Preventing Foggy Wine Glasses

No one wants to drink or eat from a dirty dish and it's embarrassing when you pull your wine glasses out of the cupboard and they look dirty or foggy! Spots on your glasses are never appealing and re-washing your dishes before serving wine is not ideal. Foggy wine glasses are caused by a build-up of hard water minerals. Since it's so hard to remove the fogginess, it's better to try to prevent it. Wash your wine glasses by hand using hot water then use a microfiber cloth to dry them immediately.

If your glasses are already foggy you can try to get them clean by soaking them in vinegar. This will dissolve the minerals and allow you to effectively wash and dry them by hand. Another option is to wipe them off with nail polish remover or denture cleaner, then wash and dry them by hand.

If the fogginess just won't go away then your glasses may be scratched. Unfortunately, there is no way to remove the scratches from your wine glasses and it may be time to invest in a new set.

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Number of Glasses in a Bottle

If you're having people over, bringing wine to a party, or are just curious, it's a good thing to know how many glasses of wine are in a bottle. There are a variety of wine bottle sizes available and we've broken out different sizes with their serving amounts.

Your standard bottle is 750 mL which is about 25.4 oz. If you pour approximately 5 oz in your wine glass you will get about five glasses per bottle.

A 1.5 liter, otherwise known as a "Magnum" bottle, contains 50.8 oz which you can get ten glasses of out of.

Most boxed wines are 101.6 oz which equates to about twenty, 5 oz glasses.

These numbers are not exact. It does depend on your glass serving size. Serving size generally range from 3-6 oz based on the alcohol content of the wine, which usually ranges from 5.5% – 21% ABV.

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Mustard in the Vineyards?

As spring approaches, you may want to take a drive through the California vineyards to experience the beautiful mustard blossoms that grow there as winter comes to an end. Sometimes it grows there wild, and sometimes the vineyard manager purposefully plants it there. But why?

In addition to it's beauty, mustard provides valuable nutrients to the grape vines. As it turns to mulch it supplies the emerging vines with phosphorus. Because it contains high levels of biofumigants, mustard also helps decrease the nematode population, which is damaging microscopic worms.

The planting of mustard in the vineyards is not a new tradition. Legend has it that a Franciscan missionary started spreading mustard seed as he landscaped Californian church properties. Planting was as easy as carrying a sack full of mustard seeds on the back. A small hole in the sack would allow the seeds to escape and be scattered as the landscapers walked.

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Warm Red Wines for Winter

January seemed to last forever this year and now that we're finally into February it seems there may be an end to winter in sight! Spring is right around the corner but we still have a few weeks of winter left. With the days still pretty short and most activities being indoors, it's still the perfect weather for wine. Warm red wines are great for fighting off the chill and the end-of-winter blues.

Cabernet Sauvignon

One of the most popular red wine grape varieties is Cabernet Sauvignon. Having strong fruit flavors of plum and black cherry when young, this wine gives off the distinct aroma of blackcurrants. As it ages, it can give off aromas of tobacco and cedar. Lamb, and other fatty red meats, pair well with Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Malbec

Recently, Malbec has been rapidly growing in popularity. Similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec has flavors of plum and black cherry. It also consists of blackberry and can even have chocolate flavors. Because of it's softer tannins, it pairs well with lean meats.

Syrah

Giving hearty, spicy red wines, the Syrah grape variety is a perfect choice for those chilly winter nights. Along with the previous mentioned wines, it has flavors of wild black fruits such as blackcurrants. These fruit flavors can be accompanied with roasting meat and black pepper spice flavors. Wild game and stews are wonderful pairings to go with Syrah.

Now that winter is in full swing and we're (hopefully) headed to an early spring, try to push through these last days of winter with these delightful, warm, red wine varieties.

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