Posts tagged wine

Tribes solves the inaccuracies and other significant flaws in other recommendation systems such as inference engines and collaborative filtering. Tribes solves the problems inherent in existing recommendation systems for “products of taste.” It does this by recognizing that the only relevant information is a single datum: a personal preference expressed in terms of future intentions. Products of personal taste include wine, books, movies, music, cheese, and restaurants and more. Wine is a good example of why current systems fail. It’s nearly impossible for a retail consumer to reliable choose a good bottle that they will like enough for a subsequent purchase. Many retail purchases are so disliked that they get poured down the kitchen sink.

via http://recommendationinsights.com/?p=48

BBQ Locusts: To offset the punchy flavors of barbecue, one of the more popular ways to prepare locusts, you need a wine with a hint of sweetness, say experts at Laithwaite’s. A light bubbly pink like the Hacienda de Lluna Moscatel would work well, they suggest.

Asian Forest Scorpion: To offset the strong, bitter flavor of this venomous critter, in Asia scorpions are often prepared with a sweet chili sauce. Try a rosé that’s bold enough to cut through sweet and sour flavors, like a Paris Street Rose, made with Pinot Noir.

Crickets: One of the most common flavorings for crickets is a simple garlic and salt rub. A Spanish Albarino is the perfect match, experts say, as the full-bodied white brings out the nuttiness of crickets while its terroir, the seaside of Galicia, is also evocative of the salty sea air.

http://www.wort.lu/en/panorama/add-buzz-to-your-dinner-party-british-wine-experts-create-wine-and-insect-pairing-guide-5481b81b0c88b46a8ce444e9

“We are investing increasingly in Tasmania … because it’s one of the cooler areas in Australia to grow grapes and if we are going to have climate change, you might as well start in a cooler climate,” said Cecil Camilleri, the manager of sustainable wine programs at Yalumba, the 165-year-old winemaking company that has snapped up three Tasmanian properties in the past 15 years. The average temperature in the Tamar Valley in the northeast of the state is around 17 degrees celsius (63 degrees Fahrenheit), peaking at 22 degrees in the summer - well below the Barossa’s typical summer spike into the upper 30s.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/14/us-climatechange-australia-wine-idUSKBN0FI10K20140714

Oenococcus oeni is the main lactic acid bacterium that carries out the malolactic fermentation in virtually all red wines and in some white and sparkling wines. Oenococcus oeni possesses an array of metabolic activities that can modify the taste and aromatic properties of wine. There is, therefore, industrial interest in the proteins involved in these metabolic pathways and related transport systems of this bacterium. In this work, we report the characterization of the O. oeni ATCC BAA-1163 proteome.

http://rsob.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/2/130154

“We always start with infrared spectrometry,” he says. “That gives us an idea of what organic materials are preserved.” From there, it’s on to tandem liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, sometimes coupled with ion cyclotron resonance, and solid-phase micro-extraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The end result? A beer recipe.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/the-archaeology-of-beer/355732/

After untold hours in the lab experimenting with different transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging methods, the team found a new organelle inside the plant cell: the tannosome. It’s responsible for churning out tannins, the naturally occurring molecules belonging to the polyphenols class of organic chemicals.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/food-matters/2013/09/20/tannosomes-and-the-trickle-around-effect/