Have you ever been to a wine tasting? Most people, when they think about wine tasting, imagine people sipping, swilling and spitting their wine. Believe me there is a lot more to sampling wines than that. At a wine tasting it is important to have the right wine in the right glass.

First off, if the wine is chilled, then you need to hold the glass by its stem and remember not to touch the bowl at all. Wines that are not chilled and which can be served at room temperature will require picking the glass by its bowl and holding it while cupped in the palm of your hand with the stem being held between your two middle fingers.

Next you need to remember, while you are enjoying wine tasting, to hold the glass at a bit of an angle and keep the glass at a distance most suitable, such as at an arm’s length.

Study The Color And Clarity Of Wine

Now that you have the mechanics of holding the wine glass right, your next step in wine tasting is to study the color of the wine as well as its clarity. Although you may be conversant with wines that are only red, white and pink in color, be sure to know that there are many different colors as well that will include colors such as green, gold, yellow, purple and in some instances, even black.

And, from the clarity of the wine, you can be sure of what the age of the wine is – with young wines being more see-through types while cloudiness will indicate that something is amiss with the wine.

No doubt, studying the color and clarity of the wine may not have much bearing in how your wine is going to taste, though for a wine tasting connoisseur there is as much joy in holding the wine as there is in tasting it. Another important aspect to wine tasting is the bouquet, which is not a bunch of flowers, but rather the way that the wine smells.

Thus, you will need to properly hold the wine glass and lower your hand so that the glass is level and then you need to make a rotation of your wrist in order to gently swirl the wine within the wine bowl, though remember that to get the best out of swilling the wine, very little wrist movement is necessary. Swilling the wine brings its aroma to the fore which can then be savored as well as smelled which you can do by bringing the wine glass at the level of your nose and do so in an elegant manner.

Now, you are ready for the real wine tasting activity which essentially requires that you do not guzzle the wine; rather, you need to take dainty sips and it requires bringing the glass to your lips which should part slightly and a small sip is taken.

Then you should close your mouth and roll the wine gently about your tongue for a couple of seconds and then let the wine slide down your throat while making sure that you do not exhale at this time. Basically, that is all there is to wine tasting.

Did you know that:
1. European bees were successfully introduced into Tasmania in 1831 and Italian bees arrived in 1884.

2. Australia is a large producer of honey because of its climate and vegetation.

3. Australia’s eucalyptus are an excellent source of honey. The honey produced has a unique flavour and density.

4. Most Australian honey comes from eucalyptus box, gum, stringy bark and iron bark tree families.

5.Australia exports half of the honey that it produces, particularly to Germany and the UK.

6. Honey is the only food that contains all the essential substances needed to sustain life.

7. A beehive typically makes more than 180kg of honey per year.

8. Each hive has guards to guard the entrance. Bees have a unique smell that identifies them.

9. A colony of bees can contain 40,000-60,000 bees during the summer months.

10. A single honeybee will only produce 1/12 teaspoons of honey in her entire lifetime.

11. A honey bee travels over 88,000km and visits approximately 2 million flowers to make half a kilogram of honey.

12. A honeybee can fly at approximately 24km/hr.
Honeybees are herbivorous, but will cannibalize their brood if they are stressed.

13. Honeybees only live for approximately 4 weeks in the summer and 6 weeks in the winter.

14. The queen bee mates for 1-2 days with up to 17 drones. She stores the sperm from these matings so that she has a lifetime supply and never has to mate again.

15.The queen bee can lay between 600-1500 eggs per day during her 3-4 year life. This daily egg quota may equal her body weight.

16. The queen bee is constantly fed and groomed by the attendant worker bees in her brood.

17. Honey was used to embalm the body of Alexander the Great.

18. Honey never spoils.

Honey has many medicinal properties. Honey speeds up the healing process. It has been used as a topical dressing on wounds, as microbes cannot live in it. Honey contains nutrients that promote tissue regeneration and stimulate the growth of new capillaries. Honey combats infection by drawing lymph out to the cells and absorbing moisture. Band-aids impregnated with honey can be bought in pharmacies in Australia and New Zealand. It has also been used to treat diseases such as typhoid and pneumonia. However, honey can be dangerous, or even fatal, to a baby below the age of a year as it contains spores that their immune system is not equipped to handle.

Recipe of the Day – Honey Chicken with Cashew

Serving
2 People

Ingredients
1. A piece of Chicken breast
2. 100g of unsalted roasted Cashew Nuts
3. 1 small shallot/onion thinly sliced
4. 2 Tspn of Honey
5. 1 Red Capsicum
6. Some fresh Coriander for garnish
7. Salt & Pepper to taste
8 2 Tspn of Olive oil

Method
1. Wash and dry the chicken breast and cut into small bite size pieces. Marinate this with the honey and pepper, leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

2. De-seed the red capsicum and cut into bite size square pieces.

3. Heat up your favorite cooking pan for stir-fried. When it is hot enough, add the olive oil. When this is hot enough add the sliced shallots/onions. Make sure you stir through to make sure they are not burnt.

4. When the shallots/onions are softened to a slight brown colour add the marinated chicken. Continue to stir through to ensure the chicken pieces do not get burnt at any sides. Add salt and further pepper to taste if necessary.

5. Add 1/2 a cup of water or chicken stock and let it simmers to cook through the chicken, add slightly more water if it is needed to cook through your chicken pieces.

6. Once the liquid is almost dried up, add the capsicum and cashew nuts and stir through thoroughly. Continue stirring this for another 5 minutes and dish it up onto a serving plate. Finally garnish this with chopped coriander. Serve it with rice or roti.