Storing Wine

Storing wine needn’t be expensive. Regardless of what you spend for wines you want to get your money's worth from them. There is a variety of ways that good wine can be properly stored without buying an elaborate cellaring system for your wine. Here are a few key points.
Wine's natural enemies.

Direct sunlight - The midday sunlight could spoil your wine. Display you wine in a shady area of your home where it can still be admired without damaging the wines.
Vibration – This is an overlooked danger to wine. Constant vibration can cause a wine to deteriorate prematurely. Storing wine on the top of your refrigerator is a poor choice for wine storage because a refrigerator is constantly vibrating.
Heat - especially sudden heat. Ideally you want to store wine between approximately 50-60 degrees. Slow temperature changes should be fine for most wines but a sudden change will most likely ruin your wine. This is something to be aware of when storing wine in a basement. A basement that is damp, dark, and chilly can make a dream home for your wines but steer away from storage near the furnace.
Oxidation – When air gets in your wine this will cause it to deteriorate. Keeping the cork moist by laying bottles on their sides will help solve the problem. It’s not necessary for bottles with synthetic or plastic corks but it won’t hurt. An inexpensive water feature will also help keep moisture in the air.

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Wine Tasting Board Games

Like board games? Like wine? The Winerd® game is the perfect way to turn your passion for wine into laughter with friends! This game pairs fun wine trivia questions with an innovative spin on blind tasting to create a wine trivia board game that is a HUGE hit. This is an ingenious and decidedly adult board game. Every wine drinker will enjoy this game both wine geeks as well newbees. Winerd is similar in some ways to Trivial Pursuit but with only one catergory……wine. Winerd will test your knowledge about wine facts, but it also test your tasting ability. This game makes an evening with your friends a really fun way of enjoying wine with some excellent wine trivia questions. This board game teaches you about wine in an unintimidating way.

Click here to order Winerd from Twisted Corkscrew.

Interesting Wine Facts

Where was America’s first Wine District?
The first appellation district was the tiny town of Augusta, Missouri.

How many bottles of wine can be produced from one acre?
One acre of vines (approximately 880 plants) yields about 4 tons of grapes, producing about 200 cases of wine, or 2400 bottles.

California is the leading wine producing state. What percentage of US wine does California produce?
California produces more than 90 percent of all U.S. wine and also ranks first in wine consumption.

Where and when did wine making originate?
The art of wine making is believed to have been originated by the Mesopotamians around 6000 B.C.

How many of the 50 US states produce wine?
All 50 states produce wine which makes the United States the fourth largest wine producing country in the world after France, Italy, and Spain.

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Wine Talk

White wine for white meats or fish, and red wine for red meats, right!……no! not necessarily. Wines are meant to compliment foods based on fruitiness, dryness and complexity, wine's age, spiciness of the food, sauces used in preparation, etc. Consider the tastes and flavors of the wine and the food. Start with the meal. Do the ingredients have rich sauces or lots of garlic? A bold red wine (Cabernet) or bold white (heavy oak Chardonnay) might be the ticket for your dish. Delicate flavors such as white, flaky fish and sautéed vegetables, consider a lighter, cleaner Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio), Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc. Buying an inexpensive wine and food guide might be helpful. Remember everybody has different taste so there is no right or wrong, the most important thing is what pleases you. www.TwistedCorkscrew.com