On a High

Hey you people, there’s really a rocking thing in here, it’s called the ‘Le Nez du Vin’ Wine Tasting Kit.

The design of the case is especially made to prey upon the freshers also its portability would allow you to carry anywhere you go.

Now comes the best part, the contents of this Italian-made case offers some of the best learning tools for winey rookies.

There are petite sized glass containers on either of the swing out sides capturing fifty-four different aromas. Each exclusive whiff is common to both red & white wines from around France and the rest of the world.

Wait, there’s lots more in here, there is a set of cards which vividly illustrates each aroma, in addition, there’s a nice decanter and a handy dandy bottle opener too. Cool!

So any body there, if planning to gift me this, well, the thing would cost you only for $1700. :-)

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The vintage wine is priceless the smooth taste and the high one gets after are all well documented by the wine experts. Earlier we will have to wait for ages to let the wine slowly mature in the cellars which now are matured in a controlled climate of the basement.

Now the new technology will put the method of maturing wine in barrels obsolete. Now instead of reading a label you can ask how many minutes before it was matured. A Japanese developed a machine which by the process of electrolysis brings the alcohol and water molecules together giving wine that vintage and smooth taste.

But suppose if this works then the historic value of the wines will be lost large hotels might keep this machine in cellar and bring instant vintages out on customers request much like instant noodles.

As an avid wine lover Hope it doesn’t works.

Via: Gizmodo

What could be better than having a Draft Beer Dispenser at home? Though its not right season for beer but still you can think of some purchase for summers. Beer is best when chilled and because of that, it’s the most selling alcoholic product anywhere. As it has low alcohol quantity therefore it is used as a cold drink also.

Keeping the consumers’ interest Wunderbar has introduced Beer dispensers. You can make your choice from three different models, which act differently.
1. Wunderbar Cooler Professional- It uses extremely fast compressor cooling, like in your 3-star refrigerator. Price: EUR179

2. Wunderbar Cooler Thermo- It has more common thermoelectric Peltier cooling system.

3. Wunderbar Cooler Party- It will cool your drinks for hours and works on 4 AA batteries. Price: EUR79

After a glimpse of all three types of Dispensers at Wunderbar, I think ‘Party’ suits me the best for my home. Its not that you can only cool your beer but you can cool your wine or cold drink in the same dispenser.

Say Cheer!!!! to Wunderbar.

Via

This decanter will allow you to extract the sediments from and increase the surface area of your favorite bottle of red wine by pouring it over a glass globe that rests on a mesh filter into a suspended glass container. The stainless steel filter screens out sediment and cork residue, and will not instill the wine with odors or tastes.

This wine inverter will be the best gift for any wine lover. At this time of Christmas this wine be a suitable gift for any wine connoisseur. The chic wine inverter is for $169.95 at Hammacher.com

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You all know about green tea ,green tea ice-cream and now add one more thing into your green list i.e. Green Leaf Tea Vodka. Green tea has been delighting your senses with its refreshing taste now Charbey’s Green Leaf Tea Vodka will serve the purpose.

This new vodka is flavored with the extractions of four Chinese green tea varieties, all blended in a style similar to the way perfume is created.

Marko Karakasevic, son of the inventor of Charbay Tea Time, Miles Karakasevic said,

People can’t wait to try it since it’s the first Green Tea Vodka produced in the U.S. Our advantage is we have the stills, the know-how and our own bottling line to keep being creative.

This new vodka took more than five years to develop and now it’s in the market. You can gulp down this all new vodka. It will cost you $35 for a 750 ml bottle.

Well next time I invite my friends for a tea party, I will make sure that they don’t miss green leaf tea vodka.

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Chateau Mouton’s wines are always known for their know-how. The chateau is famous for its labels, which since 1945 have each year been designed by a different modern artists and this time privilege goes to Prince Charles who designed Chateau Mouton-Rothschild’s label.

Prince Charles is the greatest artist of the 20th century and well-known watercolorist.

His watercolors of pine trees at Cap d’Antibes on the Cote d’Azur, was personally selected by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild.

This was projected to mark the anniversary of the Entente Cordial between France and England, which was celebrated in 2004.

The 2004 vintage of Mouton Rothschild has been launched this week and you can get it for approximately $160.

So give it a shot!

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Wine made from the Douro Valley in Portugal is termed as Port. One of the major producers of various types of Ports is Fonseca.
Generally if a particular batch of Port is exceptionally better in quality it is termed ‘Vintage’. These Vintage Ports are matured in casks and in the bottle for around 10-15 years. Traditionally, to cater to the increasing consumers for Vintage Port, the Crusted Port was developed.
Fonseca is now one of the few producers of the rare Crusted Port. Crusted Port resembles, in flavor to that of a Vintage Port but does not need to be matured as long. They are allowed to age in cellars for 3-4 years then sold.
As the Vintage, the Crusted Port is not filtered, hence contains some solid matter or ‘crust’. Thus while serving it must be decanted. This crust allows the Port to mature if kept bottled. Fonseca’s Crusted Port is selected from the upper regions of Douro called Cima Cargo where one of the finest quality Ports are brewed.
The suggested retail price for it is $13
This wine will be showcased along with other Fonseca Ports at the 10th annual Decanter Fine Wine Encounter at The Landmark Hotel, London on the 18th-19th November, 2006.

Ref- 1: wine lovers page
2: Fonseca fact sheet

Source:decanter.com

The European Court of Justice has banned the online purchasing of alcohol. Now Europeans won’t be able to order online alcoholic drinks over the Internet from the other countries in EU in order to avoid taxes in their own countries.

The recent interpretation of EU policies states that in order to benefit from cheaper taxes elsewhere, consumers have to travel to the EU country for inquiry and pick up their purchases.

The UK, Sweden and Denmark have the highest taxes on booze and alcohol.

UK Treasury earns about £16 billion a year in revenue from duty on cigarettes and alcohol and this decision brings immense relief to UK treasury.

The UK Treasury spokesman said:
The government is pleased that the European Court of Justice has accepted the arguments which it and other member states put forward in support of the current arrangements. The government continues to strongly support the right of individuals to benefit from the freedoms of the EU single market but remains determined to crack down on those who seek to abuse those rights.

Ken Patel, of the Retailers Against Smuggling, said:

We are very relieved. If the proposals had gone ahead, the livelihoods of many of our corner shopkeepers would have been seriously threatened.

The European Court of Justice, on a proposal by a group of Dutch wine fans, ruled that “only products acquired and transported personally by private individuals are exempt from excise duty in the member state of importation”.

The verdict was even scheduled in Britain and Ireland, where alcohol and cigarette taxes are generally high as compared with the continent.

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Park B. Smith’s cellar auction of wine had a big hit this weekend. The 50 cases of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1982 were estimated to treasure $600,000 to $1.2 million but they sold for $1.05 million.

According to Daniel Taub of Bloomberg, the 1982 Mouton went to an anonymous European phone bidder and the auction raised $5.33 million with buyer’s premium.

This auction benefited Park B. Smith’s alma mater, Holy Cross College.

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Beer and Champagne in one bottle!

Don’t be amazed now, Cobra beer, Inc. USA (New York) is launching world’s first ‘Champagne Lager’ this month as a latest addition to Krait Beer Line.

It is described as the sophisticated and high quality beer. It’s an 8% ABV beer, double fermented in Belgium’s Rodenbach brewery.

It is considered a specialty beer which can appeal non-beer drinkers.

You can get it for $10.99 to $12.99 in 750ml glass bottle.

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