What to Do When You Don't Have a Corkscrew

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     You're on vacation, you've brought along a great bottle of wine to enjoy in your room at the B&B, and then it hits you: You forgot to bring a corkscrew.

     Just as panic begins to set in, you remember the video that you saw on VinesseTODAY.com...

A Wine Label You Can Believe In

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     Yesterday here on VinesseTODAY.com, we urged you to take a "buyer beware" approach when it came to reading and interpreting a wine label.

     We pointed out that certain words and phrases infer a higher level of quality but, in fact, carry no legal meaning.

     Today, however, we'd like to point out a label that's actually worth seeking out...

The Language of the Label

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     You can learn a lot from reading a wine label. You also can learn nothing at all.

     Allow us to explain.

     Among the important pieces of information you can glean from perusing a label are the winery that made the wine, the region in which the grapes were grown, what year those grapes were grown, and the variety of the grapes...

Let's Raise a Glass to Screw Caps

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     For as long as there has been a company known as Vinesse, we have been championing the use of wine bottle closures other than corks.

     We don't hate corks. Far from it. We appreciate the history and tradition associated with them, and we understand that a vast majority of wines sealed with corks end up smelling and tasting just as the vintner envisioned.

     That said, if there's a better way to protect that wine in the bottle, we've always been open to giving it a try...

3 Tips for Aspiring Wine Collectors

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     People collect wine for one of two reasons: as an investment, or to have some truly memorable drinking experiences.

     Given how the recession has changed the marketplace, investing is an iffy proposition today. There's no guarantee that big-ticket wines will appreciate in value to the degree that they're worth the investment in storage space, temperature-control cooling, etc.

     But if your goal is to have an array of top-quality wines on hand for special occasions, the following tips should help...

How to Spend Your Tax Refund

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     Have money coming back this year from Uncle Sam?

     Lucky you!

     Please send your checks or money orders to: Robert Johnson, Editor, VinesseTODAY.com, c/o of the Web site.

     (Just kidding!)

     If you're planning a bit of a splurge with your refund, here are two suggestions...

How to Beat the Tax Day Blues

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     Exactly one week has passed since Tax Day 2010.

     And if you're like many Americans, you wrote a check to Uncle Sam that you really would have preferred not to write.

     But life goes on, and let's face it, wine is an important part of life. So, the next time you eat out, don't settle for iced tea; have a glass or share a bottle of wine.

     Here are two ways you can do just that...

What You Can Learn from a Wine's Vintage

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     A bottle of wine typically has a year printed on its label. That year is the wine's vintage, the year in which the grapes used to make the wine were harvested. It's a useful piece of information for a discerning wine drinker to have - to a certain degree.

     Vintage dates were first placed on bottles - the earliest versions were painted on the bottles or written in chalk - for a very simple purpose: to let the wine drinker know how old the wine was.

     Those early wines were not laid down for extended periods of time with the belief that they would gain complexity and enhance enjoyment, so the vintage date wasn't provided for that reason. Rather, the date was placed...

How to Be the Perfect Host... at a Restaurant

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    Let's be honest: Some of the rituals that people go through when a restaurant server brings a bottle of wine to the table can be downright hilarious.

     In particular, the practice of sniffing the just-dislodged cork sends a clear signal that the sniffer THINKS he knows a lot about wine.

     But, hey, if his guests are impressed, no harm done.

     However, there are a few things that the host of...

Wines Gone Bad

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     Just as bad things sometimes happen to good people, it's possible for a bottle of wine to "go bad."

     Because wine does not come with a "use by" date stamped on the label, it can be difficult to detect a "bad" bottle before opening it.

     The good news is that 95 percent of all wines have absolutely nothing wrong with them. Among bottles sealed with closures other than cork, that percentage is closer...

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