International Wine Guild
Follow us! on twitter on facebook | Your Cart | Student Login
A Letter from Governor Hickenlooper
Over the past few years, the International Wine...…
1600 Wynkoop
We've been working on our new home at 1600...…
Happy Wine Month
Nominate Your Favorite Wine!…
Over the past few years, the International Wine Guild has expanded from a Denver school to an international organization, offering some of the best wine training in the country.
With that said, we are proud to call Colorado home, and we were extremely honored this week to receive a letter from Colorado's Governor, John Hickenlooper.
Previously the mayor of Denver, Governor Hickenlopper was a successful brewer and business owner before he became a politician, and he's always been very supportive of the industry. His letter is below.
Dear Claude Robbins, GWM, MWE:
On behalf of the State of Colorado, it is my pleasure to congratulate the International Wine Guild in Denver, Colorado for being an example of a successful small business in the State of Colorado. I would also like to congratulate you on your expansion to a new facility in Lodo.
You have achieved a feat that few accredited vocational schools in the country can match in terms of growth and recognition throughout the United States as well as internationally. The Guild’s extraordinary accomplishments over the past fourteen years in Denver speak volumes about the professionalism and caliber of education the Guild is providing the hospitality industry, wine trade and general public.
It is my honor to congratulate you once again for these impressive accomplishments. You have my best wishes, now and in the years to come.
Sincerely,
John Hickenlooper
Governor
Sometimes you see something that is worth a double take and a picture.
Oscar A Montes Iga is a very active Guild member, has earned his Executive Sommelier certification, and is a Chef and helper in the kitchen when we do seminars and courses in Texas. He also works for a winery and does tastings for Gusto Tasting Group in Austin and Houston, TX.
Oscar does not drive a car - he has a scooter. So if you were to hire him to do a tasting for you he would load everything on his scooter and bring the tasting to you.
In this case "everything" includes 2 cases of wine, 6 cases of glasses as well as ice and a chilling bucket, and, of course a "Wine Tasting" sign. Not to mention his sommelier tools.
I guess we should be thankful it wasn't 3 cases of wine and 9 cases of glasses. Or, that a policeman didn't see him driving down the street. Thanks for sending us the picture Oscar.
Oscar Monters from Austin asks the following: what is the legal definition of mead and its related labeling laws?
Great question. Mead (also called honey wine) is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by fermenting a solution of honey and water. It may also be produced by fermenting a solution of water and honey with grain mash; the mash is strained off immediately after fermentation.
Although called a 'honey wine', since it is not made from fruit or vegetables, it is legally classified as a beer by the TTB, just as sake is a beer.
Sincerely,
Claude Robbins
Camini from India asks: How do we calculate acidity in wines as well suggests food paring with Organic wines?
Thanks for sending in your questions.
There are several common acids found in wine. First attack acids occur upon first drinking the wine. These acids are malic and tartaric. Malic acid is much like a granny smith apple, fairly tart. Tartaric acid is found in wines that have been acidified, and it is bitter. Second (or evolution) attack acids occur after the first couple of seconds of sipping the wine. They are citric and malic. Citric is found in lemons and tropical fruit. Lactic acid is sour and can be found in milk. A sip of buttermilk will never allow you to forget what lactic acid tastes like. The only third (or finishing) attack acid occurs sometime after the first two. It is succinc acid, which is somewhat bitter and a little salty.
With all these acids, they cause salivation, so even if you don't notice the flavor of the acid, you can always recognize acidity in wine due to salivation. First attack causes salivation within the first second or so; second (evolution) attack acids cause salivation within two to four seconds; and the third (finishing) attack acid causes salivation at some point after this, and the salivation occurs from back to front.
To "calculate" how much acidity, just ask yourself how much it causes you to salivate.
To pair any wine, organic or not, with food, at its simplest, consider the "weight" of the food and the "weight" of the wine on the palate. If the food "out-weighs" the wine, you'll never taste the wine. If the wine "out-weighs" the food, you'll never taste the food. Therefore, the best pairings will occur when the "weight" of the food and wine are the same. Acid helps wash the palate clean of the food, aids in swallowing, and prepares the palate for the next bite.
Thanks again for writing to the International Wine Guild!
-Matthew Yoss
N. Callan from Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland asks the following:
What, if any, wines are suitable for diabetics? How can you tell by looking ay the label?
There are two issues in wine when considering diabetes: alcohol and sugar. You need a wine that is low in alcohol and very low in sugar to be semi-safe for a diabetic to drink. The only country I know that actually makes wine labeled for diabetics is Germany--and it is labeled (in German) as 'approved for diabetics' or 'genehmigt für Diabetiker.' Although, by US standards, they would still be too sweet.
Of course, if you have low sugar you usually have high alcohol in wine - so producing a wine that meets both criteria is difficult.
P. Greer from Novato, Marin, USA asks the following:
Where in the mouth are different tannins felt? Grape skin/stem versus oak?
Thanks for your question!
Tannins typically attach down the tongue. For most people, oak tannins attack the first third of the tongue and grape stem tannins attach the back (actually they can constrict the esophagus). As grape tannins become more intense they can also attack the teeth and gums. Grape skin tannins are much 'softer' and typically only attack the back of the tongue.
All tannins are also an astringent, so in addition to showing varying degrees of bitterness they also 'dry' out the mouth. Grape stem tannins are the worst (most astringent), while skin and oak are less astringent and about equal.
Let us know if we can answer anything further,
Tynan Szvetecz, EWS, SWI
Master Candidate
N. Callan from Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland asks the following:
I was recently asked about calories in wines. How do you know calorie count in wines? Is there any difference in grape variety, country, red or white? Is there any way of giving a rough estimate judging from origin, grape, alcohol %? I know there is the weight watchers wine range but its the tens of thousands of other wines available that i'm enquiring about.
I'm also wondering is it law now to state that wines contain sulphites? Most labels state this now but didn't in the past. I know they must be added so a wine will last awhile in bottle.
Thanks for sending in your #askIWG question!
Since 1988 (maybe 1987) it has been a Federal law that any product containing a carcinogenic must state the name of the carcinogenic on the lable - hence "contains sulfites."
There are two aspects of the law that are not often talked about. First, there are exceptions to the law, for example, orange juice does not have to state it contains a carcinogenic. In fact, OJ can contain as much as 10 times the amount of sulfites as wine. Second, there is no reference to the quantity of the carcinogenic needed to replicate the cancer problems observed in the test animals (usually rats). A person would have to drink about a 1000 gallons of wine a day for 10 years to replicate the levels of sulfites artifically placed in the test animals. I don't think that is going to happen.
The law states carcinogenic "at any level" must be listed. So, if you get do to parts per billion or parts per trillion it is still "at any level."
There are about 120 calories in a 4 oz glass of wine - red or white doesn't make a difference; there are substantially more calories in a late harvest or dessert wine.
For a complete overview of calculating calories in wine, visit this IWG blog post:
http://www.
Learn all about these questions and more through the IWG Quick Class Finder:
http://www.
Thanks again for your question!
Please join the International Wine Guild at the Sixth Annual Denver Food and Wine Classic. The event begins on Friday, September 10th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm with "Art of the Cocktail and a Concert." This includes a concert from a KOSI artist, a cocktail party under the stars featuring the "masters of mixology," the Colorado Bartender Guild, and spirits from Beam Global, Pernod Ricard, Patron Spirits, and Skyy Spirits.
The festivities continue on Saturday, September 11th, from noon to 4:00 pm for the Denver Food and Wine Classic Grand Tasting. Sample more than 600 featured wines and signature spirits, and cuisine from more than thirty of Denver's finest restaurants. The event features a Denver Chef culinary showcase, Bourbon Street Spirits tent, Pernod Ricard's "Perfect Mix" lounge, and a silen wine auction.
How to Purchase Your Tickets:
Purchase your tickets for one event or both from either your Southern Wine and Spirits representative, Nicole Robbins (cash or check made out to "Denver Food and Wine Classic" prior to the
day of the event) at NRobbins@southernwine.com
OR
On-line before August 31, 2010. Online tickets are also available at www.denverfoodandwine.com. Please indicate on your sales sheet that Nicole Robbins is your Southern Wine and Spirits Representative.
Please bring a valid photo I.D. to the event; no one under 21 is permitted. We look forward to seeing you there.
Although the Xixi villa is in the Wetlands Park – the actual wetlands park is not a part of the estate grounds. So we took a small electric bus (for 12) about 2 km south of the villa to visit the actual wetlands.
There is a small sign leading to the walkway that follows the bank of the river as it meanders through the wetlands. It is almost like a jungle.
Picture 1 shows the path going into the wetlands on the ‘boardwalk.’ The plants are from 4’ to 7’ tall and it is just about impossible to look through them to see any water.
I have a series of shots I took as we walked along the ‘boardwalk’ through the wetlands. The water, as best I could tell, may have been about 2’ deep through these wetlands.
Picture 2 shows a glimpse of water off in the distance - between the lotus in the foreground and the plants and trees in the background. The surface of the water is so covered in plants you could almost mistaken it for land.
Picture 3 shows a more open stretch of the river with a pedestrian bridge in the background. You can also see some white lotus – of a species that is smaller than the pink lotus I have previously photographed.
Walking a little further, picture 4 shows another bridge. The purple flowers in the picture are blooming cattails.
Picture 5 is a close-up of a cattail bloom. White buds and when they open a vivid purple bloom.
Picture 6 shows a different scene of the river and other plants. The plants are about as dense and varied as any place I have ever been.
Picture 7 is a picture of Ms. Soon and Dr. Lim, my hosts for this trip. I took a picture of them and then each of them wanted a picture with me. As Dr. Lim was taking a picture of me with Ms. Soon, a person walked up to us and in very good English, spoken very carefully and slowly, asked if they could get a picture with me as well. Then 4 or 5 others also asked.
Dr. Lim suggested, and I agreed, it would be the polite thing to do so I became a photo opportunity.
Dr. Lim asked, and was told by the people requesting a picture that they had never seen a ‘westerner’ before and wanted a photograph. He also said to me that he was willing to act as my agent – we would charge 5 yuen (74 cents) a picture; he would get 10%.
We sometimes think that Americans are isolated from the rest of the world, and in some ways we are, but we are nowhere near as isolated as the average Chinese. Keep in mind they have controlled access to the internet and international TV. In fact, there are 12 channels on the TV – all various channels of CCTV, the government owned and controlled television company. From China I cannot directly send out this blog – apparently China blocks access to facebook and twitter. I can email it to the states where it is put up on our blog. In fact, I cannot directly access our website from China.
In picture 7 Dr. Lim is wearing a shirt with the logo for the English football (soccer) team. We stayed up that night to watch the finals of the world cup – it began at 2:30 AM. For those of you that missed it – Spain won, 1-0 – at 4:30 AM.
As we were leaving I could not resist taking this classic picture of a clump of cattails – picture 8. My last shot was of a blooming lotus – it is my favorite picture of a lotus taken on the trip. See picture 9.
More Questions? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
International Wine Guild Wine School
1600 Wynkoop Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80202
Phone : 303.296.3966
Fax : 303.904.3245
Copyright © 2012 International Wine Guild | Powered by Commerce Kitchen SEO
