This Week’s Wine Wisdom
The “Steps” Of Wine Making
- Grapes ripen in late August/September depending on climate. A winemaker tastes the grapes, chews the seeds, and measures the sugar content to decide when to harvest.
- Vineyard workers then quickly harvest the grapes and drop them into bins that are taken to the winery to be crushed.
- When crushed, the skin and seeds stay with red wines but are removed for white wines.
- The juice, skins, and seeds (not for white wines) are poured into stainless steel fermenting tanks.
- The winemaker usually adds cultured yeast to this grape juice. Fermentation begins when the yeast begins to digest the sugars present in the grape juice. Carbon dioxide and alcohol are by-products of this process.
Reference: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/winemaking.html
Bodega Benegas Wine Dinner Menu
Vintage Import’s Lee Kuehn presents the Bodega Benegas Wines from Argentina on Friday, October 30 at The Carlton Restaurant! Argentinian wines captured the attention of Wine Advocate’s Robert Parker in his August 2009 cover story! He hailed the value and strength of these offerings and singled out the Bodega Benegas wines by giving 7 of their offerings scores of greater than 90 points! Come sample two Malbecs and some wonderfully blended reds paired with great cuisine!
Here’s the menu:
“BODEGA BENEGAS” WINE DINNER
Friday, October 30, 2025 - 6:30 p.m.
With Vintage Import’s Lee Kuehn
Culinary offerings by Mark Swomley
$89 per person - excluding Taxes & Gratuity
CLARA BENEGAS CHARDONNAY’07
CHILLED SHRIMP & CLAM SALAD
Served in crisp Phyllo with Macadamia Slaw,
Champagne Vinaigrette and Citrus Zest
DON TIBURCIO’05
BEEF CARPACCIO PINWHEEL
Beef Carpaccio rolled with fresh Mozzarella, Red Pepper Pesto, Olives and Spinach.
Served with Balsamic Vinaigrette, chopped Egg and Smoked Sea Salt
JUAN BENEGAS MALBEC’06
BENEGAS “ESTATE” MALBEC’06
VEAL ROULADE
Roasted with Shiitake Mushrooms, Red Peppers, Pine Nuts, grated Asiago.
Served with Herb Pilaf, Roast Tomato Cream and Micro Herbs.
BENEGAS ESTATE FINCA LIBERTAD’05
BENEGAS LYNCH MERITAGE’05
FILET MIGNON
Served with Horseradish crushed Potatoes, grilled Vegetables,
Roast Garlic Butter and Blue Cheese
d’ARENBERG CHARDONNAY-SEMILLON “THE NOBLE”’06
GRILLED PEAR “SHORTCAKE”
With toasted Macadamia and Raspberry Drizzle
This Week’s Wine Wisdom
How many bottles of wine?
One bottle of wine = 750 ml or 1/5 of a gallon
One Barrel = 60 gallons - 25 cases or 300 750 ml bottles
One Ton of Grapes = approximately 700 bottles of wine
One Acre of Vineyards - Low yield for high quality wines = 2-4 tons
One Acre of Vineyards - High yield for less expensive wines = 10 tons
Reference: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/wine-barrel.html