Pinot Gris And Pinot Grigio Wines

From its earliest known origins in Europe in the Middle Ages the Pinot gris grape has become a popular choice for wines all over the world.

It is a white wine grape that is thought to be a clone of the Pinot noir grape. Its name, "pinot gris" is the French for grey pinecone and this accurately reflects the color and the shape of the bunch as it grows on the vine. However, the color of the fruit can vary dramatically, as can the color of the wine produced from it, which can range from a deep yellow to a copperish color.

There are clones of this popular grape grown all over the world and the wines produced from Pinot gris can vary dramatically, depending where the grape is grown.

Two areas in particular stand out for the quality of wine made from the grape. Alsace in France is the traditional home of the grape, while Oregon in the United States has more recently produced Pinot gris wines of particularly high quality.

In Alsace, it is popular as a full-bodied wine, while in Italy there are some distinguished producers who produce some excellent wines. However, the bulk of Italy's Pinot grigio producers harvest early to produce less satisfying results.

Pinot gris is often blended with Pinot noir wines to improve their flavor. It goes well with chicken, pork and seafood and remains a very popular choice, with only Chardonnay being more popular.

History

It has been recently discovered that the Pinot gris has an almost identical DNA profile to Pinot noir and that the difference in color is caused by a genetic mutation that is thought to have happened hundreds of years ago.

Earliest records of the cultivation of Pinot gris go back to the Middle Ages in Burgandy, France where the grape is thought to have been known as Fromenteau. Pinot noir was grown here around the same time and the popularity of both spread eastwards over time.

It was popular in Switzerland and Hungary, and was discovered being grown in Germany in the 1700s by the name of Rulander. A number of bad harvests threatened the use of the grape in many parts of Europe but certain strains of the vine proved more resilient and its cultivation continued.

Pinot gris is now grown in almost all of the major wine producing regions of the world, including France, Australia, Germany, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, Romania, Moldova, Belgium, the United States, and New Zealand.

As the list of regions above would suggest, the Pinot gris vine favors cool climates and is known to mature early. This can result in a sweet flavor or high alcohol content, depending how long it is fermented.

The color of the grape itself can also vary depending on the region in which it is grown. It can be found to show a greyish color, or else a pinkish brown.

The flavor of the wine it produces can also depend on where Pinot gris is grown, and of course from the wine making style. In Alsace, they are generally medium-bodied wines, often with lightly citrus flavors.

The German varieties are more full-bodied, while in Italy, where it is known as Pinot grigio, it produces a crisp, light-bodied taste. The newly popular Oregon Pinot gris wines are medium bodied with fruity flavors.

Regions

Alsace

The Alsace region is considered the home of the Pinot gris grape and is different here from anywhere else it is grown. The cool climate and soil of the region makes for a very high quality grape.

Australia

Since its grape’s introduction to the country in 1832, the southern state of Victoria has been producing wines going under the names of Pinot gris and Pinot grigio depending on the sweetness of the wine. Again, the temperate climate there and long autumns suit the grape and Australian Pinot gris wines remain popular.

Italy

Pinot gris is a long established and popular grape in Italy, where it is known as Pinot grigio. It is found growing in the north of the country in Lombardy and Alto Adige.

New Zealand

New Zealand’s cool climate also lends itself to the growing of Pinot gris. On the North Island it is to be found in Martinborough and Hawkes Bay, while in the South Island it is grown in Central Otago, Nelson, Marlborough and Waipara.

Oregon and California

After Alsace, Oregon is probably the most successful Pinot Gris growing region where the wine became quite a hit locally as an accompaniment to the generous amounts of fresh salmon caught in the region.

It was introduced to the region as recently as 1966 and within 30 years all of the main wineries in the region were growing the grape. There are more than 1,797 acres of Pinot gris being grown in Oregon today.

There are also healthy amounts (1,620 acres) of the grape grown in southern and central coastal regions of California. The wine is similar to the Italian Pinot grigio in taste, and often goes by the same name. However, the California variety has struggled to match the quality and the popularity of its Oregon counterpart.

Passover: Laugh While Cleaning

Passover, or Pesach as it is called in Hebrew, is the 8 day festival where the Jews celebrate their liberation from Egypt more than a thousand years ago. One of the most important features of this freedom festival is that the Jews cannot eat anything that is leavened. They eat unleavened bread.

They must also make sure that no bread crumbs exist in or around the house: the cupboards, the drawers, the kitchen, behind the bed, under the refrigerator and anywhere else where crumbs might have fallen through. To ensure that the house is clean of leavened food materials, the Jews have to clean the entire house from top to bottom as thoroughly as possible. And they do. During the week before Passover, house cleaning is what goes on in most Jewish houses. To answer this demand and to ease the tension, here is a joke on this subject called Impossible Timing, which highlights this cleaning tension.

Impossible Timing:
Samuel, an observant Jew, who was also a financial wizard, left Brooklyn to accept the position of Vice President in a famous broker firm in Utah, which is well known for being a Mormon state.

When they learned this, the company's directorate applied tremendous pressure on the company's president. "We are religious people here," they said. "It can't be that a Jew will handle all our money."

The president tried to ward them off, but when he couldn't manage it anymore, he called Samuel to his office and explained the situation to him. Samuel was offered the choice of either converting or leaving the attractive job which also had a six figure salary quote attached to it.

Samuel had no choice but to convert, and he went home and told his wife that from Sunday, they will start attending the Church services.

A few months went by and his wife kept troubling Samuel about the conversion. "This is too difficult for me. I miss the Sabbath: lighting candles and blessing the wine. I miss the holidays. Money is not everything, Samuel dear."

And with each time that his wife complained, Samuel's conscience increased until he could not take it anymore and he went to meet the company's President.
"Look, I can't go on like this," Samuel said. "I am full of regret. Money is not everything. I can't sleep and neither can my wife. This is too heavy a burden for me to carry. I was born a Jew and I want to die a Jew. And if you want me to quit, I will without making any trouble."

The President looked at him in wonder, "Listen, Samuel, I had no idea that this was so difficult for you. I thought it was a trivial matter. But you don't have to leave. Everything will be the same as before:  you can stay here with us without converting.

Samuel returned home happy and grinning from ear to ear. He ran to his wife, who was watching Ricky Lake, "You won't believe it! It's a miracle. We are going back to being Jews, and I still retain my job."

His wife looked at him with eyes that spat fire, and said," Are you mad?"

Samuel was shocked. "But I thought that this is what you wanted!" He cut in. "All this while you have been crying and complaining. Don't you wish to go back to becoming a Jew""

His wife looked at him with ever more fury, "Of course I want to. Of course I want to," she said. "But now? Only a week before Passover?"

Partnership for Food Safety Education Unveils New Evolution of Popular Consumer Education Website

The national Fight BAC!® campaign's upgraded on-line food safety information better serves educators and consumers seeking information to help reduce risk of foodborne illness.

"The Partnership's website, www.fightbac.org, is widely utilized by consumers, educators, dietitians and public health officials across the United States," says Shelley Feist, Executive Director of The Partnership for Food Safety Education. "Our goal is to make our materials fully accessible, knowing two-thirds of adults turn to the Internet for basic safe food handling information."

Despite recent declines in outbreaks of several bacterial foodborne diseases, foodborne illness continues to afflict tens of millions of people each year. Experts agree that education on basic safe food handling is vital to reducing incidence. The Partnership's national consumer study reveals that much progress has been made increasing awareness of safe food handling practices, but more work remains to be done.

"Our research shows a direct link between high awareness of safe food handling recommendations and actual proper food handling practices," says Tim Hammonds, Chairman of the Partnership for Food Safety Education. "By improving our online offerings we hope to contribute to increased awareness of proper food handling, ultimately reducing risk of foodborne illness nationwide."

Fully searchable, the new website is more user-friendly, providing important safe food handling recommendations at a glance and updated downloadable fact sheets, brochures and other materials for consumer and educator use.

The Fight BAC!® campaign empowers consumers with four simple safe food handling practices they can use to reduce their risk of becoming ill: Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill. BAC!, the campaign's "bacteria mascot," is the invisible enemy who tries his best to spread contamination wherever he goes.

Las Vacaciones son la Mejor Solución Para Relajarte

Si te sientes un poco estresado con el trabajo, con tu pareja o con la familia y necesitas tomar decisiones, ver a los problemas con otra perspectiva siempre ayuda. Aquí te recomiendo tomar unas pequeñas vacaciones en donde tu decidas. Puede ser el lugar mas inesperado el que te puede hacer mejor. Debes buscar en diferentes sitios que lugares están disponibles por el fin de semana o una semana entera (si te la puedes tomar). Los lugares mas ideales deben ir de acuerdo a tu gusto. Por ejemplo si disfrutas del sol algún lugar de veraneo con el mar y la playa van a ser perfectos. Si no te gusta la playa, busca algún lugar en las montañas tranquilo que te traiga paz y serenidad. No necesitas gastar mucho dinero para tener un buen resultado, ya que solo unos días es suficiente sin tener que perder mucho tiempo en el viaje de ida y vuelta. Puedes optar de ir en auto que es más económico o en avión depende de los precios. Si vives en Europa, un fin de semana en Barcelona no te costara demasiado y sin duda te abrirá la mente y dejara atrás los problemas que parecían tan grandes que no te dejaban pensar. Tomarte unas vacaciones es algo positivo que solo traerá buenos resultados. Lo sitios desde ya dependen de tu poder económico. Si tu disposición no tiene limites, St Tropez en la costa de Francia es un lugar vacacional ideal. Fiestas desde las 3 de la tarde en la playa, mercado en el centro del pueblo, las playas mas increíbles y mucho mas. Si tu poder adquisitivo es un poco limitado, puedes ir a palma de Mallorca en España, a Ibiza o elegir entre muchos de los puertos de la zona. Si vives en Sudamérica o centro América, uno de mis lugares favoritos es Punta del Este en Uruguay. Aunque un poco caro, siempre saldrás de ahí con una sonrisa. Las playas más inolvidables, junto con los bares de moda, y actividades entretenidas las 24 horas del día te esperan ahí. Si no optas por ir a Punta del Este, Brasil es otro de los lugares mas increíbles. Ahí puedes ir a Buzios disfrutar de los camarones con palito, las playas los cocos, los helados, y mucho más. En Argentina también puedes encontrar lugares vacacionales, como Miramar, Pinamar, Mar del Plata, y otros. Si buscas lugares sin playa durante el invierno puedes ir a Bariloche, Villa La angostura, Las Leñas en donde puedes esquiar. Sin duda, cualquier lugar que elijas un poco alejado de tu trabajo, o deberes diarios te ayudara a relajarte y pensar mas tranquilamente como solucionar o seguir adelante en tus decisiones.

La Prima Donna Restaurant is Venue for Luxury Fashion Show Series by Producer Andres Aquino

USA International Fashion Shows has partnered with New York City restaurant La Prima Donna to present the Martini Fashion Dinner and Champagne Fashion Brunch series of shows. Martini Fashion Dinners are held on selected Monday evenings and Champagne Fashion Brunches take place on selected Sunday afternoons. Located on West 47th Street, in the heart of New York City’s Times Square and famous theater district, La Prima Donna's elegant and traditional Tuscan cuisine is updated with Venetian style and modern urban panache. Guests enjoy a truly original and exceptional culinary experience in an ambience of a Venetian Carnivale complete with wall murals and Renaissance art. The popular eatery, operated under the experienced direction of General Manager Mohamed Choayra, has received excellent write ups in the New York Daily News, Playbill, Gotham and A La Carte. “We are really excited about working with La Prima Donna,” says fashion show producer and company CEO Andres Aquino. “After considering numerous places in New York, we found this venue to be a perfect fit for our shows due to its location, the ambience and decor as well as its exquisite Italian cuisine and, above all, the service of its management and staff.” The concept behind the events is to bring fashion shows to the people who love fashion, taking them out of the exclusive domain of the trade. The runway shows are combined with fine food and drink making a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the appreciative guests. A major marketing campaign is being launched in an array of media ranging from Playbill to the New York Times along with a heavy Internet presence. Opportunities are available for sponsors and advertisers who want to reach an affluent fashion-conscious audience. Attending guests come from as far as Australia and as near as midtown Manhattan. They come for special occasions such as family reunions, birthdays and anniversaries, father-daughter outings, and wedding proposals. Tickets to the shows are becoming popular customer appreciation gifts for favored clients and corporate incentives. Other guests include celebrities out for an unusual afternoon or evening activity and buyers looking for unique fashions. The ability to buy right off the runway and meet the designers and models in a relaxed atmosphere are among the features that make these events special. From the Far East to Europe to Canada and South America, the shows have generated a great deal of interest, and people are buying tickets up to six months in advance. Tickets are available through the company website as well as through various ticket outlets worldwide. “These events are positive experiences for everyone,” notes Andres Aquino. “The audience gets a fabulous fashion show and a delicious meal, the designers get a great platform to show and hopefully sell their creations, the makeup artists and stylists get an opportunity to show their talent, the models get to wear beautiful clothes and add to their runway experience, the restaurant gets to introduce itself to new customers, the sponsors reach a targeted audience that is receptive to their message, and the attending press gets some great content for their editorials.” The participating designers present some of the best wearable couture and exquisite accessories. Recent shows have featured collections by designers from a host of countries including Austria, South Africa, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Russia, Israel, Bulgaria, England, India, and of course the USA. Some already have their lines carried in exclusive stores like Bergdorf Goodman and chic boutiques on Madison Avenue as well as in other fashion capitals. The modest participation fee makes this an attractive opportunity to designers looking to expand their market base and reach the press as well as wholesale and retail buyers. Press coverage of these events has included many articles in the printed press and Internet as well as TV coverage, sometimes from the fashion point of view and other times from the human perspective. One recent Champagne Fashion Brunch attracted media attention when an 87-year old former fashion model fulfilled a lifelong dream of walking on the runway. She modeled a couture gown made especially for her. Upcoming shows will be making donations to children’s charities. Producer Andres Aquino is CEO of USA International Fashion Shows and Fashion Syndicate Press, founded in 1997. He is also the founder and creator of New York's Couture Fashion Week and Bridal Fashion Week, attracting fashion and accessories designers from around the world. -------

Rooibos, Just the Facts

Rooibos (pronounced "Roy-boss"), botanical name Aspalathus linearis, is clearly gaining popularity in the US due in part to all the hype surrounding the South African herb. I personally get many questions about Rooibos and the various properties and benefits it delivers. Like everyone else I can get drawn up in the "hype" so I decided to do an in-depth look at exactly what we do and do not know about Rooibos and here is what I found; History and Trends - Rooibos has a 300-year history with the first botanical reference recorded in 1772. - It is indigenous to only the southwest coast of Africa in the Cedarburg Mountain region of the Western Cape. - Unlike other herbs Rooibos is available in non - oxidize and oxidized forms (think green tea, non - oxidized vs. black tea, oxidized). - The most commonly consumed type of Rooibos is the dark or oxidized version. - Rooibos is naturally free of caffeine and makes a terrific beverage for anyone avoiding caffeine late in the day or all together. - Rooibos is delicious hot or cold, is very refreshing and never bitter. - It’s a great addition to recipes or as substitute for water and sometimes milk in recipes. - I predict that Rooibos will be the next big thing in beauty products having shown promise in alleviating the symptoms of psoriases and aiding in the treatment of acne and aging when used topically. - Rooibos contains natural sweeteners and is calorie free. Dispelling the Myths - Rooibos does not have 50 times the antioxidant benefit of green tea; it does not even have as much. - Rooibos does not contain any vitamin C. - Rooibos does not aid weight loss. Antioxidants fight off free radicals which damage the DNA in our cells making us more prone to diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke just to name a few. Antioxidants have the ability to bind to these free radicals before they can do damage, making them an important element to good health. Rooibos is a great source of powerful and plentiful antioxidant benefit. Health Facts - Rooibos is all-natural and contains no additives, preservatives or colorants. - Rooibos is naturally free of caffeine, (not decaffeinated, the plant contains no caffeine). - The soothing effect that Rooibos seems to have on the central nervous system may make it an effective sleep aid. - While Rooibos is high in antioxidants, it is not as high as green and black teas. - The antioxidants in Rooibos are also different from those found in green and black teas. - Additionally Rooibos is high in polyphenol content, another type of antioxidant. - Rooibos has its own properties; one is a specific flavonoid that is found only in Rooibos called aspalathin. - Of the 10 identified flavonoid antioxidants in Rooibos aspalathin is one of three that are found in the greatest quantities. - Green Rooibos or the non-oxidized version has more antioxidant benefit than the more popular oxidized version. - Rooibos contains other nutrients. - Rooibos has been successfully used to treat the symptoms of colic in infants. - Rooibos can relieve stomach and digestive disorders such as nausea, vomiting, heartburn, cramps and constipation in adults. So what is the bottom line? If you like Rooibos, drink it. It taste great, is inexpensive, has no caffeine or calories and is certainly beneficial to your healthy. If you are adventurous, experiment using Rooibos in your favorite recipe or as a skin tonic.

Rediscover Tea - A Personal Story

I grew up in a tea farm about 20 miles from Taimu Mountain in eastern Fujian province of China. Fujian is one of the major tea growing regions in China. The famous Oolong tea Iron Goddess (aka Tie Kuan Yin) is from southern Fujian. Taimu Mountain is the origin of the exotic White tea. I spent most of my early childhood in a tea farm with my parents and three brothers and a sister along many other families and their playful kids. The farm is very large with two separate locations on two different mountains several miles apart. Aside tea growing and processing, the farm also grew crops and raised boars. The farm was state owned. The majority of the workers were young single man and women. Some of them just graduated from high schools. This is during the time of Cultural Revolution when every graduate was sent to a remote farm to learn from the physical work. For most kids, there was no chance to go to college at that time. We all lived in the same apartment building and shared a big dinning hall. It was like a big family. As a kid, I went to the tea garden with my mother and other women to pluck the tea leaves during the day. My father who was the accountant inspected and weighed the leaves at the workshop. The women were paid according to the weight of the leaves they plucked. Night time was when the tea processing began. The farm mostly produced green teas. The processing involved the drying of tea leaves by firing and frying. The process was continued overnight. The workers took a break in the mid night and had snacks, typically a bowl of congee or noodle. I along with other kids would stay late until it was snack time so that we got our share. It is not because we helped in any way; it was just because we were kids. Some times, we even slept in the workshop. We would take a large linen bag used for storing tea leaves and used it as a sleeping bag. One night, my cousin tied my older brother’s bag while he was sleeping sound. Later on, my brother woke up and tried to go to bathroom and could not get out. Unfortunately, he wet himself. After tea leaves were processed, some of them became broken. The broken pieces need to be separated out form the whole leaves by hands. I would join my mother and other women in this effort. Picking out the smaller broken pieces was a painstaking manual process and required a great deal of eyes and hands coordination. The faster one could pick, the more she would handle and the more she would get paid. The outcome was inspected to make sure the tea is free of broken pieces. Our farm was not a tea refinery where teas are further processed and packaged for final distribution to stores. The coarse teas were transported by feet from the farm to a refinery in the town many miles away. This was the time when we got to go with to visit the town and get our hair cuts, get good snacks and buy industrial products made in big and famous cities like Shanghai. I moved to my home town about 30 miles away to live with my grandparents and to attend school when I was about eight years old. Since then, I only visited the farm during the summer break. Chinese people recognize tea as one of the seven necessities of living. Every family, poor or rich, one person or several generations under the roof, all have tea and use it as a way of receiving and entertaining guests. It is a custom that you greet a guest with a bowl of hot tea. Most of times some home made snacks are also served along with the tea. There was no soda, no ice cream when I was a kid. Only tea and the courteous receptions I got from other families as I visited them. Those moments are in my sweet memories and are very much missed as I now live a modern life in the industrialized society full of all kinds of gadgets and gismos along with the fast and convenient sodas and ice creams, thousands of miles away from where I am from. I came to the states at the end of 1990 as a graduate student. Since then I have joined millions of people here in the pursuit of prosperity. I worked at one job to another, moved from one city to another. I raised one kid to and now two and tried to make the ends meet. Soda had taken the place of tea with its convenience when the fast-paced living leaves me with no time and no mood for tea. I had no tea for about 15 years until two years back when I went to visit my home town and brought back some teas. Now I am reunited with tea and started enjoying and learning more about it. Tea takes me home each and every day with its refreshing and reflective aroma and taste, even though I am oceans and continents apart from my root.