November 2011 4
Top 10 White Wine Brands
Top 10 White Wines and Best White Wine
When we think extravagent parties and grand celebrations, we can’t help but think of a party people passing around glasses of various types of white wines. What’s a celebration without toasts and bottles of the bubbly? White wines come in many different forms and each type has it’s own unique taste, and aroma. Since there are an endless number of white wnie brands we will be listing this list out by major types of white wine. Later on we will list our top 10 favorite brands for each type of white wine. White wine is also generally drank with light meals, like lunch.
This list is filled with our top 10 favorite brands of white wine.
Top Ten White Wine Brands
1. Champagne
One of the most popular white wines in the world. Champagne goes hand in hand with celebrations and festive events. Champagne brands are named after the houses that produce them. The name “Champagne”, however, comes from the eponymous place in France. A dry wine, champagne generally should not be stored for more than two years after its release.
2. Pinot Grigio
A light and summary white wine, Pinot Grigio is also one of the most popular white wines in the world. Brands which are well known for marketing Pinot Grigio are Barefoot, Cavit and Santa Margherita (we’ll go more into this later with other top 10 lists). Pinot Grigio is made from the grape Pinot Gris and is known to have a tangy and citrus flavor.
3. Chardonnay
Named after the grape from which this white wine is produced. Chardonnay is grown in many places around the world like provinces in France, Australia, Italy, North America and even New Zealand. Chardonnay is an oak flavored white wine that pairs well with heavy meals. This white wine has a certain feel of class to it.
4. Sauvignon Blanc
Again named after the grape variety, Sauvignon Blanc was first produced in France. Production was then followed by places like California, South Africa, Chile and New Zealand. This white wine has a grassy taste and can be at times very acidic, if the grapes are not ripened sufficiently.
5. Semilion
Manufactured most notably in Australia and France, it’s a grape which is golden coloured and easy to produce. This variety of grape is used to make both kinds of white wine, sweet white wine and even dry white wine.
6. Reisling
A type of grape produced primarily in the Rhine region of Germany. This white wine is produced from this white colored grape species. This grape grows produces an aromatic smell and can be fermented to produce various kinds of wines, like sparkling, dry or even sweet white wine.
7. Muscat
Moscato is produced from Muscat grapes , this is a versatile species that can be used to make many kinds of white wines like table wine, dessert wine(low alcohol percentage), sparkling white wine and even fortified wine. This species of grape is grown in many places around the world.
8. Gewurztraminar
Produced from a kind of pink or red colored grape, it is an aromatic grape species. This species of grape is also produced in many European and American countries. The name of this grape originally means spice traminar and is known to go best with Asian cuisine.
9. Sauvignon Saint-Bris
An original French produced white wine. This white wine brand goes best with the classic “wine and cheese” dish. This wine is also known to be excellent with Thai food. This white wine has a flowery and fruity taste of green apple and elderflower.
10. Moscatel
This white wine from Valencia in Spain is a sweet variety of white wine. This wine brand is light in nature and retains the taste of grapes used to produce this wine. This white wine goes well with desserts and even slightly sour cheeses.
Discuss! #whitewine
Top 10 Red Wine Brands
Top 10 Red Wines and Best Red Wine
The debate over whether or not red wine is healthy for you has raged on for decades. We’re not sure of the answer, but what we do know is that we love having a nice glass of red wine with our dinner. For this best of list we’ll be including wines by brand name and regional names.
There are 8 different types of red wine including syrah, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec, pinot noir, zifandel, sangiovese, and barbera. This list will more cover our favorite types more so than actual brands of red wine by years, etc. In later articles we will list out our top 10 brands of each wine for each type.
This list is filled with our top 10 favorite brands of red wine.
Top Ten Red Wine Brands
1. German Spatburgunder or Pinot Noir
Made from the Pinot Noir grapes which are black in nature, German Spatburgunder is considered to be one of the highest quality red wines. Even though pinot noir grapes are now produced all over the world, it is specially associated with Burgundy or Bourgogne. Pinot Noir tastes fruity and fresh and goes best with Salmon, chicken or lamb.
2. French Beaujolais
Beaujolais is a place in the south of Burgundy and produces the French Beaujolais which is again on of the most famous wines, coming from this small region. The red wine produced here is light and is made with the variety of grapes called Gamay grapes.
3. Italian Chianti
A European wine and therefore, named after the region where it is produced. Chianti wine is produced in the province of Chianti in Tuscany, Italy. The grapes that this red wine uses are Sangiovese grapes. It is popular among novices too because of its extraordinary fame.
4. Californian Zinfandel
An American red wine, Zinfandel is one of the most usable and versatile grapes that can be made into all kinds of red wine starting from blushes to the really heavy and strong red wines. It is served with heavy and spicy meals. It is manufactured in the Napa valley. Zinfandel wine has a spicy, peppery flavor to it.
5. Cabernet Sauvignon
Named after its grape variety, Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine has the most international acclaim. Its grapes species are one of the best in the world and this red wine can be combined with other wines like Merlot or Cabernet Franc to make an amazing cocktail. The various regions which grow cabernet sauvignon are Bordeaux, Napa valley, Chile and even Australia.
6. Australian Shiraz
Named after their grapes, Shiraz or Shirah, this is the most commonly used wine among people around the world. It’s easily available too almost anywhere. Its color comes from the dark skinned grapes it’s produced from. This red wine goes best with steak, stew, beef or wild game. This red wine also has a peppery taste to it.
7. French Bordeaux
Coming from the Bordeaux region in France, it is part of the three most famous French wine producing provinces. It comes in a variety of ranges, starting from table wine which tends to be very inexpensive to very costly and prestigious wines like Vintage wine.
8. Merlot Wine
Though primarily grown in the Bordeaux region of France, Merlot grapes can be found throughout Europe and places in America and Australia as well. This wine is known for its volume and softness, and of course taste. This red wine blends superbly with other wines.
9. Malbec Wine
Made with grapes that are dark blue and purple in nature. This red wine also tends to be darkish/bluish. This red wine is commonly produced in Argentina, but also found in California and Chile as well.
10. Barbera Wine
A versatile red wine that can be paired with different kinds of food. This wine originated in Italy but is now widely grown in California. This red wine brand is known for its silky texture.
Discuss! #redwine
Top 10 Moscato Brands
Top 10 Moscato brands and Best Moscato
Moscato has really risen in popularity over the last couple of years due to various songs about moscato and people discovering it’s great taste. Moscato wine seems to be the lastest taste trend that wine connoisseurs are raving about. Moscato is generally known as sparkling wine that goes best with desserts or after a meal that was heavy, Moscato is also low on alcohol. Moscato is known to come in a pale golden color and has quite a few world famous brands.
Moscato may taste like a desert wine, but it’s not officially classified as a desert wine. Muscato is known as a foritied wine created from muscat grapes. Muscat is widely grown thoughout Spain and Portugal. Muscat wine is also known to act as the basis for Pisco, a brandy like drink. The assorted compounds in muscat grapes are what give Moscato it’s unique taste. Muscat grapes are specially grown for wine making.
We could bore you with more Moscato facts, but we’ll cut to the chase and list out our favorite Moscato Brands.
Top 10 Moscato Brands
1. Moscato Allegro Wine
A Californian moscato brand that uses the Canelli variant of the Muscat grapes. This moscato brand is a bottom fermenting wine that’s produced at cold temperatures and is flavored with apricots that are honeyed, a tinge of orange and peaches. We love this brand!
2. Barefoot Moscato
A citrusy and aromatic wine, Barefoot Moscato is rich in flavors. A beautiful blend of apricots, peach, orange and lemon, it has a sweet flavor to it. It’s a moscato wine made in California.
3. Candoni Moscato Wine
This moscato is produced and given to the world by the famous Italian Candoni winery. Moscato d’Italia is a apart of their white wine production. With a relatively low alcohol level, this wine is partially sparkling. This wine should be served young and stored at a temperature that remains constant.
4. Villa Lanata Moscato Wine
This Moscato comes from the region of Piedmont. Villa Lanata is a white wine which has perfectly balanced the sweet and the fruity quality of the Muscat Grapes. This moscato brand is also easy on the wallet.
5. Robert Mandavi Moscato Wine
This moscato is less sweet than usual Moscatos, this has a slightly acidic taste to it. Known for it’s hints of Jasmine that provide the fragrance that defines this wine. This moscato brand is perfect for your afternoon drink.
6. Ceretto Santo Stefano Moscato Wine
This moscato brand is known as a sparkling wine that is relatively light and goes well with desserts. It features a light aroma and a taste that is smooth and sweet, rather than being a combination of sweet and acidic.
7. Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato D’Asti
This might be your best bet for a party moscato or moscato brand that you have to buy in bulk for friends. This moscato brand has a very reasonable price, and tastes great. This brand of Moscato is produced in Italy.
8. Bertenura Moscato
This Moscato is fermented at a temperature kept low. It’s a sweet white wine. This Moscato with a light, peachy smell goes best with fruits and light desserts. It’s best when served chill. The only drawback is that the shelf life of this moscato is generally not very long.
9. Borgo Reale Moscato d’Ast wine
A Moscato brand from the Italian winery called Borgo Reale, this Moscato wine uses the varietal Muscat Blanc a Petits grains. A type of sparkling white wine, that also tastes great.
10. Mazzeti Moscato Wine
Again an Italian Moscato wine, this is one of the few wines that is produced with a full percentage of only the best quality muscat grapes. There are no added fruits or flavours to this pure Moscato wine. Therefore, the sole presence of grapes make this wine stronger and more natural, unlike the typical Moscato brands.
Discuss! #moscato
Types of Beer
The Different Types of Beer
Beer is extremely popular all over the world, and even synonymous with various cultures. It would be almost impossible to list out all countless variations of beer all over the world, but we can still lay out the major types of beer. These beer types can have different textures, flavors, and appearance. Distinguishing one type of beer from another beer type depends on various factors ranging from the aroma, the beer color, the amount of bitterness and the amount of sweetness in the beer flavor. The good thing is usually no matter the attributes of the beer it can be categorized broadly into Lager beer and Ale. These two types of beer contain thousands of fvariations among them and even have a few ingredients in common. These ingredients include hops, yeast, water, and malted barley. Beer can also be classified to form sub divisions of beer type, which makes categorization and naming easier as well. Enough blabbing, on to the different beer types!
Ales
A type of top fermenting beer, in the past is was actually not considered to be a part of the beer family. Throught Ale’s history it has been thought of as an English drink and has references in most of British literature. The difference from other types of beer was its base ingredients that form flavor. While ale was made from grains that were malted and have a bitter herbal taste, in past history beer was primarily known as a hops based flavored drink. Ales are fermented with yeasts at the temperatures of 10-20 degrees Celsius. Ales are classified into three major types called stout, porter, and brown ale. Though there are several other kinds as well, these are the main types:
Stout
This is a dark colored beer type, which can be dry, bitter, sweet for the sweet tooth and imperial for the royal court in Russia. Stout actually means strong and true to its name. This beer type has strong flavors of the hops and, malted barley that brewed it.
Brown Ale
A drink low in alcohol and once very popular with the working class. Brown Ale is one of the lightest ales in nature. It is dark in color, but more on the copper reddish side rather than the color brown which defines it. It has a sour to bitter taste which comes because of the use of lactic yeast and the slow process of simmering.
Porter
Porter is less strong than the stout beer type, Porter is also a dark colored beer that tastes strongly of the barley that is used in manufacturing it. It has a chocolate flavor to it which blends well with the mild flavor of the hops.
Lagers
Lager is a type of bottom fermenting beer. Unlike the Ales, which are brewed at warmer temperatures. Lagers are brewed at cold temperatures ranging from 2-10 degrees Celsius. They are slowly simmered and therefore, the name. The most popular types of lagers are the following:
Pale lager
pale lager is available practically anywhere in the world because pale lager is consumed all over the world. It comes in a beautiful color of pale gold, is light and has varying degrees of the bitterness that comes from hops.
Pilsner
Produced in the province of Pizen in Czech Republic, it is also a light colored beer that is, however, more bitter than the pale lager. The hops add a nice flowery aroma to the beer.
Beer Variations
Beer is also known to be produced in different variations ranging from fruit and vegtables. These variations are used in the brewing process all over the world and the majority of cultures are known to have they’re own form of a beer variation. Here are some of the most popular beer variations in the world:
- Apple beer (Hard Cider, apple cider)
- Ginger beer
- Potato beer
- Raisin beer
- Pear cider
- Malt beer (beverage)
- Rye Beer
- Rice Beer
For all the different types of alcohol, check out or types of alcohol article