Winexpression

How do those wine tasting professionals identify all those flavors in wine you ask? The answer is simple: they learned, and you can learn too, simply by drinking wine. Note a recent study by researchers at Northwestern University who aimed to learn how the brain differentiates between similar smells and modifies and updates that information […]

E & J Gallo is spearheading the automation of picking grapes during harvest in Modesto, CA, by employing spectroscopy and chromatography. This chemical analysis process provides extensive information about the aroma, color, taste and mouthfeel of the grapes, which helps the winery determine the ideal time for bringing in the harvest. Micheal Cleary, senior manager […]

A few stories worth a look:
Wine as an investment is up thanks to the Internet [Ledger-Enquirer.com]
The ban of liquids on planes in the U.S. is already hurting sales from some wineries. Normally, visitors to California’s wine regions buy a few souvenir bottles, and carry them on the plane when they head home, which is especially […]

With the prices of wine futures soaring, and the large international market for rare bottles growing, fraudulent scammers and crooks are sure to take advantage of people by selling impostors and fakes. Traditionally, to combat fraudulent wine from being sold, professional tasters have been called in to make a determination on a bottle by tasting […]

It appears that European students have gotten a little jump on Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CSIRO, who have also been working on a virtual nose to identify specifics in wine; region, varietal, age, flavors, and even price. About 50 students from 7 universities in Europe competed in the FOSS challenge, a competition […]

In what’s being called the agricultural equivalent of the first moonwalk (not MJ’s, the other one), Italian scientists have successfully sequenced the Pinot Noir genome. The San Michele all’Adige Agrarian Institute, the group responsible for the 6 year study, remarks that this development “will make it possible to create new, more resistant grape […]

A vineyard in the Lowburn area of Central Otago, NZ has found the root louse Phylloxera present on it’s land. Martin Anderson of the Central Otago Wine Growers Association made the announcement. Given the seriousness of this problem, growers in the region are assessing their next move. Grafting to Phylloxera resistant rootstock is an option, […]

I saw this story last week, but I wasn’t motivated to post about it here. There is a company, Enologix, that basically has been doing the same thing for a long time.
What I find interesting is the take on this story that Non Wine Geeks (but geeks nonetheless) have on this subject.
When wine is […]

With a little money (o.k. a lot of money) and some vision for the future, your winery can break free from it’s electric bill. Cline Cellars Carneros facility is now being operating off of it’s 2000 solar panels on it’s 50,000 square foot buildings roof, bill free. On those heavy days in the summer perhaps […]

An interesting article on Decanter this morning describing the effects of trace amounts of iron, copper, and various other metals found naturally in grapes. Different levels of these metals can change the color of wine. The research was done ‘using Tempranillo samples grown by the vinicultural department at the University of Navarra in northern Spain’. […]