Burgundy Tasting at Grace Restaurant

Sheilah McGovern hosts

a BURGUNDY TRADE TASTING at Grace Restaurant

from 2-4 on June 2.

Look at that view...

Vineyard Brands sales rep Emmanuel Lemoine's view in New Zealand during his

Peregrine winery visit.

Peregrine winery, New Zealand!

Owners of Peregrine Lindsay McLachlan, Greg Hay
with Eugenio, Hank & Saj

Thierry Matrot wine tasting

Jay Schiering of McCarthy & Schiering Wine Merchants in Seattle with

Thierry Matrot-April 2010
Thanks to VB sales rep Val Markus for this terrific pic.

Tasting with Nicolas Jaboulet

Glazer's Domaines & Estates staff in Kansas City tasting Jaboulet Perrin with wine producer
Nicolas Jaboulet.
Thanks to our sales reps Joe Ancona for this great pic.

Wine Riot

Vineyard Brands sales rep David Bove at the
Wine Riot event

Music to your Mouth!

Eileen Hallmark pouring at the Music for you Mouth event.
The Inn, Palmeto Bluff, South Carolina

Paragliding in New Zealand! Go Jan and Emmanuel!

Emmanuel & Rene!
The Peregrine winery in New Zealand.

Jan paragliding in New Zealand during her visit to the Peregrine winery!

Stelvin or Cork. What's the difference?

Natural cork
Natural cork closures have a centuries-long heritage; however, they allow for a bottle of wine to be "corked" as the saying goes. A "corked" bottle has a musty smell and taste that stems from TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole) - a substance used to sanitize the natural cork prior to bottling. The result is a flat, moldy flavor devoid of fruit-filled taste and aroma. It is estimated that about 5-10% of wines available on merchants’ shelves are "corked."

Synthetic Corks
Synthetic corks, derived from plastic, appeared to be a viable alternative to traditional corks. However, their track record has been tarnished due to their inability to keep oxidation at bay for any real length of time, significantly decreasing the shelf life of a wine and short-changing the maturing process of select wines.

Screw Cap
Screw caps provide the best seal for bottled wines, and eliminate the "corked" and oxidation problem in one fell swoop. Hogue Cellars completed a 30-month study comparing natural and synthetic cork closures with the Stelvin screw caps, their findings suggest significant benefits in utilizing screw caps over either natural or synthetic cork closures. While, screw caps do diminish the drama and romance of bottle opening it is well worth the sacrifice to ensure a taint-free wine that offers consistent aging, maintained flavor and freshness with optimum quality control.

The Stelvin screw cap appears to be the industry’s cap closure of choice. With producers such as Hogue Cellars , Beringer, Bonny Doon, Penfolds and many others utilizing the Stelvin screw cap closure for wines of all price ranges. We are sure to see this trend take hold as winemakers and wine enthusiasts alike place a higher priority on overall quality and less on "corked" tradition.

Read the complete article: http://wine.about.com/od/storingwines/a/Screwcaps.htm

South Africa World Cup! What a great wine portfolio!

Get ready for an event that happens every 4 years...

The World Cup!

How do you get ready? Well, though we can't tell you to be sure you're wearing clean underwear, we can confidently recommend you enjoy one (or more) of our wonderful South African wines from our portfolio: http://www.vineyardbrands.com/Aspx/OurProducers.aspx

Caparzo On The Red Carpet

Check out the new movie Letters to Juliet and see beautiful Tuscany...

including the lovely scenery at

CAPARZO & BORGO SCOPETO!