A digital reflex viewer was placed on one of the Planeta estates and set to take a photo once every three hours. Then, thanks to the beauty of wireless technology, the photos are uploaded, without ever being retouched, to the home page of the new Planeta website.

Here are just some of the photos that have been taken so far, and having checked out their website myself, I definitely recommend taking a visit and poke around, especially their Paneta Club section, which is set up to be almost like an online magazine for wine.

These are just a few of the photos from the Planeta estates, and I recommend checking back regularly to see the new images being uploaded. Don’t worry if when you come to the website that it’s in Italian as there is an option to translate everything into English. Oh, and of course don’t forget to try some of their wine as well.

Related posts:

1. Planeta Burdese 2005

Advances in Technology

Vintage used to be of particular importance as it was worth noting when there was a particularly good or bad year due to weather, vine disease, or some other external force that would have either a positive or negative effect on the vines. However, the times they have changed. Advances in wine making, particularly where irrigation is concerned, have lead to the ability to salvage good, even great wine, from seasons that in the past would have been less than stellar and perhaps even a disaster.

In addition to advances in technology, knowing what leads to quality wine – soil, temperature, etc – has lead to improved selection of what grapes to grow where. You don’t see vineyards trying to grow Pinot Noir in a place that just won’t support it and losing an entire crop.

Vintage Charts

It’s been argued that vintage charts are dead, and while I’m certainly not here to end the argument, I’ll certainly throw my two cents into the ring. I don’t think that vintage charts are dead. However, I do think that they, like most things related to wine, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Wine is an inherently subjective industry. Everybody has a different palate and that difference will lead to differing opinions on wines. That’s the beauty of the industry. That being said, vintage charts are trying to apply an objective measurement to wine. While assessing a harvest can be fairly objective – comparing last year’s tonnage to this year’s is easy enough to do – the quality of the wine from that harvest is impossible to know until the wine has been finished. Because of that, there is and will continue to be debate on the veracity of vintage charts.

Region

California has pretty regular seasons. Sure, they may have extra rain one year, or less the next, but in the major wine making regions of the state, the vineyards know what to expect from the weather and can plan their plantings accordingly. This isn’t true of every region.

Several of your New World wine growing regions, including states such as Virginia, Oregon, Washington, and New York, and countries such as Chile, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand can have variations in heat, rain, and in the case of Chile recently, natural disasters. While skilled wine makers can overcome much of this, it’s worth noting for wine buyers when choosing wine from these regions.

So What’s the Verdict?

Vintage will always matter. Buyers continue to demand that the year of the wine in the bottle be notated somewhere on the bottle, and so vineyards will continue to place it on there. However, vintage doesn’t have nearly the level of importance as it used to. Advances in wine making have helped to eliminate the variations from year to year that external forces can cause. This is a good thing, as you can find a wine you enjoy and continue to enjoy it year after year thanks to the expectation that the wine won’t change from year to year. While there will always be ups and down in certain wines from varying regions, the advances in wine making mean you don’t have to spend days doing research on a vintage of a bottle you’ve had before, you can buy with confidence knowing that you’re getting a bottle you’ll enjoy.

Related posts:

1. Vintage Charts
2. Vintage: The Winemaker’s Year
3. Does the Type of Glass You Use Really Matter When Drinking Wine?

A member of the Cabernet family of grapes, Carmenere is a grape originally planted in the Medoc region of Bordeaux. The name originates from the French word for crimson (carmin). Carmenere, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, is considered part of the original six red grapes of Bordeaux, France.

History

Carmenere is one of the most ancient European varieties, and is thought to be the antecedent of better known varieties. While Carmenere can trace origins to the Medoc region of Bordeaux, it is almost impossible to find the grape in France today as a Phylloxera plague in 1867 nearly destroyed all the vineyards in Europe, and the Carmenere grape in particular. The extent of the damage was so great that for a time Carmenere was thought to be extinct.

Far from being extinct, the grape has thrived in several areas outside of France, most notably Chile, where growers preserved the grape for 150 years almost by mistake, thinking it to be Merlot. It wasn’t until 1998 that the Chilean Department of Agriculture recognized Carmenere as a distinct variety.

Carmenere Grapes

Carmenere favors a longer growing season in moderate to warm climates. High levels of rain or irrigation water during harvest time and the winter period can be detrimental to the vines, particularly in poor-soil plantings. Over-watering during these periods accentuates the herbaceous and green pepper characteristics of the grape.

Carmenere grapes naturally develop high levels of sugar before tannic ripeness is achieved. If grown in a climate that is too hot, the resulting wine will have a higher alcohol content and low balance. Carmenere buds and flowers three to seven days later than Merlot and the yield is lower. Carmenere leaves turn to crimson before dropping.

Carmenere is produced in wineries as either a single-variety wine, or as blend, usually with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and/or Merlot.

While Carmenere and Merlot are similar, and may in fact be genetically related, there are some differences to help pick them apart. When young, Carmenere leaves have a reddish hue underneath, while Merlot leaves are white underneath. Merlot ripens two to three weeks earlier than Carmenere.

Regions

While originating in France, only a few hundred acres of Carmenere officlally exist in the country now. Chile and Italy both produce the grape, with Eastern Washington State’s Walla Walla Valley and California also growing the grape. Australia and New Zealand also grow Carmenere, though in much smaller qualities.

Carmenere Wine

Carmenere is often blended with other grapes, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. When offered as a single variety, the wines offer softer tannins than Cabernet Sauvignon and cherry-like flavors, smoky notes, spicy earth flavors, dark chocolate, tobacco, leather, and green pepper flavors.

Related posts:

1. Spotlight on a Varietal: Merlot
2. Spotlight on a Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
3. Spotlight on a Varietal: Pinot Noir

A red wine grape named for the Old French word for a young blackbird, Merlot has risen to be, on estimate, the third most planted varietal in the world. A popular wine both as a varietal and as a blending grape, wines made from the Merlot grape are popular thanks to the flavors typical of the grape that most wine drinkers find very accessible.

History

Merlot is believed to be an offshoot of the Cabernet Franc grape, and a sibling of the Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon. The first recorded mention of the grape was by a Bordeaux official in 1784, and by 1855 it was being found in and around Venice, Italy.

By the 19^th century, the Merlot grape was being planted with great regularity in the Medoc, or Left Bank, of the Gironde region of France. A severe frost in 1956 and vintages lost to rot in the 1960s lead French authorities in Bordeaux to ban new plantings of the grape between 1970 and 1975.

In the 1990s, Merlot saw a surge in popularity in the United States thanks to a 60 Minutes piece on the potential health benefits of wine and the chemical reservatrol found within it.

Merlot Grapes

Merlot grapes are identified by their loose bunches and large berries. The color of the grape is less blue/black than Cabernet Sauvignon and the skin tends to be thinner and with fewer tannins. Merlot grapes also tend to have a higher sugar content and lower malic acid when compared to the Cabernet Sauvignon grape.

Merlot grapes thrive in cold soil, with ferrous clay being particularly advantageous for growing the grape. Merlot vines tend to bud early, which does put them at risk for frost damage and rot thanks to the thin skin.

Ripening on average two weeks earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot grapes exhibit a propensity to quickly overripen, even within a few days of having reached their initial ripeness level.

Regions

France is home to nearly two-thirds of the world’s total Merlot crop. Also growing Merlot are Italy (the nation’s 5^th most planted grape), California, Romania, Australia, Argentina, Bulgaria, Turkey, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Slovenia, Washington State, and Long Island.

Merlot grows in many of the same regions as Cabernet Sauvingon, though in the cooler portions of those areas as warmer weather tends to make the grapes ripen too early.

Merlot Wine

As a single varietal wine, Merlot makes soft, velvety wines with plum flavors. Flavors commonly associated with Merlot include: cassis, black and red cherry, blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, mulberry, ollalieberry, plum, olive (black and green), cola nut, bell pepper, fennel, humus, leather, mushroom, rhubarb, tobacco, tea, eucalyptus, laurel, mint, oregano, pine, rosemary, sage, sasparilla, and thyme.

When paired with food, the diversity of the grapes flavors lends itself to being paired with a wide range of foods. Softer, fruitier Merlot can share many of the same pairings as Pinot Noir, while lighter Merlot can go well with shellfish such as prawns and scallops. Merlot tends not to pair well with blue veined cheeses as the fruit flavors are overwhelmed by the flavor of the cheese.

Related posts:

1. Spotlight on a Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
2. Spotlight on a Varietal: Pinot Noir
3. Ingleside Vineyards Chesapeake Cabernet Merlot

Throughout the first week of November, several informational pieces will show up on The Good Wine Guru.  Like what you’re reading?  Let me know.  Want me to cover a certain topic you’ve had in mind?  I’d like to know that too.  Thanks for continuing to visit and just maybe there will be posts about cruise wine when I get back.

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So I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t really use vintage charts.  Now that’s not to say that I don’t pay attention to what the vineyards, wineries, and wine makers are saying about particular years, and I’ve certainly found different years of the same wine to be better or worse, but I don’t as a general rule look to a vintage chart before making a wine purchase.

Now that’s not to say that I don’t think vintage charts don’t have value, because they do, but most of us just don’t carry one around with us.  However, that’s changing thanks to smartphones.  Sites like Wine Spectator are now offering apps that allow you to take vintage charts with you wherever you are to reference them with just the touch of a button.

So, with that in mind, I ask you my readers – how do you use vintage charts?  Do you look to see what years are good for a wine you’re looking for before buying?  If so, how well is it working out for you?  Leave me a comment letting me know how you use vintage charts and at the end of the month I’m going to pick a comment at random and that person will get a 1 year subscription to Wine Spectator.

I look forward to reading your comments and good to everybody.

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While it would be great if we could all have custom wine cellars with expensive cooling units, the reality is that most of us don’t have the space or the finances to accommodate that particular wine storage option. Because of that, wine storage cabinets are the far more practical option for those of us looking to store large quantities of wine.

Wine credenzas are a great option for those looking for an increase in storage space without the option to install an elaborate wine cellar. These large cabinets are appealing on a couple levels as they offer increased storage over smaller wine racks and cabinets, the ability to add cooling units to regulate the temperature, and they’re pretty nice to look at, too.

Speaking from my own personal need to increase my wine storage capacity in my home, a wine credenza is becoming a more appealing option as I live in a townhouse, so a full wine cellar just isn’t an option as I have no place to install it, but my current wine cabinet/buffet just isn’t supporting the amount of wine I’m keeping on hand, but I like having something lower to the ground so I can place decorations and other wine accessories on top. Websites like Vintage Cellars offer wine credenzas in various sizes and in enough colors to match any color scheme, along with enough options to make sure you get exactly what you need and nothing you don’t.

While wine credenzas certainly aren’t the only wine storage option out there, they’re one of the better options for those of us that want increased storage but don’t have a dedicated wine cellar in our future. If you’re in the market for new wine storage I definitely recommend wine credenzas thanks to their versatility, options, and ability to fit into smaller places for those of us that don’t have the option of a walk-in wine cellar.

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Here’s the email that was sent to me:

The Chianti area has been one of the most important wine producing regions in Italy for over two centuries. It was the family of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Lopold I that began cultivating grapes during the 18^th and 19^th centuries in the region that would become modern Chianti.

The Chiantigiana (SR 222) is one of the most scenic and charming motoring routes in Italy, running directly south from Florence to Sienna cutting through the heart of the Chianti Classico wine zone. The road sweeps around rolling Tuscan hills and past thousands of hectares of vineyards, all producing outstanding Chianti Classico DOCG (the highest classification of Chianti).

The best time of year to visit Tuscany (Toscana) is at harvest time in September, or just before harvest to see the vines bowing heavily with ripening Sangiovese grapes. During September most towns in Chianti celebrate the Sangiovese harvest with wine festivals such as the Vino al Vino held on the third week in September (17-19) in the small town of Panzano in Chianti, where many local wines can be sampled by the glass.

For a truly inspiring tour along Chiantigiana road, make time to visit some of the ancient towns of Chianti and surrounding vineyards. Most vineyards are open to the public, but it’s worth checking before you visit.

Greve in Chianti

Greve is a principle market town 31km south of Florence (Firenze).  During the second week of September, the Rassegna del Chianti Classico festival takes place in Greve.

Feste dell’uva
This is a wonderful festival held in the pretty village of Vagliagli. There will be a parade and dancing, lots to eat and drink

The Chianti Classico wine festival is also recommended and takes place between the 10 – 12 September.

Radda

Radda in Chianti is principle market town in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 35 km southeast of Florence and about 15 km north of Siena.

Gaiole

Gaiole in Chianti is principle market town in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 40 km southeast of Florence and about 15 km northeast of Siena. Forbes magazine named it number one in its list of “Europe’s Most Idyllic Places To Live.”

Whilst here, visit the Brolio winery. You can book wine tastings for small or large groups at the Brolio wine shop and learn about the Chianti Classico area through its most representative wines.

Panzano

A small town with Etruscan origins, Panzano is situated on the Chiantigiana road between Castellina and Greve. The piazza is charming and a perfect place to sip a Prosseco.

The Vino al Vino wine festival takes place between the 17 – 19 September and there are a couple of winereies well worth a visit including Le Fonti and Fattoria Montagliari. The later has a fantastic restaurant with genuine Tuscan cooking and breath-taking views over the Greve valley.

Castellina

Castellina  plays host to The Grape and Wine Festival during the third week of September.  A visit to the Villa Trasqua winery can be arranged wth a guided cellar tour and tasting session for 20 euros

Tuscan Villas in Chianti wine region

To make the most of the region’s excellent wine and local ingredients, it is recommend that you hire a villa. You have the freedom to cook up tasty Italian treats and relax on a veranda sipping local wine admitting the Tuscan countryside.

Villa Bernardi in Panzano in Chianti is a beautiful and spacious Tuscan farmhouse property situated on a hillside outside of the village of Panzano. The property dates back to the 11th Century and has been restored carefully to retain its original features and character. Laid out over 4 levels, this property is ideal for family groups with plenty of space to gather. The saltwater swimming pool is reached by a stone path across the lawn and enjoys views across the Chianti countryside. Sleeps up to 10 people and costs from £6552 per week

Or if there is just two of you, then the Panorama at Cornino in Castellina in Chianti is ideal. A spacious villa in the Hamlet of Cornino overlooking the Chianti hills, Panorama provides a peaceful retreat close to the town of Castellina. This beautifully restored property is surrounded by olive groves and unforgettable views. The property sleeps 3 people and costs from £546 per week.

To Tuscany has a wide choice of villas in Italy to choose from throughout the Tuscan wine regions. Visit www.to-tuscany.com to see a selection of properties and check availability.

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There are a lot of different ways to share your love of wine with the special people in your life, such as dinners, wine of the month clubs, or trips to vineyards.  However, one way to show your family in friends that you appreciate wine, and that you know they do too, is to send them a wine gift basket.

A Great Alternative

While a fan of wine of the month clubs, a wine gift basket serves as a nice alternative for those looking for a wine gift without a recurring monthly cost.  Also, many gift baskets feature food such as chocolate or cheese that has been specially selected to pair with the wine in the basket, great for the recipient as it gives them to enjoy with the wine that they know will pair well with it.

A Nice Introduction

For your friends that are just getting into wine, there are many inexpensive options out there to introduce them to new wines while avoiding either you or them having to invest heavily in a trip to the wine store, a vineyard, or signing up for the more elaborate wine of the month clubs, which can be very pricey.

Something for Everybody

While there are certainly wine gift baskets that reach a price tag of more than $150, there are just as many quality baskets that can be had for under $40.  No matter what your price range is for gift giving, you can find a wine gift basket to suit your pocketbook.

Always in Season

Wine is always in season, and is a great gift for any season.  Birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s day, Mother’s day – it’s all a great reason to give the gift of wine.  If the person you’re giving it too appreciates wine, it won’t really matter what the holiday is, of even if there is a holiday.

No matter your reason for sending it, a wine gift basket is a great way to let the people in your life know that you appreciate your shared love of wine.  There are plenty of great places to get a basket to fit your budget, so why not go show somebody that you’re thinking of them?

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There are a lot of different tools and accessories available to increase your wine enjoying experience, and while it’s impossible to have all of them, here are ten wine accessories that I think everybody should have.

A Good Solid Corkscrew

Corkscrews can come in a variety of styles, designs, and sizes. Whether you’re a fan of the small hand corkscrew like those used by waiters and bartenders at restaurants or want something larger that sits on your counter, a reliable corkscrew is the first tool that every wine lover should have. I quality corkscrew can make opening bottles of wine easier, and help prevent you from shredding the cork into the wine.

If you want a counter-top corkscrew, make sure it has some weight to it – that means pass on those little plastic ones with the suction cup bases. Something with a solid wood or metal base and a good metal arm is a must. If you prefer a smaller corkscrew, I like one where the actual corkscrew part is long and narrow, and with two leverage points for removing the cork, requiring less energy. If you’re really unsure, find a waiter or bartender you trust and ask them what kind of corkscrew they have.

Set of 8 General Purpose Wine Glasses

Lots of wine experts will say that you should have separate glasses for red and white wine, and some will even go so far as to say that different varietals should have their own glasses. While it’s all well and good to have a variety of wine glasses, with the exception of your more fancy dinners and parties what you need is a set of good all around wine glasses.

An all around wine glass should have an opening and bowl large enough to accommodate red wine without being too large for white wine. This is the kind of glass that you see at some of your more “casual plus” restaurants – they either don’t have the budget or the space or the wine selection to justify carrying different wine glasses for red and white wine, and thus carry one that will accommodate both.

A set of eight means you’re ready for you, your significant other, a couple of dinner guests, or a small dinner party. Also, it means that if you break one or two you’re not stuck with a useless set. Your all around wine glasses shouldn’t cost more than about $5 to $10, that way if you do break them you’re not out a lot of money. Remember, these will be the glasses that you use after coming home from a long day at work and open up that table wine that isn’t fancy, but that you love to drink with everything.

A Small to Medium Wine Fridge

Keeping your wine at a consistent temperature is important to not only ensuring that it ages properly, but also to making sure that it’s at the right temperature when you’re ready to enjoy it. While we’d all love to have a wine fridge that can support hundreds of bottles of wine, realistically, most of us only need one that will hold around 20 bottles at any given time.

As wine has grown in popularity more and more wine refrigerators have become available with a variety of options. Depending on the size you decide on, a respectable wine refrigerator will cost you between $100 and $200. More expensive fridges will have space for more wine and options like dual zone control, allowing you to store both red and white in them. Personally, I keep my whites in mine during the summer as I drink them more then, and during the cooler months I adjust the temperature and keep several reds in there as I do not have a dual zone wine fridge.

Wine Chiller/Ice Bucket

Sure, you’ve kept your wine chilled in either a proper wine fridge or your actual refrigerator, but what about after you’ve opened the bottle and are enjoying the wine? If you’ve ever been to a good quality restaurant and ordered a bottle of white, they probably brought it out in either a marble or metal tube that had been kept in their freezer. Keeping the wine in there when not pouring will ensure that it doesn’t get warm while you’re eating, drinking, and enjoying the company of another person or a group.

In the absence of either a metal or marble wine chiller, a nice ice bucket is a good way to keep your wine chilled while you enjoy it. Simply put the wine in, place some ice and add a bit of water to give it a nice ice bath to preserve the temperature while you’re drinking it. Many stores sell an electric wine chiller for a single bottle, and while these are nice, they are often extremely expensive and aren’t nearly as effective as chilling the bottle ahead of time and then preserving the temperature with an ice bucket or metal/marble chiller. They are good for bringing a bottle of red down a few degrees, but you’re better off just getting a wine fridge for that purpose when it comes down to it.

A Quality Foil Cutter

Sure, a lot of wine bottles are moving towards screw-cap, and many others are starting to add little pull tabs that make it easy to remove the foil cap. All of that being said, there are still far more wines that are still wrapping theirs in foil without any means to remove it. While any corkscrew will come with a knife to remove this, there is also the danger of cutting yourself with the knife.

Foil cutters can be found either by themselves or in wine accessory packages. You simply place them over the top of the wine bottle, apply pressure, and rotate them, cutting a circle around the top of the foil that can then be removed to provide access to the cork. What’s nice about a foil cutter is that they provide a clean cut, remove any danger to yourself, and won’t shred the foil into little bits that can find their way into the wine if you’re not careful. At only a few dollars at an wine shop, there’s no reason not to have one of these stored next to your corkscrew.

Drip Collar

Most of us have had the experience of pouring a glass of wine, and then having to catch the drip that starts a race down the side of the bottle. A wine drip collar is a great way to avoid wine drops making their way down a bottle to come to rest on your counter, floor, or carpeting. A simple piece of metal with a felt lining is simply placed around the neck of the bottle and held in place by your hand while you pour. Any wine that drips over is just absorbed into the felt instead of staining a surface in your home.

For around $10 you can rest easy knowing that you won’t be damaging any surface in your home, and isn’t $10 better than having to replace a piece of carpet?

Decanter

A decanter serves a couple of functions for your wine. It helps to aerate the wine, allowing the flavors and aromas to open up and it helps to serve as a pitcher for serving the wine. Decanters come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. Pricing varies depending on the size, design, what it’s made of, and quite frankly, where you buy it from.

Allowing your wine to sit in a decanter for 15 to 30 minutes after opening is great for opening up your wine and ensuring that you get the most out of your wine. A decanter can turn a $10 wine into a $20 wine just by allowing all the flavors to be presented. You can find a serviceable decanter starting at about $20, but they do go upwards of $80 to $100 for more elaborate decanters made out of more expensive materials.

Aerator

Decanting your wine is great, but what if you’re not going to drink the entire bottle? What if you’re drinking for a larger bottle like a magnum or from a box? If a decanter isn’t a viable option, but you still want to improve the flavor and aroma of your wine, an aerator is a great way to do this. These come in a variety of options, with some being placed in the glass after the wine has been poured to force air into the wine, and others having the wine poured through them to allow wine in faster. Either way, this allows you to essentially decant wine on a glass by glass basis, which is great for those that don’t drink wine a bottle at a time.

An aerator can cost you almost as much as a decanter, but it’s a must have if you don’t already have a decanter as it gives you the benefits of one without having to do a bottle at a time and then store a large glass vessel.

Vacuum Seal Corks

Not all of us enjoy wine by the bottle. Some do still enjoy it by the glass, and there’s nothing wrong with that. To help prolong the life of your bottle, vacuum seal corks are a must have. There are various versions available, but they all do the same thing – remove excess air from the bottle to help preserve the wine.

A set including a couple of corks and the pump will run you between $10 and $15, but not having to worry about your wine turning on you before you finish the bottle is something you can’t put money on.

Wine Rack

Keeping your wine in a wine fridge is great, but if you’re anything like me, your supply of wine far exceeds what a wine fridge is going to support. A wine rack is perfect for keeping your wine organized, out of direct sunlight, and in the proper position to keep the cork from drying out and crumbling into the wine itself.

Wine racks come in too many varieties to discuss here, so finding a wine rack that’s right for you is as simple as deciding how big of one you need and what you want it to look like. Most of your local home furnishing retailers will carry a wide selection of wine racks, so the only thing stopping you from getting it is going out and actually purchasing one.

Not All There Is

This is certainly not all of the wine accessories that are out there, just some of my favorite ones that I think would serve every wine lover to own. Any of these can be found in your local wine shops, home retailers, or online at stores like Amazon.com .

About the Author

George R Perry is the writer of The Good Wine Guru, a site providing wine reviews, wine articles, and suggested wine products. The Good Wine Guru can be found online at: TheGoodWineGuru.com .

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