Oenophile’s Guide to Home Decor

Every lover of wine has the desire of staying in a perfect environment where they can sit and enjoy their time while savoring the wines of their choice. The good thing is that all oenophiles can turn their homes to have the looks of fine wine bars.

Read more »

Love wine? Decorate your home without looking like a bar.

Many people enjoy wine and would love to decorate with this in mind. Yet they don’t want their home to end up looking like a bar. Everything from elegant glassware and interesting wall art to gorgeous wine-inspired furniture can be used to decorate your home in a stylish manner. The following are some ideas for decorating your home with great tasting wine in mind.

Wine Glasses Make a Difference

You would never serve your guests wine in a paper cup, so why choose ordinary glasses? The first step in making sure your home decor doesn’t resemble a bar is having beautifully designed wine glasses. With so many styles, sizes, and designs to choose from it shouldn’t be difficult to find glasses that fit your own unique style. You don’t have to stick to clear glass either. There are wine glasses featuring colorful, detailed designs that are truly works of art. There are, however, some more serious aspects of glasses that wine lovers insist are important. A few include the size and shape of the bowl, which can affect the aroma of the wine, and having a stem to hold so your hands are not changing the temperature of the wine.

What About My Corks?

Read more »

Why People Love Wine Bottle Carriers & Glass Carriers

Why wine bottle carriers and glass carriers are a hit among the drinking community.

As great as wine – and wine drinking – is, there’s still room for catastrophe… especially when traveling along with fragile wine drinking items. Traveling to share wine with friends or loved ones can easily be dashed if the glasses – or wine bottle itself – breaks during the commute. As transporting a glass or a bottle by itself may not present too many complications when traveling by car; traveling abroad is a completely different story. With this being said, here’s a look at wine bottle and wine glass carriers.

leather_2_bottle_wine_carrierWine Bottle Carriers Travel

So regardless of how you decide to travel or transport your wine bottles or wine glasses, a wine carrier is the safest route for lugging around your goods. Keeping your wine bottles and glasses safe, a carrier not only saves time spent carefully hauling luggage… but the need for replacements in worst case scenarios.

Why Whiskey Making Kits Make Great Gifts

Every family has at least one — you know, that cousin, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, father, mother or grandparent who enjoys nothing better than a nip of whiskey in the evening. That person might also be someone for whom it is difficult to shop.

Whiskey and Rum Making Kits

Tennessee Whiskey Making KitThe holidays will soon be upon us, and what better way to say “happy holidays” than with a whiskey making kit. No, they do not come with alcohol, but they do have everything else that you will need to make your own whiskey. In fact, these kits are so easy to use that you might just decide to get one for yourself, too!

 

Anyone can become a professional bootlegger for any gathering or get-together. With one of these kits on hand, you will be able to treat your friends to any one of a wide variety of whiskey flavors.

Highland Malt Whiskey Making Kit

If you give this ideal gift to that special someone, that person will not need a distillery to age and then season his or her favorite whiskeys like a professional. The kits even come to you complete with a barrel! Aside from that, they have your choice of a flavor as well as a cleaning kit for the barrel, a funnel and complete, easy-to-read and highly detailed instructions for use.

The barrel in question is one that is just like the massive ones that are found at distilleries but sized just right for use in a private home. The barrel is used to age your whiskey to the peak flavor. Take the art of mixology into your own hands when you make your own signature whiskey.

 

 

 

Scotch Making Kit

To get started, you will need to cure the barrel and then pour alcohol into it. This alcohol should be a neutral flavored vodka or grain alcohol. Add a bottle of the whiskey essence to it. Shake it up to ensure that all of the ingredients are well mixed. Then, just sit back and wait for it to age for about two weeks, and it will be perfectly aged and ready for you and your friends or family to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Rum Making KitWhat better way to say “I appreciate you” than with one of these lovely little whiskey making kits

 

 

 

 

 

Wine Luggage for Airplane Travel

Okay, you are a devoted vinophile thwarted at every turn by air travel. Securing just a couple of bottles in your check-in luggage is an iffy undertaking that will eventually leave you asking yourself what goes best with my wine soaked socks, red or white? The NEW VinGarde Valise 02 will get your bottles to your final destination as packed

VinGarde Valise 02 – Wine Bag Air Travel

app_images-resizable-9cd914a0-09a6-4cea-b933-d94755953174-wine+travel+(4)The VinGarde Valise 02 is airport luggage for your valuable vino. Designed in the vein of high tech equipment baggage these sharp looking wine carriers have a virtually indestructible outer shell; at the same time customizable foam molds protectively cradle each bottle on the inside. Best of all, this securely locking carrier holds a case of 750 ml bottles and still weighs-in under 50 lbs. Read more »

Wine Decanters That Attach To The Bottle

Wine Vine Imports have a selection of wine decanters with a timeless design. These classic imports help connoisseurs and those new to wine appreciation fully develop the potential of a wine while providing an experience for the senses and elegant wine presentation.  Easy to use these in the bottle wine decanting aerators use a one hand pouring action to fill the sphere and then single pour into a wine glass.

The Purpose of Decanting Wine

Wine decanters are clear vessels that help to aid in enhancing the flavor of wines and in the general aesthetic presentation to guests. Young wines typically have more a tannins which create a somewhat bitter flavor. Introducing oxygen into the wine through proper aerations creates a smoother and more palatable wine-tasting experience. Aged wines can include more sediment within the wine. This sediment should be separated from the wine itself as it can detract from the taste. A clear decanter allows a wine pourer to view the progression of the wine and separate the sediment before adding the wine to the glass. Attached decanters offers guests the ability to easily acknowledge the vintage.

From The Collection of Decanters That Attach to the Bottle

Read more »

Enjoy a Legendary Cocktail with a One of a Kind Moscow Mule Mug

The Moscow Mule was not the first vodka cocktail — that honor goes to the Blue Monday — but the Moscow Mule has become the de facto vodka cocktail for many a cocktail enthusiast. The ease with which a Moscow Mule can be created (simply mix 5 ounces of ginger beer, two ounces of vodka and a splash of lime juice) is exceeded only by the refreshing taste. While their are many platitudes that can be lavished upon the Moscow Mule, true Mule aficionados know that you can’t drink this delectable delight without a copper moscow mule mug.

Why Is a Copper Moscow Mule Mug So Important?

moscow_mule_copper_mug  3186 hammered_moscow_mule

If you’ve ever scoped out a copper mug at a bar or lounge in person, you’d understand its popularity based on looks alone. Its unique shine and rustic features are at once traditionally classic and timelessly modern. Make no mistake about it, the copper mug looks cool, and it will keep your Moscow Mule cool as well, thanks to the copper itself. Copper insulates the Moscow Mule while you drink it, meaning the drink stays colder and the ice lasts longer than it would in a traditional glass.

The chilled vodka provides a unique smoothness to your cocktail that is enhanced by the tinny flavor that results when you press the copper mug to your lips. The subtle complexity the mug adds to the cocktail concoction speaks for itself. Once you have experienced a Moscow Mule in a copper mug, you’ll immediately understand why you have to get a Personalized Moscow Mule Mug of your own.

Actually, it might be selling the Moscow Mule short to suggest one is enough. After all, cocktails like these are best enjoyed with others, so find a romantic partner and enjoy a His and Hers evening with a splendorous Moscow Mule. You’ll be glad you did.

The Picnic Wine Basket Saves the Day!

I had just come back from an extended business trip and was jet lagged. I received a text from my sister early in the morning that read, “meet at the park at 1, don’t be late!” For a few brief wondrous moments I had completely forgotten what she was talking about. As I walked to pour myself a cup of coffee, it hit me – today was Mother’s Day!

Wine Picnic Baskets Make Great Mother’s Day Gifts

wine-gifts-pioneer-wine-and-cheese-picnic-basket--picnic-time-pt934676916-21  wine-gifts-highlander-wine-picnic-basket-picnic-time-pt930255401-21  wine-gifts-heart-picnic-basket-picnic-time-pt932935190-22

Being the good son that I am, I had completely forgotten to buy my mother a gift. In an agitated sprint I slipped on my clothes and stopped by the deli store on the way to the park. Crowded lines of patrons in situations similar to mine waited to buy flowers, bottles of wine, and other assorted goods for the special day.

Read more »

Why People Love Stemless Wine Glasses

Stemless glasses and decanter are slowly taking over the market, so with their popularity on the rise it should be no shock that many wonder how why they’ve become a staple in the wine community. Although stemmed wine glasses are still a favorite for wine tasting, here’s a few reasons as to why stemless wine glasses are becoming the new normal for wine enthusiasts.

port_sippers

 

school_of_fish_red_wine_tumblersstemless_wine_taster

 

Why Stemless Wine Glasses are becoming a Hot Commodity in the Wine Market

Read more »

Top Aerators For Improving Wine

Most people are skeptical when they hear about decanting their wine with an aerator. Seriously, how can a gadget change the taste of wine? Now, before you look at an aerator as some magical contraption that‘s hardly worth the investment, ask yourself this; do you toast the bread to make your sandwiches tastier? Do you wait for fruit to ripen? If so, then you should also decant your wine or aerate it with a wine aerator.

I’m sure you’ve heard that decanting a bottle of wine by pouring it into a wine decanter and waiting for a few hours will make wine taste better. This process allows the wine to breathe. When wine breathes it mixes with air causing the wine to open with aromas. The initial aromas of a freshly uncorked bottle of wine can be stale. Some people call this bottle stink. Allowing the wine to breathe eliminates the aroma; which also improves the wine’s flavor by greatly softening the tannins. The reduction of tannins creates a smoother glass of wine.

A wine aerator is similar to decanting wine, but better for those of us who don‘t have time to wait for decanting. This innovative wine gadget speeds up the aeration process in decanting wine instantly; thereby, improving the taste of a youthful wine even more quickly than a decanter.

The feedback we receive on these products is amazing. Just the other day a customer called to order more for holiday gifts and said, “it actually works very, very well!”. So, try one today. Conduct a taste test between a glass of wine poured through an aerator and one that isn‘t. You’ll notice the distinction between the flavors.

How it works….

Cooks Illustrated reviewed both the Nuance Wine Finer and the Vinturi Wine Aerator. A blind taste test produced high recommendations for both wine aerators. Nuance Wine Finer said this about their product, “tasters unanimously agreed that our aerator stood out for markedly improving flavor and aroma, increasing fruitiness, opening up the wine’s bouquet, and smoothing harsh notes.” Both innovative wine aerators will change a sip of wine into a more enjoyable tasting.

Nuance Wine Finer

nuance 3

Watch this video of  how the nuance wine finer works.

Vinturi Wine Aerator

Vinturi with Tower

A high recommendation went to the Vinturi Wine Aerator as well. This comparison comment was given from Cooks Illustrated’s review, “while it’s messier to use than models that attach to the bottle, this device brought out a ‘bright and strong’ aroma and ‘more fruit flavor.’” The makers of this ingenious aerator just recently (Oct. 2009), came out with the Vinturi Tower which makes this wine aerator less messy to use. Here’s how it works:

Be sure to order your Vinturi Tower early this holiday season. It’s been a popular product that has been difficult to keep on our shelves.