October 14, 2008
With an important national holiday just over the horizon – Columbus Day, Oct. 12 – and this seems a perfect time to reflect on the historical significance of the wine label: America's First Wine!
When you are shopping for wine, whether buying for a special occasion or for your own pleasure and enjoyment, checking the wine labels is important.
As you are surveying the many wines displayed in wine shops and grocery stores, have you ever thought about how the wine labels just seem to "grab" you? They seem to be tantalizing you, the "wine lover," with colorful labels portraying the bold, the daring, the beautiful and the historical by seeming to scream, "Take me, take me!"
While you are studying the labels to decide on which special wine to buy, have you ever stopped to really think about how much your interests and emotions influence your taste? Perhaps your interest and taste are both influenced more by history, especially if you live here in eastern North Carolina.
Now for a little history! As previously reported, all wine labels must be approved by the ATF, which can take months for a decision. While I was awaiting their decision for approval, several meetings were held with the agents. Then, guess what? At the last meeting, I was informed that the ATF could not approve the "America's First Wine" label because "the Colonists brought wine with them when they settled in Manteo!"
I was more than disappointed! I was stunned! I could not believe their reason for denying approval!
Needless to say, I immediately responded with, "The colonists brought wine made in Europe from grapes grown in Europe."
You should have seen their faces when I continued with my response: "I'm talking about wine made in America from grapes grown in America!" My prompt reply startled the group. They quickly proclaimed in unison with, "We never thought about that!" Then the America's First Wine label was approved immediately.
The ATF approval gave Bennett Vineyards the sole right to use Colonial names and pictures that reflect the history of our great country and our great state.
Now, as you, the "wine lover" are viewing the labels in your quest for choosing the best wine, please note the colorful Bennett Vineyards label that pictures two great American presidents – George Washington and Thomas Jefferson – overlooking a vineyard and a colonial sailing ship pictured below.
As you continue your search for just the right wine, you will be impressed with the historical names of our wines listed under the picture of the Colonial ship beginning with:
1) Mount Vernon White – named for George Washington's plantation home on the Potomac River;
2) Blackbeards Choice – named for the famous Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, the pirate, who hung out in Bath and sailed Queen Anne's Revenge in our waterways, the Outer Banks, Ocracoke Island, and finally Teaches Hole Channel. It was there that his ship was cornered by HMS, sloop Jane, and beheaded on Saturday, Nov. 22, 1718, by Royal Navy Lt. Robert Maynard.
It is rumored that Blackbeard and his crew often "partook" of local supplies including wine, which was one of his favorite drinks!
3) Roanoke Red – named for the four-first English settlements in North America on Roanoke Island.
4) Charlestowne Red – named for the Charleston, S.C., port that became the mecca of exports and imports of supplies on the last coast.
5) Elizabeth II – named for North Carolina's unique Elizabeth heritage and it's contribution to the cultural beginnings of our Great Nation.
6) Gold Crown – named for King Charles II in honor of his 1500-acre land grant to the Bennett family in the late 1700s.
America's First Wine is wine made in America by Bennett Vineyards in Beaufort County. We use only Native American grapes: Scuppernongs and Muscadines.
Oh, yes! We also use an original 1840 recipe to make our tasty, historical wines that "smell like grapes and taste like grapes!"
For more information, go to www.NCWines.com and our website: BennettVineyards.org
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
N.C. is heir apparent to Napa Valley
September 01, 2008
Is North Carolina poised to claim Napa Valley's Wine Crown?
According to a recent Today show, Food Editor Phil Lempert proclaimed, "Napa wine making out-doomed by global warming," and he also said that "North Carolina is poised to claim "Napa's Wine Crown!"
Needless to say, our state's wine boosters are elated and happy to get Lempert's nod. "He could have picked any up-and-coming wine region to mention," says Margo Knight Metzgar, executive director of the N.C. Wine and Grape Council, "but that he focused on North Carolina says a lot for our state's wine makers and grape growers."
Indeed it does! However, Lempert is not the only editor high on our state's wine/grape scene. Jim Hofman, USA, recently published a glowing review of our coastal wine region. Jim and his wife have explore wine regions in most of the 50 states and reports, "The wines that come out of North Carolina's coastal region are among the best in the United States." WOW!
According to Metzgar, North Carolina ranks 10th nationally for winemaking and "boasts the widest variety of grapes and wine styles in the country." She also states that North Carolina "ranks #1 worldwide in Scuppernong and Muscadine wine production."
There are now 70 established wineries and vineyards in our state and we are still growing. Since 1835, after more than a century of leading our country's wine and grape production, we are finally rebuilding our wine and grape industry and also creating a promising future for our winemakers, farmers, and the citizens of this great country to enjoy North Carolina wines and grape products.
Oh, by the way! Did you take "note" that Hofman specifically mentioned "our coastal wine region for good wines?" This is good news indeed for the winemakers and grape growers here in eastern North Carolina.
This news is even better now that the scuppernong grape is emerging as a Nutrition Superstar! These grapes are now available in our local grocery stores and at the vineyard.Who knows, as the World Turns, North Carolina may once again Wear the Wine Crown!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Is North Carolina poised to claim Napa Valley's Wine Crown?
According to a recent Today show, Food Editor Phil Lempert proclaimed, "Napa wine making out-doomed by global warming," and he also said that "North Carolina is poised to claim "Napa's Wine Crown!"
Needless to say, our state's wine boosters are elated and happy to get Lempert's nod. "He could have picked any up-and-coming wine region to mention," says Margo Knight Metzgar, executive director of the N.C. Wine and Grape Council, "but that he focused on North Carolina says a lot for our state's wine makers and grape growers."
Indeed it does! However, Lempert is not the only editor high on our state's wine/grape scene. Jim Hofman, USA, recently published a glowing review of our coastal wine region. Jim and his wife have explore wine regions in most of the 50 states and reports, "The wines that come out of North Carolina's coastal region are among the best in the United States." WOW!
According to Metzgar, North Carolina ranks 10th nationally for winemaking and "boasts the widest variety of grapes and wine styles in the country." She also states that North Carolina "ranks #1 worldwide in Scuppernong and Muscadine wine production."
There are now 70 established wineries and vineyards in our state and we are still growing. Since 1835, after more than a century of leading our country's wine and grape production, we are finally rebuilding our wine and grape industry and also creating a promising future for our winemakers, farmers, and the citizens of this great country to enjoy North Carolina wines and grape products.
Oh, by the way! Did you take "note" that Hofman specifically mentioned "our coastal wine region for good wines?" This is good news indeed for the winemakers and grape growers here in eastern North Carolina.
This news is even better now that the scuppernong grape is emerging as a Nutrition Superstar! These grapes are now available in our local grocery stores and at the vineyard.Who knows, as the World Turns, North Carolina may once again Wear the Wine Crown!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Meet N. C.'s grape superstar!
August 14, 2008
North Carolina's state fruit, scuppernong grapes, are not only delicious, but they are also emerging as a nutrition superstar!
We in eastern North Carolina know they are "good," and as Dr. Maynard recently stated at a Grape Council meeting, "the Scuppernong is the honey of North Carolina and the East."
That is why the scuppernong and other muscadine grapes are grown in the "back yards" of many North Carolina homes!
Scuppernong grapes, as reported here earlier, are the richest sources found in nature for a potent, cancer-fighting substance called "resveratrol," as well as a leading food source.
Now, why is resveratrol so healthy for our bodies?
According to the latest research at UNC by Bruce Duncan, and reported in the July of M.D. News Special Feature, "reservatrol is protector in humans and animals and our genes respond to plant defensive chemicals in a beneficial way."
Plantings of our native grape vines are relatively pest-resistant and thrive in the hot and sandy conditions of our coastal region. Our coastal climate also "necessitates resistance to disease, viruses, bacteria, pests and mold."
"The scuppernong/muscadine grape vines' adaptation to these conditions (sandy soil and hot climate) has developed unique properties that have significant health benefits for those who eat muscadine grapes," Duncan asserts.
Here's more information from the grape researchers. They have found that these grapes are "fat free and high in fiber" and that a single, one-cup serving of muscadine grapes each day "would more than double the average person's antioxidant intake."
This verifies the news that our grapes in Eastern North Carolina are now in the elite list of powerful, antioxidant foods.
While our farming ancestors didn't know why they were healthy, they did know that their "backyard grapes" not only tasted good, but they also felt better when they ate them and enjoyed their jams, jellies and wine.
With the scuppernong/muscadine harvest approaching, plan to improve your health as you enjoy North Carolinas' nutrition superstar! These superstars will be ripe in just a few weeks and are just waiting to be picked.
Get ready for delicious, nutritious grapes – and come on down!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
North Carolina's state fruit, scuppernong grapes, are not only delicious, but they are also emerging as a nutrition superstar!
We in eastern North Carolina know they are "good," and as Dr. Maynard recently stated at a Grape Council meeting, "the Scuppernong is the honey of North Carolina and the East."
That is why the scuppernong and other muscadine grapes are grown in the "back yards" of many North Carolina homes!
Scuppernong grapes, as reported here earlier, are the richest sources found in nature for a potent, cancer-fighting substance called "resveratrol," as well as a leading food source.
Now, why is resveratrol so healthy for our bodies?
According to the latest research at UNC by Bruce Duncan, and reported in the July of M.D. News Special Feature, "reservatrol is protector in humans and animals and our genes respond to plant defensive chemicals in a beneficial way."
Plantings of our native grape vines are relatively pest-resistant and thrive in the hot and sandy conditions of our coastal region. Our coastal climate also "necessitates resistance to disease, viruses, bacteria, pests and mold."
"The scuppernong/muscadine grape vines' adaptation to these conditions (sandy soil and hot climate) has developed unique properties that have significant health benefits for those who eat muscadine grapes," Duncan asserts.
Here's more information from the grape researchers. They have found that these grapes are "fat free and high in fiber" and that a single, one-cup serving of muscadine grapes each day "would more than double the average person's antioxidant intake."
This verifies the news that our grapes in Eastern North Carolina are now in the elite list of powerful, antioxidant foods.
While our farming ancestors didn't know why they were healthy, they did know that their "backyard grapes" not only tasted good, but they also felt better when they ate them and enjoyed their jams, jellies and wine.
With the scuppernong/muscadine harvest approaching, plan to improve your health as you enjoy North Carolinas' nutrition superstar! These superstars will be ripe in just a few weeks and are just waiting to be picked.
Get ready for delicious, nutritious grapes – and come on down!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Revisiting the 'French Paradox'
August 01, 2008
Do you eat between meals, like eating something every two hours? Beginning with breakfast, then at 10 o'clock, noon, 2 o'clock , 4 o'clock and then supper, do you eat at least six or more times a day?
In contrast to our eating habits, the French do not eat between meals. They just eat three meals a day, and "thats all." Their "main meal" is lunch. However, they do enjoy their wine with their meals!
According to the TV show "60 Minutes" aired in November 1991, the United States is among the "lowest consumers of red wine in the world." Yet, we are among the "highest in victims of heart attacks in the world – about 1 million deaths per year!"
Dr. Ellison, a cardiologist and professor at the school of Public Health at Boston University, states that the section of our country that consumes the "least amount of wine is known as stroke alley," the so-called Bible Belt, which ignores the admonition of St. Paul to Timothy, "Use a little wine for the stomach's sake and thine other infirmities."
The "French Paradox" reveals a most important aspect of what is the main difference between the French and the Americans as to their eating and drinking wine- it is healthy to "enjoy" a glass of wine with your dinner (supper)!
The evidence of the benefits of drinking wine in moderation is growing! As previously recorded, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that in their study of 44,000 Americans between 40 and 75 years of age – those "who drank light to moderate amounts of wine had 25 to 40 percent less chance of developing heart disease."
Moderate is defined as two glasses of wine a day.
In addition to the Harvard research and equally as important is the recent research by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State College, which confirmed that " Muscadine Grapes are naturally high in antioxidants that protect the body from the damaging effects of oxygen-free radicals which can contribute to degenerative diseases."
Now, maybe we Americans are finally taking the French philosophy to heart, that it is healthy to enjoy a glass of wine (white or red) with your dinner. Here's to you!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Do you eat between meals, like eating something every two hours? Beginning with breakfast, then at 10 o'clock, noon, 2 o'clock , 4 o'clock and then supper, do you eat at least six or more times a day?
In contrast to our eating habits, the French do not eat between meals. They just eat three meals a day, and "thats all." Their "main meal" is lunch. However, they do enjoy their wine with their meals!
According to the TV show "60 Minutes" aired in November 1991, the United States is among the "lowest consumers of red wine in the world." Yet, we are among the "highest in victims of heart attacks in the world – about 1 million deaths per year!"
Dr. Ellison, a cardiologist and professor at the school of Public Health at Boston University, states that the section of our country that consumes the "least amount of wine is known as stroke alley," the so-called Bible Belt, which ignores the admonition of St. Paul to Timothy, "Use a little wine for the stomach's sake and thine other infirmities."
The "French Paradox" reveals a most important aspect of what is the main difference between the French and the Americans as to their eating and drinking wine- it is healthy to "enjoy" a glass of wine with your dinner (supper)!
The evidence of the benefits of drinking wine in moderation is growing! As previously recorded, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that in their study of 44,000 Americans between 40 and 75 years of age – those "who drank light to moderate amounts of wine had 25 to 40 percent less chance of developing heart disease."
Moderate is defined as two glasses of wine a day.
In addition to the Harvard research and equally as important is the recent research by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State College, which confirmed that " Muscadine Grapes are naturally high in antioxidants that protect the body from the damaging effects of oxygen-free radicals which can contribute to degenerative diseases."
Now, maybe we Americans are finally taking the French philosophy to heart, that it is healthy to enjoy a glass of wine (white or red) with your dinner. Here's to you!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
'Organic' wines and'voodoo' farming
July 06, 2008
For a wine to be labeled "Organic Wine" as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the grapes must be from vineyards that are farmed without synthetic fertilizer, conventional pesticides, or, genetically, engineered plant material.
In addition, sulfates cannot be added to the wine as a preservative!
However, unfortunately, wines made without sulfates can re-ferment or oxidize in the bottle – just ask any winemaker. That's why many vintners use sulfates on "organic" grapes to keep them from re-fermenting and sometimes changing the wine "taste" and "blowing the cork.
"If their wines contain 100 parts per million, they are still permitted to label their products as "organic wines."
Currently there are two types of "organic' farming: bio dynamic farming and natural farming.
Biodynamic farming, which is beginning to be popular in California and the West Coast, is what I call "voodoo" farming. Based on a series of lectures given by the Australian philosopher, Rudolf Stainer, in 1924, biodynamic agriculture views the farm as a single organism with the plants, animals, crops, soil, air and celestial influences – such as the Moon and stars – all being interconnected.
According to Stainer, by balancing these elements, the farmer in theory "makes his property self-sustaining, thus eliminating the need for artificial nutrients or pesticides."Natural farming, on the other hand, is a small, strict, mostly French movement.
Natural winemaking uses organically grown grapes that are picked by hand and are fermented with native (not manufactured) yeast. No sulfates or other additives are added to this wine.
Now, when you taste your favorite wine, do you think you can tell the difference? Is it "natural" or "organic?"
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
For a wine to be labeled "Organic Wine" as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the grapes must be from vineyards that are farmed without synthetic fertilizer, conventional pesticides, or, genetically, engineered plant material.
In addition, sulfates cannot be added to the wine as a preservative!
However, unfortunately, wines made without sulfates can re-ferment or oxidize in the bottle – just ask any winemaker. That's why many vintners use sulfates on "organic" grapes to keep them from re-fermenting and sometimes changing the wine "taste" and "blowing the cork.
"If their wines contain 100 parts per million, they are still permitted to label their products as "organic wines."
Currently there are two types of "organic' farming: bio dynamic farming and natural farming.
Biodynamic farming, which is beginning to be popular in California and the West Coast, is what I call "voodoo" farming. Based on a series of lectures given by the Australian philosopher, Rudolf Stainer, in 1924, biodynamic agriculture views the farm as a single organism with the plants, animals, crops, soil, air and celestial influences – such as the Moon and stars – all being interconnected.
According to Stainer, by balancing these elements, the farmer in theory "makes his property self-sustaining, thus eliminating the need for artificial nutrients or pesticides."Natural farming, on the other hand, is a small, strict, mostly French movement.
Natural winemaking uses organically grown grapes that are picked by hand and are fermented with native (not manufactured) yeast. No sulfates or other additives are added to this wine.
Now, when you taste your favorite wine, do you think you can tell the difference? Is it "natural" or "organic?"
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Research shows red wine helps heart
June 05, 2008
A recent medical study suggests that Wine Can Help The Heart Later In Life! This study reported in the March issue of the American Journal of Medicine states that, "people in their, mid-40s to mid-60s who decide to take up moderate drinking, even after a lifetime of abstinence, are likely to have healthier hearts than lifelong nondrinkers."
Dr. Dana King, lead author of this study at the Medical University of South Carolina, states that, "those who drank wine benefited the most."
These researchers gathered medical information for three related studies. The first study was conducted on 7,697 men and women age 45 to 64 at the time of their enrollment from 1987 to 1989. Then, in 1998, in an even larger study of 15,792 people, doctors examined them for a progression of atherosclerosis (a disposition of fatty substances and fibrosis of the inner layer of the arteries). A follow-up study four years later recorded blood pressure, cholesterol, levels of exercise and drinking habits data for both groups.
The results of these studies, according to the researchers, showed that the data on 442 people who claimed that they "started to drink in moderation at some point during the study" were 38 percent less likely to have an "observable heart-related issue than those who never drank alcohol." However, the data on 133 people who reported drinking only wine were "68 percent less likely than nondrinkers to suffer a cardiovascular event."
"While caution is clearly warranted, these current studies demonstrate that new, moderate drinking lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease without an increase in mortality as found in the four-year follow-up period," states Dr. King.However, Dr. King also reminds people that they should "talk to their doctors about the benefits and potential consequences of alcohol consumption."
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
A recent medical study suggests that Wine Can Help The Heart Later In Life! This study reported in the March issue of the American Journal of Medicine states that, "people in their, mid-40s to mid-60s who decide to take up moderate drinking, even after a lifetime of abstinence, are likely to have healthier hearts than lifelong nondrinkers."
Dr. Dana King, lead author of this study at the Medical University of South Carolina, states that, "those who drank wine benefited the most."
These researchers gathered medical information for three related studies. The first study was conducted on 7,697 men and women age 45 to 64 at the time of their enrollment from 1987 to 1989. Then, in 1998, in an even larger study of 15,792 people, doctors examined them for a progression of atherosclerosis (a disposition of fatty substances and fibrosis of the inner layer of the arteries). A follow-up study four years later recorded blood pressure, cholesterol, levels of exercise and drinking habits data for both groups.
The results of these studies, according to the researchers, showed that the data on 442 people who claimed that they "started to drink in moderation at some point during the study" were 38 percent less likely to have an "observable heart-related issue than those who never drank alcohol." However, the data on 133 people who reported drinking only wine were "68 percent less likely than nondrinkers to suffer a cardiovascular event."
"While caution is clearly warranted, these current studies demonstrate that new, moderate drinking lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease without an increase in mortality as found in the four-year follow-up period," states Dr. King.However, Dr. King also reminds people that they should "talk to their doctors about the benefits and potential consequences of alcohol consumption."
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Brotherhood 'Knights'
May 26, 2008
The North Carolina Chapter of The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine is an association of individuals who "share an appreciation for and an interest in the Vines and Wines of America."
The preamble of this Brotherhood states that, "Wine is a gift from God which has been used as a food and a symbolic beverage for centuries"; and "mankind has the privilege to enjoy wine."
"Wine is a gift of nature" and "growth of it's consumption is a gift of man to man: Therefore we bind together in the Brotherhood to enjoy and appreciate it's use by telling of this gift in the world and by teaching Restraint and Reason."
The aims and purposes of this Brotherhood are: (1) to proclaim the "virtues and use" of vines and wines "in a modern society by demonstrating the good life with wine through the courtesies of the table (wine with dinner)"; (2) to educate ourselves and the public "that wine is a healthy and hygienic beverage and beneficial to modern life"; (3) to "bring honor and distinction to those individuals who support the cause of the Vines and Wines of America"; and (4) to "support higher education of students of vinology and enology through the funding of scholarships."
What a great wine and grape industry asset to North Carolina!
I wish now to share a surprise honor with you, my wine readers. On Saturday, April 26, 2008, Helen and I were invited to a Black Tie dinner at the Vineyards at River Landing in Wallace, given by The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine. Following dinner, I was invited to become a Member of the Order.
Needless to say, I was not only surprised and honored with this invitation; I also feel very humble that I was chosen, as membership in this Distinguished Order is strictly reserved to persons of distinction who know wine, appreciate wine and pledge to serve the Brotherhood well!
Sir Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
The North Carolina Chapter of The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine is an association of individuals who "share an appreciation for and an interest in the Vines and Wines of America."
The preamble of this Brotherhood states that, "Wine is a gift from God which has been used as a food and a symbolic beverage for centuries"; and "mankind has the privilege to enjoy wine."
"Wine is a gift of nature" and "growth of it's consumption is a gift of man to man: Therefore we bind together in the Brotherhood to enjoy and appreciate it's use by telling of this gift in the world and by teaching Restraint and Reason."
The aims and purposes of this Brotherhood are: (1) to proclaim the "virtues and use" of vines and wines "in a modern society by demonstrating the good life with wine through the courtesies of the table (wine with dinner)"; (2) to educate ourselves and the public "that wine is a healthy and hygienic beverage and beneficial to modern life"; (3) to "bring honor and distinction to those individuals who support the cause of the Vines and Wines of America"; and (4) to "support higher education of students of vinology and enology through the funding of scholarships."
What a great wine and grape industry asset to North Carolina!
I wish now to share a surprise honor with you, my wine readers. On Saturday, April 26, 2008, Helen and I were invited to a Black Tie dinner at the Vineyards at River Landing in Wallace, given by The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine. Following dinner, I was invited to become a Member of the Order.
Needless to say, I was not only surprised and honored with this invitation; I also feel very humble that I was chosen, as membership in this Distinguished Order is strictly reserved to persons of distinction who know wine, appreciate wine and pledge to serve the Brotherhood well!
Sir Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Film takes Bennett Vineyards international
April 23, 2008
Bennett Vineyards Wine is to be featured worldwide in a movie that premiered in New Bern on Sunday, April 20. The Movie, Death, Taxes … and Chocolate was created by Dr. Andrea Levinson "for the millions of Americans who are being abused by the medical system," she stated.
This "must see" movie was filmed here in Eastern North Carolina in and around the waters surrounding New Bern on the yacht Two Healers. A film crew from Wilmington, filmed this movie. The Carolina Beach waterfront, a residence in Wrightsville Beach, and one in Taberna are also featured in the film.
While viewing Death, Taxes … and Chocolate, one simple question was evident in the audience's mind; It certainly was in my wife Helen's and my mind as we watched with a large crowd of attendees at the New Bern Convention Center.
The question? What do a holistic doctor, turkey farmer, mayor, sea captain and an ex-CIA agent have in common? The answer: Death, Taxes …and Chocolate!
Dr. Levinson uses only natural cures and treatments, the essence of "holistic" medicine.
Wine, chocolate and other tasty tidbits were served before, during and after the showing and introduction of the cast, crew and sponsors.
As our wine readers already know, Scuppernong and Muscadine grapes and wine have been found to contain more anti-oxidants than any other products on Earth! With all the recent research on this native wine, it is no wonder that Bennett Wine was chosen to be featured in the Death, Taxes … and Chocolate movie.
For a must-see flick, go to deathtaxesandchocolate.com
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Bennett Vineyards Wine is to be featured worldwide in a movie that premiered in New Bern on Sunday, April 20. The Movie, Death, Taxes … and Chocolate was created by Dr. Andrea Levinson "for the millions of Americans who are being abused by the medical system," she stated.
This "must see" movie was filmed here in Eastern North Carolina in and around the waters surrounding New Bern on the yacht Two Healers. A film crew from Wilmington, filmed this movie. The Carolina Beach waterfront, a residence in Wrightsville Beach, and one in Taberna are also featured in the film.
While viewing Death, Taxes … and Chocolate, one simple question was evident in the audience's mind; It certainly was in my wife Helen's and my mind as we watched with a large crowd of attendees at the New Bern Convention Center.
The question? What do a holistic doctor, turkey farmer, mayor, sea captain and an ex-CIA agent have in common? The answer: Death, Taxes …and Chocolate!
Dr. Levinson uses only natural cures and treatments, the essence of "holistic" medicine.
Wine, chocolate and other tasty tidbits were served before, during and after the showing and introduction of the cast, crew and sponsors.
As our wine readers already know, Scuppernong and Muscadine grapes and wine have been found to contain more anti-oxidants than any other products on Earth! With all the recent research on this native wine, it is no wonder that Bennett Wine was chosen to be featured in the Death, Taxes … and Chocolate movie.
For a must-see flick, go to deathtaxesandchocolate.com
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
The passing of oak barrel aging
March 13, 2008
From the time that wine came into being centuries ago, this important beverage has been stored in a variety of vessels. Wine must be stored in vessels to "age." Remember the old adage, "there will be no wine before it's time!" That was a true statement in ancient times and it is still a true statement today.
Now for a little history about the type and size of the vessels used to store and age wine. It was not until the Middle Ages that governments began to regulate the wine trade when some of the more common measurements were standardized. Even then the size and standards for wine vessels varied by country. A Medieval barrel held 10.01 gallons while the small 15th-century English barrel held 31.5 gallons.
Today, three types of small barrels are standard vessels world-wide for storing wine – the French oak Bordeaux barrel used for many types of wine holds 59.42 gallons (225 liters), the French oak Burgundy barrel, generally used for pinot noirs worldwide holds 62.2 gallons (228 liters), and the American oak barrel holds 55 gallons of wine.
Why oak barrels? Now for a little oak barrel information. Without oak, many wines as we know them today would not have existed. The wines would not have tasted the same – for there is NO substitute for the oak flavor. As any barrel manufacturer will tell you, wine barrels can be made from any wood, including pine, cherry, walnut or chestnut. When wine is stored in any of these barrels, their wood grain would not have enhanced the wine taste in the same way as the oak grain will! Therefore only the oak carrels were made to store and age wine.
From early on, vintners found that the flavor of oak has a desirable effect on wine by making the taste softer and tastier after aging in an oak barrel. Even today, they maintain that an oak barrel has the "ability to transform wine, to coax it out of the genre of simple fruit juice thus giving wine depth, length, complexity and intensity," according to Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible.
Open wood buckets were used to hold and transport wine more than 2000 years before the birth of Christ. However, closed oak barrels only came into use during the Roman Empire. It was during this time that wine makers found that if they used oak for their wine vessels, it was strong enough to withstand "wear and tear," yet light enough to be easily rolled and moved in their wine cellars. But "best of all, the oak barrels were leak proof." So why not use them, because unlike today, oak trees were then plentiful in Europe.
Now, even though the vintners knew that the wine tasted better when aged in oak barrels, they were not sure why! It has only been within the past four decades that research has aided ecologists to unravel this "enigma." Researchers now speculate that there are possibly two processes that are responsible for this wine transformation.
The first is evaporation – both water and alcohol diffuse outward through the staves of a closed oak barrel – sometimes losing as much as 5 or 6 gallons a year. However, if the wine is aged in a sound barrel, the wine will age in a slow, reductive manner, thus eliminating the loss of wine. Process two also occurs at the same time as process one, with minute amounts of oxygen seeping in from the outside through the wood grain, which helps to "weave together the elements of the wine" giving it a softer dimension.
Now for a little information about steel barrels (tanks). It was not until 1912 that the giant German industrial conglomerate Krupp made the first steel tank. This stainless steel tank was not refrigerated, but it resisted corrosion from acids far better than the simple Chrome-steel tank it replaced. It was not until several decades later that technology developed a method for cooling huge tanks.
The first steel tanks used by wineries in the USA were probably those used by Gallo after World War II. Then finally in the 1950s, advanced rotary compressors capable of refrigerating 25,000-gallon tanks became available, and by the late 1960s, stainless steel tanks were a fixture in almost every American winery.
Needless to say, with oak barrels in short supply and costing at least $800 or more – steel barrels are more economical and easier to maintain. Now, what about oak flavor in a steel tank. You guessed it – just throw in some oak "chips" to get the flavor we wine lovers are accustomed to having in our favorite bottle of wine!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
From the time that wine came into being centuries ago, this important beverage has been stored in a variety of vessels. Wine must be stored in vessels to "age." Remember the old adage, "there will be no wine before it's time!" That was a true statement in ancient times and it is still a true statement today.
Now for a little history about the type and size of the vessels used to store and age wine. It was not until the Middle Ages that governments began to regulate the wine trade when some of the more common measurements were standardized. Even then the size and standards for wine vessels varied by country. A Medieval barrel held 10.01 gallons while the small 15th-century English barrel held 31.5 gallons.
Today, three types of small barrels are standard vessels world-wide for storing wine – the French oak Bordeaux barrel used for many types of wine holds 59.42 gallons (225 liters), the French oak Burgundy barrel, generally used for pinot noirs worldwide holds 62.2 gallons (228 liters), and the American oak barrel holds 55 gallons of wine.
Why oak barrels? Now for a little oak barrel information. Without oak, many wines as we know them today would not have existed. The wines would not have tasted the same – for there is NO substitute for the oak flavor. As any barrel manufacturer will tell you, wine barrels can be made from any wood, including pine, cherry, walnut or chestnut. When wine is stored in any of these barrels, their wood grain would not have enhanced the wine taste in the same way as the oak grain will! Therefore only the oak carrels were made to store and age wine.
From early on, vintners found that the flavor of oak has a desirable effect on wine by making the taste softer and tastier after aging in an oak barrel. Even today, they maintain that an oak barrel has the "ability to transform wine, to coax it out of the genre of simple fruit juice thus giving wine depth, length, complexity and intensity," according to Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible.
Open wood buckets were used to hold and transport wine more than 2000 years before the birth of Christ. However, closed oak barrels only came into use during the Roman Empire. It was during this time that wine makers found that if they used oak for their wine vessels, it was strong enough to withstand "wear and tear," yet light enough to be easily rolled and moved in their wine cellars. But "best of all, the oak barrels were leak proof." So why not use them, because unlike today, oak trees were then plentiful in Europe.
Now, even though the vintners knew that the wine tasted better when aged in oak barrels, they were not sure why! It has only been within the past four decades that research has aided ecologists to unravel this "enigma." Researchers now speculate that there are possibly two processes that are responsible for this wine transformation.
The first is evaporation – both water and alcohol diffuse outward through the staves of a closed oak barrel – sometimes losing as much as 5 or 6 gallons a year. However, if the wine is aged in a sound barrel, the wine will age in a slow, reductive manner, thus eliminating the loss of wine. Process two also occurs at the same time as process one, with minute amounts of oxygen seeping in from the outside through the wood grain, which helps to "weave together the elements of the wine" giving it a softer dimension.
Now for a little information about steel barrels (tanks). It was not until 1912 that the giant German industrial conglomerate Krupp made the first steel tank. This stainless steel tank was not refrigerated, but it resisted corrosion from acids far better than the simple Chrome-steel tank it replaced. It was not until several decades later that technology developed a method for cooling huge tanks.
The first steel tanks used by wineries in the USA were probably those used by Gallo after World War II. Then finally in the 1950s, advanced rotary compressors capable of refrigerating 25,000-gallon tanks became available, and by the late 1960s, stainless steel tanks were a fixture in almost every American winery.
Needless to say, with oak barrels in short supply and costing at least $800 or more – steel barrels are more economical and easier to maintain. Now, what about oak flavor in a steel tank. You guessed it – just throw in some oak "chips" to get the flavor we wine lovers are accustomed to having in our favorite bottle of wine!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
To cork or not to cork
February 28, 2008
As you are uncorking your "favorite" bottle of wine, did you ever think about the "wine stopper" that was used to preserve the freshness of the wine you are going to enjoy? You didn't need to because the cork had always been there to assure the freshness and taste of the wine!
However, what you should know is that the corking process of bottling wine, whether by machine or by hand, is the "last and the most important" part of this process before shelving the bottles for storage and for sale.
The cork has been used down through the years to seal wine. The wine was bottle and sealed then laid on its side in a cool dark place – referred to as a wine cellar. Once a month each bottle was turned a quarter turn (called racking) to keep the cork moist so it would not dry out thus keeping oxygen from seeping in. This process continues today in many wineries throughout the world!
As indicated above, for centuries wineries have used wooden corks as wine stoppers. But as we well know nothing is forever! Wineries are already changing and have been changing their wine stoppers for the past ten years. Due to the worldwide production and consumption of wine, wineries have been forced to look beyond using wooden corks – using screw caps and plastic corks instead!
According to Jocken Michalski, president of Cork Supply USA, the nations largest supplier of premium natural cork wine stoppers, reported in his newsletter winter 2008, that the 2007 cork harvest was "16 percent less than in 2006." "This reduction in supply combined with increasing winery demand for top-tier wine stoppers is also driving up prices as well as winery owners choosing other wine stoppers," states Michalski.
Most of the cork trees are grown in Portugal and Spain. The trees are stripped of their bark every 9 to 10 years when the bark has grown think enough to provide "viable commercial use." However with the increased demand for more and more corks, the foresters began to strip the trees earlier and earlier before the bark had begun to mature. Therefore wineries were getting inferior wine corks, which caused to wine to "go bad." The wineries were also getting complaints from their customers that the corks were crumbling and there were hits and pieces of "wood" in their wine bottles. If wine bottles are not sealed properly oxygen seeps in and turns the wine to vinegar!
So without a ready supply of "time honored" corks, vintners must now switch to either artificial corks made of plastic or screw caps to protect their products. Some wineries have already switched to screw caps as an ecological way to seal their wine bottles thus ensuring the freshness and taste of a "good" wine. Many wineries have also switched to artificial corks thereby making sure their wine product is protected.
Screw caps have always been used to seal fortified wine bottles. Now will screw caps be used to seal unfortified wine bottles? This remains to be seen!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
As you are uncorking your "favorite" bottle of wine, did you ever think about the "wine stopper" that was used to preserve the freshness of the wine you are going to enjoy? You didn't need to because the cork had always been there to assure the freshness and taste of the wine!
However, what you should know is that the corking process of bottling wine, whether by machine or by hand, is the "last and the most important" part of this process before shelving the bottles for storage and for sale.
The cork has been used down through the years to seal wine. The wine was bottle and sealed then laid on its side in a cool dark place – referred to as a wine cellar. Once a month each bottle was turned a quarter turn (called racking) to keep the cork moist so it would not dry out thus keeping oxygen from seeping in. This process continues today in many wineries throughout the world!
As indicated above, for centuries wineries have used wooden corks as wine stoppers. But as we well know nothing is forever! Wineries are already changing and have been changing their wine stoppers for the past ten years. Due to the worldwide production and consumption of wine, wineries have been forced to look beyond using wooden corks – using screw caps and plastic corks instead!
According to Jocken Michalski, president of Cork Supply USA, the nations largest supplier of premium natural cork wine stoppers, reported in his newsletter winter 2008, that the 2007 cork harvest was "16 percent less than in 2006." "This reduction in supply combined with increasing winery demand for top-tier wine stoppers is also driving up prices as well as winery owners choosing other wine stoppers," states Michalski.
Most of the cork trees are grown in Portugal and Spain. The trees are stripped of their bark every 9 to 10 years when the bark has grown think enough to provide "viable commercial use." However with the increased demand for more and more corks, the foresters began to strip the trees earlier and earlier before the bark had begun to mature. Therefore wineries were getting inferior wine corks, which caused to wine to "go bad." The wineries were also getting complaints from their customers that the corks were crumbling and there were hits and pieces of "wood" in their wine bottles. If wine bottles are not sealed properly oxygen seeps in and turns the wine to vinegar!
So without a ready supply of "time honored" corks, vintners must now switch to either artificial corks made of plastic or screw caps to protect their products. Some wineries have already switched to screw caps as an ecological way to seal their wine bottles thus ensuring the freshness and taste of a "good" wine. Many wineries have also switched to artificial corks thereby making sure their wine product is protected.
Screw caps have always been used to seal fortified wine bottles. Now will screw caps be used to seal unfortified wine bottles? This remains to be seen!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Global wine production plummets
February 14, 2008
The global grape and wine production for the year 2007 "is at its lowest level within the last 10 years," writes the editor of The Wine Mirror, a Saint Gobin Containers Publication in Fairfield, California.
Not only was there a shortage of grapes and wines produced here in North Carolina, but this shortage also extended Worldwide! The number one reason for this global shortage writes the editor, "Is Dry Weather!"
According to a Vitisphere study – October 1, 2007 – this will be their first time that wine lovers will experience an under production of wine.
Now lets take a closer look at this grape and wine production decline. Just within the last five years, European harvests show a decrease of 155 million cases of wine. Producing countries in Europe – France, Spain and Italy – are showing strong production declines. France is now leading the way with a decrease of 562 million cases – a 5 percent decline. Spain is showing a 444 million cases, or a 12 percent, decline with Italy not far behind – 506 million cases, a 9 percent decline.
Only northern and eastern Europe is showing some growth:Germany with a 9 percent increase producing 107 million cases and Romania with a 13 percent increase producing 61 million cases of wine a year.
At the present time, the United States and the Southern Hemisphere's grape and wine production seems to be "steady." Let's hope these productions stay this way. However, according to the Vitisphere research, the 2007 global decline is not a temporary situation. The wine economy is entering a new phase defined by: (1) Slow production growth due to investments due to the economic crisis and; (2) Worldwide increase in wine consumption!
With wine markets stocking wines from every country worldwide – now reported with more than 4,000 different wines to choose from – wine consumption will continue to change from season to season as wine lovers are exposed to different wine tastes!
The enjoyment of drinking a glass of "good wine" is like enjoying the taste of a "good food!" You will try both! So just continue your food and wine everyday.
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
The global grape and wine production for the year 2007 "is at its lowest level within the last 10 years," writes the editor of The Wine Mirror, a Saint Gobin Containers Publication in Fairfield, California.
Not only was there a shortage of grapes and wines produced here in North Carolina, but this shortage also extended Worldwide! The number one reason for this global shortage writes the editor, "Is Dry Weather!"
According to a Vitisphere study – October 1, 2007 – this will be their first time that wine lovers will experience an under production of wine.
Now lets take a closer look at this grape and wine production decline. Just within the last five years, European harvests show a decrease of 155 million cases of wine. Producing countries in Europe – France, Spain and Italy – are showing strong production declines. France is now leading the way with a decrease of 562 million cases – a 5 percent decline. Spain is showing a 444 million cases, or a 12 percent, decline with Italy not far behind – 506 million cases, a 9 percent decline.
Only northern and eastern Europe is showing some growth:Germany with a 9 percent increase producing 107 million cases and Romania with a 13 percent increase producing 61 million cases of wine a year.
At the present time, the United States and the Southern Hemisphere's grape and wine production seems to be "steady." Let's hope these productions stay this way. However, according to the Vitisphere research, the 2007 global decline is not a temporary situation. The wine economy is entering a new phase defined by: (1) Slow production growth due to investments due to the economic crisis and; (2) Worldwide increase in wine consumption!
With wine markets stocking wines from every country worldwide – now reported with more than 4,000 different wines to choose from – wine consumption will continue to change from season to season as wine lovers are exposed to different wine tastes!
The enjoyment of drinking a glass of "good wine" is like enjoying the taste of a "good food!" You will try both! So just continue your food and wine everyday.
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Muscadine grapes are an elixir(?)!!!
January 17, 2008
North Carolina Wine Lovers, especially here in eastern North Carolina, have always said that wine made from scuppernong and muscadine grapes "is good for you."
Thanks to Bob Dalton, a former tobacco farmer and blender for R.J. Reynolds Company in Forsyth County, scientists have determined that the wine lovers are right! Recent scientific laboratory testing of both the white and black grapes, now officially known as muscadine grapes, has determined that muscadine grapes contain high levels of healthful antioxidants and polyphenols as previously updated.
However, with additional chemical analysis, the scientists also found that in addition to antioxidant Resveratrol, the muscadine contained piceatannol – an antioxidant not previously found in a renewable, sustainable source.
This new research is a result of Dalton transitioning his family's grapes, which make Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet wines. Then in the spring of 2001, Dalton discovered the Japanese Beetles were destroying his vineyard. Much to Bob's surprise, he found that while the beetles were feasting "feverishly" on the vinifera vines, they had not touched the wild-grown muscadine grapes nearby.
Although, as any muscadine grape growers can tell you – it's the grapes thick skins! These thick muscadine skins provide a natural resistance to disease and insects. Wanting to know "why the muscadine grapes were spared," Dalton sent samples to a scientific laboratory for testing as he wanted to know more about nature's grapes that have grown so profusely in North Carolina and the southeast coast of the United States for centuries.
Needless to say, when the results indicated that it was the "high levels of healthful antioxidants and polyphenols in the grapes (that) repelled the beetles," it didn't take long for Bob Dalton to switch his Yadkin Valley fields from vinifera grapes to muscadine!
Further research on these grapes also showed that they are "very healthy for humans!" As previously stated, the Resveratrol in the muscadine has been shown to inhibit the growth of some cancer cells including prostate cancer. They also help with cardiovascular ailments, arthritic conditions, symptoms of menopause and inflammatory problems. However, as Dalton states, the lab results also told him that these health benefits could not adequately be obtained "just by eating the grapes." The grapes needed to be concentrated!
So in December 2004, he began manufacturing a concentrated muscadine supplement using the skins from his grapes. They are dried, ground and sold as dietary supplements. This dietary supplement was first on the market as Muscadine Plus. Then in 2006, Dalton changed the company name to Muscadine Naturals. His dietary supplement targets signs of aging by using facial cream and body lotion made from muscadine grape skins.
Today, be healthy and enjoy Muscadine Grape products including wine, because as Dalton says, "This is one of the most amazing plants the dear Lord ever put on this Earth."For more information check N.C. Department of Agriculture at www.ncwine.org
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
North Carolina Wine Lovers, especially here in eastern North Carolina, have always said that wine made from scuppernong and muscadine grapes "is good for you."
Thanks to Bob Dalton, a former tobacco farmer and blender for R.J. Reynolds Company in Forsyth County, scientists have determined that the wine lovers are right! Recent scientific laboratory testing of both the white and black grapes, now officially known as muscadine grapes, has determined that muscadine grapes contain high levels of healthful antioxidants and polyphenols as previously updated.
However, with additional chemical analysis, the scientists also found that in addition to antioxidant Resveratrol, the muscadine contained piceatannol – an antioxidant not previously found in a renewable, sustainable source.
This new research is a result of Dalton transitioning his family's grapes, which make Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet wines. Then in the spring of 2001, Dalton discovered the Japanese Beetles were destroying his vineyard. Much to Bob's surprise, he found that while the beetles were feasting "feverishly" on the vinifera vines, they had not touched the wild-grown muscadine grapes nearby.
Although, as any muscadine grape growers can tell you – it's the grapes thick skins! These thick muscadine skins provide a natural resistance to disease and insects. Wanting to know "why the muscadine grapes were spared," Dalton sent samples to a scientific laboratory for testing as he wanted to know more about nature's grapes that have grown so profusely in North Carolina and the southeast coast of the United States for centuries.
Needless to say, when the results indicated that it was the "high levels of healthful antioxidants and polyphenols in the grapes (that) repelled the beetles," it didn't take long for Bob Dalton to switch his Yadkin Valley fields from vinifera grapes to muscadine!
Further research on these grapes also showed that they are "very healthy for humans!" As previously stated, the Resveratrol in the muscadine has been shown to inhibit the growth of some cancer cells including prostate cancer. They also help with cardiovascular ailments, arthritic conditions, symptoms of menopause and inflammatory problems. However, as Dalton states, the lab results also told him that these health benefits could not adequately be obtained "just by eating the grapes." The grapes needed to be concentrated!
So in December 2004, he began manufacturing a concentrated muscadine supplement using the skins from his grapes. They are dried, ground and sold as dietary supplements. This dietary supplement was first on the market as Muscadine Plus. Then in 2006, Dalton changed the company name to Muscadine Naturals. His dietary supplement targets signs of aging by using facial cream and body lotion made from muscadine grape skins.
Today, be healthy and enjoy Muscadine Grape products including wine, because as Dalton says, "This is one of the most amazing plants the dear Lord ever put on this Earth."For more information check N.C. Department of Agriculture at www.ncwine.org
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Reason to toast-Wine is food!
January 06, 2008
Wine is a food. That's why you may purchase wine in grocery and food stores.
According to Matthew During, a molecular pathologist, "if we, who enjoy a glass of wine at dinner, will treat wine like a food, we will consume it like a food at mealtime."
In During's recent study – testing the affects of alcohol intake on rats – at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and the Ohio State University in Columbus, with co-author professor Maggie Koler Zylinska, they found that "drinking alcohol in moderate amounts may improve the ability to create and maintain memories properly."
These pathologists also found that rats that drank alcohol in moderation "seemed to have superior cognitive skills when compared with non-drinking and heavy drinking rats," and "we do believe that these results are relevant to humans."
To begin their study, these researchers separated the rats into groups. One group was fed the standard diet and water. Another group was served water with an ethanol (polyphenol alcohol – which is different from distilled spirits) content of 2.5 percent. The third group was served water the 5 percent ethanol content. The latter two groups represented moderate and heavy drinking, respectively.
Following five weeks of feeding the rat groups, the pathologists began a series of behavior and memory tests. The results of these tests indicated that: 1) The moderately drinking group performed best – exhibiting the "greatest cognitive ability"; 2) The rats that didn't drink performed second best followed by the heavy-drinking rats.
Upon further examination, professors During and Zylinska found that: 1) The brains of the heavy-drinking rats showed "measurable levels of damage" which would have impaired the rodents' cognitive ability on many levels; 2) The moderatly drinking rats showed "no brain damage."
In exploring his research, Prof. During said, "The main point of my research is that light to moderate consumption of wine each day is not associated with long-term memory impairment." This study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Now for some good news for wine lovers and the American Wine Industry! Finally, with wine being acknowledged as a food, the ATF is proposing that wine labels contain nutrition facts as to the amount of carbohydrates, fats, protein and sodium found for other processed foods.
Since wine does not contain fat, protein or sodium, the wine industry stands to gain from this label change. Now people who worry about their salt and fat intake will know about the wine they enjoy drinking. They will become more aware that "good wine" is food and also know that drinking wine in moderation can be good for your health. So why not have nutritional information on wine labels?
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Wine is a food. That's why you may purchase wine in grocery and food stores.
According to Matthew During, a molecular pathologist, "if we, who enjoy a glass of wine at dinner, will treat wine like a food, we will consume it like a food at mealtime."
In During's recent study – testing the affects of alcohol intake on rats – at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and the Ohio State University in Columbus, with co-author professor Maggie Koler Zylinska, they found that "drinking alcohol in moderate amounts may improve the ability to create and maintain memories properly."
These pathologists also found that rats that drank alcohol in moderation "seemed to have superior cognitive skills when compared with non-drinking and heavy drinking rats," and "we do believe that these results are relevant to humans."
To begin their study, these researchers separated the rats into groups. One group was fed the standard diet and water. Another group was served water with an ethanol (polyphenol alcohol – which is different from distilled spirits) content of 2.5 percent. The third group was served water the 5 percent ethanol content. The latter two groups represented moderate and heavy drinking, respectively.
Following five weeks of feeding the rat groups, the pathologists began a series of behavior and memory tests. The results of these tests indicated that: 1) The moderately drinking group performed best – exhibiting the "greatest cognitive ability"; 2) The rats that didn't drink performed second best followed by the heavy-drinking rats.
Upon further examination, professors During and Zylinska found that: 1) The brains of the heavy-drinking rats showed "measurable levels of damage" which would have impaired the rodents' cognitive ability on many levels; 2) The moderatly drinking rats showed "no brain damage."
In exploring his research, Prof. During said, "The main point of my research is that light to moderate consumption of wine each day is not associated with long-term memory impairment." This study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Now for some good news for wine lovers and the American Wine Industry! Finally, with wine being acknowledged as a food, the ATF is proposing that wine labels contain nutrition facts as to the amount of carbohydrates, fats, protein and sodium found for other processed foods.
Since wine does not contain fat, protein or sodium, the wine industry stands to gain from this label change. Now people who worry about their salt and fat intake will know about the wine they enjoy drinking. They will become more aware that "good wine" is food and also know that drinking wine in moderation can be good for your health. So why not have nutritional information on wine labels?
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
The in's and out's of Wine Tour Tastings
December 12, 2007
Wine Tastings at Our Tar Heel Wineries? With the holidays just around the corner – now is the time to plan for a Holly Jolly Wine Tour.
There is a real gaggle of wineries located across Our Great State. From the Great Smoky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and to the Piedmont area in the middle, interesting wineries and vineyards really abound and cordially welcome you for a tasting and touring. Now is the time!
There are now more than 8,000 wines on the market, which makes it harder to choose a wine that you may really like – that's why visiting and tasting wines at a winery can really introduce a wine or wines that you can truly enjoy.
Now, just a little information to help you plan your wine tour. There is something undeniably romantic about visiting and tasting wine at it's source. Just think about being able to view the long, straight rows of wine grapes growing almost side by side with the winemaker's unique tasting room stocked with wines made from both the American native and varietal grown grapes. Sometimes you may even fall in love with a small-batch vintage you would never have found at your local shop.
Today people are looking to connect the wine in their wine glasses to the vineyard or barrel room the wine came from. Now are you ready for tasting the many excellent wines that will be offered you on your Wine Tour?
Everyone is born with a natural taste for sweetness (remember as a kid how you like candy); however you have to develop a taste for a dry wine (think about how your taste bids change). Now think today about your taste buds and remember how the Old Cajun Cooker Justin Wilson said, "If you have to grit you teeth to swallow the wine, you are drinking the wrong wine." Drinking wine should be a pleasant experience.
Tasting wine is an art and it takes practice. You learn by seeing, smelling and tasting wine. Begin by pouring the wine into a wine glass, swirl the glass and take a short sniff, then step away and let the information filter through your mind. The aroma should be the residual yeast from the fermentation. Good wine should "smell and taste like the grape" it is made from! Now look at the side of the wine glass as you swirl the wine – do you see a bar line? This will be the alcohol clinging to the side of the glass. It is called "leggs" and it tells you that there is good alcohol content in the wine.
Now, take a sip and feel the wine in your mouth as you swirl it around. Does it feel rich? Light? Thin? Now swallow the wine check the after-taste!
Most vintners will strive to make a wine that will "smell and taste like grapes!" Wine is also made from other fruits such as plums, peaches, pears, blue berries or anything that can ferment. Wine can be made even be made from watermelons and strawberries.Just remember on your Tasting Tour that drinking wine should be a pleasant experience and if wine doesn't taste good to you – don't drink it. It's just that simple!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Wine Tastings at Our Tar Heel Wineries? With the holidays just around the corner – now is the time to plan for a Holly Jolly Wine Tour.
There is a real gaggle of wineries located across Our Great State. From the Great Smoky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and to the Piedmont area in the middle, interesting wineries and vineyards really abound and cordially welcome you for a tasting and touring. Now is the time!
There are now more than 8,000 wines on the market, which makes it harder to choose a wine that you may really like – that's why visiting and tasting wines at a winery can really introduce a wine or wines that you can truly enjoy.
Now, just a little information to help you plan your wine tour. There is something undeniably romantic about visiting and tasting wine at it's source. Just think about being able to view the long, straight rows of wine grapes growing almost side by side with the winemaker's unique tasting room stocked with wines made from both the American native and varietal grown grapes. Sometimes you may even fall in love with a small-batch vintage you would never have found at your local shop.
Today people are looking to connect the wine in their wine glasses to the vineyard or barrel room the wine came from. Now are you ready for tasting the many excellent wines that will be offered you on your Wine Tour?
Everyone is born with a natural taste for sweetness (remember as a kid how you like candy); however you have to develop a taste for a dry wine (think about how your taste bids change). Now think today about your taste buds and remember how the Old Cajun Cooker Justin Wilson said, "If you have to grit you teeth to swallow the wine, you are drinking the wrong wine." Drinking wine should be a pleasant experience.
Tasting wine is an art and it takes practice. You learn by seeing, smelling and tasting wine. Begin by pouring the wine into a wine glass, swirl the glass and take a short sniff, then step away and let the information filter through your mind. The aroma should be the residual yeast from the fermentation. Good wine should "smell and taste like the grape" it is made from! Now look at the side of the wine glass as you swirl the wine – do you see a bar line? This will be the alcohol clinging to the side of the glass. It is called "leggs" and it tells you that there is good alcohol content in the wine.
Now, take a sip and feel the wine in your mouth as you swirl it around. Does it feel rich? Light? Thin? Now swallow the wine check the after-taste!
Most vintners will strive to make a wine that will "smell and taste like grapes!" Wine is also made from other fruits such as plums, peaches, pears, blue berries or anything that can ferment. Wine can be made even be made from watermelons and strawberries.Just remember on your Tasting Tour that drinking wine should be a pleasant experience and if wine doesn't taste good to you – don't drink it. It's just that simple!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
What's In A Name?
November 14, 2007
Names are very important! Not only does your name tell who you are, but also can tell what you do! Do you make things? Sell things? Or produce things? – or maybe you do all three – produce, make and sell things!
Now if you own a vineyard, you will produce and sell grapes and maybe make and sell wine. Not all vineyards are wineries and not all wineries are vineyards. Some vineyard owners only produce and sell grapes, while some winery owners only make and sell wine.
Today, as reported in the Discover North Carolina Wines brochure published by the N.C. Wine and Grape Council, there are more than 70 vineyards and wineries operating in North Carolina, making our state the 10th-largest state in the production of wine in our nation.
The primary objective of these vineyards and wineries is to entice visitors to come visit, taste and enjoy the many sites and attractions across out great state. There is no doubt that they have done an excellent job in promoting What's In A Name by tantalizing visitors to "come on down" by using interesting and carefully chosen, "catchy" names for their businesses.
Some wineries have used historical names that may have been derived from Land Grants such as the Bennett Family Land Grant from King Charles II in the late 17th century, or, perhaps named for a well-known estate like the Biltmore Estate Wine Company.
In addition to using their family names, many owners have named their wineries and vineyards for counties, towns, creeks, lakes, mountains, hills, valleys and for other sites of interest in our state – like Germantown Winery, and maybe Autumn and Ginger Creek Vineyards to name a few.
Then what about "catchy" names like Black Wolf, Ragapple Lassie and Chinqua Penn Vineyards? With inviting names like these, the owners do really say, "come see us." (For more information go to www.ncwine.org)
As mentioned in prior Wine News, some vintners started their wineries because of their romantic dreams of owning a winery and making wine. Could this romantic interest have helped to create wineries like Grapefruit Sisters, Moonrise Bay and A Secret Garden Winery? Perhaps this romantic interest will bring back memories of the TV show "Falcon Crest" when you visit their tasting rooms.
So, are you ready for a glass of wine? Then why not be patriotic this Veteran's Day Week and look for the label "America's First Wine" in your favorite wine store?
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Names are very important! Not only does your name tell who you are, but also can tell what you do! Do you make things? Sell things? Or produce things? – or maybe you do all three – produce, make and sell things!
Now if you own a vineyard, you will produce and sell grapes and maybe make and sell wine. Not all vineyards are wineries and not all wineries are vineyards. Some vineyard owners only produce and sell grapes, while some winery owners only make and sell wine.
Today, as reported in the Discover North Carolina Wines brochure published by the N.C. Wine and Grape Council, there are more than 70 vineyards and wineries operating in North Carolina, making our state the 10th-largest state in the production of wine in our nation.
The primary objective of these vineyards and wineries is to entice visitors to come visit, taste and enjoy the many sites and attractions across out great state. There is no doubt that they have done an excellent job in promoting What's In A Name by tantalizing visitors to "come on down" by using interesting and carefully chosen, "catchy" names for their businesses.
Some wineries have used historical names that may have been derived from Land Grants such as the Bennett Family Land Grant from King Charles II in the late 17th century, or, perhaps named for a well-known estate like the Biltmore Estate Wine Company.
In addition to using their family names, many owners have named their wineries and vineyards for counties, towns, creeks, lakes, mountains, hills, valleys and for other sites of interest in our state – like Germantown Winery, and maybe Autumn and Ginger Creek Vineyards to name a few.
Then what about "catchy" names like Black Wolf, Ragapple Lassie and Chinqua Penn Vineyards? With inviting names like these, the owners do really say, "come see us." (For more information go to www.ncwine.org)
As mentioned in prior Wine News, some vintners started their wineries because of their romantic dreams of owning a winery and making wine. Could this romantic interest have helped to create wineries like Grapefruit Sisters, Moonrise Bay and A Secret Garden Winery? Perhaps this romantic interest will bring back memories of the TV show "Falcon Crest" when you visit their tasting rooms.
So, are you ready for a glass of wine? Then why not be patriotic this Veteran's Day Week and look for the label "America's First Wine" in your favorite wine store?
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Mother Vineyard-Oldest in the nation
October 31, 2007
North Carolina is "home" to the oldest Grape Vine in our nation – "The Mother Vine!"
The legacy of Our State's history is deeply rooted in our agriculture spirit! And of the many natural wonders to "sprout" in this Great Country, none has a richer past or offers a more promising future than out own scuppernong and muscadine grapes from their ancestor, Mother Vineyard – the Mother Vine!
The Mother Vine, known nationally as Mother Vineyard – a Southern icon that hears a white marble sized symbol of autumn, is still growing and producing scuppernong grapes on Roanoke Island.
Mother Vineyard has a rich romantic history. With no one knowing for sure who or when this grape vine was planted, historians do know that grape vines were probably a part of North Carolina long before anything else occupied the land except woods and rivers.
The Mother Vines history is also fascinating and ever changing. At one time this grape vine consumed all the land north of Manteo, rolling in thick brambles of sweet grapes every fall. Eighty-four year old Abraham Baum when speaking to a roving reporter from The North Carolina Reader in 1858, stated that as a young boy he remembered that the "Mothervine was the largest grape vine on the island!" there were no homes close by.
However, today, expensive homes with neatly clipped lawns over looking Roanoke Sound surround Mother Vineyard. Now the most visible clue to the grape vines existence is the street that bears its name – Mother Vineyard Road! This street winds past Rever and Kenneth Whitley's yard where the vine grows, inconspicuous and looking ordinary on scaffolding of logs and wood beams. Homeowners had even taken shears to prune this vine trying to "tame" it into a "tidy patch". Can you imagine trying to make and keep a wild grape vine tidy?
Today, Mother Vineyard hardly looks like a treasure until you duck below the scaffolding into the shadows. Then it becomes a "secret" world, cool and dim with faint traces of sunlight lying like "lace" in the grass. It is then that Mother Vineyard shows it's age, twisting and turning out of the sandy soil with limbs as thick as thighs, like unearthed roots – gnarled and knotted with time. However, before this intrusion, one would never guess just by looking at it's canopy of green leaves that North Carolina's "Mother Vine" is now more than 400 years old!
Mother Vineyard may be an obscure bit of folklore to people who live in other parts of our state, but it has fascinated Coastal North Carolinians for generations.
As the late Dr. William Etheridge, a native of Manteo who taught at the University of Missouri, wrote in his papers now preserved at the Dare County Library, "The Vine is a romantic and revered object and you should approach it with the imagination and respect due it's dignity as the oldest "living" thing on the Island and one of the oldest living fruit plants on Earth!"
"If once while looking at the great twisted trunks," continues Dr. Etheridge, "you happen to hear the drums and wild harp strings of a brawling sou'wester, you may wonder whether the old vine is under bond to grow grapes for the wine-press of the immortals."
New, today there are many families living in Eastern North Carolina that are deeply indebted to their ancestors – many known and unknown kinsmen – who planted, protected, and cared for the Scuppernong and Muscadine vineyards that have dotted our country-side for the past four centuries. Yes, we do indeed enjoy the fruits of their labors today and hopefully for many tomorrows!
Thank you, ancestors, for planting the Mother Vine!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
North Carolina is "home" to the oldest Grape Vine in our nation – "The Mother Vine!"
The legacy of Our State's history is deeply rooted in our agriculture spirit! And of the many natural wonders to "sprout" in this Great Country, none has a richer past or offers a more promising future than out own scuppernong and muscadine grapes from their ancestor, Mother Vineyard – the Mother Vine!
The Mother Vine, known nationally as Mother Vineyard – a Southern icon that hears a white marble sized symbol of autumn, is still growing and producing scuppernong grapes on Roanoke Island.
Mother Vineyard has a rich romantic history. With no one knowing for sure who or when this grape vine was planted, historians do know that grape vines were probably a part of North Carolina long before anything else occupied the land except woods and rivers.
The Mother Vines history is also fascinating and ever changing. At one time this grape vine consumed all the land north of Manteo, rolling in thick brambles of sweet grapes every fall. Eighty-four year old Abraham Baum when speaking to a roving reporter from The North Carolina Reader in 1858, stated that as a young boy he remembered that the "Mothervine was the largest grape vine on the island!" there were no homes close by.
However, today, expensive homes with neatly clipped lawns over looking Roanoke Sound surround Mother Vineyard. Now the most visible clue to the grape vines existence is the street that bears its name – Mother Vineyard Road! This street winds past Rever and Kenneth Whitley's yard where the vine grows, inconspicuous and looking ordinary on scaffolding of logs and wood beams. Homeowners had even taken shears to prune this vine trying to "tame" it into a "tidy patch". Can you imagine trying to make and keep a wild grape vine tidy?
Today, Mother Vineyard hardly looks like a treasure until you duck below the scaffolding into the shadows. Then it becomes a "secret" world, cool and dim with faint traces of sunlight lying like "lace" in the grass. It is then that Mother Vineyard shows it's age, twisting and turning out of the sandy soil with limbs as thick as thighs, like unearthed roots – gnarled and knotted with time. However, before this intrusion, one would never guess just by looking at it's canopy of green leaves that North Carolina's "Mother Vine" is now more than 400 years old!
Mother Vineyard may be an obscure bit of folklore to people who live in other parts of our state, but it has fascinated Coastal North Carolinians for generations.
As the late Dr. William Etheridge, a native of Manteo who taught at the University of Missouri, wrote in his papers now preserved at the Dare County Library, "The Vine is a romantic and revered object and you should approach it with the imagination and respect due it's dignity as the oldest "living" thing on the Island and one of the oldest living fruit plants on Earth!"
"If once while looking at the great twisted trunks," continues Dr. Etheridge, "you happen to hear the drums and wild harp strings of a brawling sou'wester, you may wonder whether the old vine is under bond to grow grapes for the wine-press of the immortals."
New, today there are many families living in Eastern North Carolina that are deeply indebted to their ancestors – many known and unknown kinsmen – who planted, protected, and cared for the Scuppernong and Muscadine vineyards that have dotted our country-side for the past four centuries. Yes, we do indeed enjoy the fruits of their labors today and hopefully for many tomorrows!
Thank you, ancestors, for planting the Mother Vine!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
Nature's Healthiest Fruits
October 04, 2007
How about eating "nature's healthiest fruits" – Scuppernong and Muscadine grapes?
Scientists have recently discovered that North Carolina's native grapes, grown only in the southeastern United States and available from late August through early October, are one of the "Worlds best natural sources of the powerful antioxidant Resveratrol!"
Beginning with the Copenhagen study "our grapes" have proven to be a great resource for healthy phytochemicals (chemistry of plant products) scientifically shown to contain Resveratrol, a reducer of heart attacks and strokes. They also contain "Ellagic acid," a strong anti-oxidant, which inhibits some forms of cancer.
Of course this health factor is not news! As far back as 1885, druggists recommended Scuppernong brandy for it's medicinal properties. Botanists believe that these high levels of Resveratrol are developed as a defense mechanism placed on these grapevines by the hot humid climate of the southeastern United States.
Not only are scuppernong and muscadine grapes very healthy, they are also a very pleasant sweet tasting grape and make wonderful jams, jellies, pies, juices and wine.
Now for a little history. Scientists have classified both the scuppernong and muscadine grapes as belonging to the Rotundifolar classification. Referred to in the "wild state" as Vitis Rotundifolar. Actually, all scuppernongs are muscadines, but not all muscadines are scuppernongs.
The name muscadine is a broad category of grape that includes many varieties of both bronze and black grapes. With the scuppernong grape being one of the oldest and most popular variety of grapes, the name is sometimes used to refer to any bronze variety, which includes the Carlos, Magnolia, Fry, and Triumph grapes. We now know that the scuppernong grapes were the first muscadine grapes discovered in America.
Where did the name "muscadine" originate? When the early settlers arrived in America they were familiar with the Muscat grape, which is a French grape that is used in making Muscatel wine. The word Muscat derives from the Latin "muscus," which describes the smell of a male musk deer.
With their knowledge of the Muscat grape and the smell of the musk deer, the settlers called the sweet, musk-scented wild grapes they found by the same name as the sweet grapes they had known in Europe that eventually became known as Muscadine.
The muscadine today includes the black varieties known as the Noble, Nesbitt, Black Fry, and Supreme grapes.
So eat up! Will you have scuppernong or muscadine, or maybe both? Since we now know according to the "French Paradox" that these grapes and their products (jellies, jams, pies, juices and wines) contain more Resveratrol than any other fruit or vegetable and up to "40 times" more anti-oxidants than the vinifera grapes from Europe.Enjoy!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
How about eating "nature's healthiest fruits" – Scuppernong and Muscadine grapes?
Scientists have recently discovered that North Carolina's native grapes, grown only in the southeastern United States and available from late August through early October, are one of the "Worlds best natural sources of the powerful antioxidant Resveratrol!"
Beginning with the Copenhagen study "our grapes" have proven to be a great resource for healthy phytochemicals (chemistry of plant products) scientifically shown to contain Resveratrol, a reducer of heart attacks and strokes. They also contain "Ellagic acid," a strong anti-oxidant, which inhibits some forms of cancer.
Of course this health factor is not news! As far back as 1885, druggists recommended Scuppernong brandy for it's medicinal properties. Botanists believe that these high levels of Resveratrol are developed as a defense mechanism placed on these grapevines by the hot humid climate of the southeastern United States.
Not only are scuppernong and muscadine grapes very healthy, they are also a very pleasant sweet tasting grape and make wonderful jams, jellies, pies, juices and wine.
Now for a little history. Scientists have classified both the scuppernong and muscadine grapes as belonging to the Rotundifolar classification. Referred to in the "wild state" as Vitis Rotundifolar. Actually, all scuppernongs are muscadines, but not all muscadines are scuppernongs.
The name muscadine is a broad category of grape that includes many varieties of both bronze and black grapes. With the scuppernong grape being one of the oldest and most popular variety of grapes, the name is sometimes used to refer to any bronze variety, which includes the Carlos, Magnolia, Fry, and Triumph grapes. We now know that the scuppernong grapes were the first muscadine grapes discovered in America.
Where did the name "muscadine" originate? When the early settlers arrived in America they were familiar with the Muscat grape, which is a French grape that is used in making Muscatel wine. The word Muscat derives from the Latin "muscus," which describes the smell of a male musk deer.
With their knowledge of the Muscat grape and the smell of the musk deer, the settlers called the sweet, musk-scented wild grapes they found by the same name as the sweet grapes they had known in Europe that eventually became known as Muscadine.
The muscadine today includes the black varieties known as the Noble, Nesbitt, Black Fry, and Supreme grapes.
So eat up! Will you have scuppernong or muscadine, or maybe both? Since we now know according to the "French Paradox" that these grapes and their products (jellies, jams, pies, juices and wines) contain more Resveratrol than any other fruit or vegetable and up to "40 times" more anti-oxidants than the vinifera grapes from Europe.Enjoy!
Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards
VINTAGE VINEYARD A FAMILY'S SWEET WORK...LIKE FINE WINE
Ernest Hemingway
Snipets of wine information; news, articles, wine tidbits, and recipes from Buddy Harrell and the Bennett Vineyards family.
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