Archive for May, 2008

Have you ever taken a nice, white wine out of your cellar and as you reached the bottom of the bottle, noticed there were crystals floating in it? These are tartrate crystals. They are formed when the tartaric acid in your wine combines with the potassium (also found naturally in wine, another one of wine’s many health benefits) under very cold temperature conditions forming the salt, potassium bitartrate. If you’ve ever used cream of tartar in cooking or baking, it is the same substance pulverized into a powder. In fact, these crystals scrapped off of wine barrels are the source for the cream of tartar you buy in the supermarket. Tartrates can be found in red wines as well, but they are more often found mingling with the sediment, and are normally decanted out.

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One of the most exciting things about having Wine Enthusiast design and build a custom wine cellar in your home, is a personal visit from John Seitz. John is not only one of our Master Wine Cellar Builders, but he travels across the country in the famous Wine Enthusiast Wine Cellar RV. Just to give you an idea of John’s travel schedule, between April 21st to May 26th, he’ll have traveled from Illinois to New York, down to Virginia, and back across the country to California, all in the name of wine cellar installation.

Check this page often to see when John’s going to be in your area. While on the road, between wine cellar jobs, John will come directly to your home, by request, to make a professional wine storage house call. He’ll take measurements and evaluate your space to determine the best wine cellar design for you. After 10 years and hundreds of wine cellars, John has literally defined full-service wine cellar consultation and design in America.

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As a Wine Cellar Specialist for the past 15 years, I’ve made many observations. In some ways wine storage has changed, and in others, it remains the same. See if you can pick out which of these wine storage statements is true and which is false. Some may be expected and others will be a big surprise!

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This year we sailed into uncharted territory, hosting our first Toast of the Town at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. The cavernous room at the aquarium was simply breathtaking, with a multicolored roof and a beluga whale tank. There was so much amazing food, I filled up before making it halfway around the room. I did try to follow the “10 Ways to Make the Most of a Wine/Food Tasting Event”, pacing myself as I tasted plates, paired with standouts like a Sonoma-Cutrer Single Vineyard Chardonnay, German Rieslings and Brunellos beyond belief.

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