French wines from Provence

Vins de Provence from the Rhone valley really do justify the title “King of the Wine Rivers.” Vines are growing on its banks almost continuously from snowy Visp, near the source way up in the Alps, right down to the sprawling muddy delta and swamps of marshland on the Mediterranean near Marseille. Even the Loire and the Rhine rivers cannot match such intense wine growing. The central stretch of the Rhone Valley from Lyon down to Avignon is thought of as the heart of the river, and without any doubt, the most memorable Vins de Provence are produced here.

Over 80 percent of the southern Rhone Vins de Provence, from 83 acres (33,600 hectares) in a hundred communities is covered by the Cotes du Rhone appellation, and these wines can be red, white or rose.

There is lots of good Vins de Provence to be had under simple Cotes du Rhone labels, especially where modern co-operatives haved used up-to-date methods to produce their bright, fresh red and white Vins de Provence. However, the leap of quality between Cotes du Rhone and Cotes du Rhone Vilages is dramatic and well worth the extra cost of a bottle. These Cotes du Rhone Villages Vins de Provence can only come from the seventeen designated villages (of which Sablet is one) traditionally thought of as producing the finest Vins de Provence.

The red Vins de Provence from villages such as Cairanne. Valreas, Visan, Vacqueyras and Beames de Venise are exceptionally full, fruity wine, with a slightly earthy, peppery edge, which are delicious young but also age extremely well.

The villages of Rasteau and Beames de Venise also make sweet, fortified Vins de Provence called “vins doux naturels.” Rasteau is based on the black Grenache grape and ends up a bit like a port which has lost its sense of direction. Beaumes de Venise uses the Muscat grape to produce a delicious, easy-to-sip sweet white Vins de Provence, with the full flavour of apples and honey easily one of the very best southern French fortified wines.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape is the best of a group of villages which have their own appellation. The red Vins de Provence from Chateauneuf-du-Pape have a marvellous dusty softness, like high summer heat in a dusty country lane, which is coated with soft raspberry fruit and spice. You can drink these Vins de Provence young but if you wait a few years you may catch glimpses of blackcurrant,chocolate,cinnamo n and plumbs all wrapped ion the warm smoothness of the south. Chateauneuf-du-Pape vineyards are so sun drenched that one can burn one’s hands by touching the stones on the ground in the mid-day heat!

The village of Gigondas, near Vacqueyrac, and next door to Sablet, likes to pride itself on nearly being a Chateauneuf-du-Pape producer. However, despite some rather good fruity wines from individual growers, many of these red Vins de Provence are fairly thick and jammy, while the roses are a bit too solid for comfort.

Lirac and Tavel produce Vins de Provence that are much more appetising. Tavel only makes rose and, although quite expensive, does have a good dusty cherry taste, even if it’s a bit “heady” to drink much of! Lirac rose is just as good, but lighter and less expensive, while the reds can be really beefy, with lots of fruit and a slight mineral streak. The white is full of fruit when young, although it doesn’t really age well.

There is no doubt that these wines are justly famous, and that the area is rightly known as the “King of the Wine Rivers.” Bravo les Vins de Provence!

Warehouse Control Systems for Food and Beverage Sector

According to Jerry List, vice-president of QC Software (www.qcsoftware.com), “First we have to understand the core competency of the Warehouse Control System (WCS). The WCS evolved from the Warehouse Management System (WMS) due to the fact that the WMS was just trying to do too much and technology just could not keep up. Routing, sorting and processing cartons through a conveyor system are very different than tracking inventory and orders. In the food and beverage arena it is imperative (a central to quality control) for goods to be picked, packed and shipped in an expeditious fashion due to the spoilage factor. A WCS must be able to process cartons efficiently avoiding any recirculation in the process of processing thousands of cartons an hour.”

Manufacturing journalist Thomas R. Cutler contributed to the current issue of the International Food and Safety Quality Network (IFSQN); the feature titled, “WCS Expands to Food & Beverage” details the decision-making process often conducted by food and beverage distributors and manufacturers.

According to Cutler, “There is a significant shift between (Warehouse Management Systems) WMS and WCS (Warehouse Control Systems) in the area of merging local data warehouses into an enterprise data warehouse. There are suites of software products that provide the tools necessary to efficiently and economically operate a warehouse or distribution center.”

Traditionally, a Warehouse Control System (WCS) executes instructions provided by an upper level host system, such as an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system or a WMS system. True Tier 1 WCS software provides advanced management capabilities including inventory control, resource scheduling and order management. The best-of-breed WCS systems are modular in nature, easily configurable, platform independent, with a scalable architecture to satisfy the needs of any size warehouse.

Unlike a typical WMS software solution, WCS directs real-time data management and interface responsibilities of the material handling system as well as provides common user interface screens for monitoring, control, and diagnostics.

The focal point for managing the operational aspects of the material handling system, WCS provides the critical link between the batch-time data host and the real-time Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) material handling system.

The PLC coordinates the various real-time control devices to accomplish the daily workload. At each decision point in the distribution process, the WCS “determines” the most efficient routing of the product and transmits directives to the Equipment Controllers to achieve the desired result. The decision-making process is often controlled by two separate utilities, the Sort Manager and the Route Director.

WMS systems are designed to manage information; they are planning systems versus execution systems, yet it is fair to say that the WCS is the MES for the warehouse because it directs the tasks.

The solutions provided by QC Software enables companies to streamline their warehouse operations with the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry ensuring increased corporate profitability.

A World of Wine at Your Fingertips

Many wine drinkers dream of finding an exciting discovery from far-off lands at a great price … unfortunately the reality is usually wildly different.

Today a few large wineries produce the majority of bottles you find on the high street and names like Hardys and Blossom Hill dominate the supermarket shelves. Many wine merchants and supermarkets are simply looking to secure the best price possible on easy-drinking, bulk wines from a large manufacturer. So if you want something a little different it’s not much use scanning the shelves in your corner shop or local supermarket – all you’re likely to find is mass-produced wine made for simple glugging!

However there is hope … the advent of the Internet and growing interest in wine (especially in the UK) has made it far easier (and cheaper!) for the average wine consumer to order interesting wines.

A quick search for wine online reveals a number of wine merchants offering a vast range of bottles with handy information about each one. According to online monitor Hitwise, websites operated by Laithwaites receive more online hits than those of any other wine merchant. Browse laithwaites and you will find wines from established winemaking countries such as France and Spain as well as far-flung destinations. There’s Pinot Grigio from Hungary and Romania, Brazilian fizz, dessert wines from Greece, Chilean Sauvignon plus that most difficult of grapes – Pinot Noir – from Patagonia. You can even try an English fizz should the mood take you closer to home.

It seems Laithwaites are thriving on variety and Leading wine magazine Decanter voted them their Wine Merchant of the Year in 2007. Wine lovers must hope that other wine merchants follow suit and offer more character-driven wines from distant shores …

So if you are feeling stuck in a wine rut – why not try searching for something a little

bit different? There is a world of better wines out there to enjoy and they’re just a

click away … For more information about the World of Wine, feel free to visit our site.

Board games for adults – Part 1

In the true sense of this article, that being adult games, I have some more modern suggestions:

Chez Geek – This is out of print now, but it was one of the hottest games around not all that long ago. The base version of the game is basically a simulation of life in a college dorm, complete with sexual, drug, alcohol, and tobacco references.

SPANC – Space Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirls is what it stands for. This game is also out of print. I demo this at conventions and I won’t let kids play it because of one card in the deck, which is a bit too racy for the kids.

Collateral Damage – This is the only anime based board game in America. In this game, you play a oyuban (yakooza boss) that is trying to take over Neo-Japan. Your henchmen are anime based characters (although there are a few real characters in there from Project A-KO and Dominion: Tank Police). What makes this game more for the grown-ups is that the characters can fall in love with each other, and it’s not always boy/girl. The system that you use to determine attack power will also raise an eyebrow for parents that try to play this around kids.

Power Grid – There’s nothing in this game that would make you not want to let your kids play it. It’s just that it’s a very long game that requires a bit more planning and thinking than your kids are probably going to sit through. Power Grid is a game of resource management, where you have to buy your power plants and then buy the resources to power those plants. Then you have to buy the rights to power a city. You need 14 cities to win in a 6-player game.

Due to the complexity of the combination of moves and outcomes, you may find yourself planning your moves two or three turns in advance, which is something that I normally find that only adults do.

Red Dragon Inn – A simulated drinking game that has you playing one of four characters, each with their own deck of cards (some cards are common amongst all four players and some are unique to only that character). The goal is to be the last person conscious and with gold. To stay conscious, you have to keep your fortitude level above your alcohol level. It’s not as easy as it sounds.

Tiki Island – Climb up the mountain, battling with the other players as you do, and then throw yourself into the lava pit to appease the mountain god, assuming you are worthy enough to do so, of course. The game is hilarious to play, but the objective is not one that most parents would probably encourage to their kids.

There are many games out there. Some are for adults due to their riskier images or content but there are many games that kids could play (content is suitable) but probably wouldn’t be able to sit through as they take so long to play.

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Board games for adults

Pass-out is an adult drinking game that can be be played with up to four people (or more if you team up with someone else). Its a bit like Monopoly, but instead of purchasing property you must consume alcohol.

*Game rules*

Just like in Monopoly you all start on the same square. The person with the red counter goes first, rolling two dice. Then moves the number of squares indicated by the roll in a clockwise direction. The player must then do what it says on the square. I shall go into detail about that later. Then each person must in turn take there turn and follow the directions on the square that they land

The Go to Jail square that can be found on a Monopoly board has been replaced by a Go to the Bar square, which if you land on you must go directly to. if you land on this square you must go directly to the bar, if you pass the start square you do not have to pick up a pink elephant card. If however you pick up a pass out card that says Go to the Bar you must pick up a pink elephant card. You can get out of the bar by three ways firstly rolling either 7 or 11 or by having a Get out of Bar Free card. Thirdly you could just down the rest of your drink. When in the jail you are not exempt from drinking so if someone lands on a square of your colour you still must take a drink

The start square is just like the Go square on a Monopoly board But this time instead of receiving 200 you will recieve a Pink elephant card.

The Free Parking square that is found on a Monopoly board has been replaced a square that says all must take 3 drinks

All the other squares are different colours. Orange squares mean you take a drink, blue squares means that the person who has the blue counter must have a drink, green squares mean the person with the green counter must take a drink. Red and Yellow squares the same rule applies. If you land on white square then you must take a pass-out card and follow the instructions. Finally pink squares, if you land on one of these everyone must have a drink.As I have mentioned before there are two sets of cards Pink elephant and Pass-out.

Pink Elephant cards

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These cards contain silly little tongue twisters. So every time you pass go you must try and say them. the more times you go round the more slurred they become.

Pass-out cards

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These are similar to community chest or chance cards in a game of Monopoly. it could go in your favour or it might just land you into taking 5 drinks.

The other rules that apply are to do with lighting up (these can be found in the pass-out cards). A player has the right to decline lighting up. But if however they light up without receiving a light up card then they must take a penalty of 5 drinks.

Drinks=====

It is up to you how much you drink, you may wish to just take sips, swigs or just down the whole glass. Its up to you.

* Conclusion*

I have played this game only once and what a great laugh it was. We were drinking a concoction of Beer, Cider, whiskey, home made Baileys (which we added to much gelatin to, so it was more like jelly) and a bottle of Thunderbirds. The game lasted about two hours and I was the last one standing. haven’t played it since, but would love to find a group of people up for it. All my friends keep chickening out. A great drinking game and would recommend it to anyone who thinks they can handle the pace.

Italian Wine – the Long History of Italian Wine

Italian wine has a long and interesting history. In fact, Greek settlers were producing wine in the region way before the Romans started planting and harvesting their own vineyards in the second century before Christ. While the Greeks may have started it, the Romans perfected it, organizing large scale productions and developing their own storing techniques.

Indeed, if it weren’t for the Romans, we wouldn’t have wine made in barrels or bottles of the beverage. Even though it’s been more two thousand years since the Romans took over wine making, Italy remains one of the world’s greatest producers of wine. In fact, Italy was responsible for around 20 percent of the world’s wine production in 2005.

Grapes are grown in nearly every part of Italy, and there are more than 1 million vineyards being cultivated this year. While each winery produces a different wine, overall Italian wine can be characterized as acidic and dry. They have a subdued flavor and aroma, which makes them better with food than enjoyed alone.

Italian culture is centered around wine. Many Italians drink it with every meal; almost as many drink it in between meals, too. It is customary for visitors to be offered a glass of wine upon arriving to the host’s house.

There are four classes of Italian wine, falling under two different categories. The first category is Table Wine, the other is Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region (QWPSR). Under table wine, there is Vino de Tavola and Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT). The former just means that it’s made in Italy, while the latter denotes wine from a specific region within the country.

In the QWPSR category, there are two subcategories. Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) refer to very specific zones in Italy. These are more specific than the aformentioned IGT wines. Who knew there was so much to Italian wine?

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