October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in American women.

Women in the United States get breast cancer more than any other type of cancer except for skin cancer. Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in women. Breast cancer occurs in men also, but the number of cases is small. Though these facts are alarming we all know that there are ways to prevent cancer by having a healthy diet.

Could the occasional glass of wine prevent cancer? Some experts say yes, especially red wines. Red wines are rich in phytochemicals, which act as antioxidants, thus possibly preventing cancer.

Red vs White Wine

Red wine is thought have more more anti-cancer properties because the skin of the grape is maintained during the wine making process. When white wine is being made, the skin is removed before the grapes are crushed. The skin of grapes contains antioxidant rich phytochemicals, the part of the grape thought to reduce your cancer risk.

Experts recommend 2 servings a day for men and one serving a day for women of red wine for health benefits. Each serving is 4 ounces.

If you do not currently drink alcohol or are on medication, please talk to your doctor about the benefits of red wine in your diet. You should never begin drinking alcohol for medicinal purposed without talking to your doctor first.

To get more information about breast cancer awareness go to http://ww5.komen.org/.

And to help women who don't have health insurance and can't afford to have mammograms go to www.thebreastcancersite.com/clicktoGive. Everytime you CLICK sponsors of the site pay for mammograms. Please feel free to share this site!

Drink This, Eat That

If you're a beginning wine drinker, I'm sure you've wondered "Which wine goes best with what food?" Well there's no real answer. That decision is simply based on an individual's preferred taste. Think about it, something that may taste great to you, may not taste so great to the next person and vice versa. That goes for wine as well. However, if you really want to pair food and wine during a meal simply drink from white wine to dark. But there are some foods that are commonly known to be present while drinking wine or attending wine tastings, cheese and desserts

Cheese tends to be the main snack at wine tastings. Why is that? Well because there are so many varieties of cheese that there is one that goes well with a particular wine. In most cases hard cheese goes well with dark wine and softer cheese with white wine. However, the preference still depends an individual's personal taste.

Then we have chocolate. Who doesn't love chocolate? And what better beverage to pair it with than wine. Wines to pair chocolate with are moscato, white reisleing,champagne and port. Of course there are many others to choose from as well.

So the next time you're wondering what's the best wine to pair with a delicious meal, don't fret most likely if it's a wine you enjoy drinking alone, it will taste just as delicious while eating your favorite dish. Part of the fun is experimenting with different combinations, to see which ones you like the best. Then, share those with others to see which tastes they also appreciate, and which are uniquely yours.

To find out more about which foods to pair with wine check out the Food and Wine Matcher to the right of the blog. It gives great selections of wine to pair with your favorite foods.

Happy Wine Drinking!

Basic Wine Information

Everyone needs to know the basics of wine drinking regardless of how long they've been drinking it. Here are tips on selecting wine, the health aspects of wine, and storage of wine.

Wine tasting does not always mean tasting a varity wines with a group of people. It is to take the time to notice the aspects of the wine being tasted. There are four key aspects of a glass of wine:

1. Appearance-The color of the wine when swirled in the glass



2. Smell-usually fruit, floral or grass, wood or leather
   
   
3. Taste-fruity, acidic, earthy



4. Finish-the flavor of wine left after it leaves your mouth

Health Aspects

There are healthy aspects to wine drinking. The skins in red grapes contain resveratrol which helps reduce bad cholesterol and increases the good cholesterol in the body. There is also research which shows that antioxidants, such as those found in wine, may have a positive effect in cancer prevention.

Storage

While it may look great to store your wine in a stylish rack on top of the fridge or in a fancy piece of furniture somewhere in your home, it does not provide the environment that a bottle of wine needs to maintain good quality.

Unless you plan to drink your wine immediately after returning frome the store, you will need to store your wine. You don't need a wine cellar for great wine storage. You need coolness (around 55 degrees), darkness and stillness.

Whether you pay $10 or $100 for a bottle, you get the best value out of the wine if you have gathered a little basic wine information. The longer you drink wine, the more information you should gather.

To read more of this article go to http://wine.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Basic_Wine_Information

I Heard it Through the Grapevine...

Vineyard at Ozan Winery Calera, AL

Welcome to I Heard It Through The Grapevine! I'm Chelsa and I hope that you become more educated and informed about the joys of wine from this blog. I myself am learning more about wine as I add to this blog as well. I decided to start this blog because, of course, I am a wine drinker, but my interest was peaked more about wine after visiting Ozan Winery in Calera, AL for my birthday. I heard it through the grapevine from, my father, that there are wineries in Alabama and that made me want to visit them. I'd always wanted to attend a wine tasting, but not only did I experience a wine tasting,and the beautiful scenery of the vineyard but I found out how much fun the experience was with wine being the center of it all. That experience lead me to want to know more about wine and to share it with other wine drinkers in the River Region and surrounding areas. Thanks for visiting and please continue to stop by for tips on getting the full experience of wine!!