These classes generally cover topics for people who  feel intimidated about shopping for wine, who are confused by all the different labels with the names of places and grapes they never heard of.   These beginner wine classes are developed to take the mystery out of your wine experience. In its most basic format, the classes guide you beginning with the grape at the vineyard to the final bottle of wine at your table. You are shown how to taste a wine, how to understand the different wine labels, and how to properly serve your wine. These classes are normally offered in a relaxed atmosphere so that a beginning wine lover doesn't feel intimidated and they usually offer a chance to give feedback, so no matter what experience level you are, everyone can find a benefit in one of the classes offered for people new to wine – even the more experienced wine lovers!

For us, there was a local wine store that offered these classes and we walked to the class.  We recommend you take a cab, because you are tasting the wine, not just looking at it.  Also check to see about any fees involved if you register and take one of the classes.

Additional classes taught at a more beginning level may include information on how to identify a wines key components, how experts score a wine, proper wine serving temperatures and how to identify wine styles.  you may also be interested in learning about comparing and contrasting Old World and New World wines as well as learning about the regions they were made from.  Please take a cab or other transit if you cannot walk to the class.

If you are interested in learning an appreciation of wines that are made from the most well known grapes and some of the lesser known grapes from around the world, or learning about the origin of grapes, then you may want to look into a varietal class.  If exotic wine names frightened you before then you won't be afraid after you take one of these classes that explains in a class, tasting, seminar type format the grapes and wines and growing regions and their significance of the world.  These classes teach you about diversity of flavors and their cultivation.  We found them to be an excellent resource and made some great friends too!

Once you master those things you may be interested in a class on Appellation.  In appellation classes you'll learn about wines from the world's growing regions and the classic wines produced from them. These wine regions are appellations and are recognized by the wine industry and countries from all over the world as producing wines with a distinct uniqueness and character.

If you were ever confused by labels of wines from around the world that often don't list the grape varietal name, Or, does list the varietal name, but not where the wine came from, then you will enjoy getting information from your local winery or wine shop on where to begin.  We started our trek with information online, but found the classes to expedite our learning, friendly and easy to participate in and made valuable connections to both people and new wine experiences.

Who hasn't had a stubborn cork!  If you are trying to get a cork out of a bottle that just will not cooperate then you may consider putting the bottle neck in hot water for ten seconds.  When the glass expands your cork becomes easier to remove.  Keep in mind that heat changes the flavour of wine-so no more than ten seconds and only the bottle neck!

Flavour and taste are completely dependent on the person, but in our experience, the meals that use foods that are cooked by grilling, roasting, broiling and baking are best cooked and served with oaked wines.  While meals that are steamed, poached, braised, or cooked in clear liquids work best with white wine or a red with a more subtle oak taste.  Again, I would emphasize to not become dependent on recipes and to explore your tastes.  Don't go cheap if you don't like the essence of cheap in your food, because although the alcohol is cooked away, the essence of the flavor of your wine choice stays.

If you have a light colored carpet and . . . oops . . . you spill your red wine on it then grab a bottle of white wine and pour it over the top of the red wine stain. The white against the red takes the red out. A professional carpet cleaner gave us that advice and it works!  It has to do with the acid content, which is why citrus based removers work.  Also, a mixture of lemon juice and white vinegar works too – but watch out that you don't only dab the stain so that the vinegar odor does not linger.

If you want your wine to chill faster, the freezer is not the place to store it.  Try adding 1/4-1/3 cup salt to the ice bucket.  You'll find that the cooling process speeds up by about fifty percent faster than water from your faucet.

Two to three weeks is almost too long to store a bottle of wine in the refrigerator.  After that period of time, it can begin to lose the flavor that makes it your favorite wine.  For champagne and sparkling wine, the time from opening to serving goes down to 24 hours, or overnight.  After 24 hours the bubbles go away – The 'fun' is gone!

Do you need to send a wine gift.  If you do then make a wine basket and include specialty foods, or wine related accessories like stoppers and corkscrews, crystal ice buckets, tongs, wine totes and bags, crystal glasses, as well as a plethora of other wine-related ideas available to you with a little online research!

If you suspect that you have any allergies, I strongly advise you to seek the advice of a doctor – A simple allergy test in the office that consists of a light prick of a pin head that has a dot of that substance (you may be allergic to) on it to your forearm which will show whether you have an allergy.  The complete allergy test takes about 45 minutes.  Better to know than to guess.  That's what we did to find out.

According to the Wikipedia definition  – "Sulfites occur naturally in all wines to some extent. Sulfites are commonly introduced to arrest fermentation at a desired time, and may also be added to wine as preservatives to prevent spoilage and oxidation at several stages of the winemaking.  Organic wines are not necessarily sulfite-free. In general, sweet (dessert) wines contain more sulfites than dry wines, and white wines contain more sulfites than red wines.   In the United States, wines bottled after mid-1987 must have a label stating that they contain sulfites if they contain more than 10 parts per million.  The government entity that monitors  wineries in the United States is called the ATF.  The ATF  has determined that the wine classified as sulfite free is when the levels of sulfites are under 10 parts per million, or ppm.

In the European Union an equivalent regulation came into force in November 2005."  Sulfites can be found on garlic, onions (Yummy), growing plants and grapes.  There really is no such thing as sulfite free.

Sulfites have been added to wine for a thousand years or so.  Sulfur candles were used by the Romans and by the Greeks  so that their two handled, narrow necked ancient jars, that were used to hold wine or oil, and their wine barrels were sterilized.

Oxygen can damage wine, so sulfur protects and assists in the prevention of organisms growing in wine.  In this way, wine lasts longer-is preserved and allowed to age so that the flavors can develop.  Wine without sulfates equals vinegar in just a few short months.  Eighteen months – and unfortunately, that includes the time from being bottled.

Some factors that you may be allergic to the sulfites are if you get headaches after you drink wine – especially red wine.  Not just a slight headache, but a more severe one.  Red wine routinely has a higher sulfite level than white wine.  You can also tell if you have a poor wine by the smell.  The wine may possess an odor that resembles rotten eggs.  This is an indicator that the sulfites were not used correctly in the wine.   There is little agreement as to this theory, but it still remains valid in our opinion.  If you have an allergy this would make you very suspect of the wine.

If you are careful you will notice whether your wine choice has, natural sulfites, or has added in sulfites.  Added in sulfites have a higher level of sulfites and can cause an allergic reaction, but you may not experience a reaction with wine that has natural sulfites.  You'll want to also remember that a natural sulfites will not last as long as a wine with added in sulfites, so don't wait to drink it.

If you buy a wine that has natural sulfites in it you should have been warned to drink it quickly and not store it by the label warning or by the winery itself.  Pay attention to labels or special instructions or information.  In order to produce the natural sulfites, a winery must maintain a meticulous level of cleanliness and sterility, so that the organisms that normally grow and will turn a wine to vinegar are kept to a minimum and to help prevent contamination from harming their wine.

Unless you actually go into the winery, it would be difficult at best to know what procedures any one winery used.  So you may ask, if you are at the winery, what process is used.  If you are given the information that they use a layer of carbon dioxide on the wine to kill off the bad microbes that depend on oxygen.  Or that, Nitrogen gas is used for Bottling.  Also if they talk about the sterile filtration methods they have in place, then you can feel fairly confident that they are taking every step available to them to create the best atmosphere for their natural sulfites wine.  Take note, too that the bottle of wine is stored on its side – especially important when you get it home – and chilled.