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Goal (in U.S. $) of a new crowdfunding campaign to research the link between headaches and red wine. Scientists at the University of California/ Davis are asking wine lovers to help support their research. Exactly what causes wine-related headaches is not known, but researchers hope to rule out some hypotheses. Sulfites, btw, are not a suspected culprit. Science has already shown that sulfites do not cause headaches. Go HERE to participate

Which of the following is not a fortified wine?

A. Amarone

B. Ruby Port

C. Madeira

D. Sherry

Big, rich, and grand maybe—but Amarone is not fortified. Amarone or as it’s officially named, Amarone della Valpolicella, is the highly concentrated, powerful, dry red wine of the Veneto region of Italy, made using the regional grape varieties corvina, corvinone, and rondinella (and sometimes others). The grapes are dried before they are fermented according to a traditional and painstaking method known as appassimento. During this process, the grapes are spread on mats in cool lofts where they will lose 40% of their moisture. The grapes dry for up to 120 days. This process raisinates and concentrates them before they are slowly pressed and then ferment for a languorous 35-50 days. Amarones can age 40 years or more, and because they are intense wines, many wine drinkers hold them for about 10 years before drinking.

You can read Karen’s past review of the ALLEGRINI Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2009 here. And watch her #TasteWithKaren virtual tasting with CEO Marilisa Allegrini here.

Let’s See: Should It Be “Napa” or “Runaway Cow?”

The excitement about Long Dai―Château Lafite Rothschild’s new winery in Shandong province on the eastern seaboard of China―continues unabated. It’s been 11 years since the complex winery/vineyard project began, but only this fall will the… Continue reading

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