Welcome to Betty's Wine Musings, where you'll get fabulous wine tasting tips and wine tasting notes, discover personalized wines, and more! Whether you are a wine veteran or just getting started, there’s always something more to explore about the wonderful world of wine.
We’ve all heard of corked wine. Right? We know it’s something bad, but we may have never experienced it ourselves, or perhaps we didn’t know that we were experiencing it. Today we will explore the mysteries behind corked wines.
Last night, I introduced my wine-loving friend to WineShop At Home’s Fiano, which is a white grape and wine that originated in the south of Italy. I told her that my favorite thing about this wine is its minerality. She laughed at me and asked what the heck I meant by minerality. After answering her in a not very eloquent way (I talked about its complexity, its nuances and its non-food flavors), I decided it’s time to do some research. This was a fun activity, because I found a ton of great articles on the topic. I wish I could have read all of them.
As a wine consultant, I get many questions about sweet wine and dry wine. My favorite is how can a wine be dry when it’s wet. That’s a really good question. Today we’re going to delve into this delicious topic. Are you ready?
[Read more…]My Ohio wine friend Jim Sperk just shared this amazing story about why we find a foil capsule on each wine bottle. I had no idea. Did you?
Every time I open a magnum or double magnum bottle of wine, I’m thrilled. The large-format wine bottles I open are at least 10 years old, and the wine tastes perfect! Well balanced, deeply mature, with a lot of dark berry notes. I know that had the wine been in normal 750 ml bottles, it wouldn’t have tasted nearly as good. Let’s take a look at why large-format wine bottles are so great for aging wine.
Thank you to VinePair, The Wine Cellar Insider and TheFinestBubbles for your very informative articles.
According TheWineCellarInsider, “It is a fact that wine from larger format wine bottles age more slowly, and possibly even develop more complexity and nuances than wines from smaller wine bottle sizes.” The main reason for this is that the space between the bottom of the cork and the wine’s surface, also known as the ullage, is the same regardless of the size of the bottle. With larger bottles, you have a much greater volume of liquid exposed to the oxygen from the cork. So, the impact of oxygen is greatly reduced, thus reducing the likelihood of oxidation.
Interestingly, TheFineBubble says that the slowing down of aging in large wine bottles is more pronounced for Champagne and Sparkling Wine than for still wine. It might be time to get some large-format bubbly!
Large wine bottles have thicker glass than regular-sized bottles, which means greater protection. They also do a better job of protecting your wine from heat, temperature changes and travel-related vibrations. And the glass is typically dark green, which does a better job of keeping out the light.
According to VInePair, “Most rosés are designed to be chugged during the current vintage; they start to lose value as they age. However, large format rosés will still taste fresh and fruity well beyond their vintage, since they aren’t aging as quickly as standard bottles. In turn, that can mean big deals as retailers try to offload enormous, happy bottles of rosé.”
Large wine bottles are impressive. They set a festive tone for big celebrations, including big birthday parties, anniversaries, the Super Bowl or something else. At WineShop At Home, we sell great personalized double magnums for $283. If you’re interested in buying one, please let me know.
As an independent wine consultant with WineShop At Home, I absolutely enjoy bringing a taste of the Napa wine country home to you one sip at a time. Whether you simply love to drink wine, seek a special personalized wine gift, or are in search of a new wine jobs opportunity as a wine consultant, feel free to contact me for a truly unique wine tasting experience!
