Tuesday, December 13, 2011

What's So Special About Wine ?

Due to various chemical reactions, all wine will eventually go off, this is accelerated by storing it at the wrong temperature, the wrong humidity or worse still, the wrong temperature and the wrong humidity - to delay this you must store your wine correctly. After all, it doesn't matter if you have spent a few pounds on a bottle of wine, or thousands of pounds, you do not want to store it, only to find that when you come to drink it, it has gone off. Storing it correctly will ensure that your wine will last longer. The wine fridge stores the wine at the correct temperature and humidity until you are ready to enjoy it. This is vital if you are storing it for personal consumption at a later date, or if you plan to store it as an investment - the right wine fridge will replicate the temperature and the humidity of a traditional wine cellar. Wine fridges range from counter top fridges that contain a small number of bottles which can be positioned virtually anywhere, fridges intended to be integrated into your kitchen, through to large free standing fridges intended to store many bottles for the serious wine connoisseur or a hotel or restaurant.Wine fridges are specifically designed to help you to store your wine correctly and mimic the conditions of a cool damp cellar.

This can potentially be a confusing topic, so let's discuss the features that you may want to consider when deciding what fridge to buy. What features your wine fridge has will determine how effective it is at storing your wine, as well as how easy it is to live with on a day to day basis. Choose the wrong fridge and you could very soon regret your decision. Choose the right fridge and you could have many happy years of use. Free standing fridges can be easily positioned in any available space or used to proudly display your wine in the middle of your lounge or restaurant. Built in fridges form an integral part of your kitchen, and as such your kitchen would need to be modified or designed accordingly. Finally, the counter top fridge is a simple addition to you existing space and can be added virtually anywhere. To give you a little background on how this wine tradition started, Beaujolais Nouveau was first introduced in France in 1951 following a decree on that year which allows wine makers and producers to sell their wines that were made on the same year. The starting date was originally in December, but the growers in the villages were able to push the start date to November.

However, these are generally just small versions of your domestic fridge - that is they are too cold. They do have the advantage that strong flavoured and smelling foods are not generally stored in them, however they do not generally have racks inside them to ensure that wines can correctly be stored on their side and do not control humidity. The celebration for the new Beaujolais before were just held in the local bistros and wine bars found in Lyon, which later became the center of all Beaujolais parties celebrated around the world. This once little city is located at least 30km south of the villages where the Beaujolais were produced. Today, this is where the midnight festivities for Beaujolais Nouveau starts and then followed by the rest of the world. Today, even with the introduction of newer wines that also came from Italy or France, wine enthusiasts in the U.S and around the world still look forward to hearing "The New Beaujolais has arrived!" which has become the mark of a new wine year. French red wine is well known and loved the world over, and if you are a wine lover then you should certainly consider adding a few bottles to your cellar.

No comments:

Post a Comment