Feeling bloated? Have a glass of red!

Enjoy salty foods or go heavy on the salt shaker? The antioxidants in red wine help the body excrete excess sodium.

Three steps to make a $10 bottle of red wine taste three times as good

Play “tag” which stands for Temperature, Aeration and Glassware:

1. FEEL THE BOTTLE. If the red is slightly cool to the touch, serve it. If it’s warm, meaning ambient room temperature (70-75 degrees), ask for an ice bucket and give the wine a dip for five to 10 minutes so it gets slightly cool like the temperature of a wine cellar.

2. HAVE THE WINE AERATED IN A DECANTER (or glass pitcher at a more casual restaurant) before serving it.

3. ASK FOR BIG RED WINE GLASSES The big bowl lets you swirl and limber up the wine so it tastes better (just as you limber up and stretch before you exercise). For use at home, or as gifts, buy the Riedel ‘Vinim’ line at about $15 a glass, or the Ravenscroft line at about $10 a glass. Wine glasses are the gift that keeps on giving.

So gift yourself first!

Eat Right, Drink Right, Live Longer

Red wine isn’t a medicine, but it is part of a healthy lifestyle. Enjoyed in moderation, red wine lowers the risk of heart disease, reduces the chance of blood clots forming, and helps prevent bad cholesterol from being laid down as unhealthy plaque that clogs arteries. These benefits have been known since 1991, when the TV program, 60 Minutes, catapulted the subject of the “French Paradox” into the American consciousness. Since then, a growing number of clinical studies have added to the body of evidence that underscores that enjoying red wine in moderation can improve your health, wellness and chance of living longer. For example:

- Protects knee joint cells from arthritis
- Reduces development of retinol cataracts
- Reduces kidney dysfunction
- Lowers risk of prostate cancer
- Reduces risk of asthma
- Lowers risk for Alzheimers and Dement
- JUST DISCOVERED! Acutissimin A , combats growth of cancer
tumors in women which is formed when red wine interacts with oak during the ageing process

So, drink well and live well!

Going shopping

We went to Bottle Rocket in NYC with The Wine Diva where we learned about storage and screwcaps.

Salty, smoky and spicy

In today’s culinary global village, you’re bound to encounter food that’s salty, smoky, spicy. . . or, as in the case of some cusines like those of the Pacific Rim and Asia, all three! So, when you are standing in your local wine shop or reviewing a restaurant wine list, consider the S Factor: Is what you are going to eat salty, smoky, spicy? Fatty roast lamb marries well with a big, tannic Cabernet. However, if you marinate lamb in a spicy mustard, raspberry vinegar, and rosemary sauce, the result is much different and calls for a different kind of wine, a fruity wine whose ripe fruit and sweetness can stand up to the spicy marinade. What happens when you smoke your duck, or you barbecue a piece of meat, or even add salty ingredients (capers, cheese, anchovies) to a meat dish? Those smoky and salty flavors, like the spicy mustard sauce on lamb, need sweetness as a counterweight and thus go great with what I call Pinot Noir on steroids. I’m talking about fruit bombs like Shiraz and Zinfandel. In fact, one adage I’ve heard hits it on the head: If you flame it, Zine can tame it!