Jul 04 2012

Introduction to Wine, part III: Seasons of the vine

In the second instalment of “Introduction to Wine,” I explained some of the flavour components of wines, and the terminology that is generally used to describe those flavours (as well as some of the corresponding aromas). In this chapter, though, I’m going to cover a very important non-drinking-related aspect of wine–the seasons of the vine. Within viticulture, there are generally accepted periods throughout the year that mark special occasions with respect to the processes of growing and winemaking. I’ve briefly outlined the key periods in the table below:

Process Time Explanation
Dormancy December – April No prominent activity for the vines.
Weeping Late March – early April The canes are pruned. The sap is underground at this point, but moves up into the pruned places.
Bud burst Late April / early May This stage is where the buds form on the stem, and from them shoots appear. This happens when the temperature reaches ~10°C (~50°F).
Flowering May / June About 50-80 days after the bud burst (or when temperatures are 15-20°C [~60-68°F]), the flowers appear, and they tend to look like little bulbs or buttons.
Fruit set July The berries, which are hard and very tart early representations of the grapes, appear for the first time.
Veraison August About 50 days or so after fruit set, the berries start to ripen and change colour. The vines are not irrigated after this point as that process would generally dilute the flavour.
Harvest September – October Harvesting times vary based on varietal, temperatures, and many other viticultural decisions, but is generally around 90 days after flowering.

There is certainly a lot of detail that was left out of that chart, but hopefully it provides an introductory understanding of the seasons as they pertain to winemaking. It is important to remember that those seasonal estimates are based in the northern hemisphere; for vineyards in the southern hemisphere, the periods are flipped.

Next time, we will cover the topics of reading wine labels and storing your wines.

Cheers,
Zach

Jun 27 2012

Tek Gear performance sleeveless shirts

Tek Gear is a brand of athletic apparel that is sold exclusively at Kohl’s. I started buying the brand a while back because it is significantly cheaper than other, larger brands like Adidas, Nike, and even Reebok (which used to be one of my favourites for athletic clothing [especially generalist shoes]). A few weeks ago, I was in the market for some new shirts for running. I had been wearing the Adidas Climaspeed shirts, but the price was a bit steep. I also found that they weren’t really repelling the sweat like they claimed. After about 8-10 km into my run, the back of the shirt would be drenched and would stick to me, which is a feeling that I really can’t stand.

So while at Kohl’s one day, I decided that I should look to see if Tek Gear made any shirts that would work for me. I found the Tek Gear performance sleeveless shirts, and though that they looked well-made. I tried one on for fit, and it was pretty good. I wear a small or extra-small in just about everything athletic, but they don’t come in XS. As far as fit is concerned, the only thing that I don’t like is that they run a bit long for my liking. I’m not short (177cm), but the shirt extends a good 12-13cm below my waist. Anyway, I bought a few of them and started wearing them on my daily runs.

Tek Gear performance sleeveless shirts

They do seem to pull heat away from my body significantly better than did the Adidas shirts, and they dry incredibly quickly! I really like the feel of the shirts, and how lightweight they are. Not to mention, they come in a variety of colours instead of just the typical black, grey, and white. I’ve never really understood buying a white athletic shirt anyway, but that’s a different story altogether. Anyway, I’ve been wearing them for a few weeks now, and I can say that they hold up nicely after a few washings as well.

So if you’re looking for some good athletic shirts (or any workout clothes for that matter), I would suggest you try ordering some items from Tek Gear. You’ll probably be surprised at the quality of manufacturing, especially for the price!

Cheers,
Zach

Jun 26 2012

Menchie’s frozen yoghurt in Durham, NC

All across the United States there have been these “premium frozen yoghurt” (or ‘yogurt’) establishments opening. They started popping up in a fairly regular manner a couple years ago, but now it seems like you can’t go anywhere without seeing a different chain of them. The places–characterised by bright colours (usually neon greens and pinks) throughout–generally have self-serve machines with various flavours, and a toppings bar.

I don’t really have a problem with all of the venues opening, as I generally love frozen yoghurt, and especially this style. I’ve tried a few of them in this area, and recently I tried Menchie’s in Durham, NC. Remember the crazily bright colours that I mentioned earlier? Well even their logo features them:

Menchie's Frozen Yoghurt logo

Anyway, I have been there twice, and think that I can make a pretty decent assessment of the chain (check the link above for their locations near you). The first time that I went, I tried a combination of the cheesecake flavour and the carrot cake flavour. On top of that mix, I put mango boba (which if you’ve never had boba, you should try them; they’re fun), and granola for a little bit of a texture contrast. Speaking of the granola, that’s one of the things that I really enjoyed about Menchie’s–they had fat free granola, which is really uncommon at these joints. The second time that I went, I mixed snickerdoodle and vanilla flavours with only the fat-free granola.

As far as the flavours that I tried, they were good, but after a couple of minutes, they ran together and were fairly indistinguishable. The flavours were not strong enough, in my opinion. The texture was a little bit off, and sometimes had a slight grit to it, but not bad. They offered numerous toppings, ranging from fresh fruits, to candies, to cereals. All that variety, though, wasn’t enough to offset the somewhat bland yoghurt mixtures that they had. I did sample quite a few flavours before choosing the ones that I did, but I didn’t really find some that made me go “wow, that’s great!”

Overall, Menchie’s has some strong points, but I don’t think that they have any distinguishing factors that set them apart from the other chains out there. For that reason, I wouldn’t recommend them, especially when there are EXCELLENT choices in the area here (and likely better choices in your location as well).

Cheers,
Zach