Here are some interesting articles on the subject and National Geographic this month has an interesting piece.

http://www.livescience.com/environment/081110-wine-carbon-footprint.html
http://www.drvino.com/2007/10/30/calculating-the-carbon-footprint-of-wine-my-research-findings/

Rules of Wine
1. Buy Local
2. See where your wine comes from and assess shipping.

This rum has only a limited export to Switzerland, so I was happy to get one of the 12 bottles sold in my region of Switzerland. Switzerland it seems has a hard time importing some of the smaller brands (smaller, as in not as common in Europe, not size of establishment).

This rum is unique in two ways:

1. It is not made from molasses, but pure sugar cane “honey”. This “honey” is the juice from the first sugar cane pressing.

2. This rum goes through a painstaking and extensive aging and barreling process to achieve it’s unique and full bodied flavor.

Color

Amber, cherry wood richly oiled and aged. Beautiful color.

Smell

This rum smelled heavenly of sweet sugar, sunshine, vanilla, spices and a little earthy.

Taste

This rum was like velvet in my mouth, tantalizing my tongue and really filling my mouth. As the flavor hits you can taste vanilla, sugar, oak and a slight hint of oak and cocoa upon finish. This is one of the smoothest rums I have every tasted. It was a little sweet for me, but as an after dinner or special occasion rum it was magnificent and to be honest, I could get used to the sweet. This rum is an excellent choice to serve to non-rum drinkers. It has almost no burn and can be taken neat as its own flavorful drink.

Color- 4

Smell- 4.5

Taste- 5

Feeling 4.5

This is one of my favorite rums ever! Which can either mean it is good, or I need to try more rums.

We always asked for the house wine. A little known fact is that at more local tavernas the owners bring in wine from their home town, from vineyards they are friends with, well you get the picture and it is great wine. It was cool clean and refreshing. I really liked the ruby red color, clean fruity flavor and an aroma one could only get from the soil in Greece. Part of the fun was watching the wine flow from great barrels into our craftsman pitchers and having no idea of the origin, variety or year. It was a fabulous adventure. Snacking on delicate and flavorful mezas and sipping delectable Greek Wine.

Greece has been making wine since the Minoans. Greece has sweet, hot and ancient wines. It was wonderful to try the chefs suggestion with fine vegetarian Greek foods. Several Cretan appellations, include Peza, Archanes, Dafnes and Sitia.

Chianti Classico

Vini Toscani

This wonderful wine hails from the Florence and Siena regions of Italy. You can taste that the wine has almost all Sangiovese grapes (75% and 100% ), up to 10% Canaiolo grapes. This makes for an excellent combination.

Color-The color is a bright clear ruby color with the slightest hint of richer garnet color.

Smell- You can detect the scent of plums and a hint of cherries. Additionally upon airing you can really detect how the wine blossoms and the fine mocha scent is detectable.

Taste-This wine is light and fresh on the tongue, well-balanced, fruity, slightly dry and not overly tannic flavour with hints of cherries and raspberries.

Overall a really nice wine.

Color-3

Smell- 3.5

Taste- 3.5

Feeling- 3.5

It is comforting for me to see the right kind of wine in the right shape bottle. I love wine labels, I mean who hasn’t bought a wine based on a cool label? I love wine bottle glass colors and the shape of the bottles. I imagine how they used to all be individually blown to service a family for years.

http://www.thewinedoctor.com/advisory/buystorebottleshapes.shtml

http://www.macsliquors.com/macswineology4.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_bottle

Vin D’Alsace Pinot Noir 2007

Color- The color of this wine reminds me of church stained glass as it filters through the red glass. The red has slight orangish additions to the color.

Smell- This wine has a light sweet scent. It is clean and fresh. You can smell slight violet and herbal underscents (like sassafrass, and caraway).

Taste- The wine had a slight cherry like flavor which was only enhanced by the rich oak taste that followed the cherry. The cherry and oak offered additional complexities and richness to this like and refreshing wine. The wine is followed by a slight bitter and dry aftertaste, which I enjoyed. The wine is so light and fresh that the bitterness only led to an authentic taste for me.

Feeling- This wine will have fans in all types of crowds. It would be an excellent wine to bring to a dinner party or picnic.

Color- 3

Smell- 3

Taste-4

Feeling- 4

Color- The color is bright and light, resembling cranberry red, with the slightest hint of orange around the edges.

Smell- The wine has a slight plum and raspberry scent. If you smell quickly and further back you can detect  distinct strawberry and orange notes.

Taste- The taste of this wine is light and pleasant, only a hint of tannins present, with a slight vanilla aftertaste. This wine was a delight to drink, I really was presently suprised and pleased.

Feel- This wine has an excellent feel on the tongue and in the atmosphere, from it’s color to it’s beautiful smell.

Color- 4

Smell- 5

Taste- 4

Feel- 4

The winery that crafts this wine was voted the Best European Winery in 2006, by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

Color- The color is a deep elegant ruby color, with the slightest flecks of amber.

Smell- This wine has a great smell. You can almost smell the Spanish costal countryside and blackberries in the sun. It reminds me of swimming off the coast of Tabarco. I can almost pick up the slightest hints of herbaceous rosemary and warm sand.

Taste- This wine is an exceptional tasting wine. It is full bodied, elegant and so velvety on the palate. You can taste the distinct flavor of the Cariñena and Garnacha Tinta grapes. The taste is held together with mild tannins and a low level of acidity. You can taste a slight hint of licorice, blackberries and herbs. This wine is sinfully simple and pleasant. This wine would taste great with a really good homemade macaroni and cheese.

Feeling- This wine has a great feeling. It is rich and simple all at the time.

Color

Smell- 4

Taste- 4

Feeling- 5

Enjoy this wine with family and friends. It even comes with a toy bull toggle.

This vine has a rich and beautiful ruby red color with warm plum colored undertones. It reminds me of the reddest of roses in the garden.

I could smell a light berry in the sunlight scent, soil and the grapes. It had a pleasant smell and didn’t overwhelm one with alcohol or sweetness.

The taste is warm and juicy. I detected a hint of blackberry and the slightest trace of cremant chocolate. I could taste and smell the richness of the Sangiovese and Canaiolo grapes and the deep rich Italian soil.

I really likes the subtle dryness of this wine and enjoyed it immensely.

It reminded me of good pizzeria wine in Rome. This is great with pizza quatro formaggi and capresi.

Scent- 3

Color- 4

Taster-4

Feeling- 3