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2018 Wine Tasting Competition

2018 Wine Tasting Competition

It’s back! The annual WBD Wine Tasting Competition!

You’ve worked hard perfecting your wines here at Wines By Design and once again, you have a chance to show it off.

Coming soon: (Saturday, April 14 from 11a – 3p to be exact) we are holding our annual competitive tasting event.

The store will be closed for “normal” business, the day is devoted to the event!

Special bonus: All attendees will receive an Owners discount of 15% off all wine kits during the event. (Excludes the limited edition kits: Winexpert LE2017, Vineco Passport and RJS RQ wine kits.)

You are allowed to submit up to 3 bottles per person for the 3 entry categories: Red, White and Dessert/Fruit. Your wine will be moved into numbered bottles and you will be the judge in the blind tasting. The highest scored wines will be the winner in each category and the highest scoring of those will be named Best of Show. Best of Show wins a $100 gift certificate at WBD and the other two winners will each receive a $50 gift certificate to WBD.

To enter, turn in your bottles at the store before Friday, April 13 (contest closing time is 7p).

For the day of the event: there will be a $5 fee for those not contributing a bottle of their finest vino. (Contest entrants are free!)

Note: This is limited to wine made in the Wines By Design store (from our kits). This does not include wine made from fresh juice.

A quick recap (TL;DR):

  1. Drop off up to 3 bottles per person by Friday, April 13 at 7p.
  2. Join us for wine judging on April 14 beginning at 11a.
  3. See how your wines stack up against all the WBD competition!

 

We’ll provide: palate cleansing crackers, snacks, appetizers, munchies, and more!

Noble Grapes

Noble Grapes

We have encountered a number of folks inquiring about the Noble grapes:

– What is a Noble grape?
– Can I make Noble grape wines at Wines By Design (WBD)?

There are varying views on what makes up a Noble Grape. The purist’s view allows that there are only 6 Noble Grapes (as detailed on VinePair.com):

Primarily originating in France (with the exception of Riesling from Germany), they are probably the most prolific grapes. They all produce phenomenal wines and are able to grow all around the world (with varying degrees of success).

(dramatic pause)

Alternatively, there is another view point which expands that list of Noble grapes, up to 18! This “newer” view states that Noble grapes are “International Varieties” which are grape varieties that are planted in the most major wine producing regions and have wide spread appeal. Wine Folly has a great article about the 18 Noble Grapes. These include 9 Red and 9 White:

There’s a great graphic from the fine folks at Wine Folly that shows all 18 of the “New” Noble Grapes.

After reviewing the graphic, we can finally answer ONE of those questions, YES: You CAN make wine at WBD with all of the Noble Grapes!

(caveat: SOMETIMES it’s not a wine from a single grape though. They might be included in one of our blends… ex: Sémillon)

Original Source: THE 6 NOBLE GRAPES: THEIR HISTORY & INFLUENCE ON WINE

Original Source: The 18 Noble Grapes Wine Challenge

Recipe: Poached Pears (Instant Pot)

Recipe: Poached Pears (Instant Pot)

Red Wine Poached Pears (Instant Pot)
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Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 6 pears firm and pealed
  2. 1 bottle red wine a dry tarty, tannic red wine like Sangiovese or Barbera
  3. 1 bay leaf
  4. 4 cloves
  5. 1 stick cinnamon or one teaspoon cinnamon
  6. 1 piece Ginger fresh
  7. 1 1/3 cups sugar
  8. herbs for decoration, optional like mint or basil
Instructions
  1. Peel the pears but leave the stems attached. Pour the bottle of wine in the pressure cooker.
  2. Add the bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and sugar. Mix well to dissolve. Add the pears into the Instant Pot.
  3. Close and lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Press [Pressure Cook] and then use the [+] or [ - ] button to set 9 minutes of pressure cooking time .
  4. When time is up, open the cooker using Quick Pressure Release.
  5. Take out the pears carefully using tongs and picking up from their stems. Set the pears aside and put the pressure cooker on [Sauté], without the top, to reduce the cooking liquid to about half. Filter and then drizzle spiced wine syrup on pears, decorate with herbs and serve room temperature or chilled.
Notes
  1. We like the Winexpert Selection Sangiovese or the Cellar Craft Sterling Barbera for this.
Adapted from Instant Pot Recipes
Adapted from Instant Pot Recipes
Wines By Design https://www.winesbydesign.biz/
Sign of the Times – 10

Sign of the Times – 10

Awesome
Sign of the Times – 10

It’s our next “Sign of the Times” entry!

This month: Benjamin Franklin

(WBD Translation: Poor Richard was always a wise guy.)

Check out some of our other graphics.

Note: A number of these are created on Canva and/or using Avery label software. You can check out our post on creating your own labels.

Got a “sign” you’d like to suggest or one you’ve created and don’t mind us sharing? Drop us a note on our Contact page.