The Expert Way to Host a Summer Party

Harry Dalian Wine

Martha’s Vineyard is a place that many think of fondly in terms of summer and vacations. It’s a beautiful place that offers great wine from gorgeous vineyards, and is where many people go to get away from the bustle of every day life in primarily New York or Boston.

Summer is synonymous with Martha’s Vineyard. If you haven’t ventured out there, it is definitely worth the trip. It’s surprising how such a beautiful place with great positivity can be so close to the place you live and work in every day. The Vineyard at Martha’s Vineyard is a great place to host parties, events, or even weddings.

Creating, curating, and cultivating a beautiful summer event means understanding and imagining the scene, the vibe, and the people. Most importantly, we want to create an environment that is comfortable, memorable, and stunning. However, invoking the feeling of summer can be tough if some people are especially bogged down by this past years’ brutal winter, or by crazy work schedules. To get your guests to feel this feeling, It’s important to think of details; little things for people to focus on – such as candles, pillows, table settings, really immerse the summer culture into your environment.

A great idea that never fails: Make the best lemonade anyone has ever tried. Try sprucing it u p with fresh strawberries and high quality, chilled vodka. Have this on tap for guests to help themselves. Most importantly, it is important to have a great selection of different types of wine within each color, but make sure to have plenty of Rosé! Summer is almost over, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to throw a great summer-themed party. It’s important to try to create these moments that later become good memories!

Newton Vineyard

The Conception of Wine

The Natural Wine Movement

natural wine movement harry dalian

The major difference between regular wine and natural wine is that natural wine are made with the least amount of interferences and interventions. Natural wines are all different from each other and can sometimes be quite quirky.

Some unique natural wine tastes and flavors include smoky leather, smoked meat, licorice, and tobacco. This strays far away from the usually berries and pepper that we’re all used to. Natural wine has it’s own character and the difference has created a large following for the alternative wine.

The natural wine movement started in France when a few vintners were unimpressed with their modern wines and wanted to bring it back to the basics of taste and quality. The idea is to stay faithful to the fruit of the vine without much intervention to create an unnatural taste or color.

Lee Campbell, the beverage director and reynard in Williamsburg says, “We are changing the concept of what yummy is.”

These innovative vintners are producing this untamed, unrefined, down-to-earth wines that are attracting a large crowd of eco-friendly, organic, and sustainable living advocates.

“There’s been this explosion of interest in our wines from people who are tired of homogenized wine styles that erase individuality,” says Jenny Lefcourt, a co-owner of Jenny & Francois, a Tribeca-based wine importer specializing in Natural wines.

Natural wine is a completely new take on the taste of wine. The funny thing is – this is what wine should taste like. Wine making is unnatural in itself, however, keeping the interventions as limited as possible is key to preserving the natural flavor of the wine.

Natural wine has taken off in NYC within the past few years, being featured in many popular wine bars and restaurants, as well as the best wine shops. Williamsburg has a huge selection of individual natural wines at The Natural Wine Company. gradually, this trendy alternative to wine is increasing in Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan.

Great Cocktail Recipe

Napa Valley Viticulture

Situation on the northern end of the San Francisco Bay, 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean, is the most famous wine district int he United States. This small area valley has produced some of North America’s finest wine since the 1850s. Today, Napa Valley contains approximately 45,500 acres of vineyard property along the alley floor, int he foothills and in the mountains surrounding the main valley.

The unique aspects of the Napa Valley vineyard landscape has been determined mostly by the great richness and variety of its geology, soil types, topography, and microclimates. All of these factors greatly affect viticulture and are very sought-after conditions for grape farming. Napa Vally was recognized as an American viticultural establishment in 1981 and the subsequent establishments of 13 sub-appellations within Napa Valley are evidence of such diversity.

What’s remarkable about Napa Valley is that the area has survived and maintained a remarkable continuity int he face of market forces, vine pests, diseases, and American Prohibition. These cycles and challenges have provided opportunities for innovation and improvement within the American viticulture, particularly in Napa Valley.

The extreme diversity of the 33 district soil sections which have evolved from bedrock components as attributable to the complex interplay of the Valley’s varied topography, biological resources, and climate. The inherent small size of the Valley accentuates effects of its topography in relationship to the climate changes.

Due to the wide range of viticultural conditions and lack of governmental controls over grape varietal selection, Napa Valley is home to a wide range of grape varietals, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

The Napa Valley wine industry strictly adheres and engages in sustainable and environmentally sound practices for their farming and wine production. The Code of Sustainable wine growing Workbook offers plenty of sustainable practices as well provides a slef-assessment tool that allows the farmers to review their practices and identify areas in which they can improve.

Napa Valley is a very interesting modern-day viticulture site with different variables affecting the conditions under which grapes are grown and processed. With the combination of Mediterranean climate and gvpography as well as the geology of the region, great tasting and great quality wine grapes are harvested to produce gorgeous wines.

The Grade Cellars – Journey Through Wine Country

Sparkling Red Wine

Sparkling wine is differentiated from others by the amount of carbon dioxide that is present in the wine. The method of infusing carbon dioxide into the wine is something that can be achieved by injection or by natural occurrence during fermentation. There are a few sparkling red wines that are available in certain areas, however, the market of sparkling wines is mostly populated by white wines.

The process of adding the bubbles to the bubbly is something that occurs in two stages. Firstly, fermentation follows the normal path and process of wine-making, but then is fermented a second round in order to add the carbon dioxide. The traditional method of creating sparking wine is called Methode Champenoise and is carried out in the bottle itself.

Famous Sparkling Wine

Being that there are many types of sparking wines that are created around the world, the taste will differ based on where the grapes are grown as well as the fermentation process used to make the wine sparking. Champagne is widely considered the best in the world and is created in the Champagne wine region of France. Here are a few more popular brands that are worth trying:

  • Andre
  • Bacchus
  • Ca’ del Bosco
  • Deutz
  • Espumante

All of these wines are made by different companies around the world. Different countries have their own best sellers. The most well known Italian brands are Franciacorta and Prosecco. The sweetness of all these differ from each other, however, this is something that is heavily dependent on the nature and length of the fermentation process.

Sparkling wines come with a rather extensive and interesting history as well as many variances. If you are a lover of sparking wines, it is beneficial to do some research and find out why you like a certain type of wine over the other.

Vineyard

Three Reasons to Drink Bordeaux

It’s time to give Bordeaux another chance!Harry Dalian

For centuries, Bordeaux is what the upper class drank. Bordeaux has been mentioned in many diaries from ages ago mentioning certain types of Bordeaux. Even Richard Nixon was known to enjoy a glass of Château Margaux. Recently, it’s been seen that Bordeaux has become the first choice of drink of internet moguls, hedge fund managers, and Chinese billionaires.

Simply stated, Bordeaux as a whole has never been better. The wines from the top 60 produces of red wine originally designated as classé in 1855 are representing a small fraction of the world’s largest wine region by volume.

The result after removing the classified growths from consideration is that most of these wines are actually to expensive for regular consumption. The vast sea of wine, some good, some not so good, and most lie somewhere in between. Recently, there is more good wine than bad.

Most of the wines that you’ll find in markets today are produced in the excellent supper-ripe 2009 vintage, the more structured but still-ripe 2010 or the charming 2011 vintage. Viticulture and winemaking have been improved throughout the region of Bordeaux. There are still however some challenging vintages -2012 and 2013- and for the most part, the days of thin, weedy, harshly tannic wines are over. The Bordeaux wines are surprisingly affordable. There are hundreds of wines from the 2009-2012 vintages that are rated ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’ for less than $40.

With the balanced use of oak and moderate alcohol levels and the generally refreshing acids, the Bordeaux wines are impressively versatile at any occasion. In a world of constantly improving on the latest and greatest, it is worth remembering that even a conservative region like Bordeaux changes over time and now is the time to rediscover it’s gifts.

1. Chateau Carignan (Premieres Côtes de Bordeaux): The 2009 is mostly suppleness and warmth, all while the 2010 shows more structure.

2. Chateau Maison Blanche (Médoc): This Merlot-based wine is round and ripe.

3. Chateau de Sours (Bordeaux): An approachable wine marked by ripe fruit and finely balanced oak tastes.