Enter our on-line contest to win a free batch of

Cellar Craft South African Shiraz!

Simply go to our Website http://www.carafe.ca/main.html 

Click on “Enter To Win A Free Batch Shiraz!”

 It’s that easy.

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The general advice on wine serving temperatures is to chill your white wines, and to drink the reds at room temperature. That advice is a little simplistic, however, and as we head into summer it is worth taking a closer look.

The ideal serving temperature for a bold and tannic red – say that Australian Shiraz waiting for the steaks to come off the BBQ – is about 16° to 18°. Above that temperature the alcohol becomes very volatile, unbalances the wine, and makes it taste hot and thin, so parking the bottle outside on the patio table on a hot day is doing the wine (and you!) no favours. Keep it inside in the air conditioning, or stick it in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes to put a slight chill on it, and you will enjoy it even more. Be careful though – chill it too much and the tannins take over and the wine tastes astringent.

Lighter and softer reds with little tannin, like a Valpolicella or in fact many of our 4-week reds, actually benefit from lower serving temperatures and would always be happy with some time in the fridge.

Give them half an hour or so to drop the temperature to as low as 12° before serving and keep the bottle in a wine chiller, if you have one, when you bring the bottle to the table.  With whites the advice is also not as simple as “chill it”. The colder a wine is served, the more of the aroma and bouquet you miss. A light white without a lot of character will be most refreshing if chilled well by an hour or more in the fridge, but a higher quality aromatic white like a Viognier or a full-bodied, well-oaked Chardonnay is best served relatively warm – about 12° to 15°.  Any colder than that and you lose a lot of what the wine has to offer. 

The best way to see what difference temperature can make is to experiment. You might be surprised how a little fridge time improves your enjoyment of your wine, especially the reds, as the days warm!   

Article courtesy of Geoff Barley.

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Each Month, Carafe features

both a Red and a White

Six Week Wine

at $10.00 OFF

per 23 Litre (30 bottle) Batch.

FEBRUARY 2009

Pinot Noir - A medium bodied red wine with plenty of fruit and a warm, complex aroma.  Excellent with hard cheeses or served slightly chilled with chicken, duck or game.

Riesling Auslese – An intensely flavoured, slightly off-dry German white with luscious flavours of green apple, peaches and tropical fruits.  Great with spicy ethnic dishes.

MARCH 2009

Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon – This full bodied red wine is deep garnet in colour with a surprisingly smooth finish. It’s abundant flavour and berry nose is nicely balanced with mellow, toasted oak. Great with steaks, roasts, burgers and BBQ ribs.

White Merlot - This refreshing wine is created by its deliberately brief exposure of the crushed Merlot grape skins with the Merlot juice which results in an inviting salmon colour.   White Merlot blush has a lush, fruity character making it an excellent choice for relaxing with friends.

APRIL 2010

Meritage Rouge – This is a traditional Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with a touch of Syrah (Shiraz).  It has abundant flavours of blackberry and plum with good tannins, nicely balanced with oak.  An excellent table wine.

Chardonnay – A full bodied white with subtle tropical fruit aroma and crisp citrus flavours.  A refreshing, clean finish with a toasty oak charm.

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Merlot   This dry, full-flavoured red wine has generous, ripe fruitiness and a soft, graceful finish.

Pinot Grigio     A crisp and flavourful, medium bodied white wine with delicate, tropical fruit aroma.

Make 1 Wine   Save $15.00

Make 2 Wines  Save $35.00

Available in both 4 and 6 week

23 Litre Batches

Offer valid until January 30, 2010

Not in conjunction with any other offers.

Prices include our full service, all taxes, corks & shrink caps.

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Well, yes and no. Every year the LCBO offers collectors the opportunity to buy Bordeaux wine futures, to lay good money down today for wine still in barrels in France. One of the most expensive each year is Château Pétrus, at $1000 or more per bottle. Behind that pricey label is a very good Merlot, so yes, you can pay that much. Of course, there is also a lot of good Merlot for a lot less.

In the 2004 hit movie Sideways Miles famously threatens, as he heads out on a blind date, that “if anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am NOT drinking any f***ing Merlot!” The movie had an immediate effect on California wine sales, as demand for Pinot Noir (Miles’ preferred red) soared and Merlot dropped. That effect didn’t last long, however, and Merlot continues to be one of the most popular red wines around the world.

Merlot is the most widely planted red wine grape in its native Bordeaux. In reputation Merlot is overshadowed by Cabernet Sauvignon, the most highly reputed of the Bordeaux grapes, but winemakers there have long understood that Merlot helps soften and balance Cab’s strong tannins and higher acidity, and blends are common. In parts of the region Merlot in fact dominates, and wines from St. Émilion and Pomerol (home of Pétrus) are almost pure Merlot.

Globally, Merlot is popular with both grape growers and wine drinkers. It grows well and ripens earlier than other varieties, and so is particularly important in cooler regions with shorter growing seasons. Washington State is one of the newer wine regions in which Merlot excels and is building an international reputation.

For the wine drinker, Merlot offers a range of styles, but it is typically a soft, medium-bodied wine with hints of berry, plum, and currant.

At the lower end of the price spectrum Merlot makes an approachable, easy-drinking wine that is versatile on the dinner table. At the other end, the makers of Pétrus have shown the richness & complexity that the wine can achieve.

Our January specials offer you two good Merlots for fairly immediate enjoyment. To experience more of the grape’s potential, ask about other Merlots we also have available for you to enjoy.

                                    Article courtesy of Geoff Barley

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By Popular Demand!

Once again, for a limited time, we are offering our Customers the chance to make a special wine to compliment their cellar collection. Carafe’s Merlot Quartet is a unique ensemble of Merlot juices from four renowned regions: Red Mountain Washington State, Napa Valley California, Yakima Valley Washington and Lodi California (home of Robert Mondavi).  Our distinct Quartet bottle labels are included.

The wine includes a crushed grape pack for true on the skin fermentation.  All of the natural skins and solids from variety-specific grapes are captured for extra extraction of aromatics, flavour, colour and body. Merlot Quartet 2009 Those who made our previous version will be delighted to know we have commissioned the 2009 Release. We expect to have stock on hand by the end of October. Reserve your batch while supplies last! Ingredients sourced and prepared exclusively for Carafe WineMakers by the award-winning Cellar Craft International.

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Although glass blowing has been around since ancient Roman times, glass was expensive. Wine was usually carried and stored in clay jugs with glass more often used for serving wine. It wasn’t until the 18th Century, that something close to the modern day wine bottle could be found in common use. Not coincidentally, the use of the cork stopper developed at this time.

As far as size is concerned, most antique wine bottles fall into the range of 600 ml to 800 ml. Eventually, Great Britain legalized the “fifth” bottle – one-fifth of a gallon – as the standard size for wine and liquor and the United States followed with a standard one-fifth of a U.S. gallon (approximately 757 ml). Meanwhile, Europe gravitated to the similar 750 ml metric size which Canada changed to when we “went Metric”. The US changed to the 750 ml metric measurement for wine in 1979.

But all this begs a question: Why the specific “fifth” or 750ml size? The three most common theories are:

1) This is the average capacity of a glass-blower’s lungs, and thus the size of a bottle created in one steady blow.

2) A typical “fifth” weighs about 2½ pounds, a convenient size to pack and carry.

3) The “fifth” size originated as proper ration for a grown man at a meal.

No one seems to know for certain!

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