http://amateurwino.today.com For the wine lover in all of us! Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:18:16 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en "Oh my Buffy, the bouquet of this Pinot is mahvalous." "Yes Winston, I agree.  Fantastic notes of vanilla and raspberries." "I agree my dear, and is that a hint of tobacco?" "AH, you are so right my love." Ahem... sound familiar?  If you've ventured out to a tasting room by now, than I'm sure you've had the pleasure ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/11/03/name-that-smell/ Last night my husband sent me the following text message "can you please stop at the store and pick up a decent wine".  This actually made me chuckle, 1. because we have hundreds of dollars of "decent wine" in our wine fridge, and 2. because we were having Turkey Burgers ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/09/17/dont-judge-a-bottle-by-its-region/ This past weekend a close friend and I hosted an anniversary party for her in-laws 40th Anniversary.  After much planning we settled on stocking the bar with only Beer and Wine as drink options.   We had about 7 bottles of wine (a mix of white zin, chardonnay, and pinot noir) and two and ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/09/15/attn-party-planners-the-wine-bug-is-spreading/ Recently my husband and I watched the 2008 hit film "Bottle Shock".  Without a doubt we both enjoyed the movie tremendously and would recommend it to any wine lover, or non wine lover, hands down. However, the title of the movie got me to wondering, especially because there was only one ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/08/14/bottle-shock-not-just-a-movie-title-my-friends/ While perusing through red wines perhaps you've noticed the two red varietals, Shiraz and Syrah.  Two varietals?  Not really... In actuality a Syrah and a Shiraz are the exact same grape!  So what's with the different names? In it's country of origin, France, the grape is known primarily as Syrah.  It is also widely ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/07/23/you-say-shiraz-i-say-syrah/ Tell me if this sounds familiar:  it’s Friday night and once again you are scanning the wine aisle at your local grocery or specialty store for something new.  In fact you’ve been down this isle so much in the last month that not only can you help other shoppers find ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/07/08/discover-a-local-winery-2/ By now you have surely noticed that wine glasses come in many shapes and sizes.  Most people can tell the difference between a champagne flute and a typical wine glass, but one trip down a store's isle and you'll see there are many more styles of wine glasses to be had. To be completely honest I was ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/06/11/so-many-glasses-so-little-time/ Tell me if this sounds familiar:  it’s Friday night and once again you are scanning the wine aisle at your local grocery or specialty store for something new.  In fact you’ve been down this isle so much in the last month that not only can you help other shoppers find ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/05/11/discover-a-local-winery/ You're wandering the isles of your favorite store and you come across a beautiful crystal wine decanter.  You buy it, take it home, and at your next dinner party you decant the wine you've chosen for that evening.   Why?     Good question. When it really comes down to it one of the basic reasons for ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/03/16/to-decant-or-not-to-decant-that-is-the-question/ What is a palate?  Well anatomically speaking the palate is the "partition between the oral and nasal cavities" (source: apraxia-kids.org)  Or in other words it's the roof of your mouth.   In wine terminology, however, the palate usually refers to the taste, texture, and at times the aroma, of the wine.  The ... http://amateurwino.today.com/2009/02/27/eau-de-palate/