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Many people love to sample different types of wine, but sometimes, you just can not find one you really enjoy. Homemade wine making is the one way to experiment with different fruits and juices to make a wine you like.

All you need to do is to follow simple wine making instructions, especially during the fermentation phase. Grapes are naturally complementary to the wine making process and require very little adjustment during fermentation.

In cases of grape wine, this is made from pure grape juice. But for other fruit wines, additional water is needed to dilute the juice prior to the winemaking procedure. This is mainly because of the intense flavor. Secondly, some of the fruits may be high in their acidic property, which in turn makes the wine too sharp in taste if used full strength. Examples include gooseberry and blueberry juices.

Home wine making possibilities are endless when you think about it. You can use any type of fruit that would make a good wine. If you wan to experiment with just about anything, you can do this as well. You do not have to stick with what other people do, you can make your own blend.

The second essential factor is to determine the available sugar in the juice and to make the required adjustments to the sugar level. A winemaking hydrometer is very useful to perform this job. It provides you all the required information regarding the sugar level in the juice including the current level of sugar, the potential of preparing alcohol and the required amount of sugar. There are actually a wide variety of sugars available in the market. You may become a little unsure which will be the best sugar for your wine.

Proper amount of acidity is a crucial factor for home wine making preparation. No instructions for wine making seem to be complete without the discussion of acidity and its significance in wine preparation. Acidity is important mainly because of two reasons. It is essential to improve the character and balance of the wine produced in general and to enhance the fermentation process. Acidity largely varies between different fruits. There are essentially two ways to test acidity in a fruit juice. One is with pH testing strips and the other one is doing a titration. The former is not a very accurate way to measure acidity level; however, the later is useful to offer a better result.

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Many people think that it doesn’t matter what type of glass you drink a wine from. There will no change in the way it tastes right? Well, it is becoming increasingly popular to have a number of sets of glasses especially for different types of wine.Mr Riedel (the famous wine ware producer) has his grandfather to thank for the different shaped glasses as he first came up with the concept of altering the size and shapes for better drinking.Ever since, people have been convinced that the theory is correct and you can really notice a difference is the drinking experience. Buyer for K & L Wine Merchants in San Francisco, Shaun Green is a supporter of this concept, stating “It really does make a difference”.  Riedel now have over 40 different types of wine glass but if you can’t afford, or haven’t got space for these glasses in your wood wine cabinet, which ones are vital to own?

Red Wine – You really need a big-bowled smooth and basic glass for the drinking of red wine. This enhances the ability to swish the wine in the glass and liberate its full flavours. The nose is also easily let into the body of the glass which maximises the ability to inhale the sweet aromas

White Wine – The smaller-bowled glass with a higher rim is needed for drinking white wine. The creates a nice compact space for the flavours to swell and prevents any of the aroma from exiting the glass.

Champaign – The long thin iconic flute shape of the Champaign glass is needed to drink this luxury product. The flute preserves the bubbles better than any other shape and the small circumference prevents the strong gases from the bubbles overpowering the sinuses.

Almost all other wine types can be drunk out of these 3 basic designs so no need to fork out for a massive set. So if you haven’t got these 3, you might have some shopping to do.

Technorati Tags: champaign, tableware, wine, Wine glasses, wineware

Wine Food Pairing – Live large with Great Wine and Comfort Food

What is it about comfort foods that make them, so, comfortable? Is it a personal thing that we bring with us from childhood or maybe a food that we ate while going through tough times? I guess, if that would be the case, then spam would be on everybody’s must have list and how do you do wine food pairing with spam?

My definition of a comfort food is something we crave to eat when we want to cocoon ourselves in the comfort of "food love", perhaps a good home cooked meal or memories of that special dish prepared lovingly by a friend or family member. Food high in sugar or carbohydrates, filling our bellies and nourishing our very soul seems to fit the bill. I guess you could almost call it a guilty pleasure.

One of my favorite comfort foods around the holiday season is ham and cheese scalloped potatoes. My Mom used to make this every year when we had leftover ham from Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course, potatoes were always plentiful around the kitchen.

This rich, wonderful casserole is a mixture of potatoes sliced thinly, bite sized pieces of ham, onions, peppers and canned cream of mushroom soup. Dotted with real butter and sprinkled with grated cheddar this is one of my guilty pleasures. It is easy to put together and I have even learned to use my kitchen mandolin to thinly slice the spuds. The most difficult part of the whole dish is to wait for it to cook in the oven! The last time I made this treat, I paired it with a crisp green salad and unoaked Chardonnay from Heron Hills, located in the Finger Lakes region of New York. This is a crisp white wine which reminds me a lot of Pinot Grigio, one of my faves, and it pairs well with a lot of food.

After a busy day of holiday shopping, what could be better than to call up your local pizza parlor and order a double pepperoni pizza with thin crust and have it delivered directly to your home. Set your table with cloth napkins, light a candle and pair this with inexpensive Chianti served in your best crystal wine glasses. This is definitely a guilty pleasure delight!

The night before any big holiday celebration try treating your self to warm from the oven, double fudge chocolate chip brownies. The cake portion of the brownie will be moist and the dark chocolate chips will still be gooey, OH MY!Pair this with a full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile and it will bring out the best in the chocolate as well as the wine. Total decadence!

I could, of course, go on and on about the joys of wine food pairing with comfort foods, but I am sure you get the idea. It is easy and fun to do.

Remember, comfort food does not mean low rent! You can live large with comfort food and your favorite wines with just a little experimentation. So, go out there, use your imagination and let wine food pairing be a part of your life. CHEERS!

Technorati Tags: comfort food, smoked spiral ham, wine