Tricks to let your wine Taste Better

Young red wines benefit substantially from some oxidation. You can always splash the wine into a decanter, but then you’re deprived of the presence of the decorative and often informative label on the bottle.By far the most effective process, as shocking as it seems, is to pour out a small glass of the wine, place your thumb over the top of the bottle, and shake it for a few seconds (John enjoys doing this in restaurants and watching as the waiter recoils in horror). Remove your thumb cautiously, since the shaking will generate a small amount of pressure in the bottle. The transfer of oxygen to the wine is enhanced by the large surface area generated by shaking, and by the turbulence in the liquid that instantly disperses the oxygen after it dissolves. Three seconds of shaking is more effective than four hours of “breathing.”


It’s not a good idea to try this with wines containing sediment, but those are usually older wines that will get all the air they need in the glass. Also, wines with carbonation such as our first, unlamented Slug Gulch Red may foam excessively and cause an embarrassing incident. If you’re not sure you believe all this, try an objective experiment. Open one bottle of a young red wine and let it sit for two hours, then open another and subject it to shaking. Compare the two immediately and over the course of a normal dinner, and see if you can’t tell the difference.

Wine Storage

Should I be storing the wine I drink everyday in a special way or place?

Simply keep your bottles of wine in a cool place away from direct sunlight until you’re ready to drink them. If you are going to store them for more than a few weeks, it is best to store them on their side rather than upright. This will keep the cork moist and therefore airtight.


Where should I store wine I don't plan to drink immediately?

There are two types of wine you may not plan to drink immediately--wines you have purchased that are ready to drink, and wines designed to be aged. Most wines on the market today are designed to be ready to drink as soon as you purchase them. Therefore, the long-term storage conditions recommended for wines designed to be aged are not necessary.

Keep these ready-to-drink wines away from direct sunlight and heat, any source of vibration, and lying on their sides. This will ensure that the cork will remain moist and therefore airtight.

There is no need to store white wines or Champagne/sparkling wines in the refrigerator if you are not planning to drink them soon. Simply chill them before serving.

If you do begin to accumulate wines designed to be aged, storage becomes more important. The key conditions to keep constant are temperature (needs to be about 55 degrees) and humidity (70% - 80%). To achieve this at home, you may need to convert a closet or buy a special unit designe

Where should I store wine after it is opened?

A re-corked, leftover bottle of red or white wine can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 — 5 days without compromising its flavor. Just take the red wine out of the refrigerator to let it come up to room temperature before drinking. A tightly corked leftover bottle of Champagne/sparkling wine can also be kept fresh in the refrigerator for 3 - 5 days.

How long will an open bottle of wine keep?Longer than you may think. Don’t throw it away! Re-cork the wine (if you’ve thrown away the cork use plastic wrap and a rubber band). An open bottle of red or white wine will keep in the refrigerator for 3 — 5 days. A bottle of Champagne/sparkling wine (tightly recorked) will also keep for 3 — 5 days in the refrigerator.

How do you know today's market is still healthy to buy?

After listening to Jim Crammer's Mad Money today, I still don't feel confident enough to buy more shares of stocks even though he is super bullish about current stock market or our national wide financial situation.

Here are the 10 tests from his show regarding how do you determine today's market is still healthy to buy.

1. Transportation industry is doing well, has big rally recently.  This means commence is picking up.

2. Bank index reared.  Specially financial ETFs going up a lot, almost reached its high since 2008 financial crisis.

3. Responsed to brokerage upgrades; when it's in a diseased market, nobody cares about brokerage's upgrades.

4. Technology leads the market again.  Almost all of the technology stocks increased more than 50%

5. Too much cash still on the sidelined or outstanding.  It's time for cash to come back rather than sitting in the bank earning nothing

6. Takeover announcement traded positively

7. Investors lap Equity offering.

8. IPO market finally got hot.  There was simply no appetite for new issues on Wall Street until now.  Financial Engines Inc. rising 44% after pricing above its expected range

9. Market got good breath

10. There are still well too many bears.

First Time Zoo in America

Yesterday, on demand of my son, we went to Oakland Zoo. Believe it or not, that was my first time visiting zoo in America. Rob was so suprised and couldn't believe it after I told him that fact. However, I made very good arguement that he had to agree in the end. I asked him:" when was the last time you visited a zoo?" He said:" when I was a kid I remember..." I said:" See, when I came to America, I was not a kid anymore. I was in my twenties and nobody would date their boyfriend of girlfriend in a zoo. You never took your ex-girlfriends here, right? I think the only time you come to a zoo is when you are a kid or you have a kid." He smiled and nodded. 

A Fun Trip to Wine Country

I was told by several girlfriends that if I could drink with them at our cruise to Mexico that will be so much fun for everyone.

So encouraged by them, I started practising drinking two weeks ago, a quarter of red wine glass everyday.  That's how much I can take without getting drunk.  To show his support, Rob decided to take me to Napa Valley to get a wine tour and tasting.

Clos Du Val Winery is a winery in the Stags Leap District of California's Napa Valley. The winery was founded by two men who were born into the French wine business, John Goelet and Bernard Portet. After scouting the world for two years to locate areas where they might produce Bordeaux-style wine, Porter identified the then-undiscovered Stag’s Leap district of California’s Napa Valley as especially promising. Goelet bought 150 acres (61 ha) of vineryard land and established the winery in 1972. The next year he bought 180 acres (73 ha) in the Los Carneros region to produce the Burgundian varieties, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 

Clos Du Val is named a Wine & Spirits Magazine "Winery of the Year" for the fourth time in five years.   Participated in 30th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris Tasting 2006, staged simultaneously in Napa and the U.K. Clos Du Val 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon and four other California Cabernets beat out the original French Bordeaux wines, proving that Clos Du Val wines truly age with grace.

 

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a Napa Velley First Growth.  It's founded by Warren Winiarski and his family in 1970.  Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is best known for our estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignons—CASK 23, S.L.V., and FAY. Over the years, these wines have become some of the most highly regarded and collected wines worldwide. They are fashioned to express classic elegance, structure, and ageability, and to reflect the place in which they are grown.

 

Silverado VineyardsRon and Diane Miller chose to purchase land with existing vineyards in the mid-1970s after a long time romance with the Valley. Although the Millers' original intention was to only grow grapes, it wasn't long before they began construction of their own winery on the property in 1981.