If you ever have a chance to taste a fresh Chardonnay grape, you’ll see how wildly different it is from Chardonnay wine. Chardonnay grapes taste more like regular table grapes then the complex flavors of apple, lemon, and butter that waft from a glass of Chardonnay wine. Where do flavors in wine come from? Wine’s flavors come from aroma compounds —stereoisomers as scientists call them— that are released during fermentation. […]
Sparkling Red Wine is thrilling and often misunderstood. Likened to cloying hard candy or frothy soda, in reality, some of the finest styles are bone-dry, swinging from ethereally light to robust and bold. Dangerously easy to drink and best served chilled, Sparkling Red is a diverse aperitif and dinner time companion; it can even accompany a luscious dessert. Discover 4 styles to blast away past myths Sparkling Red wines are […]
Wine is delightful, but let’s not get confused and think it’s a health drink. It can be part of a well-balanced diet and lifestyle. If you’re relaxing in the backyard and sipping on a grown-up beverage, there’s something to be gained from making it a glass of red wine. That’s because wine has a handy little compound in it called “Polyphenols.” You won’t get superpowers from them, but they can […]
Back at Claverach, Sam Hilmer has been making wine for almost 20 years. He first became interested in grape growing while raising vegetables on his family’s farm, where Claverach now operates. It wasn’t long before wine grapes were added to the list of crops. Claverach’s first wine, made with Norton and Chambourcin grapes, was bottled in 2002. The vineyard has expanded over the years to include European and French-American hybrid […]
A narrow gravel road winds alongside the Meramec River, revealing at its end Claverach Farm, a vineyard and farm nestled in a lush green valley just outside Eureka, Missouri. Here, Sam Hilmer, co-owner, farm manager and winemaker, experiments with the oldest-known method of producing sparkling wine. The French winemaking tradition, known as méthode ancestrale, produces pétillant naturel (pét-nat for short), a naturally sparkling wine. The natural bubbles are achieved by […]
What makes a wine “good”? Isn’t a good wine simply one you like to drink? Yes – but there’s more to it than that. Wine expert Tara Devon O’Leary has 4 simple tips to help you know when you’ve got a wine that’s really good! 1: Smell The first is the smell. Even before you take a sip, stick your nose in the glass and take a whiff – does […]
Champagne vs Prosecco: What are the differences and why does Champagne cost so much more? Champagne is a sparkling wine from France and Prosecco is from Italy. The difference in price is partially from the production method used to make each wine. Champagne is a lot more time intensive to produce and thus, more expensive. However, there are more differences between Champagne vs Prosecco than you might think! Another factor […]
How to Write Useful Tasting Notes: If you’re someone who learns by doing, taking tasting notes will be very useful to you. Check out this useful technique on taking accurate tasting notes. Step 1: Look How to Judge the Look of a Wine: Color and opacity of wine can give you hints as to the approximate age, the potential grape varieties, the amount of acidity, alcohol, sugar, and even the […]
Learn how to taste wine with 4 basic steps. The following wine tasting tips are practiced by sommeliers to refine their palates and sharpen their ability to recall wines. Even though this method is used by pros, it’s actually quite simple to understand and can help anyone to improve their wine palate. Anyone can taste wine, all you need is a glass of wine and your brain. There are 4 […]
Wine is a peculiar beverage. Serving it in different glasses can change the way it tastes. This simple guide aims to help with the basics of serving wine and picking glassware to ensure that your wine tastes the best it possibly can. 1. A proper glass will make any wine taste better In 1986, Georg Riedel, a 10th generation Austrian glass maker, came out with a line of affordable machine-made […]
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