The Best Articles on Wine Selection

Gourmet Wine Gift Baskets


Another heady gift basket that can bring smiles is the gourmet wine gift basket. A sure-fire hit with boss, family, friends or business associates, they toast any occasion with ?lan and encourage the art of hedonistic living! Weddings, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year?s, housewarming or birthday, get-well-soon wishes ? all are appropriate occasions for these generous gift baskets.



Elegant gourmet wine baskets offer interesting wines with a snack or food combination that heightens dining pleasure. You can select your own match or pick a ready-made basket according to your budget or preference, and the occasion. Usually, light wines work with easy snacks and heavy wines for heavy food. Highly spiced foods restrict your choices, as the alcohol in the wine can clash with the spices on your palate. It?s all about trusting your taste buds while experimenting, as well as looking at the region?s favorite combinations.



These baskets usually cater to universal tastes, with red, white or dessert wine or champagne accompanying crackers, cookies and chocolates. Interesting packages can also be created with assorted nuts, tortillas, chips, pretzels, smoked salmon, gourmet sausages, cheese, jelly, savory breads and dips. Other medleys include sauces, purees, extracts, syrups and spreads, exotic coffee or tea, oil and vinegars, herbs and spices, ethnic food ranging from Indian and Japanese to Spanish and Italian, or desserts and sweets.



Ready-made meals with that perfect wine can be presented as a surprise gourmet wine gift offering. Soups, salads, grilled or cooked meats, casseroles, fondues, pies, pastas, desserts and an accompanying wine or two can instantly lighten up an evening. So a Chicken Picata with Chardonnay or Kung Pao chicken with a cool Gewurztraminer, chocolates with port or apricot custard with Sauternes can bedazzle your friends like never before!



The baskets can be elaborately decorated with ribbons and satin trimmings. They can even include hand-painted glasses, wineglass charms, hand-carved wine art, wine ceramics or other wine accessories to give it that exclusive touch. Delectable, divine or plain sensational, you can never go wrong with a gourmet wine basket unless it is bequeathed to someone who abstains from alcohol or whose religion forbids it. Check your foreign business contacts? cultural background before presenting something that should ideally cheer and uplift.



Light up the candles; lay out the charm, soft music and gourmet wine basket magic ? that taste of wine offers a taste of Heaven!





Wine Gift Baskets provides detailed information on wine baskets, wine gift baskets, wine picnic baskets, wine and cheese baskets and more. Wine Gift Baskets is affiliated with Bakery Management.

Another short Wine Selection review

I Love Italian Wine and Food - The Piedmont Region


If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Piedmont region of northern Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you'll have...


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Wine Selection Products we recommend

La Tremaille Valais


Trémaille is an original wine which has been produced by Rouvinez with a view to being able to obtain an ample and powerful wine in casks, able to be kept for long periods. Trémaille is a blend of petite arvine and chardonnay. It has a lively yellow colour; its perfume is fruity, dominantly pineapple or even lemon in its youth. This wine brings together the fruitiness of the arvine with the strong robustness of the chardonnay; there are almond, spicy, toast flavours leaving a final bitterness and long-lasting taste. Serve chilled. SWTWK7NV SWTWK7NV


Price: 48.95 USD



Headlines on Wine Selection

A calendar of Valencian Food Fiestas in Spain

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:54:55 PST
A Calendar of Spanish Culinary Festivals in the Valencia Region: food and wine festivals for every taste in this short guide to selected fiestas and culinary events taking place throughout the year in the Spanish region of Valencia

How to Select Wine and Cheese

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:24:12 PST
A guide to making wine and cheese pairing a breeze.

Wine Goblet Place Card Holder for your wine wedding favor

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:54:55 PST
So, which wedding favor would you like to have for your wedding? We have a wide selection of unique wedding favors for you to choose from.

Picnic Baskets, Backpacks and Totes

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:28:53 PST
Our willow and rattan picnic and wine and cheese baskets come complete with service for two or four. The classic designs of the willow and rattan picnic baskets are enhanced by the coordinated fabrics of the linings and napkins. As you peruse through the selections we are confident you will find a picnic, wine and cheese basket, backpack, or tote t

Hunt Cellars to Feature its Famous Cult Wines in DC Wine Expo Seminar

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:01 PST
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) March 5, 2008 -- David Hunt and his winery, "Hunt Cellars" are no strangers to http://www.huntcellars.com/awards.html fine wine __title__ Fine Wine] tastings and...

Download music for a wine tasting party

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:32:53 PST
Set the mood for your wine tasting party with a selection of cool jazz music


Barefoot Wine
Oregon Wine

Labels: Strawberry Wine | Summer Wine

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A Zinfandel Grape Artilce for Your Viewing

I Love Italian Wine and Food - The Emilia-Romagna Region

Emilia-Romagna stretches from the Ligurian border in northeastern Italy to the Adriatic Sea. As the name indicates, historically it was composed of two regions, Emilia and Romagna. It may be the only region of Italy named for a road, one constructed by the Ancient Romans almost 2200 years ago. It is one of the most prosperous regions of Italy with strong agricultural, industrial, and tourist economic activity. Its total population is about 3.9 million.

Emilia-Romagna produces a very wide variety of pasta, fruits and vegetables, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cheese, and fresh and cured meats. Two of its biggest stars are a cheese, Parmigiano Regianno, and a ham, Prosciutto di Parma. Parmesan cheese as it's known in English, was mentioned by the famous Italian author of the Fourteenth Century, Giovanni Boccaccio. We review it below. Parma ham, as it's known in English, is an uncooked ham that is dry cured for at least ten months. Usually it is served in very thin slices, often as appetizer with melon.

Bologna whose population is about 375,000 is the administrative center of Emilia-Romagna. It is the home of the first university in the Western World, founded in the 11th Century. Bologna is also considered the capital of Italian gastronomy, in spite of its unfortunate association with a low-quality sandwich meat. Another city of interest is Rimini, a resort center on the Adriatic Sea with a population of 135 thousand.

Emilia-Romagna devotes about 178,000 acres to grapevines, it ranks 5th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 125 million gallons, giving it a 4th place. About 57% of the wine production is red, leaving 43% for white. The region produces 18 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine and 1 DOCG white wine, Albana di Romagna. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. In fact, while this wine was the first white wine to be accorded the DOCG designation in Italy (1987), many feel that Albana di Romagna does not deserve such an award. (I have never tasted this wine, and from the reviews that I've read, I'm in no hurry to taste it.) About 21% of Emilia-Romagna wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. Emilia-Romagna is home to more than four dozen major and secondary grape varieties, a few more red than white.

Widely grown international white grape varieties include Malvasia and Trebbiano. The best known strictly Italian white varieties are Albana (source of the DOCG wine) and Pignoletto.

Cabernet Sauvignon is the only widely grown international red grape variety. The best known strictly Italian red variety is Bonarda. The Italian red varieties Barbera and Sangiovese are found elsewhere, including California.

Before we reviewing the Emilia-Romagna wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.
Start with Gelato di Parmigiano, Parmigiano "Ice Cream", which includes heavy cream and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, suggested as an appetizer.
A more traditional dish is Scaloppine di Vitello alla Bolognese, Veal Scaloppine all Bolognese, which also includes Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, as well as other local specialties Prosciutto di Parma and balsamic vinegar.
For dessert (as if the ice cream wasn't a dessert) try Torta Bonissima, a Honey and Nut Pie.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Donini Lamberti Trebbiano-Chardonnay IGT 2005 12% alcohol about $8 (liter)

Everybody has prejudices. I approached this bottle with several of them. It seems to me that a liter of wine is usually too big, accentuating quantity at the expense of quality. Given the economics of the wine industry, I am usually reticent to purchase a bottle for $8, which would be $6 for a regular-sized bottle. And finally while Emilia-Romagna is often known for its red wines, it is not particularly known for its white wines, with an unfortunate exception, the DOCG wine Albana di Romagna, discussed above. And now to the actual wine.

The first time that I drank this wine I found that its taste was one of green apples, dominating everything else but still light on flavor if not unpleasant. It didn't really accompany the food, a breaded chicken cutlet in sweet and sour sauce with potatoes cooked in chicken fat. As the wine aged a bit, (it takes a long time to finish a liter if you don't care to drink very much at a time) it got better instead of worse. I have read that 3.5 million bottles of this type wine are produced yearly. I understand that it is popular in fish restaurants along the Adriatic Sea. I'd love to find out for sure. Final verdict, not bad for the price.

Parmigiano-Reggiano is a cooked, unpressed semi-fat hard cheese made from raw cow's milk. It is encased in a thin, yellow rind. This cheese is finely grained and very flaky. Its taste is delicate and fragrant, and frankly wasted with a wine of this quality.

About the Author

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His wine website is www.theworldwidewine.com . You can reach him at ital@mail.theworldwidewine.com.

A synopsis on Zinfandel Grape.

The Basic Wine Essentials


Whether you are serving it to your guests while entertaining, using it to create luscious dishes, or simply enjoying its? company, whatever the occasi...


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Recommended Zinfandel Grape Items

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet


"From one of California's most experienced Cabernet Sauvignon winemakers, the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa possesses an inky/purple color as well as a restrained, but sweet bouquet of blackberries intermixed with hints of new saddle leather and crushed rocks. Firmly structured, with a steely spine, exuberant, rich fruit, and a powerful, highly tannic finish, it should be cellared for 7-8 years, and drunk over the following two decades." This dry red wine is a great gift to buy online! RP - 93 (Subject to Availability) DUVC01 DUVC01


Price: 147.99 USD



Current Zinfandel Grape News

Dining Out: Redwood City's Flaming Fresco a find - San Francisco Chronicle

Dining Out: Redwood City's Flaming Fresco a find San Francisco Chronicle, USA - 4 hours ago Its vibrant colors, Diego Rivera prints, tiled floor and geometric wall accents clearly spell Mexico without a sarape or sombrero in sight. ...

Talking Wine Labels

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 12:04:34 PDT
Starting in November, Modulgraf, a Tuscan graphics and printing company, will start embedding chips into paper labels allowing information to be transmitted through handheld devices via RFID.

Passing the Buck: or, The Printer as a Fine French Wine

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 21:19:14 PST
"Xerox has responded to our research on how printers made by Xerox and other companies track the origin of documents you print. Its new "Xerox Statement on Counterfeit Detection" contains some bizarre suggestions. The most prominent of these is that Xerox's invasions of privacy are OK because other privacy invasions are worse"

The printed organism

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:25:27 PDT
They designed a jacket inhabited by a Printed Organism, that appears and grows on the garment only when it is being worn for long enough.When you wear the cotton jacket, the pattern, like a parasite or a wine plant, slowly comes to life as color until it reaches full visual bloom.


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Zinfandel Grape | Zinfandel Wine

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