All About Wine And Its Goodness!

Deciding on the best way to let your wine breathe can be a difficult one.  When I open a bottle of wine, I am ready to relax with my glass of wine. I generally don’t have much patience for allowing it to breathe.  Why do we let wine breathe?  By letting your wine breathe or aerate it allows for the full flavors to emerge and make the wine more palatable. While there are many wines that do not need to go through this process, it is good to know the little details that can make a big difference. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy your wine to its fullest potential.

The reason why wines needs to breathe, or age, is because of tannins. Tannins can transfer into wine during the fermentation process from seeds and skins of grapes. They are a natural preservative that diminish overtime allowing fuller flavors to emerge. White wines and some red wines have low levels of these and therefore do not need aging, or periods of breathing, before drinking. Generally all red wines can benefit from aeration, but those that are lighter and fruitier generally don’t require much aeration.

The term breathing refers to the mixing of oxygen with wine allowing the breakdown of tannins. You can bring out fuller flavors of wine by using a decanter to allow the wine to mix with oxygen on a larger scale.

If you choose to allow your wine to breathe, you still have one more decision to make. Do you use a decanter or an aerator? When using a decanter, you should make sure that you have at least one hour to allow the wine to breathe. This is plenty of time for your wine to mix with oxygen and for its full flavors to emerge.  All you do is pour your bottle of wine, or the ammount you would like to drink, into the decanter and let it sit.Surface area is key to the amount of oxygen that can reach the wine; the more area, the sooner you can enjoy it.

If you just opened a bottle of wine five minutes before guests arrived, or you are only wanting to drink a single glass, decantors may not be the best way to aerate your wine.An aerator achieves the same end result as a decanter but in a fraction of the time. Two types of aerators are available: one that is seperate from the bottle, and one that attches as a spout directly in the bottle of wine.

The Vinturi aerator allows you to speed up the breathing process by mixing the perfect amount of air for the perfect amount of time to bring out the color, aroma, and flavor of your wines. All you do is pour your glass of wine through the aerator. It comes with a drip free stand so there is no mess to clean up.

The second option, which is more user friendly especially for multi-tasking person, is the Wine Finer aerator . Enjoy your glass of wine in an instant with this easy to use aerator. Just insert the Wine Finer in the bottle and pour the wine into a glass, the wine is aerated by the Wine Finer as it is being poured into the glass. One glass at a time, you can enjoy the full flavors that aerating allows. After pouring, just place to top on the bottle as you would a cork.

So before you decide whether to get yourself a decanter or an aerator, consider your time constraints. Before using the decanter, make sure there is sufficient time for the wine to breath. You can play it safe but allowing your wine to breathe in an instant with a Vinturi or Wine Finer.

Absinthe is now perfectly legal in many countries around the world but why were Absinthe and Absithe kits banned at all?

Why was Absinthe banned?

France is not the home of Absinthe but Absinthe was actually created by Dr Pierre Ordinaire in Switzerland at the end of the 18th century. It became popular in both France and Switzerland in the 19th century and early 20th century, a time known as La Belle Epoque a golden age before the start of the First World War. It is a herbal alcoholic beverage flavored with wormwood, aniseed, fennel and sometimes other herbs such as lemon balm, hyssop and mint.

Absinthe has been linked with many great writers and artists who claimed that it gave them inspiration. Devotees of Absinthe included Oscar Wilde, Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso.

Absinthe or the Green Fairy (La fee verte) became even more popular than fermented types of beverages such as beer and cider and upset wine producers by replacing wine as the most popular alcoholic drink in France. France’s growing alcoholism problem was due to Absinthe’s popularity and Doctors and prohibitionists claimed that Absinthe was as bad as cannabis, that it was psychoactive and caused convulsions, hallucinations, insanity, brain damage and death. It was also Blamed to be a major cause for promoting loose morals and for damaging French society.

After the murder of a whole family by a known Absinthe drinker, prohibitionists were able to convince the government that Absinthe was a danger and that it would drive the nation to insanity and violence. Absinthe received a banned in France in 1915 and in many other countries in the early 1900s.

Absinthe substitutes and Absinthe styles of drinks such as Pernod Pastis and Ricards were developed to market to those missing the taste of Absinthe.

Thujone

Thujone is a monoterpene found in wormwood, a key ingredient in Absinthe, and it was this chemical that was blamed for the dangerous effects of Absinthe. It was thought to be similar to THC, the chemical found in cannabis.

Thujone, in large quantities, is toxic and does affect the GABA receptors of the brain but only when consumed in LARGE quantities. It was falsly alleged that that pre ban Absinthe had 350mg of thujone per liter, but this has now been proved false. Tests on vintage bottles of Absinthe have shown that it actually only contained up to 6mg – a very small amount and harmless.

Such tests and other research, articles and studies have shown that Absinthe is just as safe as any other drink with a high alcohol content.

In the EU and in the United States Thujone content is well regulated. EU law will only allow beverages labeled “bitters” to contain up to 35mg per kg and alcoholic beverages with an ABV (alcohol by volume) over 25% to contain up to 10mg per kg of thujone.

US law will allow up to 10 parts per million of thujone in beverages.

So, if Absinthe is perfectly safe why did doctors say it was dangerous? reasons Behind:-

– Mass hysteria – Absinthe was linked to drugs like – cocaine and heroin.
– Wine producers apprehensive about the the fall in popularity of wine.
– Unreliable testing and medical research.
Absinthe is said to linked with courtesans and Bohemian Culture of Montmartre.
– Prohibitionists advocating ban alcoholic beverages taking help of excuses.

Why Many Countries Banned Absinthe? Due to a combination of vested interests, myths, lies, and misunderstandings.

Absinthe has become once again a popular alcoholic drink after being legalized in the USA and other countries. Many young people are trying it for the first time and knocking it back without any consideration of its alcohol content. Understanding Absinthe proof?

Along with blend of herbs wormwood (artemisia absinthium), aniseed and fennel is used in the making of Absinthe. The characteristic emerald green coloring of classic verte styles of Absinthe gave it the name of the Green Fairy, La Fee Verte.

According to the Ritual one has to dilute Absinthe with iced water before consuming it. When water is dripped over a sugar lump on a slotted spoon and into the Absinthe then the Absinthe louche.

As Absinthe contained wormwood so it was restricted in the early 1900s. Dr Valentin Magnan tested worwmood on guinea pigs in 1845 and found that a guinea pig given wormwood oilhad convulsions, whereas, a guinea pig given alcohol just got drunk. The chemical thujone was found to be far more dangerous than ethanol (alcohol) from the tests done by Magnan. He and others in the medical profession were convinced that thujone was psychoactive and caused psychedelic effects. This was the cause for which Absinthe was banned.

Even in 1975, a nature magazine claimed that a thujone molecule was similar in structure to THC from the drug cannabis and that they therefore acted in a similar manner.

There is no truths in all these claims. The higher dose of thujone can become active on the GABA receptors of the brain but thujone is different from THC. Experiments show that the amount of thujone content in Absinthes is not enough to harm anyone. To be effected with thujone one has to consume vast amounts of Absinthe!

A person should be careful while consuming Absinthe because it is highly alcoholic drink.

Information about Absinthe proof?

Let’s see what the proof of well-known brands of Absinthe is:-

Jade Nouvelle Orleans 68% abv (136 proof)
One can find 65% abv (130 proof) in Jade Verte Suisse
Jade Edouard contains 72% abv (144 proof)
Jade PF 1901 contains 68% abv (136 proof)
The abv of Roquette 1797 is 75% (150 proof)
One can find 65% abv (130 proof) in Doubs Mystique Carte D’Or
One can find 53% abv in Kubler 53
La Fee Parisian contains 68% abv (136 proof)
La Fee Bohemian 70% abv (140 proof)
One can find 68% abv (136 proof) in La Fee XS Absinthe Francaise
The abv in La Fee XS Absinthe Suisse is 53% (106 proof)
Mari Mayans Collectors 70 contains 70% abv (140 proof)
Pernod Absinthe 68% abv (136 proof)
One can get 60% abv (120 proof) in Pere Kermanns
Sebor has 55% abv (110 proof)
La Clandestine Absinthe is available with 53% abv (106 proof)
Lucid Absinthe 62% abv (124 proof)

If we compare that to other alcoholic beverages we can see that Absinthe is very strong:-

Everclear 95% abv (190 proof)
Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch Whisky 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof)
The alcohol by volume is 9-12% (18-24 proof) in Table Wine
One can find 4 or 5% alcohol by volume (8-10 proof) in Beer
Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila contains 38% abv (76 proof)
Absolut Blue Vodka 40% abv (80 proof)

If you make homemade Absintheusing essences from AbsintheKit.The homemade Absinthe’s proof is according to the type of neutral alcohol that is being used.

Knowledge of Absinthe proof? Very high is the answer!