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There are certain mysteries in life that seem to defy anything more than a basic understanding. An array of subjects exists that can intimidate even the most capable, such as money and accounting, cars and driving, death and taxes, wine and drinking.

While we won’t attempt to unveil the mysteries of money, cars and taxes, we will delve into what we know best-wine and demystifying the elusive wine store.

While some stores may arrange products in unique ways, the basic anatomy of a wine store is somewhat universal. There are typically walls, shelves and racks of wine bottles proudly poised for purchase. Red and white wines may each have their own sections, while champagnes, ports and other specialty wines might be tucked away from main traffic areas.

In contrast, supermarkets, high-volume mass merchandisers and big-box retailers will typically group like wines together or shelve by a particular producer’s label. Many wine labels carried in a supermarket are recognizable, since they tend to be high-volume sellers often supported by hefty advertising campaigns.

In a store devoted exclusively to wine and wine accessories, a consumer is more likely to discover lesser-known, exceptional boutique wines that don’t enjoy the benefit of advertising dollars to promote them. Instead, these small artisan vineyards rely upon a savvy wine store owner to carry their label and a curious consumer to seek them out.

Perhaps the most powerful distinction of buying wine in a wine store versus a supermarket is in the knowledge of the wine offered for sale. If you have a question, supermarket shelves can’t answer back, and employees are usually uneducated when it comes to wine.

If you’re looking to try something new, how do you know which wines you’ll like? Which wines are great paired with specific foods and which will be good standing alone? Are all zinfandels created equal, and what is a blend?

Every wine has a story. A wine store expert can tell you the story behind the wine, while helping guide you through the decision-making process. Most will know the questions to ask and the answers you’re hoping to find.

But keep in mind that not all wine stores are created equal. Find a neighborhood wine merchant that is willing to spend time with customers talking about wine. Make sure you feel comfortable asking questions and that the staff is willing to help and assist. Finding a store with exceptional customer service in a warm, friendly and inviting environment should keep you coming back.

Dispelling the misconception of price, you can’t assume that you’ll pay less in a supermarket and more in a wine store. In today’s competitive market a wine store might carry more than 100 labels priced at $25 or less.

Overall, finding something you like has less to do with price and everything to do with your palate. Understanding your palate is essential for determining the wines you’ll like. For example, you may enjoy buttery chardnnay. If you open an oak chardonnay instead of a buttery one, it may not suit your palate. It doesn’t matter whether you spent $3 or $50 on that bottle of oak chardonnay, if you don’t like oak. The price doesn’t change the wine.

So how do you begin to understand your palate? One way is to learn by doing-exploring the differences through tastings will help train and develop your senses. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to find the right wine every time once you understand your tastes.

Buying wine should be as enjoyable as drinking it. When visiting a wine store, look for something similar to our signature, trademarked barometer that gives you a flavor and body index to gauge where a wine falls on the fruity versus dry scale and the degree to which the wine is light or full-bodied. There’s no right or wrong wine-only what’s right for you. We think you’ll be pleased with what is available on the market today at affordable prices.

Lil Lepore co-owns Vino 100 in Valencia (with Shari Frazier), California, a unique specialty wine store offering boutique, handcrafted wines from small, artisan vineyards, as well as a large selection of gifts and accessories. 661-294-6886

Wine has a history of thousands of years and is now enjoyed worldwide. Most people store wine in racks in their kitchen, however if you have an expensive bottle of fine wine more care should be taken. Like food, wine is perishable and understanding how to store wine correctly is vital for it to age well. The first important factor to know is that wine does have enemies. They are heat, light, oxygen, low humidity and also vibration.

Before Opening
All wines should be stored away from UV light as this will damage the wine. The storage area should be dark, as ultraviolet light causes degradation of stable organic compounds found in wine thus affecting the aroma, flavour and structure of the wine. Dark bottles are better protected against UV rays and some bottles do have UV filters built into the glass, but UV rays can still penetrate to spoil the wine. If you cannot store wine out of contact with UV light, then the bottle can be wrapped in cloth for protection, however this will not produce best results.

Corked bottles should always be stored on their sides. The reason for this is that the corks can dry out if wine is stored upright. Oxygen is the worst enemy for wine and if the cork dries out it will shrink and allow oxygen into the bottle.

Storing the wine on its side will keep the cork moist and preserve the air tight seal for a considerable amount of time. For extremely long periods of time, a humidity controlled storage environment will be needed to prevent the cork from drying out.

Ideally you want to store wine at a temperature between 44 and 54F. Wine does not react well to changes in temperature and in modern day homes central heating and air conditioning does not help. There are climate control units available for optimum storage temperatures and humidity. If a climate control unit is out of the question it is not a problem. The most important thing is that the temperature is kept constant and to make sure of this a thermometer will in your cellar will allow you to monitor this. Another important factor related to temperature is humidity.

Humidity levels should be well above 50%, this will help keep the cork seal tight and prevent the wine from evaporating.

Once you have laid your bottle down for storage try not to move it until its time to consume. Any movement or even vibrations can affect the wine. Also insure that there is good ventilation as wine breathes and if stored with anything else with a strong smell this can taint the wine.

Remember that not all wines improve with age; in fact most inexpensive shop-bought wines deteriorate with age. Therefore, before storing your wine found out how long it should be stored for.

After Opening
Depending on the type of wine you have you can maintain its quality once the bottle has been opened.

White wine should be kept refrigerated with the cork on the bottle as firm as possible. If the bottle of wine is going to be stored for any longer than 4 days it is recommended that a wine stopper and pump is used to clear the bottle of oxygen and prevent oxygen from coming in contact with the wine.

Once red wine has been opened, simply place the cork back into the bottle and store in a dark place. This will only last for a couple days.

Storing Options
The obvious option is to have a wine cellar with climate control, this way all you have to do is place your bottle of wine on the rack and the dark undisturbed environment will do the rest.

If a custom built wine cellar is out the question any dark place could be an alternative, the attic, basement or a corner of a room. The only problem with this is the changes in temperature in most modern day homes; therefore it is important to avoid storing wine in a place subject to temperature change. To maintain humidity you can place a bowl of water in the area you are storing wine.

A Spiral Cellar is a pre-cast concrete wine cellar designed for installation in the home. Spiral Cellars create the perfect wine storage conditions in your home, a must for wine enthusiasts.

The signs are everywhere: more and more Americans are interested again in the idea of using their homes to entertain friends and associates.

An Amazon search for books on “entertaining” calls up over 468,000 hits, while - if you search “party ideas” on Google - you get nineteen million. Whereas entertaining seemed to disappear from the culture’s radar during the ultra-busy, tech-obsessed 1990s, these days you can turn on cable channels devoted almost entirely to the teaching of techniques for entertaining. You can even find, if you frequent the right bookstores, a tongue-in-cheek children’s book purporting to show your toddler how to mix a drink.

The wild popularity of all those cable TV shows about food and drink, the success of Amy Sedaris’s book I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence and similar tomes, the mega-success of Martha Stewart: all are linked by a new generation’s interest in throwing good parties, offering tasteful hospitality, and having sophisticated, grown-up fun. The same core motivators, presumably, may have led many twenty- and thirty-somethings to take up cigar smoking during the 1990s, the “boom” years of the cigar industry.

So, if you’re a cigar smoker (occasional and social, or everyday) who frequently entertains, you may be considering throwing a party that unites those two often-linked pleasures: smoking and drinking. Though there are some cigar aficionados who prefer to keep the two tastes distinct, many others find that, with a little creative blending, the right cocktail can really make a perfect warm-up (or finish) to a good cigar.

It’s always a matter of personal taste - and if you’re entertaining, your first duty, of course, is to be sensitive to the needs and interests of your guests, especially those who are nonsmokers, dislike the smell of smoke, or are allergic to it. (This might be a good reason for throwing a cigar party, with invitations restricted to those who are interested either in trying a smoke for the first time or who are already committed cigar smokers.)

As far as beverages go, good wine goes with cigars - the finer the wine, the better the mix. Wine and cigars, after all, make a lot of sense together: they’re both acquired tastes, they’re both somewhat bitter, they both need to be aged, and they both need to be savored rather than rushed. Red wine, especially port, is a good possibility. You’ll probably want to steer clear of wines on either the extremely-sweet or extremely-bitter side of the taste scale. For that reason, beaujolais nouveaux and some cabernet sauvignons won’t work. Ultra-bitter or -sweet wines, including white wines, tend to have such a strong taste that they won’t get out of the way and make room for the taste of your stogie, so to speak.

The opposite problem occurs with ultra-subtle wines that won’t assert themselves against the taste of a cigar. Also recommended: red zinfandels, Pinot Noirs, and Spanish and Italian red table wines, which avoid extremes and have a taste strong enough to interact with that of your cigar but not so strong as to dominate it.

Beers might work - if they’re well-made, strong-tasting and dark. Stouts and ales work, especially a chocolate stout with a chocolatey puro cigar.

As for liquors, try fine malt whiskey. Or consider a coffee-flavored liquer. Best of all, according to some smokers, serve a fine scotch. Single malt scotch comes especially recommended.

Like mixed drinks? Consider trying a White Russian (the Dude’s drink of choice in the slacker classic The Big Lebowski, a movie that might make a nice background entertainment during your party), or a coffee-based mixed drink such as a Mudslide. (Instructions for making these drinks are easily found online.)

A cocktail that some bartenders have specifically chosen to accompany cigars is the stinger, which mixes creme de menthe and brandy. Several New York hot spots serve this cocktail with cigars.

Be creative and have fun! To round things out, try serving a hard cheese as an appetizer. Generally speaking, the stronger and more distinctive the taste, the better it will go with cigars.

CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.

You may not have heard of it, but Mudgee in New South Wales, Australia is in the heart of one of the country’s premier wine growing regions. The Cudgegong River Valley is a beautiful area that is home to a small town and a lot of vineyards.

In fact, with so many wineries, accommodation and transport options, it is a wine lover’s dream!

Initially settled and populated by German immigrants, Mudgee quickly became a grape growing region with the immigrants bringing their expertise in wine making with them from the continent. As it was only the second permanent settlement west of the Blue Mountains ranges, these vineyards are starting to get quite old!

These days, wine lovers flock to Mudgee all year round - but especially in September.

The Mudgee Wine Festival is fast becoming one of Australia’s great wine events. The annual event, held every September is a great opportunity to explore the surrounding vineyards who all offer food and wine tasting at that time. Most Mudgee wineries go into overdrive at that time so you are sure to get the best that they have to offer. With over 40 wineries and a several transport options including guided wine tasting tours, you are sure to have a fantastic time! And you won’t need to worry about having a designated driver if you take up one of these transport options as they can cater to your whole group.

During the festival, all of the local restaurants also have dining events. You see, in addition to wine, the Mudgee region also has a lot of other great produce including cheese, honey and olives as well as a lot of other clean and green delicacies. The local producers are justifiably proud of the reputation they are developing as one of Australia’s best food and wine producing regions. A food and wine lover will have no trouble finding a good time at the restaurants and cafes of Mudgee in September or any other time of year for that matter.

Of course, because the wine festival is starting to become so popular, it also means that many people come to Mudgee at the same time. Luckily there is no shortage of accommodation options for visitors! In fact, in addition to the various Mudgee hotels and bed and breakfast establishments, many of the local wineries also offer their own accommodation on their properties. The wineries are a great place to stay as you have fantastic privacy, a beautiful view and the hospitality of the locals. One such winery is Mystic Park which offers bed and breakfast on a beautiful 70 acre property less than 10km for the center of Mudgee. You might even be able to sneak a taste of the fantastic wines produced on this winery! Mystic Park is a great option for anyone planning for a relaxing get-away from the big city or even from overseas.

If you would prefer to stay in the heart of town, that is not a problem either. There are dozens of hotels and guest houses that can accommodate you in Mudgee. Rest assured you will be taken care of.

Hopefully this gives you a bit of a rundown about what is available in this beautiful wine region of Australia.

When you are ready to start booking your Mudgee holiday, why not give Mystic Park Wines a call so you can stay on this great winery and taste some of the best wines Mudgee has to offer?

Prohibition marked a unique period in American history. Between 1920 to 1933, the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were banned nationally as mandated by the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Temperance movements throughout the U.S. during the 19th century brought about significant pressure on lawmakers and some states had already enacted statewide prohibition prior to the ratification of the 18th Amendment.

However, as the Great Depression wore on, Prohibition became increasingly unpopular, especially in the large cities. When repeal was finally enacted in 1933, Prohibition had brought about several notable effects: The first was the significantly lower number of breweries that re-opened - only half - than had existed prior to Prohibition. Wine historians point out that the Prohibition affected the fledgling U.S. wine industry as thicker-skinned grapes that could be easily transported replaced wine-quality grape vines. Lost too was the collective knowledge of wine makers who either emigrated to other wine-producing countries, or left the wine making business altogether. The post-Prohibition period, however, saw the introduction of the American lager style of beer, which dominates today. Most interestingly is the belief by some historians that the alcohol industry accepted stronger regulation of alcohol in the decades after the repeal, to reduce the return of Prohibition.

Benefits of the Three-Tier System
Following the repeal of Prohibition, a three-tier system of alcohol distribution was set up in the United States. The three tiers are producers, distributors, and retailers. A producer sells to a distributor who must sell only to a retailer. According to the Beer Institute, each state has created a three-tier system of beer distribution. Producers can include brewers, wine makers, distillers, and importers. The distributor tier is made up of more than 2,500 licensed businesses that store and deliver beer at the local level. The retail level represents hundreds of thousands of outlets that sell beer to the public.

The three-tier system enables states to track the actual movement of beer from the producers and importers to consumers through licensing requirements and legal obligations on companies who transport, deliver and sell beer. This system of checks and balances eliminates the economic incentive for illegal manufacturing, diversion and distribution of beer. Finally, consumers benefit from the healthy competition and facilitation of a wide selection of brands in the marketplace - from big-name breweries to specialized, small-batch operations.

Central to the system are America’s beer distributors. Typically, producers give distributors exclusive rights to market their product within a geographical region to restrict two distributors of the same product from competing against one another. An important link to sustaining America’s beverage licensees in every state, distributors add value to every product handle. For instance, every $1 spent on beer distribution generates .25 cents in federal tax revenue and nearly .14 cents in state and local taxes. Distributors help raise more than $5.2 billion in federal state excise taxes on the product itself.

Beer distributors also help businesses grow by reducing expenses and expanding profitability. In total, distributors reduce retailer operating costs by nearly $50 for every $1,000 spent on beer by consumers. For example, a store chain comprised of 1,000 stores can realize a saving of $17,318,007 in retailer costs. Those savings can be reinvested by retailers into job creation, business expansion, and customer savings.
In addition to benefiting retailers, the economic contributions of distributors also reaches packaging manufacturers, shipping companies, and the agricultural sector.

This system of checks and balances also extends to the community. The brewing industry spends more than $50 million annually promoting responsible consumption through a variety of efforts aimed at servers, parents, teachers, and communities. For example, CITY Beverage-Chicago, an Anheuser-Busch distributor, sponsors the “Street Smart” program in Chicago-area high schools. The programs are strategically timed for the period immediately before the high risk season of proms and graduations. Distributors also distribute training and point-of-sale material for the successful “We ID” campaign, helping to reinforce the message that checking IDs at retail outlets is critical to limiting youth access to alcohol.

Soave Enterprises diversified management and investment company founded by Detroit businessman Anthony L. Soave that provides strategic planning, financial and other management resources to its affiliated business ventures in the real estate, automotive retailing, beer distribution, scrap metal, industrial services and transportation industries, among others. For more information on Anthony Soave and Soave Enterprises, please visit the website.

Nothing says elegance more than the gift of wine. If you aren’t a connoisseur and don’t wish to embarrass yourself by giving the wrong kind of wine, cheer up. There are websites devoted to fine wine that educate you into sophistication. However, a bottle of wine isn’t the only thing available in wine gifts. There are glasses, carafes and wonderful wine racks and coolers that make you the star when it comes to appeal of the gift.

To create unique gifts, you can spend as little or as much as you like. Shop for crackers and cheese. Combine the flavors of the cheese with the appropriate wine and create a basket with a two glasses, the cheese, crackers and your selection. If you don’t have time, there are sites on line that create the basket for you. Use the same idea but use a picnic basket. Put a note in the basket, ‘A little wine, a little cheese, and thou.’ This makes a great gift for your spouse for an anniversary.

Hunt for a private winery that offers unusual choices that you normally wouldn’t find in local stores. Some of the companies actually create wine to your specifications. If you want to give the gift that keeps giving, look for smaller specialty vineyards that offer a wine club. Memberships to the clubs vary with the company but often include newsletters, upcoming events and bottles of wine.

Delightful and unusual decanters bring smiles to the face of the ardent wine lover. There are great varieties of designs that range from simple to elegant, and some cross over to lavishly decadent. The gracious host always will display the decanter with pride and thank you’s for years to come.

If cheese and wine isn’t exactly what you wanted to give, perhaps some truffles or rich imported chocolate and wine that compliments them, is more to your taste in gift giving. Fresh strawberries and champagne sound like an intriguing gift that you’d love to give or receive. Great combinations of glass wear, food or accessories are wonderful, but a simple bottle of wine says a lot as a gift also.

At one time the corkscrew was a ‘must have’ for every home. Today many people seldom have one in the kitchen. If your recipient is a novice in the wine appreciation area, give them a beautiful corkscrew that lasts forever. Nothing is more disappointing than to receive a bottle of wine and await its fragrance and aroma, only to find, there’s no way to open it. A decorative corkscrew also makes a wonderful gift for the seasoned wine lover.

Wine making kits titillate the imagination of the true wine critic. When you purchase a wine making kit for them, they get to make wine and add just the hint of what they believed was missing.

The list is endless. There are books about wine, mini travel bars and everything online that you never knew existed. Once you begin your search for the perfect wine gift, you’ll find so many you love; you’ll have to search for more people to receive them.

Author is an expert on wine related gifts and keeps an index of wine gifts online.