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Vinquire.com Launches Free Comprehensive Wine Search Engine

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November. 6, 2007 -- Vinquire.com, a San Francisco based wine portal, today unveils a free wine search engine enabling users to search for wines at over 3,300 U.S. wineries and retailers.  Vinquire inventories over 500,000 wines and offers users the ability to find virtually any wine at competitive prices.

Unlike other wine search engines, Vinquire displays all wine search results available every time, regardless of site sponsorships. In addition, the search engine is constantly updated with fresh wine inventory data via Vinquire's proprietary web crawling technology. And, much like Google™ search, users can employ advanced requests to fine tune results.

Vinquire also offers social networking features enabling users to submit wine reviews, participate in forum discussions, and receive wine recommendations that are based entirely on other users' reviews. Additionally, the site is able to deliver customizable wine recommendations which can be optionally limited to wines available at chain stores such as BevMo, Albertsons, and Trader Joe's.

Vinquire is the first wine site that merges both a powerful wine pricing search engine with community-centric features. This enables Vinquire to not only deliver recommendations based on user-reviewed wines, but also help users find those bottles at the best prices. Based in San Francisco, CA, John Kleven and Andy Hund founded Vinquire in late 2005 and the site officially launched in 2007.

The search is available now at www.vinquire.com.

About Vinquire.com:

Vinquire.com is a free wine search engine that enables users to find the best prices on wine.  Based in San Francisco, CA, Vinquire maintains information on over 500,000 wines and allows users to search for, discuss, and review wines.  For more information, visit www.vinquire.com.

Portuguese Wine & Port Tastings

The Port and Douro Wines Institute and ViniPortugal Will Showcase

More Than 100 Wines at

Tastings In The US In November

Targets increasingly sophisticated U.S. consumer

 

PRESS RELEASE

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Oporto, Portugal – November 1, 2007— In response to increasing U.S. consumer appreciation, the prestigious Port and Douro Wines Institute, the official guarantor of the integrity and quality of Portos and Douro wines and ViniPortugal, the Association for Portuguese Wine Promotion will host four tastings in the US this November.

Events for the trade only will take place at 3 p.m. on November 12 in Los Angeles at the Ritz-Carlton, Marina Del Rey, CA; on November 14 at the Embassy Suites Hotel-Downtown in Portland, OR; on November 15 at the Sheraton Seattle, WA; on November 20 at the Harvard Club, Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, MA.

Following the trade events, four general consumer tastings will be held at 5:30 p.m. to benefit the prevention of cruelty and care of animal organizations in the four US cities: the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles, CA; DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland, OR; the Seattle Humane Society, WA; and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - Angell in Boston, MA.

“In the United States, the growth in wine consumption across the board has led to an increasingly sophisticated drinker,” said Jorge Monteiro, President of the IVDP.  “We want to build on the success of our Ports and Douro wines, as well as the other Portuguese red and white wines.”

 
Kim Marcus in the Wine Spectator said recently that since the turn of the century Portugal has emerged from the shadows to become one of the most interesting and exciting red wines regions in the world today.  Historically the US market has cared deeply for Portos, especially Vintage Portos.  Now, with new production methods and a strong distribution network, the US consumer is enjoying many Portuguese wines from, amongst other regions, Douro, Alentejo, Dão, Alenquer, DOC Muscat of Setubal, as well as the beloved Vinho Verde.

For more information about the Wines and Portos of Portugal Event, please call 1-877- 2-PORTUGAL.

Press Release provided by Harron & Associates.

What, No More Wine Headaches?

As wine drinkers, you've all been acquainted with this scenario at one time, or many times: you drink some wine, especially with dinner, you're feeling pretty good, and then the next day, or even as little as a few hours later you have a little monster creeping up that turns into a full-blown, throbbing headache. 

Well, there may be a way to avoid this in your future.  Chemists at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a device that can detect chemicals, biogenic amines, found in wine that may be the culprits of these agonizing headaches.  They've been able to do this by working with the same NASA-funded technology designed to find life on Mars. 

These chemicals also occur naturally in many foods, so when drinking wine with food, these headaches can become worse depending on the foods you eat and the wine you drink.  Read More

First Big Crush, by Eric Arnold

A fresh, raw perspective on the harsh reality of being a winemaker.  We all think the job of making wine must be as glorious as drinking it, but Eric Arnold shows us a different side in his new book First Big Crush. 

Having just been fired from his job, or quitting it, depending on which part of the book you read, Arnold sets out to learn more about wine by heading to New Zealand and obtaining a year long apprenticeship at Allan Scott Wines.  Initially he's expecting "the good life," leisurely walking vineyards, tasting wine and good food.  On the contrary, he discovers winemaking to involve mostly cleaning and that winemakers are a little nutty. 

Part one illustrates the intricacies of the harvest, the technical aspects of using the equipment and what a dirty, physically painstaking adventure wine crush can be.  He does his best to balance the boring (to some people) technicalities with his rough sense of humor and drunken stupor stories that will definitely leave you laughing. 

Arnold goes on to introduce the reader to the stages of winemaking, beginning to end, and all things related to it in part two.  He touches on blending, the reasons behind it and why you shouldn't get upset when you find out there's some Chardonnay in your Sauvignon Blanc!  And of course Arnold couldn't get away without mentioning the importance of screwcaps seeing as New Zealand, along with Australia, has been at the forefront of The Debate.  One chapter, And the Winner Is...No One, talks about those beloved wine rating systems and the fact that so many people get caught up in buying and drinking wines because they were rated 90 + points by Robert Parker, rather than because they truly like the wine.  I firmly believe that people should try all types of wine, regardless of the rating system.  There are so many delicious wines out there that get snubbed because they don't have a rating attached to them and that's a sad thing. 

Part three focuses on vineyard management and preparing to start the cycle all over once again.  He discusses how wineries tend to have a hard time finding devoted workers due to the reality check that sets in.  Finally, Arnold emphasizes the troubles for both growers and laborers when it comes to the vineyard. 

No, the intentions of this book are not to completely destroy every wonderful thought you had about wine, viticulture and viniculture.  However, it's important to understand that the delectable wine you consumer with such ease, doesn't come with the same ease.  Winemakers love what they do, and it is a rewarding career, but it doesn't come without sacrifice.   

Overall I found the book funny and enjoyable, but I did find Arnold's writing a little rough around the edges.  Nonetheless, I suggest you drink some wine and read along, because the author did while writing it (maybe that's why the writing is a little disjointed). Click below to buy the book.