately you are right and wrong. Right because, yes if you drink it excessively you will certainly loose it and have a hangover, pretty much like you would do with any other spirit, but mostly right because it has been labeled with the wrong image largely due to abuse from non producing countries. Wrong because it is definitely not another cheap & fashionable...

The term "Burgundy", in the minds of the American masses, has come to denote generic red wine.  Mediocre restaurants often use the term to signify their mundane house red.  But this is analogous to using the term "Coke" to designate all cola drinks.  Yet Coke tastes different than Pepsi, which in turn differs from the supermarket brand.  For the cola connoisseur, only Coca-Cola is real "Coke."  Such is the case with Burgundy. REAL Burgundy is wine made from within the boundaries of the Burgundy region of France.  Red Burgundy is made from the pinot noir (PEE-noh NWAHR) grape and white...

The fourth Thursday of November will always be Thanksgiving but if you're an oenophile, it's the third Thursday that you look forward to.  That's when Beaujolais Nouveau, the vinicultural herald of the holiday season, is released.  Let's take a tour of Beaujolais before returning to this specific and festive wine.Beaujolais, (boh-zhuh-LAY), like most French wines, is named for the region of France, not the grape, from which it emanates.  Beaujolais is a 35 mile strip of granite hills, containing over 55,000 acres of vineyards, between the towns of Lyons and Macon in eastern France.  It...

In the James Bond movie "Goldeneye", 007 and the villainess are playfully racing down a scenic mountain roadway.  Bond's passenger is a young female coworker sent by M to evaluate him.  Having no stomach for his perilous antics she orders him to stop his Aston Martin immediately.  Bond complies and proceeds to seduce her, but not before opening a secret chilled compartment revealing a bottle of the 1988 Bollinger Grand Annee Champagne.  An outstanding choice, and not just for romance. Another New Years Eve is upon us and countless people the world over will celebrate it with Champagne, or...

Cheers Comrade What comes to mind when you think of Russia?  Communism? The Cold War? The Iron Curtain?  As a chef and epicure, my first association is vodka!  (And caviar of course).  The Brits would agree.   In the 16th century, the British ambassador to Russia deemed it their national drink.  The word vodka comes from the Russian "zbiznennaia voda" which translates as "water of life", a rather hospitable phrase that has been oxymoronically linked with bellicose, totalitarian regimes and evil dictators.  Ivan the Terrible, the unspeakably ruthless and murderous first Czar of Russia,...

Bordeaux, (Bor-DOH), is one of the world’s best wines.  But Bordeaux’s geography, nomenclature, grape varieties, and outdated classification system is confusing enough to drive you to drink.  Hmmmm.  Maybe that’s the plan? Let’s see if we can make this wonderful wine more mentally palatable. Bordeaux is a wine, a city and a territory.  Bordeaux is a large region in southwest France named after its principal city.  Bordeaux is also the name loosely applied to any wine emanating from within its borders.  In France, wines are named for the geographical area from which they hail, not the...

A current debate in the wine world is whether traditional corks should be abandoned in favor of synthetic, man-made stoppers, or a screw cap.  A screw cap!  Can you imagine??? If you are a traditional wine lover, you probably have the same visceral reaction that I do to screw caps.  But, in the interest of proffering a balanced presentation of the issue, I will restrain my passions……. for now. The cork vs. screw cap debate is somewhat of a head vs. heart type of conflict.  The logical mind must acknowledge that the screw-cappers have some valid points.  Not that the cork proponents don’t...

Don't ask me why, but I've sometimes daydreamed of building a working 17th century-style malting house. The malt produced could be used for onsite brewing demonstrations using 17th century techniques and recipes, with the resulting brew given out as samples or sold to the populace. I think it would also be fun to work out a slapstick sketch for a 'maltster' and a 'lazy assistant' who lets the malt burn. Such a demonstration would be a good 'draw' for a brew-pub, and a great conversation piece. Gervase Markham, in his "The English Housewife" gives detailed directions on building a malt...

There are plenty of beverages, out there, that are more popular than Rum, but few can capture the imagination or boast of a more colorful history than this Caribbean concoction.  From the slave trade, to brawling Limeys (British sailors) to marauding Pirates, Rum has a spirited history and has become a cultural icon of a time long gone. Rum has its start back in the mists of time.  It is thought, among those who study such things, that the precursor of rum was first fermented in either ancient India or China.  The Malay people, of Southeast Asia have been fermenting an alcoholic beverage,...