Dandelion wine is one of our favourite wines to make and definitely one of the best for the campsite, hedgerow or field forage. Mainly because it tastes so good but also because a good dandelion picking day has to be warm and sunny and it’s usually accompanied with a bottle of last years wine and a bunch of friends.

We have our favourite picking spots where we arrive with a picnic, go for a walk and just before returning to the camper van we collect bucket loads of dandelion heads. That part is the best part as the next bit turns your fingers yellow and smells quite bitter, but with the remains of the bottle of wine it never actually seems too bad.

Firstly, before you embark on any type of homebrewing you must be sure you have the right equipment and it’s all clean and sterilised. Secondly, you must always make sure you’ve foraged far away from any kind of pollution or sprays, and with landowner permission. It’s also best to pick on warm sunny days as the natural sugars and yeast (and therefore strength of flavour) will be best at this time.

Dandelions seem to have two blooms in the Spring and late summer. The flower is particularly prevalent after a lot of rain, so in the UK we will be seeing many of them over the next week so you better get foraging.

What you will need:

Homebrew kit. If you’re not sure about this there’s a great book about Booze For Free you can pick up from our store with everything you need to know… and then some!

6 pints (3.4 l) glasses of dandelion flowers slightly pressed down in the glass (the yellow part only as the green adds a very bitter taste)

Finely peeled rind and juice of 1 orange

Finely peeled rind and juice of 1 lemon

8 Pints (4.5 l) of water

3 lbs (1.5 kg) sugar

4 Fl oz (12 ml) strong black tea cooled and strained

0.25 oz (10g) wine yeast

Put the yellow petals, orange peel, lemon peel and water into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the water into another container and add the sugar. Stir until it dissolves and add the tea, orange and lemon juice. When its cool add the yeast and cover it well. Stir daily for 3-5 days. Siphon into demijohns and seal with an airlock and leave for about 2-3 months. It’s ready to drink within 7 months but will taste even better if left much longer.

We cracked open our year old dandelion wine only the other night and it had a taste that resembled whisky as I’d added a few extra raisins in the brewing process, making it very drinkable indeed! It’s even possible to make dandelion beer from the roots of young plants in the Spring, just like the popular coffee and tea substitute aptly named ‘Dandelion Root’. Remember it is also an edible wild plant so food foragers will be happy to hear they can use young leaves in salad and cook the older leaves similar to spinach, or add them to soups and sauces.

Dandelion can stimulate the metabolism and cleanse the blood. It’s a natural diuretic so it is said it can help to treat acne, liver, stomach, gout and rheumatism conditions. Its value lies in its active agents, which can also cause its bitter taste. Namely tannins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, organic acids essential oils and much more.

So when you’re next at your camping site, take a look around you and see if you can spot enough dandelions to add a bit of zing to your salad, or brew up a couple of demijohns of wine or a flagon of beer. One thing’s for sure… if you do you’ll never look at another dandelion ‘weed’ in the same way again.

So what’s your favourite campsite forage? Carry on the conversation at http://www.InspiredCamping.com

Wine has always been a satisfying and enjoyable complement to a lovely meal at a restaurant. Wine tasting in a restaurant is a very rich and rewarding experience. Once you have made your wine selection, there are a number of steps involved in properly tasting the wine that will make the wine tasting experience even more pleasurable.

1. Smell the Cork: Detecting the aroma from the cork will tell how well the wine has been taken care of. Once the cork has been removed from the bottle, examine it to make sure it is not dry, cracked, or has mold growing from it. If the cork is dry on both ends, this means that oxygenation took place which affects the taste. If everything looks good, (one end containing wine and the other end dry) smell the end of the cork that contains wine. It should not have any unusual aroma such as a musty or sharp smell.

2. Smell the Wine: Pour a small amount of wine in a glass. (No more than few ounces in a glass) Hold your glass and gently swirl it around. This will cause the wine's aroma to be released. Raise the glass to your nose and breathe in. Take a few seconds to get a sense of the aroma. Detecting distinct flavors tells you that the wine is good. If you detect any musty odors or a vinegar type odor, the wine has likely gone bad. When you smell the wine, make a note of any distinct aromas. For instance, white wines can have such aromas as flowers, grapefruit, peaches, apples, and other citrus. Red wines can smell like prunes, raspberries, cherries … etc.

3. Tasting the Wine: Take a small sip of the wine. Breathe in as you sip the wine so that you get the full aroma. Do not swallow the wine right away. Move it around a bit in your mouth to get all of the flavors. Note how long the taste stays in your mouth after swallowing. As well, note how it feels and tastes in your mouth. Is it acidic, fruity, or have a strong alcohol taste? Or, do the flavors blend well together and leave a nice flavor in the mouth that is not too weak or strong? Note if your mouth feels like it is drying out or if it feel refreshed. As well, is the texture of the wine smooth and silky or is it harsh and fizzy.

When ordering wine with your meal, always select wine based on you and your guests' personal tastes. When choosing a wine with a particular meal, most people follow the general rule: "white wine with lighter foods and red wine with heavier foods." It is important to select a wine that you will enjoy, regardless of what you are eating. If you are unsure of what to select, your server will be able to offer some helpful tips. Learning to smell and taste wine, including the characteristics of a fine wine, will go long way to ensuring you made the right wine selection. Wine is a wonderful and satisfying complement to any meal. Knowing how to properly taste the wine will make the dining experience even more satisfying.

If you want to learn how to make wine, one of the first things you should do is learn about all of the different additives and chemicals that are used to make homemade wine. Pectic Enzyme is one of the most misunderstood additives.

This article will explain What is pecitic enzyme, why do I need it and how it works.

Let’s back up a little and talk about grape jelly. MMMM! Everyone loves grape jelly and jam on a hot buttered biscuit. It always has a gooey, almost jello like consistency.

Did you ever wonder where that jello consistency comes from? Well, in jello, it comes from gelatin. But it fruit jams and jellies, a lot of the consistency comes from something called pectin.

Pectin is produced commercially as a white to light brown powder, extracted from citrus fruits, and is used in food as a gelling agent particularly in jams and jellies.

If you want to make your own wine out of grapes, peaches, strawberries or any other kind of fruit – you have to have a way of dealing with the naturally occurring pectin. The reason is that pectin can cause solids in your wine to clump together in a colliodal suspension and you’ll end up with cloudy wine that won’t clear no matter how long you leave it sitting in the secondary.

How to deal with it? Use something that EATS pectin! Pectic Enzyme loves to eat pectin.

The way to use pectic enzyme when making your own wine at home is to add about a 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of fruit juice before you start fermenting the juice.

While the fermentation is going on, the pectic enzyme will also be eating and dissolving the pectin. This will make your wine clear a lot faster and keep it from having suspended solids.

If you have ever participated in a wine tasting event alongside "expert tasters", you may be left to wonder how these wine jargon-sputtering enophiles can possibly detect so many aromas and nuances or, perhaps, if your own tasting abilities might be subpar. And if you are of the male type, chances are you may be further disadvantaged. It can be quite daunting when time comes to opine on the wine's attributes.

Do supertasters really have special abilities to discern so many aromas, flavors, and discriminate all the subtle nuances, or are they mere snobs trying to impress the average wine enthusiast?

Although science has not confirmed this, it is believed that the human nose can perceive several tens of thousands of odors; estimates range between ten and fifty thousands. Robert M. Parker, Jr.-unquestionably the most influential modern-day wine critic who popularized the 100-point scoring system known to either make or break wine sales-is believed to be endowed with super tasting abilities, presumably capable of identifying specific producers as well as different vintages of the same wine. Others claim that it's all nonsense, but not according to Parker; he had his nose and palate insured for $ 1 million. Interestingly, Avery Gilbert cites an experiment in What the Nose Knows where even professionals could not identify more than three odors from a prepared complex mixture, and that "no one could bust the four-odor limit," or what is known as the Laing Limit based on Australian psychologist David Laing's work. This begs the question "How can anyone smell a multitude of odors in wine?" And could Parker be able to bust the Laing Limit under laboratory conditions? Who knows? (Okay, the pun was intended.)

Let's try and make sense of this by first looking at the physiology of tasting-that is, how we perceive and interpret flavors and aromas through our gustatory (mouth) and olfactory (nose) senses, respectively.

Note: The words "aroma," "smell," "odor," "bouquet," and "flavor" are often used interchangeably as synonyms. Here we make no distinction among the first four terms, which we use to refer to odors or what the nose can smell; "bouquet", in wine sensory analysis, is more specific though-it refers to odors resulting from fermentation or wine aging. And the term "flavor" refers to what can be tasted by the palate. In wine appreciation, some will even include tactile sensations, as those delivered by astringent tannins, in the definition of flavor.

Our tongue consists of several types of gustatory receptor cells in taste buds on the tongue's papillae, each sensing or perceiving different flavors. There are approximately a couple of dozen receptor cells in each of the roughly 10,000 taste buds in a normal adult individual. As we taste wine (or any food), taste molecules first dissolve in saliva-necessary for the taste to be detected-and trigger nerve signals that are then delivered to the gustatory cortex in the brain for interpretation.

Taste buds can discern four primary tastes or flavors: sweetness, saltiness, acidity, and bitterness. Until recently, science claimed that these flavors were detected on specific areas of the tongue: sweetness is detected at the tip; saltiness on the sides, towards the front; acidity on the sides, towards the back; and bitterness at the back of the tongue. The science of taste now also defines a fifth taste, umami , a Japanese word meaning "savory," which can be found in high-protein content foods or those containing glutamates (glutamic acid), such as food treated with monosodium glutamate (MSG) . Recent research now postulates that these five primary flavors can be detected all over the tongue.

Unless individuals have suffered physiological taste bud damage from, for example, heavy smoking, it can be assumed that we can all discern all five primary tastes and conclude that we can all taste the same flavors in food and beverages. Of course we all have different detection thresholds based on the physiological conditioning of our taste buds since birth. Gustatory acuity also decreases with aging as the number of taste buds greatly decreases-to less than 5,000 by some estimates.

But without an olfactory sense, we might as well eat insipid food and drink neutral beverages. We would not be able to tell apart a glass of Château Le Pew from a fine vintage of Château Latour. It is through the nose, through voluntary and involuntary stimulations, that we get to be able to discern all those attractive odors (and repulsive malodors, better referred to as "wine faults" in winespeak).

In voluntary stimulation in wine tasting, we first swirl the glass of wine to volatize aromas and then bring it up to our nose to smell the various aromas; the volatized aromas flow inwards from the nose and up to the olfactory receptors. As we then take a sip, involuntary stimulation is activated through retronasal olfaction at the back of the mouth and aromas flow upwards to the olfactory receptors.

At the molecular level, volatized aromas from, for example, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, and terpenoids in wine, comprise a plethora of complex molecules, or odorants, which first dissolve on the mucus lining. If odorants cannot dissolve, they cannot be detected. When detected, the odorants then chemically stimulate olfactory receptor cells-some 50 million according to Émile Peynaud in his authoritative book The Taste of Wine -in the nasal chamber to trigger nerve signals sent to the olfactory bulb and then to the frontal lobe of the brain . The nostrils and nose chambers serve only as conduits to the olfactory receptor cells located just below the brain, and so, a bigger nose does not necessarily mean superior olfactory abilities.

So we have millions and millions of olfactory receptor cells but cannot identify more than two or three odors in a complex beverage such as wine. Quite the conundrum! So how are supertasters able to differentiate and identify so many odors and nuances?

Medical science states that differentiation and identification of odors actually happens in the brain, which is so conditioned through our development and experience. This is to say that those who were exposed to vast numbers of odors since childhood from, for example, their mother's cooking, would have developed an extensive "registry" in their brain. Specific smells then trigger the individual's cognitive and memory skills and be able to describe the smell using words. If one cannot smell an odor, it might well be that the individual is not able to recognize it, as opposed to not being able to detect it, unless the odor concentration is below the threshold of detection. The same can be said of other senses, namely, sight and sound: Is Vivaldi's Quattro Stagioni music to one's ears or simply a series of incoherent noises? It could well be the latter if one has never experienced music.

Then, with the proper training and development, particularly if initiated early in life, and with experience tasting many, many wines, it is possible for a wine taster to become a supertaster. But given that there is some physiological degradation of olfactory receptors in the nose and of mental acuity with aging, we can then expect olfactory abilities to diminish. Training one's nose with vials of aroma essence, such as Le nez du vin wine aroma kits, can thus only improve one's wine tasting ability so far.

And yes, according to scientific studies, women do have more acute olfactory and gustatory senses than men, but only until menopause.

The difference between an average homemade wine and an award-winning one often lies in yeast selection-an unknown or often ignored practice in home winemaking.

Sure. Making good wine involves growing or buying good fruit and sound winemaking. But making wine-and certainly making great wine-goes beyond buying grapes or juice and then pitching yeast, any yeast, and waiting for fermentation to complete before bottling. And gone are the days of relying on indigenous yeast to get to work; results can be unpredictable and unreliable, or even cause spoilage.

If you want to make award-winning wines that can outscore even commercial wines, then you need to select a wine yeast and choosing wisely. With the plethora of specialized yeast strains now available, you can select a strain specifically for your grape or juice variety and desired wine style. But it shouldn’t end there. There is no one magic yeast strain, though there are preferred ones. So try experimenting with different yeast strains by fermenting several batches and then comparing wine from different batches. You may find that one strain produces better aromas and flavors, perhaps which are more typical of the varietal. Then try blending batches from different strains and in different combinations-the results will surprise you. And avoid the practice of combining two or more strains for fermenting the same batch; this can cause the strains to compete and perhaps yield unpredictable results in terms of aromas, flavors, and mouthfeel.

Yeast manufacturers’ websites and home winemaking literature now provide useful information and performance specs to help you choose the right yeast for your needs. Become acquainted with some of the terminology describing yeast characteristics such as optimal fermentation temperature, hydrogen sulfide production, nutrient requirements, as these provide key usage information and clues on expected results.

And remember the first rule of home winemaking-be patient. Making wine takes time. Don’t expect to ferment, bottle and drink all within a couple of months, unless you are making wine from a kit, and even then, I would recommend going slowly. Wine needs time to reach its peak; aromas and flavors do not develop overnight. Wine is not an end result, but rather an evolution of aromas, flavors, mouthfeel.

Once the wine has finished fermenting and has been stabilized, taste each batch at least once a month; you will notice that your wine will be much improved after six months, perhaps more depending on the style of wine you are making. Reds generally benefit from a longer aging, for example, twelve months.

Once you have selected which batches are best and how to blend, you are then ready to bottle, and again, I recommend some bottle aging to let the wine settle and improve. Your patience will be greatly rewarded.

When the sun goes down it is wine that you want, not coffee. So imbibe at one of Budapest’s hippest hotspots which provide wide-ranging wine selections from distinguished Hungarian and international producers. Here is our favorite top 10 wine bars in Budapest, any one of them is perfect for sampling varied vintages amidst vivacious atmospheres.

DiVino wine bar has a very special place at Budapesters’ wine loving heart. This trendy place with its refreshingly minimal design is located right next to Szent István Bazilika (St. Stephen’s Basilica). DiVino is a thoroughly modern but yet very comfortable wine bar in a dynamic bistro milieu. DiVino presents the wines of the Junibor producers, the association of the second generation, young Hungarian winemakers. You can taste the very best of bottles of Hungarian wines from approximately 25 cellars and don’t be surprised if your glass is refilled by Csaba Miklós himself. What’s special about DiVino is that every other week a different winemaker is put to the spotlight and they enjoy the full attention. There is nothing better than sitting outside on the stairs of the fountain in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica enjoying a glass of wine in summer. Don’t be sad, there are heaters at the entrance of DiVino in winter, so you can stay outside with your glass of wine too. This is one of our popular new favorites, go and try it for yourself!

Bock Bisztró is located in the prestigious Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal, one of the most elegant hotels of Budapest, and named after one of the most famous Hungarian winemakers, József Bock who is also one of the proprietors. Bock Bisztró has a homely bistro atmosphere in a light but elegant interior with functional but traditional furnishing. They do the best traditional and rustic Hungarian cuisine in Budapest with a modern edge, so the well-kept traditions go with ambitious experimenting. A brief menu focusing on seasonal dishes with daily menu offer and a selection of 220 wines which are not limited to Bock wines only but many other Hungarian quality wines. Kind and reliable service, great atmosphere on top of great food and drink is about all anyone could ask for. Booking in advance is highly recommended!

Borkonyha is located close to Szent István Bazilika (St. Stephen’s Basilica) and opened in December 2010. It is a dining place combining major elements of a French-type bistro and an up-to-date Hungarian family restaurant with a vibe that makes it friendly and classy. The kitchen is based on fresh ingredients and the menu is written on a blackboard and changes are made every other week. As its name reflects, wine is an important part of the philosophy of the restaurant. They have a strong Hungarian wine list from the smallest vineyards to the most well-known Hungarian producers. The wine list shows creativity and offers selections that surprises even regular drinkers of Hungarian wine. We love this place so much for the wide selection of wines, fine food and friendly service. So book a table and sample their wine philosophy… leave the car keys at home!!!!

Klassz Bisztró is a stylish restaurant (a more of a bistro style) and wine bar on the beautiful World Heritage avenue, Andrássy út. Klassz serves Hungarian food and wide selections of meals inspired by international cuisine. The menu changes quite regularly. Klassz offers an excellent selection of wine, as there is a wine shop at the back of the bistro owned by Bortársaság (Wine Society), Hungary’s premier wine retailer. The good thing is that here you’re given the opportunity to try the wine with your meal first before deciding whether you want to buy it. In the wine shop, during opening hours of the restaurant, you can buy wines to go. So if you find most shops closed before the party, you can always jump in here for a bottle of excellent Hungarian wines. Winter or summer, noon or night, a trip to Klassz is always good at a reasonable price!

If you are familiar with my writings on wine, you know that for me the taste of a wine tops my agenda in criticizing that wine. It is not what the experts think and base their opinions on, it is basically the taste of the wine.

Not being a fan of tannic, oaky and heavy wines, I tend to recommend smooth, settling, and delightful wines that have a clean finish and lack aftertaste. So if you are a die hard California wine drinker that enjoy heavy Cabs and Merlots that have been vinified and developed in relatively new French oak barrels, and carry this conspicuous woody flavor and tannin that linger in your mouth, then you probably do not appreciate my articles as much.

However, if you are a wine drinker that enjoys and even prefers a certain smoothness in a wine that provides a sense of delight in your mouth, my next recommendation in these types of wines is an impressively enjoyable wine from the Rhone region of France called Gigondas.

Gigondas vineyards are located in the Dentelle de Montmirail region of Cote du Rhone in France. They profit from the red clay soil and Mediterranean like weather. Gigondas is a well-balanced and aromatic wine. It is very smooth and settles wonderfully in the mouth. It is a very inviting wine that has such an impressive effect on the consumer, that he or she would have a very difficult time not to completely finish the bottle.

The savvy wine makers of this region develop this wine so impeccably in most chateaus, that in my opinion need to be rewarded by constant recognition and commendations.

The grapes used to make this wine are, Syrah, Grenache, and Mouvedre. Gigondas is available in red and rose’.

Make your next purchase a Gigondas at your local wine shop and find out for yourself what jewel you have discovered. Although most chateaus produce decent wines in the region, I would go with a medium range bottle costing approximately $30. You can also consult with the wine clerk at the wine shop. 2004 and 2005 vintages are particularly very good.

Well, here is another wine by which you can impress your friends and family. Enjoy.

Cheers,

The use of wine and our strong convictions of its health benefits, abstainers and teetotalers notwithstanding, are probably as old as wine itself dating back to the first civilizations in the ancient world. In Mesopotamia ca. the third millennium BC, the Babylonians believed wine to have medicinal and therapeutic effects and it was considered so pure and free of contaminations that it was preferred-along with beer-over water. In Ancient Egypt more than two thousand years BC, wine also became a common ingredient in "prescription drugs" for curing a variety of ailments. The drugs were formulated using other ingredients too, such as water and particularly those derived from medicinal plants.

And stories abound from the Far East where the Chinese would lace wine with animal parts to concoct drugs to cure just about any ailment. Even Hippocrates, the father of medicine who had a keen sense of physiological and metabolic reactions in the human body not only used wine as a prescription drug in Ancient Greece but also pioneered it into an antiseptic for treating wounds.

The link between wine and its medicinal and therapeutic benefits grew stronger through the various eras and Middle Ages up to modern times. So compelling was the link that following the decreasing death rate of convicts and migrants who were treated with wine aboard Australia-bound ships in the early part of the nineteenth century, it spawned the founding of vineyards and wineries by British doctors throughout the rest of the century. Many such wineries have grown into global businesses responsible for some of the largest wine outputs in the world. For example, Lindemans and Penfolds were founded in the early 1840s by Drs. Henry J. Lindeman and Christopher R. Penfold, respectively.

But as wine became integral to religions from Biblical times and the evils of alcohol took root into societies, wine, its health benefits, and its sociological impacts became very controversial and spawned the anti-alcohol temperance movement in colonial America. In 1916, federal health authorities removed alcohol from the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) , "the official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the-counter medicines and other health care products manufactured or sold in the United States." Then in 1920, the Volstead Act was enacted under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution making the manufacture, sale, importation, and distribution of alcohol illegal which lasted until 1933 when the Twenty-first Amendment was ratified to repeal National Prohibition. During Prohibition, consumption of alcohol and homemade wine for personal use was still allowed though each state and often towns or counties were left to implement further control according to local needs. Wine for sacramental and medicinal uses was also exempt. In Canada, provinces had already started implementing prohibitory laws in 1917.

Much research on the health benefits of wine has been documented particularly since the nineteenth century. But the temperance movement had been strong and gained renewed momentum in the 1980s in advocating the evils of alcohol on public health. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), a now very influential organization, was first founded in 1980. Then during Ronald Reagan's first presidential term in the 1980s, First Lady Nancy Reagan launched the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign which naturally included alcoholic beverages . Senator James Strom Thurmond, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver in 1993 and whose wife later became addicted to alcohol, was a long-time, staunch anti-alcohol advocate. He led the offensive responsible for implementing (in 1988) the now-familiar warning on labels of all wines sold in the US The ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, now the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB ) text reads as follows:

GOVERNMENT WARNING: (1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery and may cause health problems.

But there was a major turnabout in 1991 when French scientist Dr. Serge Renaud made public his theory of the French Paradox which observed that the French suffer a relatively low incidence of coronary heart diseases (CHD) which is the major cause of death in industrialized countries despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats found in, for example, eggs, dairy products and particularly cheese, and meat. Renaud's work catapulted sales of red wine in the US and a renewed interest in the health benefits of wine when CBS aired its French Paradox TV segment on 60 Minutes that same year. The French Paradox, the countless epidemiological studies and laboratory studies and experiments, such as those by renowned Kaiser-Permanente cardiologist Dr. Arthur Klatsky make a strong case in asserting the J- or U-shaped relationships between the consumption of alcohol and mortality rate. More specifically, these have demonstrated that moderate alcohol consumption resulted in a lower mortality rate compared to abstainers and teetotalers or heavy alcohol drinkers. As well, moderate consumption has also been linked to a lower morbidity (disease) rate.

Moderate consumption is generally defined to represent 14 g of pure alcohol (ethanol) per day which can be obtained from 148 mL (5 fl oz) of twelve-percent-alcohol wine-careful with that "two glasses a day" guideline-or from 355 mL (12 fl oz) of five-percent-alcohol beer or from 44 mL (1½ fl oz) of forty-percent-alcohol spirit. And to enjoy and maximize the health benefits of moderate drinking, consumption must be daily and not averaged out by, for example, drinking seven times the recommended amount at one Saturday-evening party, and should be part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle including regular exercise.

As of 1999, wine destined for the US market could then be labeled by TTB approval with a directional health-related statement directing consumers "to consult [their] family doctor about the health benefits of wine consumption" or to request the US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) and Department of Agriculture's (USDA) published Dietary Guidelines for Americans "to learn the health effects of wine consumption." But Senator Thurmond and temperance advocates such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and MADD struck again and effectively forced the TTB in 2003 to defeat directional statements on labels on the grounds that these were inherently misleading and confusing and gave the impression that the government endorsed the health benefits of alcohol consumption which encouraged consumers to imbibe further. After all, the whole premise of alcohol control is that wine as well as beer and distilled spirits have been considered intoxicating beverages and not medicines.

The wine industry with the support of such trade organizations as the Wine Institute and the American Vintners Association (AVA) lobbied the federal agencies for more substantive health-related claims and reached a compromise of sort. Henceforth, under the authority of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (FAA Act), the new TTB regulations stipulated in part that:

A specific health claim on a label or in an advertisement is considered misleading unless the claim is truthful and adequately substantiated by scientific evidence; properly detailed and qualified with respect to the categories of individuals to whom the claim applies; adequately discloses the health risks associated with both moderate and heavier levels of alcohol consumption; and outlines the categories of individuals for whom any levels of alcohol consumption may cause health risks.

Such requirements have made it almost impossible to obtain approval to include health claims, directional or substantive, on labels or in advertisements particularly that claims must contain a disclaimer "advising consumers that the statement should not encourage consumption of alcohol for health reasons, … "According to Richard Mendelson in From Darling to Demon: A Legal History of Wine in America , not a single health claim has been approved by the TTB since the regulation came into effect.

But there is hope. There has been vast progress in the last decade in the health benefits of moderate wine consumption. Though we-except for anti-alcohol advocates-have been thirsty for more good news on the role of wine on our health, research is nonetheless far from conclusive given the often contradictory findings and the breadth of malaises, illnesses and diseases on which wine is believed to have effects. The list ranges from heart diseases, strokes, cancer, dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes to arthritis and osteoporosis, and yes, even erectile dysfunction just to name a few. But a great deal of focus has naturally been on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.

In future articles, we will examine the science of the complex interactions between wine and health that are so near and dear to our hearts-literally.

One of the widely consumed beverages all over the world is wine. People usually serve it for simple gatherings or for formal occasions. There are different types of wines and they are consumed to fit to different occasions. Aside from the types, one of the things people pay attention to are the wine glasses they are using when serving it.

These stemware usually come in different types and designs. However, crystal wine glasses are considered to be the best among all. There are lead crystal wine glasses and there are also unleaded. It is really your decision on which type of stemware to use. Wine glasses, crystals or not, differ in shape, in one way or another. If you are an expert when it comes to stemware, you can surely describe the differences perfectly.

These are not just created in various designs and shapes without any purpose. They are shaped in a way that when the liquid reaches the mouth, you can appreciate its true flavor. Thus, you must use the appropriate type for a specific type of wine.

The stemware for red wines are fuller and rounder. The large round opening will allow you to drink with your nose in the glass so that you can smell the aroma of the wine. Some glasses are made taller and heavier while others are made lighter having broad body.

On the other hand, white wine glasses are made smaller. This will help in keeping the wine cool. White wine glassware come in two types as well – the crisp whites and fuller whites. They are intended to be used by younger and mature people respectively. Compared to the glasses for more matured, the crisp white is made with a larger opening, allowing you to taste the sweetness of the wine using the sides of your tongue.

There are also dessert stemware. They are designed smaller to allow the wine to have a direct contact with the back of the mouth so that you will not be overwhelmed by the sweetness of the wine. Aside from this, since dessert liquids have higher alcohol content, serving it in smaller quantity will save you from being drunk.

It is true that these glasswares are made from different materials but then, crystal wine glasses are the best practical choice. Crystal glasses are thin, which is ideal because they do not affect the taste of the liquid. Thicker one will only give you difficulty in sipping it.

Since wines are ideal to entertain guests and also have health benefits, you must consider serving your guests the best one the next time they visit you. If you are an average drinker, you must have the basic stemwares including the glasses for red, white and dessert wines. The final decision as to what kind of glass to purchase is in your hands. However, consider buying those that are crystal. A Crystal wine glass will allow you to taste wines better.

Many winemakers and tasters will exclaim using a vulgar descriptor to state their displeasure of barnyard smell-infected wines.

Personal taste and preferences notwithstanding, if a barnyard aroma is subtle, it is considered acceptable, and is often desired by many winemakers who assert that it adds complexity to certain styles of wines. But when the aromas are overpowered by a strong barnyard smell, then it is considered a fault. And such is the nature of the indigenous Brettanomyces yeast, more affectionately known as Brett; it can have both a positive influence on wine, for aficionados who are partial to it, or it can spoil wine outright.

Brettanomyces bruxellensis yeast is the anamorph (non-sporulating form) of Dekkera bruxellensis yeast, which causes like-it-or-not barnyard aromas, or medicinal, sweaty, “Band-Aid” and rancid odors; these are the results from three main compounds, 4-ethylphenol and 4-ethylguaiacol, often referred to as 4EP/4EG, and 3-methylbutyric acid, also known as isovaleric acid, which can be detected at very low concentrations.

4EP, the most significant compound as it is responsible for the barnyard smell, is the product of the decarboxylation (COO is removed) of p-coumaric acid and reduction of its intermediate. The main source of p-coumaric acid in Brett-affected wines is toasted oak wood, as yeasts start feeding on cellobiose, a sweet disaccharide produced from cellulose hydrolysis during the oak toasting process. The reaction is very slow and can take several months or longer, making detection difficult. Sulfite is not an effective treatment against Dekkera/Brettanomyces in barrels as the yeasts can hide deep in wood cracks and crevices where sulfur dioxide (SO2) cannot reach. Therefore, it is highly recommended to sterile filter barrel-aged wines prior to bottling to remove the yeast, particularly when positive identification cannot be achieved.

Commercial wineries use dimethyl dicarbonate (DMDC) to treat contaminated barrels; however, this is beyond the domain of home winemaking and small wineries as specialized equipment that can only be handled by trained personnel is required.

Brettanomyces/Dekkera are glucophilic yeasts, which means that they also feed on glucose, very small amounts of glucose, that is, and  convert it into acetic acid, making dry wines at risk too. At high glucose concentrations, such as in sweet wine, volatile acidity (VA) can increase significantly and cause acetic spoilage, detected as the familiar smell of vinegar.

The challenge with Brettanomyces yeast is that it easily thrives throughout the winery and is difficult to eradicate, particularly that it seems to adapt to changing environments. It is an anaerobic microorganism, meaning that it thrives in the absence of oxygen. Specifically, it thrives in oak barrels feeding on cellulose, or in wines with residual sugar, high pH or high polyphenol concentration. Red wines are inherently more susceptible to Brett owing to their higher pH and high polyphenol concentration. Residual sugar is usually not a problem in whites because (if) they are well protected with sulfite; in reds, however, where the style is meant to be a dry wine, residual sugar can be a source of food for Brett.

Eradicating Brettanomyces is nearly impossible except by sterile filtration. But Brett is sensitive to free SO2 (from sulfite), and so it is easily preventable. Here are some tips on how best to avoid a Brett infection in your winery and wines.

o Ferment red wines to dryness as much as possible for dry-style red wines.

o Maintain a low pH in the recommended range for your style of wine.

o Use SO2 judiciously, taking into account the wine’s pH, being extra vigilant with high-phenol wines.

o Do not age wine on the lees for too long as they are a source of nutrients for Brett.

o Store wine in a cool cellar, ideally at 13° C (55° F).

o Keep carboys, tanks, barrels and all other containers well topped up.

o Sterile filter wines prior to bottling.