Over the last few years, interest in home brewing has been steadily growing. That great for the beer fans out there, but what's the wine drinker to do when they catch the DIY bug? Up until now, they haven't had many options. However the WinePod is hoping to change all that by allowing regular people to make wine right in their own homes.
WinePod is the first-ever personal winery. It is a self–contained, computer–controlled unit that allows the amateur wine maker to create up to four cases of wine per fermentation (and up to 12 fermentations a year). The company provides the grapes, as well as all the tools you'll need to cask and bottle your vino. You get software to install on your computer that will walk you through the process and will assist you in avoiding any potential pitfalls.
It's a pricey gadget, starting at $4,499, but for the right wine enthusiast, it could be the perfect holiday gift.
If you're a friend of mine, I'm sorry, but I'm about to spoil your Christmas present. You're getting my homemade corncob wine. Now get that look off your face -- it's actually pretty darned tasty, and if you don't believe me, at least trust the palates of James Beard Award winning cookbook authors and Lowcountry culinary ambassadors Matt and Ted Lee. I nabbed this method from The Lee Bros. Southern Cooking, and thought the first batch turned out so well, it was worthy of a second gallon's brewing a few weeks later.
While in Paso Robles, California, last week on a wine tour, I got to go through Steinbeck Vineyards, which has been supplying grapes to different Paso wineries for 20+ years and just started making their own wine, and Four Vines Winery, where winemaker Christian Tietje is as untraditional as they come. Here's a gallery of photos I took as we went through the winemaking process.
Don't tell me that after watching the mvie Sideways you didn't have the teeniest tiniest inkling of a fantasy of dropping everything, moving to wine country and making your simple living as a winemaker. Heck, I had that dream. I even had that dream back when I first saw French Kiss.
But that was a dream. Reality is you have a career, a family, friends, and a whole host of other responsibilities.
You may not be able to go and live on a vineyard, but San Francisco company CrushPad can at least get you as close to making your own wine without leaving your real life. Crushpad provides grapes from California vineyards, and from there, you decide how much you want to be involved in making your own wine, using resources like their team of winemakers. You don't even have to live in California!
Luxist reports that a recent conference on Global Warming and Wines found that traditional
wine-making areas may be at risk of losing their wine-making abilities,
including the Catalonian regions of Spain and Bordeaux region of France. If current warming trends continue, one
speaker at the conference argued, this could be a reality "within the next 40 to 70 years." Grapes in those
regions could suffer not only from an increase in temperature, but from a change in the amount of rainfall they
receive. Increasingly dry areas may face water-restrictions to conserve water, while other regions may face heavy
rains, since many scientists predict changing weather patterns will accompany global warming. On the plus side, some of
the areas of the world that are now too cold to successfully cultivate wines on a large, commercial scale will probably
be warm enough to grow grapes, leading to new varieties and blends for connoisseurs to enjoy, drowning their sorrows to
forget the loss of their favorite Bordeaux.
Brad Pitt is planning on buying a vineyard in Italy; just outside Turin, which
is a short distance from his pal George Clooney's Lake Como hut.
The Daily Telegraph claims the 42
year-old actor paid a secretive visit to three wine estates, all in the Barolo region, 35 miles south of Turin. The
actor stayed at the Fontanafredda estate in Serralunga, once a royal domain and 35 miles south of Turin.
He visited other producers in the area including Cascina Cucco and Poderi Aldo Conterno. All three estates
produce quality Barolo and Dolcetto d'Alba.
"He seemed to be interested in buying," Monica
Tavella from Fontanafredda told the Telegraph.
Pitt is not the first celebrity to eye an Italian vineyard.
Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall owns an estate in Sicily and Chelsea boss Roman Abramovich recently visited
Tuscany, also with an eye to acquiring an estate.
Over the last few years, interest in home brewing has been steadily growing. That great for the beer fans out there, but what's the wine drinker to do when they catch the DIY bug? Up until now, they haven't had many options. However the WinePod is hoping to change all that by allowing regular people to make wine right in their own homes. 
Luxist reports that a recent conference on Global Warming and Wines found that traditional
wine-making areas may be at risk of losing their wine-making abilities,
including the Catalonian regions of Spain and Bordeaux region of France. If current warming trends continue, one
speaker at the conference argued, this could be a reality "within the next 40 to 70 years." Grapes in those
regions could suffer not only from an increase in temperature, but from a change in the amount of rainfall they
receive. Increasingly dry areas may face water-restrictions to conserve water, while other regions may face heavy
rains, since many scientists predict changing weather patterns will accompany global warming. On the plus side, some of
the areas of the world that are now too cold to successfully cultivate wines on a large, commercial scale will probably
be warm enough to grow grapes, leading to new varieties and blends for connoisseurs to enjoy, drowning their sorrows to
forget the loss of their favorite Bordeaux. 
Brad Pitt is planning on buying a vineyard in Italy; just outside Turin, which
is a short distance from his pal George Clooney's Lake Como hut.
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