Posts Tagged ‘wine drinkers’

The world of wine is often discussed as though there are hard lines of demarcation in the wine producing regions. This is not even remotely the case as is seen by the fact that French winemakers developed much of the wine producing vineyards in the Rioja region of Spain.

A gathering of wine drinkers is often a place to hear some of the more humorously spouted verbal garbage ever. There is always that one person who pronounces wines from Bordeaux are superior to North American wines or some such thing. This is, of course, do to the superior grapes used in the “fill in the blank” region. Such statements are the sign of a person who knows little of what they are talking about. Why? The history of wine gives us the answer.

Wine was obviously the drink of choice after water in Europe for a very long time. In the 1800s, the various explorers of North America brought vines with them. Most failed to grow given the different climate and indigenous pests. That was okay because North America had a unique form of vine that could take the climate and pests on. This vine was known as labrusca.

Import-export is a concept that usually is a good thing, but not always. With vines, it was a bad thing. The labrusca vine was imported into Europe. With it came the pests. One particular form was brutal – phylloxera. How so? The European vines had no defense against it. By the mid-1860s, all major vineyards in Europe had been destroyed by phylloxera.

Wine was big business in Europe. Phylloxera was not only a wine disaster – it was an economic one. Lots of money and effort was thrown at the problem. No method for defeating phylloxera was found. So, what did the Europeans do? They cross bread the European vintages with labrusca. The wines produce today from Europe are part classic European vintage and part North American. While every vine has distinct merits, the French grape is better than North American grape argument is moot because the French grape is partially North American!

So, what does any of this have to do with French winemakers and Spain? During the death of the vineyards in Europe, the vintage winemakers spread out across the region to far flung vineyards. Remember, there were no cars or planes then. The Rioja region of Spain was once such area. It was remote enough that phylloxera was not a problem. The French set to work and the wine from the region has been excellent every since then.

Author: Thomas Ajava
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Out of the three kinds of wine available- red, white and rose- red wine is among the most common. It is the wine talked about when the myriad of health benefits are in the picture. These include cardiovascular protection because of the reduction of blood cholesterol, antioxidants which are involved in the natural Detox system among others. All these goodness is probably brought about by the presence of the grape skins which remain intact and are part of the red wine making process. In the making of white wine, the skins are usually removed. White wine is the basic table wine, but as far as fine dining is concerned, red wine takes the lead. It ‘completes a meal’ to say the least.

Wine making countries are not in their abundance considering the number of wine drinkers, but they do a splendid job keeping enough wine bottles on our shelves. The most common include Italy, Spain and France which are all European countries. Among these France holds the best reputation as far as the fermenting of exquisite wines is concerned. The French vineyards are expertly attended to and the wine that is got from them is nothing short of outstanding.

French Red wine, according to wine experts, is the best in red meat dishes. Red meat could be anything from beef, veal, and even duck. It’s said that these courses are never the same without some good mature well aged French wine to wash them down with. The best kind of French Red Wine is that which has been allowed to settle so that the sedimentation is not dispersed in the whole bottle. You can locate French Red Wine easy in most wine shops at average prices of $10-$25. But for older bottles, you have to pay considerably more especially when said bottle has been gracefully aging for more than 100 years.

Author: Jason W. Myers
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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