Wine Culture

Although the culture of wine drinking is growing in the United States, the number of sommeliers is shrinking. Qualified sommeliers, wine stewards, beverage managers and wine educators are more and more difficult to find. Wise is the wine drinker who takes matters into his own hands, willing to pay a corkage fee when necessary. When the decision to dine out is made, a quick survey of cellar inventory follows. eSommelier provides wine insurance for those quick decisions.

The sensory examination and evaluation of wine is formalized in the tasting ritual. The ancient practice developed in the 14th century, and while noses reach no more deeply into glasses than they used to, the terminology has evolved broadly for the subjective description of flavors, aromas and characteristics. When friends get together to exchange descriptions at a home tasting, they discuss appearance, "in glass" fragrance, "in mouth" sensations, and finish, refining their abilities to sense a wine's complexity and character, potential (for aging or drinking), and possible faults.

Wine tours follow a mapped path of vineyards, providing a sumptuous educational and oenophilic romp. Whether touring by limousine or helicopter, the tasting sessions are guided by sommeliers who know the wines and the histories and regions they come from.

eSommelier's concierge services include cellar inventory, organization and management.

Wine collecting is a comprehensive passion. For the collector of wines (not bottles or labels), all the details matter: from the racks that preserve it to the cellar masters who made it and the soil that grew the grapes. They anticipate the arc of the wine from birth to full maturity. It is for these lovers of wine that eSommelier was developed: a system crafted in the spirit of the art of wine.

High-end wine cellar design is conducted on a commission basis for wealthy collectors by designers who travel the globe, crafting elegant spaces for the storage and enjoyment of fine wines. Cellar designers provide an architectural concept and specify state-of-the-art materials.

The World Wide Web of Wine is a busy place. Wines and wine accessories are purchased online, news of vineyard health and vintage is shared, and a vast library of research and reviews of viticulture and oenology can be found. eSommelier is the nexus between the on-line world and your on-hand collection.

Wine and people both age, and it takes an expert to know when a fine wine or the find mind of its owner has past its prime. Whether you need a refresher course on your collection or a trigger to remember a great moment in drinking, eSommelier is a trusted repository of information about your collection, embellished by wine tasting notes from The Wine Advocate, Robert Parker's wine books and other sources.

The major wine ratings sources are Wine Spectator Magazine, Wine Enthusiast and The Wine Advocate . Wine Spectator rates wineon a 100 point system runs from 95 to 100 points for a "classic" wine, well-balanced and free from any flavor, aromatic or body characteristics to wines below 60 points, considered to be of poor quality and undrinkable.

Vintage rating charts indicate the quality and character of wines from each region in a specific year. They help collectors determine when wines will be drinking well. Each vintage rating consists of three components: the score, the description (the growing season and the wines' resulting character) and a drink date recommendation.

A comprehensive wine software and hardware system, eSommelier provides instant access to information the contents of your cellar, as well as expert notes on a wide range of wines, including wine aging information and wine notes provided by the wine maker. Compare your tasting journal with winemakers notes and reviews.

There are two kind of wine software: programs that run Windows programs on a Linux environment, and programs that help wine collectors record their wine experiences and manage their wine cellars. The latter variety is expected to store and retrieve tasting notes,market values, bottle locations, label pictures, drinkability indicators.

A serious wine collector needs to know the details of his cellar inventory by producer, vintage, variety and drink-by date. He needs to know the value of his collection, at purchase and at current market rates. He needs to know consumption history for re-stocking, and track pending deliveries. Most importantly, he needs to be able to find each bottle instantly. eSommelier's cellar inventory system provides all these features and more.

Inventory control software reduces costly inventory errors, improves the enjoyment of wines, and increases the value of a collection. eSommelier’s inventory tracking system extends the power of software solutions, leveraging touchscreens for an easy-to-use and easy-to-implement source of knowledge, security and pleasure.

The management of a wine cellar includes purchasing, storage, organization, and data management. One can never step into the same cellar twice. In addition to the information on labels, the data behind wine cellar management systems include location, quantity, drinking ranges, critic scores and purchase/sale history. New bottles can be entered faster on eSommelier because the details are pre-loaded; the barcode system handles removal for drinking.

Popular home wine inventory systems include Vinotheque, Vinotemp, Le Cache, and Eurocave. These units provide racking measured in rows and slots, varying in bottle slot-depth and space for open storage to accommodate magnums. Full redwood racking is the ideal.

Wine accessories for collectors include custom racking, cooling units and other storage technology. Popular supplies of wine storage accessories include iwawine, riedel, spiegelau, tritan, stemware, koolspace, and transtherm. Storage units can be purchased from Vinotheque, Le Cache, Vintage Keeper, Cavavin, Danby, EuroCave, and Howard Miller.

One of eSommelier's partners is Iron Gate Private Wine Management, providing a host of products and services for private wine collectors in Canada and around the world. Iron Gate ensures that prized wines are managed efficiently, with complete confidentiality, the highest security, and the maximum simplicity possible. Read more at http://www.irongatewine.com.

The ideal temperature maintained by a wine cellar storage system is 57 degrees fahrenheit, with a humidity level of 65%. Proper storage is
essential to the optimal maturation of wine, and temperature control is key to that process. Humidity determines the moistness of corks, maintaining an appropriate seal with breathing.

A custom wine cellar can be an aesthetic masterpiece, blending architectural elements and artistic creations. The geometries of wooden wine racking require craftsmanship and imagination, with exquisite attention to the personal design styles and collection habits of a collector. A custom cellar should protect an investment while providing comfort and enjoyment.

A wine's provenance conveys both storage and ownership history. As a pedigree and certification of care, provenance plays a great role in the sale price of wines. Wine is purchased upon immediate release from the winery, then stored in perfect conditions until put up for auction to earn the highest price.

Wine Cellar Organization refers to the creation of a physical system for the storage of bottles. The system is designed by the collector to group grapes and vintages, mapped onto an alphanumeric grid (e.g. Vertical A, row 3). eSommelier is designed to reflect that organization in digital form, so that inventory (what wines are there or need ordering) and retrieval can be controlled and managed.