Tequila

Tequila is an agave-based spirit made primarily in the area
surrounding Tequila, 65 kilometres (40 mi) in the northwest
of Guadalajara and in the highlands (Los Altos) of the western
Mexican state of Jalisco. The volcanic soil in the region
surrounding Tequila is particularly well suited to the
growing of the cactus-like blue agave, and more than 300
million of the plants are harvested there each year.
However, Mexican laws state that tequila can be produced
anywhere in Mexico,and the country boasts several other
tequila-producing regions.

Tequila is most often made at a 38–40% alcohol content (76–80
proof), but there are also several varieties of tequila
produced with 43–50% alcohol content (86–100 proof).
Tequila was first produced in the 16th century near the
location of the city of Tequila, which was not officially
established until 1656. The Aztec people had previously made
a fermented beverage from the agave plant, which they called
octli (later, and more popularly called pulque), long before
the Spanish arrived in 1521. When the Spanish conquistadors
ran out of their own brandy, they began to distill this agave
drink to produce North America's first indigenous distilled
spirit.

Some 80 years later, around 1600, Don Pedro Sanchez de Tagle,
the Marquis of Altamira, began mass-producing tequila at the
first factory in the territory of modern-day Jalisco. By 1608,
the colonial governor of Nueva Galicia had begun to tax his
products.

The tequila that is popular today was first mass-produced in
the early 1800s in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Don Cenobio Sauza, founder of Sauza Tequila and Municipal
President of the Village of Tequila from 1884-1885, was the
first to export tequila to the United States. Don Cenobio's
grandson Dan Javier gained international attention for
insisting that "there cannot be tequila where there are no
agaves!" His efforts led to the practice that real tequila
can only come from the State of Jalisco.

Traminec

This locally bred variant of the German Gewuerztraminer
("spicy Traminer") is a truly memorable wine; in its elegance
and distinguished character, Traminec is comparable to Renski
Rizling, although it is quite different in taste and bouquet.
The yield is slight and the vine is very sensitive to wind in
its flowering season; it demands deep, warm, and nutritious
soils. Traminec is quite unreliable, and it is said that two
out of every three vintages are more or less failures.

There are actually two types of Traminec vine: the "red"
and the "fragrant" Traminec; however, the "red" Traminec is
almost forgotten and if it appears by chance in Traminec
vineyards, it is not processed separately. The origin of this
vine is unclear, but its known history is very long:
Traminer was grown in Germany 1500 years ago although it was
not processed as a varietal wine. Some ampelographers believe
that Traminec may have been the noble and aromatic wine
described by Pliny, and there are also some indications that
the vine may have originated in Egypt. In this respect,
Traminec remains a mystery.

The Traminec bouquet is simply incomparable, with an
aroma reminiscent of roses, linden blossoms, muscat, and a
plethora of other, more subdued fragrances. The rare good
vintages produce a very aromatic wine, smooth with high
alcohol content and rather slight acids; Traminec is usually
semi-dry to semi-sweet, full-bodied, and velvety. It is a
true connoisseur's wine, sometimes also described as a
"ladies' wine" on the precarious assumption that its aromatic
flavour is especially preferred by the female sex. Aging
is a risky business with Traminec and definitely not to be
undertaken by an amateur - - only some very rare late
harvests improve with age, but only under the professional
care of a master cellarer.

Traminec was once exclusive to the Podravje region,
but in recent decades it has been successfully transplanted
to Smarje-Virstajn in Posavje which is similar in soil
composition although somewhat colder. In Podravje, the
competition to produce the best Traminec is fierce among
the Maribor, Srednje Slovenske Gorice, Radgona-Kapela,
and Ljutomer-Ormoz areas - with Maribor and Radgona-Kapela
most frequently the winners. The Haloze area also produces
good Traminec in warm years.

Sweet or semi-sweet Traminec should be served at 8

Vranec

Vranec (Macedonian: Вранец) or Vranac (Serbian: Вранац /
Vranac) is an ancient variety of grape that is indigenous
to the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. Vranec
is considered the most important variety of grape in
Montenegro and the one of the most important in the Republic
of Macedonia. As it is a local specialty and due to its
localised geography, it produces a dry red wine of a unique
taste and character that is synonymous with the Balkans.

Vranac berries are large and deeply coloured, the dark berries
grow on moderately vigorous and very productive vines. The
fruit is harvested by hand and depending on the area this can
begin from mid-September and continue into October.

The young Vranec wines have a bright purple hue and a nose
full of red berries and fruit jams. Its firm tannin structure
provides crispness and richness with medium to high levels
of extraction and acidity. After a year or two of ageing the
purple develops into an intense dark ruby and the nose
develops a more complex aroma that can include hints of
cinnamon, chocolate, liquorice, flowers, black fruits, herbs
and even woods such as oak. The taste is subtle, round and
full, it loses its sharpness and develops a longer and
smoother finish. Vranec takes exceptionally well to oak and
bottle aging, which is often quite necessary to tame its
intense blend of tannins and acidity. Due to its harmonious
nature, it combines well with other grape varieties such as
Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It is recommended to be served
at room temperature and is an excellent compliment to smoked,
cured or grilled meats, salads, and strong flavoured mature
cheeses.

The word Vranec means strong black and powerful horse
(black stallion), this is why wine made from and named after
this variety of grape is associated with strength, potency
and success. Vran also means raven coloured or black, this is
because red wine is also known as black wine in many South
Slavic languages.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make
white wine. It is believed to have originated in the Burgundy
wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine
is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new and
developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a
"rite of passage" and an easy segue into the international
wine market.[1]

The Chardonnay grape itself is very neutral, with many of
the flavors commonly associated with the grape being derived
from such influences as terroir and oak.[2] It is vinified
in many different styles, from the elegant, "flinty" wines
of Chablis to rich, buttery Meursaults and New World wines
with tropical fruit flavors.

Chardonnay is an important component of many sparkling wines
around the world, including Champagne. A peak in popularity
in the late 1980s gave way to a backlash among those wine
drinkers who saw the grape as a leading negative component
of the globalization of wine. Nonetheless, it remains one
of the most widely-planted grape varieties, with over 400,000
acres (175,000 hectares) worldwide, second only to Airen
among white wine grapes and planted in more wine regions than
any other grape – including Cabernet Sauvignon.
For much of its history, a connection was assumed between
Chardonnay and Pinot noir or Pinot blanc. In addition to
being found in the same region of France for centuries,
ampelographers noted that the leaves of each plant have
near-identical shape and structure. Pierre Galet disagreed
with this assessment, believing that Chardonnay was not
related to any other major grape variety. Viticulturalists
Maynard Amerine & Harold Olmo proposed a descendency from a
wild Vitis vinifera vine that was a step removed from white
Muscat. Chardonnay's true origins were further obscured by
vineyard owners in Lebanon and Syria, who claimed that the
grape's ancestry could be traced to the Middle East, from
where it was introduced to Europe by returning Crusaders,
though there is little external evidence to support that
theory. Another theory stated that it originated from an
ancient indigenous vine found in Cyprus.

Merlot

Merlot ('MERL-oh' in British English, mer-LOH in American
English and standard French) is a red wine grape that is
used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines.
Merlot-based wines usually have medium body with hints
of berry, plum, and currant. Its softness and "fleshiness",
combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular
grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet
Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin. Along with
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot,
Merlot is one of the primary grapes in Bordeaux wine where
it is the most widely planted grape. Merlot is also one of
the most popular red wine varietals in many markets. This
flexibility has helped to make it one of the world's most
planted grape varieties. As of 2004[update], Merlot was
estimated to be the third most grown variety at 260,000
hectares (640,000 acres) globally, with an increasing trend.
This put Merlot just behind Cabernet Sauvignon's
262,000 hectares (650,000 acres).
Researchers at University of California, Davis believe that
Merlot is an offspring of Cabernet Franc and is a sibling of
Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon. The earliest recorded
mention of Merlot was in the notes of a local Bordeaux
official who in 1784 labeled wine made from the grape in
the Libournais region as one of the area's best. The name
comes from the French regional patois word "merlot", which
means "young blackbird" ("merle" is the French word for
several kinds of thrushes, including blackbirds); the naming
came either because of the grape's beautiful dark-blue color,
or due to blackbirds' fondness for grapes. By the 19th
century it was being regularly planted in the Medoc on the
"Left Bank" of the Gironde. After a series of setbacks
that includes a severe frost in 1956 and several vintages
in the 1960s lost to rot, French authorities in Bordeaux
banned new plantings of Merlot vines between 1970 and 1975.

It was first recorded in Italy around Venice under the
synonym Bordo in 1855. The grape was introduced to the Swiss,
from Bordeaux, sometime in the 19th century and was recorded
in the Swiss canton of Ticino between 1905 and 1910. In the 1990s,
Merlot saw a upswing of popularity in the United States.
Red wine consumption, in general, increased in the US
following the airing of the 60 Minutes report on the
French Paradox and the potential health benefits of wine
and the chemical resveratrol. The popularity of Merlot
stemmed in part from the relative ease in pronouncing the
wine as well as it softer, fruity profile that it made
more approachable to some wine drinkers.

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of
grape juice.The natural chemical balance of grapes is
such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars,
acids, enzymes or other nutrients.Wine is produced by
fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast which
consume the sugars found in the grapes and convert them into
alcohol. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts
are used depending on the types of wine being produced.
Although other fruits such as apples and berries can also be
fermented, the resultant "wines" are normally named after the
fruit from which they are produced (for example, apple wine
or elderberry wine) and are generically known as fruit wine
or country wine (not to be confused with the French term vin
du pays). Others, such as barley wine and rice wine (e.g. sake),
are made from starch-based materials and resemble beer and
spirit more than wine, while ginger wine is fortified with
brandy. In these cases, the use of the term "wine" is a reference
to the higher alcohol content, rather than production process.
The commercial use of the English word "wine"
(and its equivalent in other languages) is protected by law
in many jurisdictions.

Wine has a rich history dating back to around 6000 BC and is
thought to have originated in areas now within the borders of
Georgia and Iran.Wine probably appeared in Europe at
about 4500 BC in what is now Bulgaria and Greece, and was very
common in ancient Greece, Thrace and Rome. Wine has also
played an important role in religion throughout history. The
Greek god Dionysos and the Roman equivalent Bacchus
represented wine, and the drink is also used in Christian and
Jewish ceremonies such as the Eucharist and Kiddush.

The word "wine" derives from the Proto-Germanic
*winam, an early borrowing from the Latin vinum,
"wine" or "(grape) vine", itself derived from the
Proto-Indo-European stem *win-o-
(cf. Ancient Greek ????? - oinos, Aeolic Greek ?????? - woinos).
Similar words for wine or grapes are found in the Semitic
languages (cf. Arabic ??? wayn) and in Georgian (gvino);
some consider the term to be a wanderwort, or "wandering word".

Ciroc

Ciroc vodka is a brand of distilled beverage manufactured in
France. It is claimed by the drink's promoters that it is
distinguished by the fact that it is derived from grapes, in
contrast to corn, sorghum, rye, wheat, or potatoes that are
more commonly used. In France it can be legally considered
vodka, but the same cannot be said about the drink in the US.

The grapes used for Ciroc vodka are "snap frost" grapes;
Mauzac Blanc from the Gaillac region of France, and Ugni
Blanc from the Cognac region. The juice extracted from these
grapes is cold fermented.

Although all vodka is distilled, the manufacturers of Ciroc
vodka emphasize that theirs is distilled five times.
The first four distillations of the Ugni Blanc take place
in stainless steel column stills; the Mauzac Blanc grapes
are distilled in copper continuous stills. These are distilled
as far as 96.5% and 93.5%, then blended together 95% being
Ugni Blanc and 5% Mauzac Blanc. The final distillation is
performed in a traditional Armagnac style copper pot still.

Earl Little became one of the first African-Americans to
promote the brand in the USA during 2003. The brand was
introduced to audiences at various nightclubs and venues
throughout the USA with popular urban celebrities in cities
such as Atlanta and Miami. In 2007, Sean "Diddy" Combs agreed
to become a celebrity endorser for the product, and claims
on a commercial that it is the official vodka of New Year's
Eve. In December of 2007, the commercial for Ciroc had Sean
Combs calling Ciroc the "Official Vodka of New Year's."