Flower Wine
Wine isn’t only made from grapes. It’s also made from vegetables, berries, fruits, herbs and even flowers…all kinds of flowers, including dandelions, lavender, roses, honeysuckle and marigolds, to name just a few. Basically, any edible flower can be used to make wine, but only the petals/flower heads tend to be used because other parts of the…
Wine in a Box
In the wine industry where tradition matters almost as much as the product itself, seeing wine in a box can be jarring. However, economic and environmental concerns have led to the development of new packaging options. It’s not surprising—glass bottles aren’t very easy to recycle, their weight makes them expensive to transport, and producing them…
The Role of Oak in Winemaking
Do you want to know more about oak and winemaking? Here are the answers to some common questions… Why is oak the preferred wood for making wine barrels in which wine is aged? Oak is preferred because it is easily bent, strong enough to withstand wear and tear, slightly porous (which is desirable for aging wines…
Grape Fun Facts
Grapes are VINE TALK’s favorite fruit because of all the wonderful wines produced from their juice. We thought it would be fun to find out a little more about this fabulous fruit, so we did a little research and came up with these interesting facts we thought you might enjoy… •Grapes are berries. A cluster…
Wine, No Grapes Included
At the end of the day, wine, whether it is good or bad, red or white, cheap or expensive, is basically aged and fermented grape juice. Turns out, grapes are not the only fruit used to make wine, nor is wine made from grapes the oldest form. That distinction belongs to honey wine, also known…
The Scoop on Tannins
You’ve probably heard the word “tannins” many a time, and if you asked what they are, you probably got a vague explanation like “it’s the thing in wine that makes your mouth feel dry and your lips pucker.” While this is a good description of the sensation tannins cause in your mouth, it doesn’t really…
How Sweet Wine Is Made
Sweet wines are sweet because they contain residual sugar. Residual sugar is natural grape sugar that either remains unfermented at the end of the fermentation process or is introduced to the wine after fermentation via a sweetening agent. Dry wines typically have only 0.1–0.2% residual sugar. By comparison semisweet wines usually have 1–3% residual sugar,…
Climate’s Impact on Wine
Climate has a major impact on the quality of a wine because is the most important factor influencing the yield and quality of grapes. The best wine growing regions in the world tend to lie between the 30° and 50° latitude on both sides of the equator. Wine producing areas are divided into two climactic types,…
Phylloxera: Tiny Pest, Huge Impact
In the late 19th century, an insect commonly referred to as phylloxera, spread throughout Europe destroying every vineyard in its path, and then made its way to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, continuing its rampage. At the time it was thought to be the biggest disaster in the history of wine,…
How Soil Influences Wine
Soil influences wine by impacting the development of the grapes from which wine is made. Thinking of starting a vineyard in your backyard? If so, the good news is that wine grapes can grow in a diverse variety of soils, including volcanic, calcareous (a combination of calcium carbonate, limestone and seashell fossils), clay, and loam…