The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Are Wine Tannins? - Where Do Tannins Come From? - How Tannins Change with Winemaking - Tannins and Wine Aging - High Tannin vs. Low Tannin Wines - How Food Affects Tannins - Recognizing Tannins in the Glass - Tannins in White Wine and Rosé - Wine Tannins and Your Health - Using Tannin Knowledge in Wine Tastings - Further Reading If you've ever taken a sip of red wine and felt a drying, gripping sensation — like the wine was sucking moisture from your cheeks and gums — you've experienced wine tannins. Most people notice the effect before they have a word for it. Understanding what wine tannins are, where they come from, and how they shape a wine's character is one of the most useful things you can learn as a wine drinker. What Are Wine Tannins? Wine tannins are polyphenolic compounds — naturally occurring molecules found in grape skins, seeds, and stems, as well as in the oak barrels used to age wine. When you drink a tannic wine, these compounds bin...

Table of Contents - What Is Moscato? - The Main Styles of Moscato - How Moscato Tastes - Moscato vs. Other Sweet Wines - Food Pairing with Moscato - How to Choose a Moscato - Serving Moscato - Moscato in a Team Setting - Further Reading What Is Moscato? Moscato is a wine made from the Muscat grape family — one of the oldest cultivated grapes in the world, with a lineage that traces back thousands of years to ancient Greece and Egypt. The name "Moscato" is Italian, and Italy remains the heartland of the style, though Muscat-based wines are made across France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, and California. What makes Moscato distinctive is its aroma. No other grape smells quite like it: intensely floral, with notes of orange blossom, peach, apricot, and a distinctive musky sweetness that is somehow both exotic and immediately approachable. For many people, Moscato is the wine that makes them realize wine can actually be fun. The style ranges from delicately fizzy and low-alcohol (...

Table of Contents - What Is Moscato? - The Main Styles of Moscato - How Moscato Tastes - Moscato vs. Other Sweet Wines - Food Pairing with Moscato - How to Choose a Moscato - Serving Moscato - Moscato in a Team Setting - Further Reading What Is Moscato? Moscato is a wine made from the Muscat grape family — one of the oldest cultivated grapes in the world, with a lineage that traces back thousands of years to ancient Greece and Egypt. The name "Moscato" is Italian, and Italy remains the heartland of the style, though Muscat-based wines are made across France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, and California. What makes Moscato distinctive is its aroma. No other grape smells quite like it: intensely floral, with notes of orange blossom, peach, apricot, and a distinctive musky sweetness that is somehow both exotic and immediately approachable. For many people, Moscato is the wine that makes them realize wine can actually be fun. The style ranges from delicately fizzy and low-alcohol (...

Table of Contents - Why a Wine Subscription Actually Makes Sense - How Wine Subscription Services Work - What to Look for in a Wine Subscription - Types of Wine Subscription Services - Comparing Popular Wine Subscription Models - Red Flags to Avoid - Matching a Subscription to Your Drinking Habits - How to Get the Most from Your Subscription - Wine Subscriptions as Team Experiences - Further Reading Why a Wine Subscription Actually Makes Sense I'll be honest — when wine subscriptions first became a thing, I was skeptical. Who needs a box of mystery wines showing up at their door? Then I started paying attention to how my own wine drinking changed when I wasn't the one choosing everything. I tried bottles I would never have pulled off a shelf myself. I found a Grenache from Spain I've since ordered a dozen times. I discovered I actually like natural wines when they're selected by someone who knows what they're doing. A good wine subscription isn't about convenien...

Table of Contents - Why a Wine Subscription Actually Makes Sense - How Wine Subscription Services Work - What to Look for in a Wine Subscription - Types of Wine Subscription Services - Comparing Popular Wine Subscription Models - Red Flags to Avoid - Matching a Subscription to Your Drinking Habits - How to Get the Most from Your Subscription - Wine Subscriptions as Team Experiences - Further Reading Why a Wine Subscription Actually Makes Sense I'll be honest — when wine subscriptions first became a thing, I was skeptical. Who needs a box of mystery wines showing up at their door? Then I started paying attention to how my own wine drinking changed when I wasn't the one choosing everything. I tried bottles I would never have pulled off a shelf myself. I found a Grenache from Spain I've since ordered a dozen times. I discovered I actually like natural wines when they're selected by someone who knows what they're doing. A good wine subscription isn't about convenien...

Table of Contents - What Makes Champagne "Champagne" - The Three Core Grapes - Champagne Styles at a Glance - Understanding Champagne Sweetness Levels - Non-Vintage vs. Vintage Champagne - Grower Champagne vs. Négociant Houses - Major Champagne Houses Worth Knowing - How to Serve Champagne Properly - Champagne and Food Pairing - What Champagne Is Not - Champagne for Corporate Events and Team Experiences - Further Reading Champagne is the most famous wine in the world — and also one of the most misunderstood. People reach for it on New Year's Eve without knowing what they're drinking, slap the word "Champagne" on any fizzy wine, and assume it's all the same bubbly stuff in a flute. It isn't. Real Champagne comes from one specific place: the Champagne region of northeastern France. It's made using a labor-intensive method that hasn't changed in its essentials since the 17th century. And within that tightly regulated world, there's extraordi...