Brewery and Winery Tours Across the Globe
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Category: General
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A little taste of Wine 101
On my many recent winery tours, I Christy ( the infamous wife) learned many different terms that helped me really appreciate Wine even more than I do now. The following is just a few tid- bits that I feel can help you on your next winery tour experience. Enjoy!
ACIDITY Vital component in wine that gives “bite” and life.
AFTERTASTE Strictly the flavor(s) left after the wine is swallowed.
BALANCE Vital relative measuring of different elements in a wine, especially sweetness, acidity, fruit, tannin, and alcohol.
BODY Important measures of a wine’s weight that is determined chiefly by its alcoholic strength, but also by its extract. The more body a wine has, the less like water it tastes.
BOTRYTIS Also called “noble rot,” Botrytis cinerea is a beneficial mold that, in just the right warm, humid circumstances, will begin to grow on the outside of grapes. As the mold sucks water from the grapes, they shrivel. This, in turn, concentrates the grapes’ sweet juice, allowing a very sweet wine to be made.
BREATHE What a wine is supposed to do if you leave the bottle open for a bit before serving. This
BUTTERY The sort of richness (and color) acquired by maturity
CRISP A complimentary term for a white wine with refreshing acidity.
LEGS The colorless streams left on the inside of a wine glass after a relatively alcoholic wine, more than 12 percent, has been swirled.
LIGHT The opposite of full bodied and not a pejorative term for wines that are meant to be delicate, such as many dry whites and some reds destined for youthful consumption.
MATURITY That period is a wines development after its youth and before its starts to decline. It can be after three years or after three decades, depending on the wind .
NOSE The nose of wine is its bouquet or aroma, depending on its state of maturity. It is the flavor you can smell. You nose a wine when you consciously smell it.
TANNIN Tannin is a group of beneficial compounds in wine that come mainly from the grape’s skins and seeds. Tannin gives wine structure and because it acts as a natural preservative, allows wine to age.
VARIETAL A type of grape variety. A varietal wine is an American term is named after the predominant grape variety from which it was made.
VINTAGE Either the harvest, or the year of the harvest.
Category: General
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A Unique Way to See the Breweries of the World
Hello fellow beer and brewery lovers. Today I wanted to write about a great new way to see both the cultures of the regions the beer is made and the actual breweries themselves. I have often wondered if it was all possible to learn about the town or city that the brewery is in rather then just the history of the brewery itself. Well if you have the same feeling then Bier-Mania Beer Tours is for you.
The owner of Bier Mania Beer Tours, Andy Neil, has come up with a great idea to combine the traveling to the breweries and the actual brewery experience all in one. Here is a description of the services that his tours provide:
“In 2006, British born entrepreneur Andy Neil established Bier-Mania! TM Cultural Beer Tours, and began a personal research tour throughout Europe and the United States. He designed a series of beer tour experiences, rich in history and culture, that would expose his tour guests to a broad range of traditional beer styles. He selected comfortable hotels and cozy Mom-and-Pop motels in historically rich regions, explored the most diverse estaminets, museums, beer gardens, and breweries, and structured a menu of tours to delight the most discriminating beer geek. His German wife Evi monitors the details, adding her linguistic expertise to sculpt desirable reservations.
Andy Neil takes his role as a tour authority seriously. In order to provide the maximum pleasure for his guests, he limits the number of touring clients to groups of 4 to 6 travelers, but sets his maximum limit at eight people. His tours are engineered in nomadic style, making the most of each stop along the way, while providing a bit of personal time for individual freedom at select destinations.”
They have a pretty cool looking website with a great interactive map to see where you will be traveling, So next time you are looking for a unique way to discover the breweries of the world stop by Bier-Mania. I know the next time the little misses and I are looking travel we will try them out.
Category: Brewery Tour Companies
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Brewery Tour #6: Piece Brewery and Pizzeria
Well this weeks tour review comes from Michael Selewach, who volunteers at the
Saint Arnold Brewing Company. He wanted to suggest a great brewery in the Chicago area called
Piece Brewery and Pizzeria.
Here is his review:
“Great beer and fantastic pizza. It’s very thin crust unlike Chicago’s deep dish style. The beer has won some awards. The co owner is the guitar player from Cheap Trick. Check out the pics on the website - Rachel Ray was there for a show.”
The site looks great. The tour looks like a great time and full of music and good times. I will have to check it out next time the wife and I are in the Chicago area.
Thanks for the suggestion Michael. If you have a favorite brewery/ winery tour, please drop me a line using my suggestion form and I will get it up as soon as I can.
Category: Beer Reviews, Brewery Tour Reviews
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