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The extreme popularity of this heady liquor stems largely from how it has figured in the world of art and entertainment. From Manet to Wilde to snippets of reference to it in the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge, “la fee verte” has influenced artists’ lives and continues to attract new absintheurs since the lifting of its ban in many places worldwide.

Although its intellectual-heightening effect on great artists of yore cannot be scientifically proven, it’s interesting to note how absinthe has been hailed by geniuses past and present. Below are just a few of the drinks’ many “appearances” in the world of art and culture:

In 1859, the French realist/impressionist Edouard Manet painted the controversial The Absinthe Drinker. Despite studying the works of old masters such as Goya and Velazquez which portrayed the ideals of the past, he opted to become “a painter of modern life” instead. Thus, his painting of a self-indulgent and solitary man in a dark Paris backstreet real but unromanticized was not well-received by the offended art critics.

Paul Marie Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud, French poets who forged a sexual and platonic relationship with each other, were both avid absinthe drinkers and were hailed as two of France’s greatest poets. The latter gave up the drink when they violently ended their relationship, while the former, although cursing The Green Fairy while on his deathbed, was allegedly keeping bottles of absinthe under his pillow.

In 1876, Edgar Degas painted L’Absinthe, one of his most feted works today (but bashed by critics in his time). In it he features two acquaintances a male painter/etcher, and an actress. They sit in front of a table with black coffee and a glass of absinthe. The actress stares into space a look that is obviously absinthe-induced. Originally titled Dans Un Cafe, it was renamed in 1893 to capitalize on the drink’s growing popularity.

The eccentric painter Vincent van Gogh painted his still life Glass of Absinthe and a Carafe not long after, in 1887. Shades of absinthe green are everywhere in the work from the water in the carafe to the tablecloth and even on the street outside the window. Scholars deemed that van Gogh drank a lot of the potent liquid with some going so far as believing it to be the reason he cut his ear off although he publicly expressed his avoidance of the drink.

In 1895, Albert Maignan created The Green Muse, depicting a green fairy (in reference to the drink) lending inspiration to a poet, with her figure hovering above the poet’s head and her diaphanous green gown billowing around him. The painting was also known as Notre-Dame de L’Oubli (Our Lady of Forgetting) or L’Atroce Sorciere (The Atrocious Sorceress).

Not to be discounted is Pablo Picasso, the Father of Cubism. During his “Blue Period” (1901-1904), or the time when his artworks depicted society’s outcasts such as beggars, prostitutes, and starving fellow artists, he painted The Absinthe Drinker and Woman Drinking Absinthe. His style then was realistic, while he shifted to ’synthetic cubist’ mode while painting Bottle of Pernod and Glass in 1912.

It is said that literary giant Ernest Hemingway drank absinthe even after it had already been banned in several countries, keeping a number of bottles in the U.S. and having a go at the liquor before running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The drink is mentioned in several of his works, most notably in For Whom the Bell Tolls and Death in the Afternoon.

Perhaps as fond of absinthe as Hemingway was painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who walked around with a hollow cane that ingeniously housed a draught of the green drink. His work depicts the Moulin Rouge lifestyle bars, brothels, and music halls. Fellow painter Gustave Moreau went as far as commenting that Toulouse-Lautrec’s canvases were “entirely painted in absinthe”.

And who could dissociate the incomparable Oscar Wilde from this emerald infusion? His Bohemian lifestyle and his singular wit certainly went well with the intoxicating liquid, of which he spoke: “It first is like normal drinking, but then you start to see unbelievably gruelling things. But if you don’t give up then you reach the third phase, and you see wonderful and amazing things.”

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Wine, which is a drink we all know and love, is produced from fruits such as grapes and berries by drying and then fermenting them. Once the fruits ferment, the sugar within the fruit will turn into alcohol. The wine will display a different color, taste, and aroma depending on the type of fruit that it was made from.

Wine is divided into three main categories - fortified, sparkling, and table. Wine is known as fortified when a bit of brandy is added into it to enrich the alcohol. Wine is deemed as sparkling when it has the right level of C02. Table wine, the third category, is wine in it’s natural form - which is different from any other type of wine.

Normally, grapes are the preferred ingredients for making wine. They contain an equal amount of acid and sugar, which can’t be found in any other type of fruit. When drying the grapes, a high amount of heat is needed. To use grapes with wine though, you need to know the exact harvest season. If you don’t pick the grapes during the right time, your wine will suffer due to the level of increases in sugar and a lack of acidic extent.

During the beginning stages of wine making, the grapes or other fruit is crushed by a large cylindrical container that will deflate the juicy parts of the fruit into large bags that are attached to the machine. Next, the juicy part of the fruit is fermented through the use of heat. During this part of the process, present yeast will help to convert the sugar into alcohol. Once the sugars start to break down into alcohol, the wine will get a buttery flavor.

Next, is the settling. Settling involves the yeast cells or any other type of material flowing near the top of the wine. Once it is at the top, it is then filtered with all sediments being gathered on the filter. Aging is next, which is where the wine is tightly packed away in special contains that won’t allow any contact with air for months - sometimes even years. Once the wine has been aged, it is transferred into smaller bottlers then shipped out and sold.

When the wine is bottled, it is done in a way that makes it easy to distinguish the several types of wine. Colored bottles are preferred, as they will greatly reduce the risk of oxidation, damage, and several other possible risks. The bottles are also labeled according to their manufacturer and brand as well, which makes it easy for you to select the wine you are interested in.

Once you have bought a bottle fo wine, you should always make sure you store it in the right place. The most appropriate places to store wine is the basement, underground cellars, or anywhere else that is damp and cool. No matter where you store your wine at, you should always make sure that temperature stays around 55 degrees F.

Never store the wine in an area where the temperature fluctuates, as it can harm the wine. A humidity level of around 60% is also important, in order to keep the cork moist. If the temperature is too low, it can also harm the wine. When you buy your wine, you should always make sure that you store it in the right location. Wine that is properly stored and taken care of can be truly amazing once you drink it - making it more than worth the time and effort.

Tristan Andrews writes informative articles about wine. Discover and explore the world of wines. Find out how to better enjoy wine at http://www.greatwinesmadesimple.com/

You do not have to spend a fortune or spend hours reading labels to make good wine selections for your dinner guests. Here is a concise wine guide for beginners.

Wine Styles
Although the basic winemaking process is always the same, every wine has a unique flavor, depending on a number of factors, including the type of grape and the conditions in which the fermentation occurs.

Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc grapes make white wines. Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir grapes make full, rich red wines. Merlot grapes produce lighter, softer red wines.

The six styles of wine are:

Red: Includes Bordeaux, Burgundy, Cabernet, Chianti, Merlot, Petite Sirah, and many more.

Sparkling Red: Includes Brachetto, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gutturnio, Lambrusco and Syrah/Shiraz.

Soleras: Includes Malvasia delle Lipari, Marsala, Moscatel, Palomino, Pedro Ximenez and Porto.

White: Includes Chablis, Chardonnay, Frascati, Goldmusketellar, Meursault, Muscat, Riesling, Vidal Blanc and many more.

Sparkling White: Includes Champagne, Moscato dAsti, Spumante and more.

Pink: Includes Busuioaca de Bohotin, Lagrein Rosato and Rose.

Most red wines improve with a bit of aging, some for as long as ten years. Most red wines are not distributed until about two years after they are put in the bottle. Most white wines, on the other hand, do not benefit from aging (except for champagne and sweet dessert wines.)

What kind of wine should you choose?
While there are guidelines, there are no hard and fast rules, because wine pairings really are a matter of personal preference. The general rule of thumb for selecting wine to complement your meal is to choose a light bodied wine with lighter fare and a full bodied wine with hearty, robust dishes.

Red wine is traditionally paired with beef, veal, ham, poultry, pasta, lamb, and pork. For poultry, ham, pork, and veal, try a Beaujolais or a red Zinfandel. For pasta, beef, and lamb, consider a merlot or a cabernet sauvignon.

White Chardonnay complements pork, poultry, seafood (including shellfish) and strong cheeses. For appetizers, mild cheeses, desserts, ham, lamb, poultry, and seafood, you might choose a white Zinfandel or Rose wine.

Sparkling wines, such as Champagne or Spumante can also be served with mild cheeses, appetizers, and desserts.

Wine Categories
Wine is often classified as one of the following:

1. Aperitif: Appetizer wines such as Madeira, Sherry and Vermouth.

2. Red: Dry wines typically served with red meats and pasta dishes.

3. Rose: Pink wines typically served with seafood and pork dishes.

4. White: Dry to sweet wines often served with chicken and seafood.

5. Sparkling: Wines often served in formal settings as an appetizer. If a sparkling wine comes from the Champagne region of France it is named after that region.

6. Table: Inexpensive, lower quality wine, usually served with lunch or used to make cocktail beverages.

7. Dessert: weet tasting wine, often served with desserts.

8. Cooking” Salty, poor quality wine used for cooking.

Eight More Helpful Tips
1. Alcohol Content: Wine is considered an alcoholic beverage unless otherwise indicated.

2. Chilling Wine: Place the wine bottle in a bucket of ice water for 10 to 15 minutes. For sparkling wine, refrigerate for at least 4 hours prior to serving (or place it in the ice bucket for 30 minutes.)

3. Labels: If you reside in North America, you will want to remember that domestic wines will be labeled with the type of grape used followed by its origin, whereas imported wines will list where the wine was made and then the type of grape used.

4. Chilling: Sparkling and white wines are best served chilled. A red wine should be served when it is only slightly below room temperature. Both wines are best left to stand before opening. Some red wines have sediment, which should stay at the bottom of the bottle.

5. Serving: You can serve a white wine immediately after removing the cork, but a red wine benefits from breathing for about half an hour after the bottle is opened. For best results gently decant the red wine into another container. This allows a greater surface area of the wine to breathe and leaves the sediment behind in the bottle. Filling a glass just half full also allows the wine to breathe.

6. Storage: Wine storage involves cool temperatures, preferably away from heat and light. Cellars can still become hot, humid and sticky during the summer months and it is suggested that keeping wine in a constant, cool environment will allow it to age properly and achieve its best attributes.

7. Variety: Also known as terroir. The climate, soil, land slope or slant, type of grape(s) used, elevation, weather conditions, topography, fermentation process and yeast cultures are all key factors in the wine appearance, aroma and how the wine ultimately tastes.

8. Vintage: Further classification involves the year that the grapes were harvested. For example, the wine output from one vineyard might taste significantly different from one year to the next Good wines usually have their year of production on the bottle. This is called the vintage. Some years produce better wines than others.

Once you become familiar with the different types of wine available on the market, you will feel less intimidated and more apt to impress your guests with excellent selections. Enjoying wine is a life long process because there are always new sights, aromas and flavors to discover along the way.

Jamie Jefferson writes for Susies-Coupons.com and Momscape.com, where she features the latest coupon codes from leading online wine merchants http://www.momscape.com/coupon-codes/wine.htm

Finding wine can be tough, but a good wine store can help you narrow down the chaotic search for the best vintage. A wine store can offer you the best of the best, presenting their selection with as much variety and balance as possible to enable you to make an educated choice. A wine stores products should be accessible and clearly labeled so that you know what you’re getting out of a wine before you take it home.

A good wine store should be storing the wines at the right temperatures, for starters. For a lot of wine stores, the wine will be on the shelves for a long time and it can lose some of its vitality.

A good wine store, however, recognizes the proper temperatures and stores the wines with the right humidity in mind. Without the right storing temperature, the wines sold by your favorite wine store may be less than great.

The wine bottles on the shelves should be easy-to-read and organized. There is nothing worse than wandering around a store for hours looking for the wines from Argentina because they are not grouped by geographical area.

Wines should then be grouped in type within the area, so that the wine bottles are easy to decide between. Reds should be grouped apart from whites wherever possible to avoid confusion, especially given that many bottles are clouded or dark.

The right wine rack can make all of the difference in the world in terms of storing the wine, too, so a proper wine store should have the right wine racks. Without the right wine racks, the wine can be stored at the wrong angles or inclinations which can be bothersome to some wines with more sediment than others.

Other wines may need to be stored straight up and not on a wine rack at all. The staff at the wine store should be knowledgeable enough to know the difference.

It is important to go to a wine store where the staff is knowledgeable about the wine. If you are working with staff that has little to no interest in the product they are selling, you may want to consider going to another wine store because it may mean that they take very little pride in handling the wine.

You should go to stores that offer taste tests regularly and that have clearly marked sections and wine descriptions throughout the store. Some people choose their local liquor store, but true wine lovers seek out a winery shop or a speciality wine store.

All in all, finding the ideal wine store can be a challenge. If you are unsure about wine stores in your area, you can always look around for a specialty shop that delivers or that you can reach by taking a small trip to. It may very well be worth it to spend the extra time and money on finding the right store for your wine purposes.

A good wine store can be hard to find, but it is all worth it in the end when you open that delicious bottle of your favorite wine.

Mike Selvon owns a number of niche portal. Please visit our wine portal for more great tips on shopping for a wine store. While you are there don’t forget to claim your free gift.

In terms of wine tasting, there are a number of rules to consider in order to get the most out of the experience. Without following some of these rules, the experience you have could end up missing the bar. You should learn a few of the fundamentals and follow them when it comes time to taking part in a wine tasting.

There are essentially three steps in wine tasting: look, smell and taste. It is important to remember these three steps in wine tasting when you get set to participate, as they will influence your entire decision making process and can make you look like a real pro in front of your friends or in front of your date.

You can tell a lot about a wine just by being a spectator. This refers to simply looking at the wine first. As a wine spectator, you can determine many things about the wine. The wine should be poured into a clear glass and placed in front of a light, preferably with a white background so that you can carefully check out the color of the wine.

Colors of wines vary a great deal, even among the same variety of wine. A red wine isn’t always just plain old red and a white can contain different color notes that may not be immediately discernable.

There are many aspects to think of when you are looking at the wine. More color in a white wine can mean that is has more flavor and that it is aged more. Most whites are not actually white.

They are, instead, a shade of green or yellow. If the white wine has gone brown, it may mean that it has actually gone bad. In terms of red wines, try looking for a lighter color to the red as when the red wines age they become lighter.

The smell of the wine is important, too. You should start this process by swirling the wine in your glass. Not only will swirling the wine assist you in visually observing the body of the wine, it will also help in releasing the smell to the air.

Take a quick whiff of the wine as it swirls to get a first impression. If you like what you smell, take a second deeper whiff of the wine. You should concentrate on the smell of the win at this point. Resist the temptation to take a giant gulp of the wine and simply contemplate what you have smelled.

Taste is up next, of course. The secret to good wine tasting is knowing your personal preferences. Wine tasting relies on patterns, so learn to follow patterns and consider making personal notes of the wine you have tasted to compare those patterns. Take an initial taste of the wine first and gather your first impressions, much the same way that you did with smelling the wine.

Your taste buds will respond to the sensations in the wine. After this, swirl the wine around again and take in a bit of air with the wine. You will want to practically gulp the next sip. You are looking for a more complex vision of the flavor on your taste buds. Concentrate on aftertaste, too.

Consider the wine on the whole after you complete the wine tasting steps. You should give careful consideration to the food you will be having and think about how the wine stands up to the food.

Send the wine back if it does not match up and ask for a new bottle of something else. As you learn more about wine tasting, you will develop more discerning tastes that will gain you more respect from your peers.

Mike Selvon owns a number of niche portal. Please visit our wine portal for more great tips on a guide to wine tasting. While you are there don’t forget to claim your free gift.

It is not so much a matter of using the right glass as it is of using the most suitable one. I am at a loss to understand the reason for so many shapes and sizes, which range from a pudding basin on a short stem to a saucer on a single stilt. Who designs them and who the devil buys them? Surely not the people who will be using them. I rather fancy that designers of glasses design them for a certain type of woman, knowing that if they design something elaborate and quite useless it will sell.

This need not reflect upon my lady readers because if they are making wines or if wine is being made in their homes, they are too down to earth to have their fancies titillated by something stupidly incongruous. Rather, they will be interested to learn how to serve their wine in a manner that will do it justice, while at the same time enhancing its beauty.

Decorated glasses in a variety of shapes serve no real purpose other than to look nice in the glass cabinet; here we need concern ourselves with one type of glass which is suitable for almost all wines.

Choose a thin glass so that if you want to warm the wine the palms of your hands will do this readily enough. The stem is there for you to hold in case you want the wine to remain cool. The bowl-shape, curving slightly inwards towards the lip, enables the bouquet to collect for your enjoyment. The thin clear glass enables you to enjoy the colors of the wine, and you’ll be surprised how many there are in each wine if you care to look for them.

It is essential that glasses be dry, spotlessly clean and brightly polished before use. And equally important is that they be filled to a suitable level.

It is surprising how many people fear being dubbed a miser if they do not fill a glass so that the slightest movement results in a stained suit or ruined dress. A glass three parts full is usually too full see sketch on this page. Remember that you are serving your wines, wines that you have taken pride and pains to produce; then why not serve them in a manner that will do them justice?

It is surprising that few people know how to get the best from the wine they have made. Too many are content to ‘knock it back’ without further ado, while others sip and murmur their appreciation.

Few, very few indeed, ever think of taking a biscuit or a bit of bread and cheese with it. Yet the combination of unsweetened biscuit or cream cracker with a few sips of wine is something you are not likely to forget for a long time, and which will become a regular habit once you have tried. I cannot explain the reason, but I assure you that the best wine is superb this way and even a poor wine greatly improved. Try it, and see for yourself.

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