So This Is Christmas

Merry Christmas is such an infectious feeling I like to feel that way all year around.

So if you are visiting just before Christmas, just after Christmas or even here on Christmas day I am sure you will find something of interest for you and in the spirit of Christmas.

It may be said that Christmas is no longer a celebration but this must be spoken by people that have never had trouble closing their eyes on Christmas Eve in an expectation of what maybe left for them on the carpet under the tree.

I continue to look forward to the surprise on my Grandchild's faces to this day at Christmas events.

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Several great tips about wine in restaurants

By Morten Hansen


The drinking of wine is a celebrating of life, great food and special company. Finding out about wine also should be a pleasure! Let's rap about ordering wine in a diner. This need not be complicated or frightening, even though you are a beginner.

Whether sat at a grand, full service trattoria or your favourite bistro, a wine list should be available. It may be on the table or offered before or with the menu. If not, ask the waiter for the wine list. Regardless of format, certain information should be available on any good wine list. First, the entire name of the wine, this includes the name of the wine, the winemaker and the vintage. If a wine is listed without the name of the producer or the vintage, ask the waiter.

Most American restaurants don't have sommeliers or wine stewards. In restaurants concerned about their wine selection, service and sales, waiters are usually trained to be well placed to suggest wines. If a sommelier is available, it is mostly worth exploiting his/her services. Frequently when the services of a sommelier are available, the only real way to find out is to ask. The advantages of including a pro in your wine selection are:

- He/she can orchestrate and invigorate the whole meal.

- He/she have tasted the wines on the list more recently than you.

- He/she knows how the menu selections you ordered are basically being prepared.

Naturally, some sommeliers are more knowledgeable than others. Do exploit feedback, yet, the choice is actually yours!

Keep several points in mind when selecting a wine:

Permit yourself one or two minutes to check the wine list before chatting about your selections. If you'd like suggestions, give your waiter/sommelier something to work with. Have you got an area in mind? Thinking all day of a Napa Valley Chardonnay? Fascinated by tasting a Syrah from Australia?

Consider the style of wine you would like. Do you and your guests wish to have a light body, a smooth finish, soft tannins or a heavier, aggressive wine? There is little wrong with saying you need something under $30.00 or pointing to a price on the list and saying "along these lines." If wines are suggested that aren't on the list, the waiter/sommelier should tell you the price and vintage; if they do not, ask.

When ordering more than 1 wine, debate when they are going to be served. The best rough guide is to have them all brought-and even opened-as shortly as you order. This way, you can see the wines are what you ordered and you don't have to hang around if the waiter get too busy , for your next pour!

The waiter now opens the wine by removing the cork. Prior to this, the capsule is removed and the cork wiped as dust or mould could have adhered to the cork while the wine was waiting in the winery, for the capsule to be placed. Once the cork is removed, the method moves toward tasting. The waiter should present the cork to the individual that ordered the wine. Most people think they are supposed to sniff the cork. This isn't so! After all , a cork smells like cork! The point is to check the disposition of the cork. Is it damp? This is a great sign. A dry cork could indicate a storage problem, the bottle was upright and not stored on its side. If a cork is dried-out, air may have gotten in the bottle and oxidized the wine, thereby diminishing the standard of the wine.

Smelling and tasting are the next steps. The taster is searching for flaws that render the wine unsuitable. Taste once, then a second time, focusing on the taste. There are a few reasons to reject a bottle of wine. It may be "corky" and smell like mould: the result of a bad cork, not poor winemaking. A "maderized" wine has the unmistakable aroma of sweet Sherry or Madeira, therefore the term. This is mostly the result of poor storage or exposure to temperature. A taster might also spot sulphur in the nose or the flavor of a wine. Regularly this diminishes with a little bit of swirling; if it does not, it may make the wine unpleasant and worthy of rejection. Some diners have policies on refused wine, others handle every circumstance individually. It is really poor judgment for a restaurateur to put a shopper on the spot and challenge his/her taste. If the wine is pricey, say about $50.00, the restaurateur may come to your table for a taste of the wine. It doesn't take a professional wine drinker to detect these flaws with bottled wine. If the cork is dry or the taste is compromised, tell your waiter.




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