Welcome to Wine and Fine Foods!

2007 Harvest Report
Wine and Food Pairing What should I pair with my meal?
California Wine Events
Cork vs. Screw Cap
How should I store my wine?
Best temperature to serve your wines at?

• Women purchase and drink 60% of the wine in the US
  
• Cabernet Sauvignon is California's most widely planted red wine grape
  
• Pinot Noir is prone to genetic variation, and has more clones than any other variety
  
• Chardonnay is America’s #1 selling wine
  
• Corked wine contaminates 3-6% of wine. What’s corked?
  
• One Bottle of wine is made from 600-800 grapes
  
• There are 65 wine producing countries with 35+ billion bottles a year in production
  
• For wine spills - Use an equal mixture of liquid soap and hydrogen peroxide or purchase Wine Away available at most wine shops and Bev Mo.

Wine Storage
Unfortunately many collectors of wine tend to start collecting before investing in proper storage. If you are going to put the money into collecting wine you must make sure that you take proper care in storage or you risk compromising the taste and money of your investment. Here is what to look for when investing in a wine storage system.

First you need to store your wine horizontally so that the wine is in contact with the cork. This is so the cork doesn’t dry out and let air in.

Temperature
Proper temperature is very important in storing wine, the ideal temperature is 55 F°. Extreme heat and cold can damage the wine. Even if you leave a bottle of wine in a 70 F° room the wine prematurely ages at 2x the normal rate, fluctuating temperatures will also prematurely age the wine.

Humidity
This is important for long term storage if the humidity is too low the cork will dry out let air in and ruin the wine, too high 80% or higher will cause mold to form and destroy the labels. 55-75 is the ideal relative humidity to store your wine.

To purchase a wine cellar please check out Wine Storage Systems.

Recommended temperature to serve wine

• Sauvignon Bland or Riesling 45-55 F°
  
• Chardonnay 55-60 F°
  
• Light Reds-Pinot Noir, Tempranillo Sangiovese 55-60 F°
  
• Heavy Reds-Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot 60-65 F°
  

Corked Wine

A wine with a musty smell or the smell of wet cork or cardboard is considered corked. This is caused by a tainted cork with traces of a chemical that is not dangerous called TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole) which can leach into the wine.It can either be very faint or extremely strong. If you get a corked wine return it to the place you purchased it. Check out this book to learn more about corked wine and the cork debate To Cork or Not to Cork.