The Shenandoah Valley Wine Growers Association

Received wisdom would have us believe that white wine is best served chilled while red wine should be served at room temperature.   Like most well known “facts” there is some basis to this thinking. Few can deny that a chilled white is more attractive to the palate than a lukewarm one.

But the wine drinker who sticks rigidly to these rules may well miss out on some treats. There are many factors to be taken into account; the wine itself obviously, but perhaps more importantly, the ambient temperature.

To wander round a German market town at Christmas time without sampling the hot Gluhwein (mulled warmed wine with spices), is to miss out on an essential part of the seasonal experience. I still savour the shock and delight of having local red wine served chilled overlooking the Adriatic on a blisteringly hot summer day. One of my particular favourites on a cold winter’s night is a hot toddy made simply from port and hot water. To mix a metaphor, it’s horses for courses or wines for all seasons.

Wine’s most favorite stopper has been popular for ages and, to this day, still holds the top spot for wine stopping choices. Cork comes from trees. The cork is found between the outer bark and inner bark and serves as insulation for the trees inner workings. It is resistant to heat and fire, water resistant and also resists rot. This makes it the number one choice for wine bottles. Even though most trees have cork bark, most cork is harvested from the Cork Oak Tree. This tree has the thickest layer of cork of any tree.

Keeping wine securely bottled is not the only use people have found for this material. It is often used in flooring, rockets and as flotation devices. Now the next time you take a gift of wine to a dinner party you can impress the other guests with your cork savvy.

If your interested in knowing allot more about Corks, check out www.HomeBrewitt.com

The past ten years have brought about many studies that have hinted at the heart healthy properties of red wine. Supposedly, the antioxidants in red wine can help lower bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, and has can prevent blood from clotting. This doesn’t give us free reign to go out and start drinking a bottle of red a day. The studies suggest only a drink per woman per day and 2 drinks per man per day are needed and any more than that is actually more harmful than beneficial. Choose yor galls wisely each night and sip knowing you are helping your heart.

I love a unique wine rack. I choose a different one to display for every party and occasion. My guests always comment on the most current rack of choice. It has become a tradition. They migrate to the kitchen and admire, or make fun of, whatever rack I have out.

Wine racks come in various shapes and sizes. There are bouquet racks, spiral racks, hanging racks, and tendril racks. There are golf club racks, puzzle racks, and even (my favorite, yes I own one), a moose head wine rack. It holds 2 bottles of wine on each antler. Wine racks can be elegant, creative, whimsical or, in some peoples eyes, bad humor. Whichever you choose, it is sure to get a conversation going.

What makes a unique wine rack even better is the vintage displayed. Go ahead, show your comical or creative side, get hooked on wine racks!

Seeing the vineyards by air is thrilling and unforgettable. Helicopter companies offer custom tours or tours as a prepackaged deal. Custom tours will sit with you and you will be a part of the itinerary team. You choose where you go, when you set down, and how long the tour is. Pre-packaged deals are tours that have a specific plan. They tell you what the package includes and you can choose if you want to book the tour.

Custom tours obviously are more expensive, but well worth the extra money. If you are going to spend money to fly the wine country, I’d suggest going custom and making it a truly memorable flight.   And the best item that will make your trip more exciting is a specially made wine gift baskets.

Port wine, most of the time simply called Port,  is a sweet wine from the Douro Valley of Portuguese, the second oldest wine region in the world.
Contrary to some beliefs, Port did not get it’s name from the country of origin, but from the city of Porto in the 17th century.  During this time, much of the wine was brought to market in this city to be exported.  Port is a full bodied fortified sweet wine that is typically higher in alcohol content than other wines.

It is also available in drys and semi-drys, but is famous for it’s sweet varieties. It is traditionally served after dinner with desserts or cheeses. Port makes a great wine gift for the hostess of any dinner party.

Marseille growers were the first to plant a vine in Côtes du Rhône. This area was the first wine producing region in France. The Rhone River made exporting wine very easy. The Romans then developed the vineyards. To this day one can still visit Roman Monuments in Vienne city.  Côtes du Rhône now has over 170,000 acres of vineyards with 450 million bottles of wine produced.

Hermitage red wines are some of the most famous coming from that region. The Condrieu area is known for it’s exquisite full bodied dry white wines. It uses the rare Voigner grape to produce 500,000 bottles of this beautiful and exceptional white wine.

For those of you who don’t know, wine comes from the grapevine. As a matter of fact, the grapevine is the source of all wine. Grapes are the largest fruit grown on earth. And in order to grow the perfect grapes, for the most classical wines, the vineyard must have certain climate conditions.

Extreme cold weather kills grapevines. Humidity promotes grapevine disease. Warm, dry summers are perfect weather climates for grapevines. Mild winters are mostly preferred.

We have considered many factors while growing our grapevines; the soil chemistry and type, drainage, fertility, the topography, and sun exposure. All of this information will give us information on the type of vine density, vine variety, row direction and much much more.

We’ve done our homework.

We have the best wines!

The Shenandoah Vally Wine Growers Association is one of the top wine association.