White Wine | Wine Cooler Blog

Wine Food Pairing: Trout and Wine Pairing

My wife and I always look forward to visiting my son and grandchildren. It involves some weird flight times to get from Tucson to Woodbridge, Virginia, but after seeing the kids, the long travel hours disappear in our memory. This trip was particularly close to my heart because my two grandchildren planned on taking us fishing. My wife and I had taken Connor, our grandson, fishing for the first time a couple of years ago and he had caught his first fish. He was particularly determined to show us that he could catch more.

URBAN TROUT FISHING

We had planned on going camping in southern Virginia a few days after arrival and thought that the fishing would begin then. We were surprised when our grandson announced that we would be fishing the same afternoon we arrived. I asked him where we were going fishing and he remarked “We are going to our neighborhood pool”. I surmised that he really meant an urban fishing pond, but I was wrong. In all my years my wife and I had never fished in a swimming pool, but that day we did.

The pool was stocked with rainbow trout and most of them hung out in the 8 foot deep diving end of the pool. We set up our lawn chairs at the pool’s edge and commenced fishing using worms, corn, marshmallows and salmon eggs. The limit was two fish per person and it didn’t take more than an hour and we had caught our limit. The other amazing thing was the people managing the fishing pool derby also cleaned our fish before we left the area. My grandson declared that it was now time to take them home, cook them, eat them and polish the meal off with a trip to the ice cream shop.

TROUT COOKING INGREDIENTS

Whether you grill the fish, bake them or cook them over a campfire, there are some key ingredients that you need. You need some dry white wine, butter, lemon juice, fresh parsley, salt, pepper and tin foil to wrap them in for cooking. In the trout’s body cavity, first add a pat of butter, a sprinkle of wine, a dash of lemon juice, some fresh parsley and then season to your taste with salt and pepper. Next, roll each individual fish in tin foil being careful to seal the ends to keep the liquids in. Grill, bake or place in hot campfire coals for 8 to 10 minutes or until the fish is completely cooked (it will be white and flakey when done).

BEST WINES WITH TROUT

Using a dry white wine to add flavor to the fish is a must, but what wine would be the best to drink when eating the trout? Several sources say select an Anjou, Arbois, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio or simply drink your favorite champagne. We selected a Sauvignon Blanc made locally in Virginia. My grandchildren can sometimes be picky eaters, but they really enjoyed the fish as much as we did, even though they drank milk. After the meal, we all did go to the ice cream store. I had a three scoop banana split, which I am now working off since we returned home.

Catching trout is fun. When cooked properly, it is a great fish to eat, especially joined with your favorite wine. I always say buy the wine your like, store it properly until ready to drink and serve it at its optimal temperature. Fishing and wine will make your world better.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers

Wine Storage Solutions: Wine Entertainment Tips

One Insignificant Task

I was sitting in my recliner perusing the sports page and absorbing the college basketball scores to ready myself for picking my March Madness basketball brackets. My wife called me from the kitchen with an overemphasized, “Honey, please come here – right now!” I reluctantly headed for the kitchen to see what crisis was about to bestowed upon me. As I entered the kitchen, she started telling me about our wine tasting party next week. She had purchased two dozen bottles of various types of wine, several pounds of cheese, a plethora of varied crackers and enough green vegetable snacks to feed an army of rabbits.

She started out the conversation emphasizing that she was doing all the work for this party and that I only had one insignificant job to do. She said, “Your job is to accumulate enough ice buckets from our friends and family to keep eight to twelve wine bottles chilled and available for our quests to enjoy.” Since we had only one qualifying ice bucket, I knew I had better get going on this task.

The Search

Several calls to friends, family, co-workers and a few strangers netted me promises for only 3 more ice buckets. I was striking out on the only “insignificant task” that I ever had. My savior in doing research has always been the internet so off to the computer room I went. I searched for wine chillers and servers looked at many listings and stumbled upon a solution to my dilemma.

The Solution

I found an 8 bottle wine cooler that stored bottles upright in round openings, while keeping the wine cooled to a temperature of my choosing. Additionally, the wine chiller had a thermoelectric cooling system that was eco-friendly in that it did not use CFC chemicals in its cooling system. This was the perfect solution for improving our entertainment ability and enhancing the wine tasting party my wife had been religiously planning for weeks. I bought one on line and the delivery took only a few days.

Being aware of all the wine my wife had bought and the number of guests she had invited, I was doing the math and figured out that each person would have to drink at least two bottles of wine each. I hoped that wouldn’t be the case as we only have one extra bedroom for people to sleep off the buzz they surely would get. This wine bottle chiller and server that I had purchased could also very easily handle the partially consumed wine by re-corking them and placing them back in the cooler in the upright position. I was so proud of myself that I patted myself on the back more times than I could count.

While this story was written to provide some humor, there is a new wine cooler and server now being offered that will make wine tasting parties easier to hold. I have included a copy of the specifications below for your information.

Summit 8 Bottle Wine Cooler and Server

FEATURES: * Energy Efficent, Quiet Thermoelectric Operation * Sleek Black, Easy To Clean Finish * Light Weight Portability (weights only 26 pounds) * Unique Design Meets Entertainment Needs * 115 Volts/60 Hz * Rating: 2.0 Amps * Digital Thermostat * Easy to Read Control Panel * Interior Circulation Fan * Interior Light
CAPACITY: * 8 Wine Bottles (vertical position)
DIMENSIONS: * Width 28.88 Inches x Depth 12.75 Inches x Height 9.38 Inches
MANUFACTURER’S WARRANTY: * 12 months parts and labor

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice-president, Ideal Wine Coolers

Wine Types: Wine Bottle Sizes & Shapes

A client called me the other day inquiring about a wine cooler that could store Magnum bottles of wine. I knew a Magnum bottle of wine held about twice what a standard 750 ml bottle held, but I did not know what the specific bottle dimensions were. I needed a quick lesson on wine bottle sizes in order to respond to customer questions. What I found out is wine bottle shapes and sizes can vary by region, state, country and even wine type. Also, I came to realize that they are so many different bottle sizes that a single article about all of them would be impossible. Subsequently, I decided to concentrate my research on a few of the basic standard size wine bottles.

WINE BOTTLE SIZES

Most wine will come in a standard 750 ml. bottle and in fact this size bottle is the basis for naming many of the other bottle sizes. Wine cooler and chillers are typically sized to handle the standard 750 ml. bottle. Some of the standard sized wine bottles that you are most likely to come across are: Split (1/4 bottle, 0.1875 liters ), Half (1/2 bottle, 0.375 liters), Bottle (full bottle; 0.750 liters), Magnum (2 bottles, 1.5 liters), Double Magnum (4 bottles; 3.0 liters), Jeroboam ( 6 bottles, 4 ½ liters), Methuselah (8 bottles, 6.0 liters), Salmanazar (12 bottles; 12.0 liters), Balthazar (16 bottles; 12.0 liter), and Nebuchadnezzar (20 bottles; 15.0 l.). It is interesting to note that many of the larger sized wine bottles were named after Biblical Kings and other figures. The United States waited until 1979 to adopt the metric measurements for bottles of wine and use the 750 ml. standard bottle.

The Split size bottle stands about 7 ½ inches tall with a bottom diameter of about 2 ½ inches. These wine bottles are often used for desert and sparkling wines and are small enough to drink in one serving as they lose their fizz rapidly after opening. The most widely sold standard 750 ml. bottle stands about 11 ½ to 12 inches high and is typically 3 ½ inches in diameter at the base. Magnum bottles stand about 14 inches tall and are around 4 inches in diameter. Jeroboam bottles stand 19 ½ inches tall with a base diameter of about 5 inches. The higher capacity bottles such as the Methuselah (22 inches tall) range upward in size to the Nebuchadnezzar that is 31 inches tall. Imagine picking up a bottle that is over 31 inches tall and pouring its wine into your delicate glass stemware.

WINE BOTTLE SHAPES

Wine bottle shapes are as varied as their sizes. Most wine producers opt for bottle shapes that are most appropriate for their wine. For example, Chianti and some other Italian wines come in a round-bottomed bottle encased in a straw basket. Champagne and other sparkling wines come in bottles that are thicker walled because of the excess internal pressures. Wine producers often choose a wine bottle shape strictly for marketing purposes. For that reason, a German Company uses a bottle shaped as a “house cat’” for a Riesling wine it produces.

WINE BOTTLE COLORS

There are several traditional colors that you will find being used in wine bottles. Dark green bottles are typically used for red wines (Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone). Mosel, Rhine and Alsace wines often use a lighter green or amber colored bottle. Clear bottles seem to be the most popular for white wines in many countries. Champagne is typically bottled in a dark to medium green color. Some wine producers also use colors relating to their individual marketing strategies.

FUTURE WINE PACKAGING

The future of wine packaging is wide open. Many producers are opting for cost reducing screw type caps instead of corks. Because the weight of the bottle approximates about 40 percent of the total bottled wine weight, plastic bottles and tetra packs are being explored as a lighter alternative that is cheaper to handle and ship. Packaging wine in lighter containers and exporting wine in bulk quantities then bottling it in smaller bottles closer to the point of consumption are all strategies being explored to improve wine sales and reduce shipping costs. Perhaps, the cost of a good imported French wine will become more affordable in the future.

Author: Ronald Senn, Vice President, Ideal Wine Coolers