Last year saw a hike in wine exports like the US has never seen before. Thanks to a budding market in Asian countries as well as a still growing recognition for American made wine have combined with a higher domestic consumption to put a bit of a strain on California’s wine makers and a bit of a price jump on American wine.

                Not long ago, wine from California was looked upon as low quality and lacking in art. This is a drastic change from 2011 where it is being elevated to something closer to a luxury item.  After winning over some well-known wine lovers, Californian wine was given a chance to be ranked and compared to French wine, where it has since flourished.

                A growing middle class in China is also a key player in this last year’s 123% demand from 2010. That is almost a quarter increase from the previous year. To the growing Asian market California wine is held as something of a gold standard and is sought after as a show of new found wealth. Picking some homegrown wine for those three bottle wine bags may be a little more expensive in years to come thanks to this striking increase in export demand, but many fans believe wine makers will keep a soft spot for loyal, local customers.

Record Wine Exports for California is a post from: Rhino Wino

The time of a great wine critic has ended on the first of this month with the passing on of Robert Finigan, who has been a prominent figure among wine critics since the 1970s when he broke into the wine world with honest reviews of both fine European and emerging Californian wines.  His opinions were highly valued during his life, especially his tastings of pinot noir and burgundy. 

                While later in his career he became interested in being a food critic, he was always an influential wine critic that was brutally honest in his expectations of a wine.  He was an advocate for the consumers too with his praises of wine in all forms, great and small, and looking for the good in any price range. 

                Born in 1943 Robert found his calling to wine and the culinary in college at Harvard.  Thankfully for the world of wine, he became interested in because of his roommates’ associations to wine.  His reviews will be valued for years and years to come and influence selections in wine totes, even if he won’t be around to write more of them. He is survived by his wife and sister, who just like us will miss him greatly. 

Robert Finigan is a post from: Rhino Wino

When knowledgeable wine drinkers talk about “a good year” they may still be talking about this year despite California’s meager grape harvest.  This is because even though yields are at the lowest in years, the weather has been delightfully mild. While a gauntlet of bad luck gave the grapes a hard start, what did survive got a mild growing season that promises low, stable sugar levels. Heat and cold spikes make the plants push sugar into their fruit, a lack of excessive sugars gives winemakers the green light to let the flavors develop.

                This season’s wine is going to be a considered a really sought after. Years like this may make it hard to find wine made from thin skinned grapes like Viognier may be in short supply but the wine that is for sale is expected to be quickly taken home in six bottle wine bags.  This may be a good year to invest in a bottle to age for a few years. The anticipated quality of this year’s wine will mean a slightly higher price on everything, but a chance too for some extraordinarily deep and developed flavors in the wine.  

Small Harvest for California This Year is a post from: Rhino Wino

Many are surprised to find that Canada has a thriving wine producing region. But indeed it does have a handful of suburb vineyards that are trying very hard to make a name for Canadian wine. Some of the regions known within Canada for their wine are Okanagan Valley, the Niagara Peninsula and Nova Scotia just to name a variety of them.

                For those looking to put some Canadian wine in those wine carriers, a trip up North may be the easiest way to really experience the wine of Canada. Maybe Nova Scotia, the coldest wine region in the world, may be a bit of stretch for a wine tour vacation; try the Niagara Peninsula. The Niagara Peninsula grows over three quarters of the grapes in Canada and has a variety of climates often compared to the Loire valley of France. They grow chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot noir in this area as well as the classic ice wine that more people link to Canada than other wines.  Not to mention this region is known for its pleasant villages and country inns make it feel more like a normal wine region to vacationers. Giving a new wine region a try makes for not only a unique experience but maybe a sneak peek into some of the best upcoming vineyards. 

Canadian Wine is a post from: Rhino Wino

This growing season has been hard for grape growers, who are hoping for as much heat as possible before summer fades into the past. The late spring and poor weather in many growing regions means that many Northern western locations are still trying to ripen grapes on the vine, but dropping temperatures are forcing them to think about the worst possible outcome. There is little that can be done by workers at vineyards except trim back the leaves; this exposes the grapes to more sunlight.

                This trouble ripening the grapes though doesn’t mean that the 2011 offerings are going to be a flop; it is more likely to mean slightly less sweet whites from the North and little else. Ripening the grapes properly, after all, develops the sugars more.  But the thing about vintners is that something magical could still happen with the less than supreme grapes to make wine fans eager to put them in three bottle wine carriers. Proper manipulation to the grapes could still create a wonderful vintage. So while wine makers are worried at the moment there is always a chance in the wine industry for unusual things to happen. Worse years have produced still wonderful wine.

Worried Growing Season is a post from: Rhino Wino

Studies have shown over and over again that low to moderate wine consumption leads to lower weight gain as one ages, but exactly why remains a bit of a mystery. It is believed to be a combination of factors that the right balance has to be achieved to benefit fully from them.  These factors include the antioxidants in the wine, red wine’s ability to inhibit sugar to fat conversion and the fact that wine drinkers may have a healthier overall diet than drinkers of other things and nondrinkers on average.

                Of course this is all scientific speculation but it never hurts to go with what science is pointing to as a good idea. After all gaining weight can lead all sorts of health problems.  And if staying away from these problems recommends that a glass of wine now and again is a good thing, who is a wine lover to tell science no? Of course it would also involve eating healthy still and only enjoying the reasonable amount of wine.  Oddly enough the low to moderate wine drinkers were the healthiest group, not the nondrinkers. This contrasts somewhat with the traditional knowledge that alcohol directly leads to weight gain. So give wine gifts and embrace the food and drink loving crowd that are wine enthusiasts by using those two bottle wine bags.

Balancing Act is a post from: Rhino Wino

What does a glass of red wine have in common with a ripe tomato? Just the color red? What about to a bottle of sunscreen? Well funnily enough all three have something very amazing in common that only the sunscreen is known for, protect skin from the sun. Of course the sunscreen is the only one put right on the skin, compounds found in red wine and tomatoes can protect skin from the inside by making it less easily damaged by UV rays. These flavonoids have been found to significantly help skin repair itself from the damage that sun causes and even fortifies the skin against future burns and damage.  While these are also found in quality chocolate and some other vegetables, they are highest in red wine and tomatoes.

This means that pasta with tomato sauce and a glass of red wine for dinner is more than a great simple meal, it is like extra sunscreen. While the effects may be subtle, the studies show that continued consumption of the compounds can have dramatic results over the years. Filling those three bottle wine totes regularly could actually fight the aging process. Sun damage causes its color, wrinkles, and spots by destroying cells on the skin surface but red wine can help increase healthy blood flow to the skin and deliver flavonoids to the skin for better healing and protection.

Wine, Tomatoes and Sunscreen is a post from: Rhino Wino

Wine can be a real undertaking to make.  Between growing the grapes, fermenting, bottling and selling it can seem to take a village just to produce a bottle. This makes it easy for wine to become part of a big industrial effort but on a small French island the process is still done by only a small group of monks. The Lerins Abbey, on a small island of the same name, is home to only 20 monks but churns out 30,000 bottles of premium wines every year along with their religious duties.  The island is not only a perfect wine growing region but also is an ancient monastery. 

                While it hasn’t always been a vineyard, the island has a rich French history. Founded as a monastery in the year 405 it has been inhabited in some way or another ever since, and not always by monks.  For a period of 20 years after the French Revolution was sold to an actress.  But in 1859 the ownership again changed into the hands of someone focused on religion.

                In the 1990’s the monks of the island decided that they wanted their wine to be not only the best possible but sought after in the wine bags of the wine fans in France, because it does no good to make it if no one wants it. And indeed they are succeeding, their wine is so sought after that the monastery is now able to live their modest lives solely on the sales of the wine they make.  While unlikely that their wine will ever be sold outside of France it is good to know about such long standing wine traditions that are still alive today.

The Vineyard on an Island is a post from: Rhino Wino

Is it impossible to get the gym every day? Well a new study suggests, that at least every now and then, a glass of red wine can stave off the muscle loss associated with skipping on a work out or two. The study was conducted on rats so it is not completely applicable to humans, but the thought that that glass of red wine is more than a treat after a hard day is comforting. The study used reservatol, a compound in red wine and was given to half the rats in a group that had been strenuously exercised for weeks. The group not given the compound had lost significant amounts of muscle mass and even a little mineral bone density after suddenly stopping the work out regiment. The half of the rats though that were given reservatol in place of their workouts had only a slightly detectable amount of muscle loss even a week after the exercise stopped.

                This study will be further researched and preformed again, but in the meantime it can be a comfort that after a hard Monday it is okay to ignore the treadmill and have a glass of red wine instead. Walking to wine baskets doesn’t count as a workout though so it is only something to do every now and then.

New Wine Health News is a post from: Rhino Wino

Sometimes a bottle of wine can have a funny smell to it when opened. This musty smell is a compound called TCA or 2,4,6-trichloroanisole and is a reaction caused by mold, chlorine and the phenols in wine.  This is a problem with the cork, which is why it is often called being “corked.”  Sadly this means that the bottle is ruined, but there is a way to avoid it in the future.

Don’t avoid the winery or winemaker because this is a completely random event. Just make sure to look at corks a little closer from now on. Many corked bottles of wine have signs on the outer part of the cork. Things like a pushed up cork can be a sign that a bottle is corked. But don’t think that every bottle is bad, it is a very rare event. The compound can be found in other parts of wineries in things like cardboard pallets and wooden tools. But it is easy to get rid of and there are very few cases when a winery can’t get rid of the compound, but usually it is a simple matter of replacing a few things. The chances of a bottle in four bottle wine totes being bad is a slim chance to none though so don’t worry too much about it.

Corked Wine Explained is a post from: Rhino Wino