Wine Hacks: What To Do With Excess Wine

For some, leftover wine is bothersome. It may not happen all the time, but, now and then, we find ourselves with some leftover wine, leaving us in awe. And several questions will pop into your mind. For instance, should you throw it away, drink it the next days, or whatnot.

Leftover wines should not be a bother to you folks. A bit of extra wine for the next several days can be a treat. However, let us not take the fact that it can be too much sometimes. Instead of throwing these excess wines, why not use to good use?

If you are having trouble on how to deal with your leftover wine, worry not. Below are some helpful suggestions for what to do with leftover wine. Read on!

Ice Cubes

A great and perfect way to store and reserve your wine for future use is by making wine ice cubes. All you have to do is to pour wine into each ice cube and chill them until frozen. Once they are frozen, you can place them in a Ziploc bag and keep in your chiller until cooking directions call for wine. You can toss them into a soup, use for a base of a sauce, add to sangria, and many more. The possibilities are boundless.

Stews and Soups

If you wish to upgrade the flavor of your stew or soup, think about using a bit of extra wine. You can try one of these dishes: Coq Au Vin, West Village Beef Stew, and Mushroom Soup with Red wine and Brie.

Vinegar

Did you know that you, yourself, can make your homemade vinegar in no time? Vinegar is not only good for the cupboard, and it makes an excellent gift for your friend as well. To do this, you need a liquid vinegar starter, some water, 2 cups of wine (red or white), and a glass container.

Sangria, Mulled Wine, and Wine Cocktails

Are you still in the drinking status? However, you would like to hype things up. If so, then you can use the extra wine and turn it into a wine cocktail, mulled wine, and sangria.

Wine Syrups

To make wine syrups, you will need at least three cups of wine for each cup of sugar. Wine syrups are perfect as a marinade, salad dressings, used on ice cream, fresh fruit, and everything that you wish to put some wine syrup.

Steamed Mussels

If by chance, you have at least two cups of white wine, preferably dry, and would like to eat some mussels, then you have got the perfect combination. With the leftover wine, you can create a flavorful broth to cook your mussels.

Takeaway

If you have some leftover wine in your home, especially some high-quality wine such as Sassicaia, worry not. You can still use these extra wines for cooking purposes. You don’t need to throw them away or pour them down the drain. Instead, you can use them to good use. You can try the ideas above to make good use of your leftover wine.

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Why opt for Decorating Wine Glasses?

A wine glass is not just a glass comprised of a bowl, stem, and foot. It far more than that, it is a perception. There is a particular reason behind the shape and style of holding a wine glass. The long stem of the glass helps in preventing the temperature of the wine so that the body heat of the holder does not affect it.

It is still controversial issue that the shape of the glass has any relation with the taste of the wine in it. If you want to taste all the nuanced flavors of wine, then a perfect wine glass is a must. Wine has to be filled in a glass to a certain level it should not be less and not more. The wine should be till the broadest point of the glass and there should be ample space for swirling the drink.

Why Is a Wine Glass Important?

1. It releases aroma. Having wine is all about enjoying the aromas. The swirling of wine releases the aroma, which adds flavor to the wine.

2. It collects aroma. Yeah, surprisingly the wine glasses are aroma collectors. The empty space left between the wine and sipping area is called aroma collector. It’s the bowl of the wine glass that offers this benefit to the wine.

3. The lips of the glass are supposed to be thin for a better drinking experience. The lips of the glass should not come in between the sipper and wine. It has to be sipped flawlessly.

When a glass is so important for the drink to be poured in, then decorating it for varied occasions like weddings, etc. is also equally required. Below are some interesting and easy ways to decorate your wine glasses.

Decorating Wine Glasses

Decorated wine glasses add more grace and value to the container and to the occasion or event. Following are simple tips to decorate wine glasses:

#1. Dipping and sipping

For this, you need a bowl of chalkboard paint. Then simply dip the foot of the glass in the paint and then let it dry. Once the wine starts flowing, no one remembers whose glass was lying where. With this technic, the holder could write their name on the painted surface. You could select black or gold, silver colors for painting the base.

#2. Glitters on the glass

You can use glitter paints over the bowl. Any color could be used based on the theme of the wedding or party. You can even use glass on the lower portion of the bowl till the line that contains wine. Then sprinkle glitter on that glued area. It fabulously decorates your glass with style. With glitters, varied experiments could be done over the glass. It could be personalized by writing an alphabet over the glass with the glue and then sprinkle glitter on it. It gives an elegant and classy look to the glass.

#3. Pearl and laces

Bride and groom themes are also a nice style of decorating the wine glasses. You will need pearl lace, stick it on the glass stem with glass glue. On the bowl apply, white thin lace with the glue. Then stick few flowers and pearl beads on the laced area. Similarly, you could use black or blue color for groom theme.

#4. Glass painting

Glass painting is a good idea to decorate the wine glass based on the color theme of the party. It could be polka dot, over the stem or bowl in different colors and patterns. Floral colors and design, or golden color could also be applied for decorating the glass.

Thus, decorating wine glasses is a great option.

About the Writer

This post is written by Joseph Webb. Joseph is an excellent blogger and philosophers, His keen observation to provide useful information which helps readers to get more ideas. He can be found on Facebook and on Twitter as @aussiesmag.

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How To Maintain Your Fine Wine Collection

There are almost as many different fine wine enthusiasts as there are vintages of wine. Just as we can group those vintages into larger families, so do wine collectors fall into one of several types: the investor, the collector, and the casual hobbyist.

While the intent of and level of dedication to their collection vary, they are united in the need to adequately store and protect the bottles they’ve gathered.

If you find yourself getting misty-eyed over a Merlot, it is a fair bet you fall into one of these categories. There is a lot of myth and misinformation (mythinformation?) on the internet about the proper way to take care of your bottles. Here are some tried and true pointers to get you started.

1. Document, document, document

While this may seem like a little much if you’re a casual wine enthusiast, you will find it helpful while everyone else will find it downright essential. While some still use a traditional notebook, I recommend making full use of today’s technology.

There are many apps and programs available to help you inventory and track your bottles. You will want to keep a full accounting of your bottles to help fill in gaps by diversifying your collection, or to avoid over-collecting a specific vintage or type. Many of these logs will also let you make notes, mark favorites, and even track value.

2. Store your bottles on their side

There is an ongoing debate as to whether it is best to store your bottle standing or lying down. While we’re unlikely to settle a battle that has been waged for centuries, consider this: A dry cork is more likely to allow air into the bottle, and air is not your wine’s friend. By laying the bottle on its side, the cork remains moist and expanded to prevent leakage.

3. Keep your wine in a dark place

There’s a reason we use wine cellars and not wine patios. Light, even natural light, can degrade wine quickly. If you don’t have an actual cellar, that’s fine. The main requirement is someplace that is climate controlled and enclosed with lights that can be turned off when not in use.

4. Keep it cool

Temperature, historically, went hand-in-hand with those dark cellars. For the best wine maturation, you need to maintain the appropriately cool temperatures that allow their flavors to flourish while stopping unwanted chemical reactions. Even with a dedicated wine cellar, many expert enthusiasts are turning to wine coolers as a way to fine-tune their wine conditions. Specialized wine refrigerators, such as those made by KingsBottle, have state of the art temperature controls combined with high-efficiency compressors to give your collection the perfect environment.

5. Educate yourself

The number one influence over the proper safety and maintenance of your wine collection is you. You’ve made a great start! Obviously, you’re interested in doing what’s best to give you and your guests the best wine experience you can. A single blog post won’t get the job done by itself, though. I strongly encourage you to explore the world of wine. If there are no classes available locally, Wine Spectator offers an online school to expand your wine IQ.

With proper care and attention, wine collecting is a hobby that gets better with age. Whatever the purpose of your collection, by following these few, relatively simple steps you can ensure the quality of your bottles. Happy collecting!

Author Bio:

Carolyn Clarke has been writing about food, wine, and everything nice for over 10 years. A native of Southern California, when she’s not investigating the latest in food culture, you can find her hiking one of the many beautiful trails near her home with her Golden Retriever, Leo.

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Energy Drink and Alcohol a Harmful Mixture

Recent survey shows that young adult indulge in taking both energy drinks and alcohol for pleasure without known the down side of it. First and foremost, lets start by knowing what each of this product is, The nutritional value and its side effect.

Energy drinks are type of beverages that have content of stimulant drugs, mostly caffeine, taurine and ginseng. it also contain sweeteners.

Caffeine stimulate the central nervous system giving the body a sense of alertness, it also raises the heart beat rate and blood pressure. The amount of caffeine in energy drink is about 200mg per serving.

Normally, caffeine consumption should be limited to about 200-300mg per day. People can only experience the side effect when they exceed this range. Sleeplessness, headache and nausea are some of the common side effect of excessive caffeine intake.

Another stimulant found in energy drinks is taurine

Taurine is an amino acid that is naturally produce by the human cell. (much quantity ) it can help reduce bad cholesterol, increase the effectiveness of heart muscle contractions, and improve blood flow and Oxygen supply to the heart.

Unfortunately, the taurine that is found in energy drinks is artificial and the human body does not need taurine created by man.

The next product to look into is Alcohol

Alcohol is a depressant drug which slows down the message travelling between the brain and the body.

The production process is through fermentation of products like rice, millet, maize, fruit or even vegetables and the byproduct is ethanol and carbon dioxide. Ethanol is the ingredient found in any alcoholic drink and is an intoxicating urgent.

The alcoholic content of any drink depend on how long its been left to ferment. But spirit undergo a further process called distillation, where water is being removed In order to obtain a strong alcohol.

Through alcohol is a legal drugs, to most people moderate drinking is cool but can still be dangerous.

INSTANT EFFECT OF ALCOHOL

1. It slower reflex 

2. Clumsiness 

3. Blure vision 

SIDE EFFECT OF ENERGY DRINK PLUS ALCOHOL

1. Energy drinks are stimulants while Alcohol is a depressant, mixing the both can lead to heart problem such as high blood pressure.

2. The effect of combining both energy drink and alcohol can be so devastating in that, the stimulant effect can mask the extent of intoxication in you and stop you from knowing the quantity of alcohol you have consume.

3. Energy drinks and alcohol are very dehydrating, It put the body under intense stress. Dehydration stops the organs in the body to metabolize alcohol, There by prolonging the toxicity which is known as hangover.

In conclusion to what have been stated, young adult should abstain from the habit of consuming these two product as a whole, because is detrimental to their health.

About the Author
My name is Gift David. I am a Gospel musician, freelance writer and a food blogger @ naijahomecaterer.wordpress.com Facebook link: http://facebook.com/naijahomecaterer

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