If you have a second - go to youtube.com and search the words Vineyard Fresh. The Cleveland Wine School recently hosted an episode of Made Here that featured a wine preservation system called Vineyard Fresh. Housed in an attractive burgundy colored bottle, Vineyard Fresh is actually Argon gas. The bottle has a long nozzle at the top allowing wine drinkers to deliver the gas right into the neck of the bottle. Here’s the good news - Argon is an inert gas so it will not react or mix with your wine. Instead, the gas protects the leftover wine from oxygen (which causes wine to turn) by placing a blanket of Argon at the surface of the wine. With just two quick blasts, your leftover wine is protected for several days. Best bet - cork the wine up immediately and place it in the refrigerator. Whether it is red or white, opened wine should go right into the cooler. The lower temperature slows down the breakdown of the wine and will keep wine fresh for a few extra days. When you are ready to  sip the red, simply take it out of the refrigerater and let it warm up on your kitchen counter. Alternatively, plan your wine sipping so there is no leftover wine to worry about…aahh I just showed my hand! Cheers.

OK. This is a test. It is only a test. I created a small video to try out my new flip and I want to make sure you can view it by clicking here.  Give it a try and let us know at info@clevelandwineschool.com Thanks!

A few months ago, I entered a national contest sponsored by the Wines of Australia USA. The object of the contest was to find 5 Americans willing to travel to Australia on a fantastic trip coordinated by the Wines of Australia, meet several winemakers, taste tons of wine, see lots of cool sites and then come back to the USA and spread the good news about current trends in Australia. Luckily, I won for the mid-west region and am currently in Australia with four  wine educator “mates” from the USA. So for the next few days, I will write about the trip and tell you about the wines. I will even try to get some cool photos and video bits as well.

Day One: We started our journey in LA where we boarded a plane to Sydney, then another plane across the country to the Western Aussie town of Perth. Next up, a four hour car ride to the Margaret River. All together, the travel time was just over 42 hours door to door. After a quick dinner and some high acid Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon at a local hole in the wall called Settlers, we all hit the hay to try to get on to Aussie time.

The Margaret River is known for Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blends (they call them SBS) as well as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon blends and Shiraz. The climate is much like our west coast except there are cooling breezes off the Indian Ocean that keep temperatures down. That in combinaton with tons of sun gives wines that are bright in acidy and yummy in flavor - the best of both worlds. I cannot wait.