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U.S. consumer attitudes about wine changing. |
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"The data suggest that the role of wine as an alcoholic beverage is taking secondary place to its health value in the minds of consumers," said Dr. Regan Carey, a senior research director. "There is a definite shift to the European mindset. Of particular note, 86% of the US-based panel now agree or strongly agree that red wine, drunk in moderation, is beneficial to health," Dr. Carey continued, "while a significant 71% consider 'moderate consumption' to be two or more glasses per day." |
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Survey Suggests Internet Reach Bests Magazines. |
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The Internet, first measured in 2000, moved ahead of magazines to fourth place with a daily reach of 51 percent versus 42 percent for magazines, according to the 2005 Media Comparison Study released Tuesday by the Mediacenter. And surprise, surprise: Television reaches more people than any other medium, with a daily reach of 94 percent of adults. Radio was ranked second, reaching 73 percent of adults, followed by newspapers at 59 percent.
The telephone-based survey, conducted by Roper Public Affairs & Media surveyed more than 1,000 adults between January 19 and February 1, 2005. The 2005 survey is the latest version of an ongoing initiative that has been updated for the past 35 years.
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Know Your Wine Bottle Sizes? |
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There are 13 different bottle sizes available out there, for all you wine enthusiasts who love to show up at a party with a BIG bottle. Those larger format bottles do make a major impression when you clunk it down on the table during a get together, and ask, "who wants to open it". Usually no takers, and you get to perform the opening ceremony yourself. Make sure you know the bottle size name because, for sure, someone will test you on it. Is it a DOUBLE MAGNUM, a JEROBOAM, REHOBOAM, or an IMPERIAL? Be ready. |
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Sulfites anyone? |
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Only 1 percent of the population is sensitive to some level of sulfites. Reactions, a government agency says, can range from chest tightness and breathing difficulties to hives and anaphylactic shock. But most wine drinkers have nothing to fear. So-called "red wine headaches" are not caused by sulfites, according to Andrew L. Waterhouse, professor of enology at the University of California at Davis. His Web site contains, among other wine-related topics, a good discussion of the sulfites issue. Sulfites, or sulfur dioxide, preserve wine by inhibiting the growth of harmful micro-organisms. When one considers that a good wine may wait around for decades before it is drunk, you can understand how crucial it is that it be protected against spoilage.
All wines contain at least some small amount of sulfites as they are produced naturally by the same fermentation process that turns grape juice into alcohol. Most winemakers also add sulfites during the bottling process. Wine has contained sulfites for millennia. (According to wine expert Lisa Shea, the Greeks and Romans used sulfur candles to sterilize wine barrels and amphorae.) But in 1986, the FDA mandated that foods containing sulfites at concentrations of 10 parts per million or more must carry a label that states "Contains Sulfites." The concentration of sulfites in most wines is about 20 to 30 ppm; that translates to about 80 mg in a liter, or 10 mg per glass.
Wine drinkers sometimes return from European vacation thinking that the wines there do not contain sulfites. Wrong. The United States is the only country whose government insists that wine bear a sulfite warning. Wines made for the American market in France, Italy, Spain, Australia, etc., bear the warning; the very same wines sold in their countries of origin do not. |
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