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Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion to gather with friends and family to give thanks and share a bountiful meal. What better way to get the festivities rolling than with a little (or a lot of) wine! Today we are sharing a recipe roundup filled with scrumptious Thanksgiving recipes and pairing suggestions to get you in the mood. Mains to dessert, we’ve got you covered.

Whether hosting a spooky Halloween bash or sneaking some treats from the candy bucket, here are some creative pairings that are sure to please the palate.

Educating yourself on the variety of wine bottle sizes and shapes may feel overwhelming --- there’s so many. In the 1700s, wine makers began to deviate from what was the standard of the time once they discovered that different bottles affected how well the cork could seal as well as the taste of the wine itself. The size of the bottle not only influences taste, it can dictate your storage options as well.

Wine cave construction in the United States has a long history dating back to the 1800s in the Sonoma and Napa Valley regions of California. During these early days, workers used shovels, chisels, pick-axes, and sometimes explosives to break through rock. They labored by candlelight and moved unwanted material using straw baskets, all to create the perfect environment for the long-term storage of wine. 

When considering the purchase of a wine refrigerator, here are some easy to understand descriptions of the differences.

First, there is long-term storage (1+ years), then short-term storage (1-6 months) and service (drinking now).

Drinking wine is a daily or weekly event; that is why it’s moved to the kitchen instead of the cave or cellar. Location for the refrigerator can be the kitchen, family or dining room, the garage or cellar, or even outside.

Health

15 Health Benefits of Wine, According to Science (+6 Delicious Recipes)

In times of celebration, a wine toast may be just one of the most awaited part by many. Popping open the cork while the velvety oaked aroma fills the air and flowing effervescent liquid comes out from the bottle gives excitement to everyone.

The bubbly wine is usually used to commemorate joyous occasions in one's life as it symbolizes royalty and reflects love. But aside from taking part in celebrations, wines come with a host of important benefits.

The wine has undergone intensive studies over the years and it has been proven to be an effective elixir. Who says a man needs a fountain of youth to live a long life? Pour yourself a glass of wine from the wine cooler and bottle up some knowledge to find out the surprising benefits.

Vinotemp Illuminati Wine Glasses (for white wine)

What does your wine want? What does your wine need? What is best for your wine? The right wine glass can answer all of these questions. Because picking the right wine is such a daunting task, there’s a naïve hope that choosing which wine glass to pour it into would be a much easier responsibility. However, the reality is that figuring out which is the right wine glass is often just as difficult, if not more.

Although simply ignoring the rules of wine etiquette and drinking from whatever pleases you is always an option, there comes a point in time when an avid, or not so avid, wine drinker might decide that just any old glass is no longer satisfactory. 

With so many wine glasses out there in the world, there comes a desire to find glasses that are unique, ones that can start up a dinner conversation and leave a lasting impression. The difficulty here is in finding glasses with the ability to do so. It becomes a choice between the most convenient set of wine glasses or the perfect set of wine glasses.

Vinotemp founder, Francis Ravel

Located in Southern California, Vinotemp is a 30 year old, family owned business, with administration offices, manufacturing, distribution and warehouse facilities throughout Los Angeles and Orange County.

Founder, Francis Ravel, was born 1917, Casablanca, French Morocco. In his early 20’s, Francis moved to Paris where he joined and fought with the French Foreign Legion. The young freedom fighter was captured by German occupation troops, where he escaped and joined and fought with the US Army to push German troops out of France and assist with the Allied invasion and conquest of Nazi Germany.

After the war, Francis came to the United States and eventually landed in Hollywood, California in the early 1950’s. He became an actor and was cast with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Elvis Presley in a verity of hit musicals. After a lengthy film career Francis turned his talents to the early days of Television and played a recurring role on the I Love Lucy show.

After a lengthy and successful film and TV career, Francis, at 68, found his true passion of making and bottling his own wine. This simple turn of fate lead to the need to store his collection. A man ahead of his time, he was the first to introduce the idea of placing a cooling unit into a sealed wine cabinet, soon he was making his wine cabinets for friends and family and “voila!” Vinotemp was born.

Custom Wine Cellar

From these humble beginnings, Vinotemp has grown to be recognized worldwide as design and innovators of bespoke wine solutions, including cooling systems, wine-cellars and wine-furniture. Today, Francis Ravel’s daughter, India Hynes, who grow-up playing and working on the floors of the Vinotemp factory, is now President of Vinotemp International.

VINO-700MODLUX - 700-Bottle Furniture Style Wine Cabinet

Proper Wine Storage is the Cornerstone to the Perfect Wine Experience

For nearly 10,000 years, we have had long and flavorful relationship with the “fruit-of-the-vine”.  From picking and gathering various fruits and berries, to the cultivation of the first fields, to picking and pressing the first harvests into vats, then transferring the sweet nectar to earthenware for storage.  Through the ages we have pretty well perfected the art of  growing, bottling and consuming wine, but the problem to a long term relationship with wine has been storage. Now, after thousands of years of trial and error, from dark, dank and wet caves to the modern wine cellar, we have finally come to a basic understanding to the art and science of preservation and storage of this most precious elixir.

Aluminum and Redwood Wine Bottle Racks

If wine is improperly stored, wine may mature too quickly, or too slowly or just may never reach its true potential.  Likewise, it can be a host’s worse nightmare if a wine is served at a temperature that has not been allowed to rise or descend slowly.  The key, is a controlled environment, be it a simple under-counter wine cooler or a full on wine room, the right environment will ensure a quality wine experience with each bottle served.

THE 5 RULES OF WINE STORAGE

Wine is a living. Breathing and evolving and complex form of chemistry that demands a gentle hand to guide it’s from birth to consumption.  Wine, like any living thing, is affected by the world around it…and to ensure a quality wine experience, here are the 5 basic’s for proper wine storage.

Wine-Mate Self-Contained Cooling System

TEMPERATURE:  The ideal temperature to store wine should be between 50° and 57.2 °f, which should remain constant.