wine

If you ever visited a wine estate, you were probably left with the impression that it is a high-tech process best left to the professionals. That is really not so. People have been making wines with a minimum of equipment for thousands of years.

Winemaking is big business, but it is also a hugely satisfying hobby for wine lovers to pursue at home. One can choose how far to go, from just making wine to growing grapes and fruit, as grapes are the preferred source for wine but not the only one.

If you are having a wine tasting party, or even just a sunny afternoon, relaxing with friends by the pool, appetizers served with a suitable wine can be a real hit. Choose your foods as carefully as you choose your wine and your guests will be raving, and coming back for more.

Wine labels are often fun to look at, but can be daunting, too, if you are actually trying to interpret what they say.

Only a few varieties of wines actually get significantly better with age. Only about 10% of red wines and 5% of white wines taste better after aging five years as opposed to aging one year.

Temperature and humidity are two of the most overlooked aspects of wine tasting. When wine is not kept within the best temperature and humidity ranges, wine may age prematurely or lose aromas which can damage the wine.

If you asked ten people about their techniques of tasting wine, you would probably get as many different answers.

Champagne and sparkling wines tasting December 2010.

Wine is produced in many areas of Spain. The hot sun and Mediterranean breezes make for some stellar Palomino grapes. But the capital of one type - sherry - has to be assigned to Jerez de la Frontera, a city in the Cadiz section of Andalucia. The very name means 'sherry', a derivative of the Arabic word for this sweet nectar.

These robust, strong very sweet wines evolved into the three main varieties, sherry, Montilla and Malaga wines, that are still made in the region. The scorching Andalucian heat makes most grapes to over-ripen, but not in the cooler areas at higher altitudes. Some states are growing grapes and producing some impressive non fortified wines, both reds and whites, in the Andalucian heights.