I'd like: A glass of wine

An adorable how-to wine etiquette guide with illustrations as seen on this awesome blog is simply irresistible, helping you to avoid faux pas and embarrassing moments. And it has arrived just in time for Christmas and holiday nights made for entertaining! Genius.


Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a wonderful weekend ahead!

Cheers,
B

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Wine Cellar Wishlist

I think that one day it would be nice to have a cellar inspired by one of these home designs.
Hey, a girl can dream, right? ;) I might add it to my Christmas wish list... like 20 years from now-haha.
Until then, I can begin collecting the wines to fill it up!

 

{Images via 1, 2, 3 & 4}

Cheers,

B

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Mexican Wedding Cookies

also known as Noel Nut Balls or Polvorones

With the holidays approaching and Christmas right around the corner, I decided to whip up some of these fantastic holiday cookies.  You may know them as Noel Nut Balls, Russian Tea Cakes or Snowflakes but these are seriously amazing.  And trust me, I made a batch last night and they have already disappeared.  Good with a nice red wine in the evening or with coffee or tea in the morning! 

This recipe yielded perfectly imperfect results.  My advice: these cookies can be too dry if you over-bake them so I recommend carefully following the recipe and baking them for 16 minutes (just under the suggested 18 minute baking time). You'll then be rewarded by the warm, light and crumbly melt-in-your-mouth Christmas goodness that are these cookies. 

 

Enjoy!

Cheers,
B

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Wine Pairings with Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving!

 In case you're still looking for a last-minute wine to bring to Thanksgiving dinner, I have some suggestions that would pair very nicely with turkey and all of its fixings!

A California sparkling wine to start off with appetizers or to finish with dessert:

 {Domaine Carneros 2006 Demi-Sec}

I also suggest the Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noirs, which pairs nicely 

with light appetizers and turkey.

Pinot Noir is a great accompaniment to turkey--any of these would be great at the table:

 

 {Gary Farrell 2008 Pinot Noir}

 {2007 Kastania Pinot Noir}

If there's no time to stop in a wine shop, Meiomi Pinot 

is widely available:

 {2010 Meiomi Pinot Noir}

Enjoy!

Cheers,

B

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Fermentation of Wine: Yeasts Produce a Bouquet of Aromas

Since lately I feel like I've been spending most of my time endlessly writing lab reports,  I figured it would be appropriate to share a snippet of an experiment from my Wine Production & Analysis class.

The fermentation process of wine can be a bit tricky, as there are quite a few things to consider while the freshly pressed grape juice transforms and ferments into a wine. In order for the juice to become alcoholic, we need two things: yeast and sugar. Yeast is essentially needed for a juice to undergo fermentation, but can greatly influence the quality and aroma attributes of a wine. In class, we performed an experiment to see the effects of 15 different yeast strains in juice during the course of fermentation, using the 2011 Chardonnay harvested in the UC Davis campus vineyards. 

 {Glasses of Chardonnay--each glass was introduced to a different strain of yeast}

{My aroma notes for each of the yeasty wine samples--it was amazing how much the aroma attributes varied. (Oh, and please excuse the typos!)}

Cheers,
B

[Read below if interested as to why some of the wines varied in aroma--in scientific explanation]:

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In the news: UC Davis Professor interviewed--Climate Change may Equal Change in Grapes

Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot--these are all common varietals found in California. But what if the projected shift in climate makes it difficult to grow these cold-climate varieties? NPR has written this article, which considers the idea of a shift in viticultural approaches, including some new grape varietal additions to California. I find it especially appealing since one of my viticulture professors at UC Davis, Dr. Andy Walker, was featured and interviewed in this very news article. I encourage anyone interested to check it out!

{We might be seeing a change in varietals used to make wine}

Have you ever tried Barbera, Negroamaro, Nero d'Avola, or any other wines not commonly grown in California?

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Strawberry and Fig Galette

With fig season coming to a close end, the fig tree in my backyard was bountiful with fresh, ripe fruit.  The sweet, almost candy-like figs from the tree are good enough to eat on their own but with so many of them, I decided to incorporate them in a baking project. Using this recipe here, which actually is titled "Nectarine & Blackberry Galette," I decided to improvise, using the fresh figs from our backyard and strawberries I picked up at the farmer's market. Fresh, fruity and sweet; this recipe yielded some delicious results.

[Strawberry Fig Galette + Mimosas = great food-wine pairing] ;)

Happy Weekend!

Cheers,

B

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Sensory Evaluation

In one of my previous posts (here) I provided the basics of tasting wine. After having had some experience making my own wine, I have learned that when evaluating a wine (like say, comparing wines or judging wines in the industry) it is recommended that one take a more scientific approach.

In one week or so, the 2011 Syrah that I made--harvested at the UC Davis Vineyards--will be carefully evaluated by professors and other classmates. (Details about my Syrah project to be posted soon!)

I have created a sample ballot--this is what I will ask judges to use and fill out during my sensory panel of the four treatments of my groups' 2011 Syrah:

As seen in the above ballot, there are several methods for the sensory evaluation of wine, both of which involve trained testers:

1. To see how the two wines differ:

Use Descriptional Analysis, where the goal is to describe the aroma and flavor profile of the wine.
This includes the paired preference and the ranking preference 


2. To see if the two wines differ:
Use Difference Tests, used to determine if two wines are reproducibly selected as different. 
     This includes the triangle test and the duo-trio
For instance, In the triange test, tasters are presented with 3 wines and asked to determine which wine is different from the other two:

              {image from enologyaccess.org}

After the testers have balloted their results, a statistical analysis is usually applied to determine if the number of times wine 359 (B) was selected as different is significant or not.





Cheers,
B

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