The Hindu Business Line : Wining ways

Although the juice from red, white or pink wine grapes is equally colourless, in the case of red wine the juice is left in contact with the red or black grape skin until it gains the colour preferred by the winemaker.

You can find nuggets such as this in Sommelier India, a wine magazine packed with information on wining interest in India and abroad… from the business outlook for high-end wines to farming conditions for premium grapes, wine holiday tours, and local wining events. Sample these:

How many grapes to a glass of wine? 75 grapes or one cluster. And how many clusters to a bottle? Four.

It’s not a good idea to leave opened wine bottles in the open. A refrigerated bottle lasts 6-16 times longer than one that’s stored at room temperature.

There are about 400 species of oak, of which only about 20 are used in making barrels. Only 5 per cent of these trees are suitable for high-grade wine barrels. The average age of a French oak tree harvested for making wine barrels is 170 years. Oak barrels, which may be charred before use, lend colour, taste and aroma to the stored wine.

Militancy-hit Bekaa Valley of Lebanon is also a promising wine-growing region with a long history of viniculture.

There’s even an ancient temple here built by the Romans to the wine god Bacchus. Arabs are believed to have invented the art of distilling fermented beverages into alcoholic spirits. Lebanon produces 6 million bottles of wine a year.

Here’s another info for wine-lovers: If you’re wondering how to store that unfinished bottle for another heady day, there’s information on the latest home wine bar that not only keeps the bottle fresh for up to 10 days but also has separate sections for white and red wines.

Saving up the bubbly? Now, would that be good for business…

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