Grigio or gris, this is a great white wineWritten by Darby Higgs
One of most popular imported wine styles in America is Pinot grigio. Nearly all of Pinot grigio consumed in US comes from Italy, but as we shall see this is likely to change soon. Pinot grigio is very popular with consumers, but it receives mixed reviews from wine judges and wine critics. One reason may be that wines made from Pinot grigio do not have a consistent and distinctive varietal character. Consumers are just attracted to crisp which goes well with a wide variety of foods. Another problem is that there are two names for variety in common use. The names Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris mean Grey Pinot in Italian and French respectively. 'Pinot' refers to characteristic pine cone shaped bunch of this group of varieties. In Australia, winemakers, marketers and wine writers haven’t really sorted out which name to call variety. Some have dodged issue and refer to “Pinot G.” This variety closely is related to much better Pinot Noir variety and is believed to be a mutation of Pinot Noir. In fact in vineyard Pinot grigio is difficult to distinguish from its putative ancestor until berries ripen when those of Grigio will have much less pigment. There is another variety, Pinot Blanc which has little or no pigment in berries. There is considerable clonal variation within variety. Jancis Robinson says that variety hardly knows if it is a dark or a light grape. It has several synonyms including Burot and Malvoise in France and Rulander and Tokayer in Germany.
| | A Coffee Roaster For All OccasionsWritten by Julie Carter
Coffee roasters and those who roast, brew and serve ultimate cup of coffee are now esteemed professionals within social fabric of our community at large. A good coffee roaster is a little like a celebrity chef these days, complete with loyal followings, highly descriptive reviews and ability to command premium prices for their products and services. As coffee continues to grow in elevation from merely a mundane beverage to something of art form, a good coffee roaster has begun to take on a glamorous aura. But there is a café on almost every street corner or every suburb now and every barista thinks of him or herself as best roaster on block. The professional barista is a now fiercely competitive industry and cafes and restaurants across globe fight to retain barista that can produce a coffee that will have customers returning time and time again. So, because roasting is everywhere, how do you choose coffee roaster for you? Your first question is whether you're looking for wholesale coffee roasters to supply your business, or retail roasters to keep you happily supplied with beans at home. But for our purposes, let's say you're looking for a retail roaster to feed your coffee habit because you are a die hard coffee lover. One approach is to decide exactly which coffee beans you prefer. Once you have found coffee beans that you like you can then search for that specific bean. It might take you some time to research this and you might want to join a coffee club so that you can do some extensive taste testing. They will send you a number of coffee varieties each month for a small fee and this gives you opportunity to try out blends and pure coffees to see what you prefer.
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