Important Wine Tip of the Day

Arnold and I will have to do that with our 27th anniversary in June. Hope you and Don had a great one. Here's to you and the champagne.

Thanks for checking this blog out Donna. Great to hear from you!

I can imagine the explanation to the waiter, see, we have a dog at home, and could you please pack the champagne half bottle in ice...

Cellar aisle: the story about champagne's enjoying a rebirth after cryogenic storage recalls my surprise at the slushy sound in one expensive winery's cellar, about which I asked its famous winemaker when walking to his upstairs office with him once. For some reason, he liked to have his lab and computer console close to the hub where cellar pipes transited to the bottling premise. He explained that he sent white wine to the filler in slush consistency to assure aroma, I believe the temperature he cited was 27 F. for premium varietal white wine during pumping from aging tank to bottling filler.

Admittedly, I learned only some of his secrets, some purposely related, as above, some incidentally, as with his pinot noir experiments with a new diaphragm pump which used to slow as cold crush pad temperatures coated the pump with ice during transfer from tank to press.

I think champagne bottle glass capable of withstanding 7 atmospheres pressure is the only vessel that I would try in a freezer, however; mere punt glass in still tablewine might be to fragile.

You may not "know" us, but my wife Kathryn and I have been wine club members for several years and consider Dry Creek Chardonnay our "house" white wine. And... we have been married to each other 39+ years. We celebrated our 39th anniversary with champagne after gliding over Cappadocia, Turkey, in a hot air balloon.

I love hearing stories John. 39 years is remarkable in this day and age; I'm so glad that our Chardonnay is playing a role in another happy marriage!! By the way, we're hoping to put on a wine club cruise to Turkey in the not too distant future. It would great to have you join us.