Global Food & Wine Network

Global Food And Wine Network On Squidoo

We are now a part of squidoo as we expand our presence on the internet to reach the maximum amoun of people possible.

We are here to inform all food and wine enthusiasts on the planet on the lastest news, tips and reviews and continue to touch your lives.

Gastronomy is part of the culture of many countries in the world, and it is our business to reach way out into the regional cultures of different countries and bring them to you, the entusiast!

Squidoo with it’s impressive presence on the net can be a tool to do just that! So please visit us at Global Food & Wine Network on Squidoo!

We appreciate you being there to help us achieve our goal of reaching 100,000 people initially and take our network to the next level from there!

Food and Wine Travel – Tours to Europe

My specialty in food and wine has always been in the European gastronomy.

I have been passionate about the regional dishes of France and Italy in particular, and that is one of the reasons I studied at the Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris.

Many authentic regional dishes, specially from France and Italy represent the local cuisine and are part of the culture.

So, when you decide to visit Europe on a tour, to get the maximum benefit, in many ways, your best choice would be a food and wine tour or tours that emphasize on regional gastronomy.

This way, you not only get to visit your favorite regions in Europe, but you will get to learn and taste the fabulous regional and authentic foods, and wines to match them.

Often times these wines are readily available in your local markets at home, but because you are not familiar with them, you never get to taste them and really miss out on some of the best tasting international wines!

On the other hand, if you have been to the countries the wines come from, you have already been exposed to them. Because you just don’t go on any tour when you travel, you go on food and wine tours!

You see, that can be more beneficial to you, you not only become familiar with the countries you visit, but you absorb their cultures which consist of the customs, beliefs, foods and wines! You can now pass for a savvy cultural traveler who knows his food and wine!

You can alway stay updated on food and wine travel by taking advantage of the free weekly food and wine tips and reviews by visiting GastronomyGlobalNetwork.com. Remember, tours to europe can be beneficial and rewarding!

To Europe For Authentic European Travel with Rick Steves

The are many organizations around the world that provide travel services and customized tours to Europe. Many of these services have very similar operational styles where you can not really discern a unique characteristic!

However, one service that truly stands out is “Europe Through The Back Door” run and operated by the Travel expert Rick Steves and his international team.

Why? Because Rick Steves has been dedicated to European travel for more than 20 years and he conducts and participates in many of the tours himself. He is not just another CEO that is sitting in his office in a metropolitan area teleconferencing his team ( although he might do that if necessary) around the world. No, he gets down and dirty if you will and travels to Europe himself every summer with his dedicated team.

He picks cute and authentic hotels and restaurants in historic districts of every city, town, or village his tour passes through, so that his clients can savor the real culture through the back doors of Europe, not just sight seeing per se.

His passion for Europe and European travel is specially conspicuous and revealing when it comes to food and wine. Notably in countries that are known for their fame of gastronomy like France and Italy. That is why he has food and wine consultants that enlighten him on the availability of regional dishes that would be a crime to overlook and pass by without trying. Equally wines that match those dishes and divulge their quality and excellent taste.

I had the opportunity to attend his 2010 annual tour event at his international headquarters in beautiful Edmonds, Washington in the United States. It was very educational indeed!

Remember that part of an authentic European travel is experiencing and savoring the local food and wines of each region. Get access to a complete European Gastronomy Manifesto by visiting http://GastronomyGlobalNetwork.com and become a more savvy traveler to Europe!

Global Food and Wine Network Fan Page on Facebook

Our network has a new fan page on facebook, which has grown to about 200 members in less than 5 days, and we are very thrilled to see so many food and wine enthusiasts celebrating the world of gastronomy.

Our goal is to grow our fan page website to over 100 thousand members worldwide initially and then take it to another level at that point.

Please join our fan page if you haven’t done so already, here

We want this fan page to be fun and informative, a place where you can get all your questions answered and make life more enjoyable.

Make this page your gastronomy haven and stay updated on the latest tips and news concerning the food and wine industry. Your input, posts and participation is greatly appreciated.

Receive your free weekly Tips & Review and download your gift “The Top 20 Cheeses Of France,” at http://GastronomyGlobalNetwork.com! Thank you for being there, and don’t hesitate to send in your questions and comments!

Wine Decanter For Maximum Enjoyment of Wine Tasting

The important fact that most average wine drinkers overlook is decanting their red wine before drinking it!

Decanting is important for several reasons, the most important of which is harmonizing all the flavors of the wine. The interaction between oxygen and wine gives the wine that has been sitting in its bottle a chance to breath and release its aromas (for younger wines a carafe is used to provide more oxygen faster).

But providing air does one more thing for the wine, it allows its flavors to break-in sort of speak.

Why use a decanter?

Well, number one when you use a decanter, you are supposed to take at least one minute time to pour the wine slowly in to the container ensuring that the sediments that are usually deposited on the bottom of the bottle are separated from the actual liquid and they remain in the bottle.

Number two, decanters are in general scientifically designed to provide and expose least amount of oxygen to the surface of the wine. Consequently, the consumer can enjoy the final results more effectively (for younger wines you’re better off using a carafe that provides more oxygen to the wine, or leaving it in the decanter longer).

Number three, which has to do more with mindset than anything else, decanters are stylish! They give you a subtle but psychologically an in vogue feeling that whether you like to admit it or not, it makes you feel good and it makes your wine tasting experience more enjoyable!.

Remember, it is all about making your wine drinking experience more enjoyable. Find out more about wine decanter and wine tasting at the food and wine tips and review by visiting http://GastronomyGlobalNetwork.com. Live stylishly my friend, because you deserve it!

Ideal Wine List For Major Airlines!

It seems that air carriers are creating more accommodating wine lists, especially for their business and first class passengers, than ever before!

That means the customers are becoming more sophisticated and demanding, and in order to have the edge over the competition, air carriers are offering unique wine lists that might separate them from others.

However, when examining the wines listed, the choices they offer do not always guarantee a memorable experience for their clientele. Not that they tend to offer inferior wines en route, to the contrary, most airlines have quality wine lists! The problem is that the wines they offer, though “premium” and in the right vintage, do not always live up to expectations!

Just because the wine is “quality and expensive” does not always guarantee customer satisfaction.

The secret is to offer a variety of quality wines that are not necessarily price prohibitive but tend to satisfy the majority of taste buds. Wines that have been market tested and have universal appeal due to their smooth, settling and pleasing tastes.

There are a number of wines that satisfy the above criteria, but for starters, I am going to make 2 wine suggestions here that if any airline decides to serve them on a regular bases, they would almost always be guaranteed to get compliments from their customers:

E.Guigal Crozes Hermitage from the Rhone region of France (Grape: Syrah), and Zenato Ripassa Della Valpolicella from the Veneto region of Italy (Grape: Corvina). Both of these are red, we’ll talk about white wine suggestions another time.

Remember, I just gave airlines around the world 2 wine suggestions that if they put on their wine list, they will make their customers smile:). Don’t believe me? Try them and you’ll see! Indeed!

French Wines – Gigondas

If you are familiar with my writings on wine, you know that for me the taste of a wine tops my agenda in criticizing that wine. It is not what the experts think and base their opinions on, it is basically the taste of the wine.

Not being a fan of tannic, oaky and heavy wines, I tend to recommend smooth, settling, and delightful wines that have a clean finish and lack aftertaste. So if you are a die hard California wine drinker that enjoy heavy Cabs and Merlots that have been vinified and developed in relatively new French oak barrels, and carry this conspicuous woody flavor and tannin that linger in your mouth, then you probably do not appreciate my articles as much.

However, if you are a wine drinker that enjoys and even prefers a certain smoothness in a wine that provides a sense of delight in your mouth, my next recommendation in these types of wines is an impressively enjoyable wine from the Rhone region of France called Gigondas.

Gigondas vineyards are located in the Dentelle de Montmirail region of Cote du Rhone in France. They profit from the red clay soil and Mediterranean like weather. Gigondas is a well-balanced and aromatic wine. It is very smooth and settles wonderfully in the mouth. It is a very inviting wine that has such an impressive effect on the consumer, that he or she would have a very difficult time not to completely finish the bottle.

The savvy wine makers of this region develop this wine so impeccably in most chateaus, that in my opinion need to be rewarded by constant recognition and commendations.

The grapes used to make this wine are, Syrah, Grenache, and Mouvedre. Gigondas is available in red and rose.

Tuscany Wine – Montepulciano

Montepulciano is a beautiful hilly region on Tuscany’s southwestern edge, east of the historic hilltop town of Siena, where Tuscany meets Umbria near pretty Lake Trasimeno. The Montepulciano grape is found in numerous regions around Southern Italy and most famously in the town of Abruzzo. The grape is often confused with Sangiovese when used for making Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

While increasingly enjoyed as a non- blended varietal, Montepulciano is most classically crafted into two style of wines, Rosso Conero and Rosso Piceno. Both are blends of Montepulciano and Sangiovese with Piceno typically having a mixture of 85% Sangiovese and 15% Montepulciano while Conero is typically a blend of 15% Sangiovese and 85% Montepulciano.

This young wine, bottled in the same year it is produced, has an intense ruby red color, with light violet reflections. It features a soft bouquet, considered fruity, and it has a dry, smooth, and well-balanced flavor, with an enjoyable slightly bitter but pleasant aftertaste.

Montepulciano has a fairly intense nose of strawberry and ripe plum fruit, combined with hints of leather and fading red flowers. On the palate it is dry, warm and quite smooth with good freshness. Flavors of Morello cherries, peaches and plums are backed by soft yet persistent sweet tannins and subtle tobacco notes.

The quality of Montepulciano wines produced in Abruzzo has been constantly improving in the last ten years, making Abruzzi, once a backwater in wine making, one of the most interesting realities in the Italian scene.

This wine can accommodate many red meats and game birds. It’s over all smooth and balanced taste can please almost every kind of wine drinker.

Taste in Food and Wine

When I was being marked for my final exam at the Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris, one comment from my instructor chef stuck in my mind. When he first looked at my dish that I had prepared for the final exam, he said: “Well, it looks good, but does it taste good?’ I will never forget that comment because it is this very point that separates a good cook from a mediocre one. To my good fortune, he liked the taste of my creation as well!

This fact is very true. You love your grand ma’s cooking because it is always wholesome and good. It is not the look of her food that excites you, it is the taste. Same thing when you eat at your favorite restaurant. It is the food that brings you back more that anything else.

Taste in food and wine has always been the number one priority for me . Creating food is only the first step in cuisine, however it is the taste of that food that leaves a lasting impression. This is equally true about wine. There are many “expensive wines” out there in the market, but many of them do not live up to their quality or expectations, and are not impressive in taste, to say the least. No, you do not have to pay a fortune to enjoy a bottle of wine, you just have to know what to get and become more familiar with the types of wine that are always impressive in taste.

Yes my friends, it is the taste in food and wine that makes our lives more tastefully enjoyable!

Organic Food Becomes More and More in Demand

It is a fact that an increasing number of people are moving towards natural and organic products every year. That means people are becoming more aware of what types of food are offered in the market and what kind of effects they are producing on the general health of the population.

We, as Americans, are among the most sensible and logical people on the planet when it comes to production and manpower. However we had not put too much importance on the quality of food we consumed, till now. That is very exciting and means we are now becoming even sensible about our food consumption.

Organic food usually means food that has been grown with natural untreated fertilizers, and is pesticide free. What the earth intended to begin with.

When we look around us, abundance of nature is quite visible. We actually live in abundance of natural creation. However when man decided, due to the false impression, that he needs to produce more, using every means at his disposal to feed people and make more money, even if it goes against the rules of nature, the number of diseases became more frequent. We are what we eat.
When we act on a competitive plane rather than a creative plane, we loose sight of the unlimited natural resources that are at our disposal.

So, it is quit thrilling to see that more people are becoming health conscious and desire to live naturally. This is why we see that more organic food products, and organic food stores are becoming available in our neighborhoods.