Cufflinks for the Wine Connoisseur
http://greatsmallbusinessideas.com/articles/31574/1/Cufflinks-for-the-Wine-Connoisseur/Page1.html
Elizabeth Johnson
Whether your interests are in silver, gold, artistic, sports, or other theme-related cufflinks we've got you covered. Cufflink Aficionado carries a broad range of mens cufflinks designed to meet each connoisseur's individual style and interest. Our selection of cuff links are sure to top off that perfect look. By Elizabeth Johnson
Published on 21/04/2010
The grape harvest for 2008 is just about completed For those of us who are wine lovers - dare we say oenophiles
The grape harvest for 2008 is just about completed. For those of us who are wine lovers - dare we say oenophiles? - this is an exciting time of the year, for the grapes give us a hint even today of the wines they will be in the future.
America really came late to the enjoyment of wine. Catholic missionaries produced some of the first wines created in the New World, bringing to this land their traditions - from Spain, France, and Italy - of their native cultures. As the New World was colonized, settlers from Southern Europe continued to embrace the custom of drinking wine socially and with meals, while settlers from England and Northern Europe embraced drinks that were more common in their own native countries - beer or spirits - or, if they were of a Puritan bent, eschewed the practice of drinking alcoholic beverages altogether.
During the period of the Revolutionary War, there was an effort to create a national identity for the new American nation. Those that continued to embrace old customs - and the papacy - were considered to be refusing to assimilate, and their traditions were shunted aside as being barbarous and dangerous to society as a whole.
Indeed, the temperance movement, which has ebbed and flowed throughout American history, did an amazing job cementing cultural stereotypes by depicting certain ethnic groups as wine-swilling (or in the case of the Irish, whiskey-swilling) drunks with doubtful hygiene and a tendency to swing wildly between cartoonish sentiment and unspeakable violence.
For well-bred Americans (read those who weren't from a wine-consuming nation), alcohol was nevertheless on the rampage. Instead of wine, the folks were drinking down large amounts of beer, whiskey, and gin, and saloonkeepers were rich men indeed. A little old lady might prize her elderberry or dandelion wine - for medicinal purposes, of course (wink, wink), but the idea of imbibing from the grape seemed to smack of being - well, Italian, Spanish, or French.
It simply wasn't done.
From the 1860s to the 1880s, however, a vine disease nearly decimated the vineyards of Europe. In response to the sudden demand for wine of any ilk, wine production in America boomed, and American winemakers sent their product to all of those wine-drinking countries in Europe. However, the American market was glutted with wine when production recovered in the European vineyards, and for many years, the industry floundered - especially in California, where property values were skyrocketing and the same vine disease that had earlier hurt Europe's vineyards was now rampant.
Amazingly, it was Prohibition that saved the wine industry in the United States. Although spirits were outlawed, doctors could prescribe alcohol and wine could be manufactured for religious purposes. Add to that the fact that Prohibition laws had been expanded to allow families to produce 200 gallons of wine each year for personal use. Many families merely sent their own bottles to be filled by wine producers, or let the winemakers send unlabeled bottles.
Following the repeal of Prohibition, some U.S. winemakers turned to the production of fortified wines, which were cheap to produce and sell. They also contained a very high amount of alcohol, and as such, they appealed to those wanting to get drunk fast and inexpensively. Sadly, this gave some unknowing Americans the idea that wine was for winos, not connoisseurs or even people of good taste. That was the heyday of the cocktail, and unless you could really afford the really good stuff - or were at a wedding enjoying a champagne toast - you just didn't drink wine.
By the late 1960s, however, there were a lot of young, affluent, and well-traveled Americans. Their relatives had come to America some years earlier, probably fought in World War II, and this new generation was the answer to those years of sacrifice. The New American was probably college-educated, or at least had been a fixture in the corporate world for a while - and they embraced the traditions they had experienced in Europe, including drinking wine.
Jug wine sold very well during the period, with the idea that pouring out wine from a jug - arguably, not always very good wine - was somehow earthy and European. Most of the wine was simply produced and a bit on the sweet side, giving rise to the White Zinfandel craze that hit the nation in the early 1980s. Winemakers - some of them owned by large corporations - had figured out how to market their products, and, reaching the masses, were able to sell large amounts of swill, and smaller but still acceptable amounts of better wines.
Today, wine-lovers have embraced varietals and host and attend tastings. Dinner guests strive to bring impressive bottles and hosts venture to one-up their guests with rare vintages. Good wine can be bought for less than $20, or way up into the thousands of dollars.
If you've developed a taste for the good stuff yourself, why not show the world during non-drinking hours with a pair of wine connoisseur cufflinks? Or better yet, flash a pair of wine cufflinks during a tasting and start off your evening as the One Whose Opinion Matters. Cufflinks that pay homage to your passion depict grapes, corkscrews, and wine glasses - and what is a connoisseur if he's not also dressed to the nines?
America really came late to the enjoyment of wine. Catholic missionaries produced some of the first wines created in the New World, bringing to this land their traditions - from Spain, France, and Italy - of their native cultures. As the New World was colonized, settlers from Southern Europe continued to embrace the custom of drinking wine socially and with meals, while settlers from England and Northern Europe embraced drinks that were more common in their own native countries - beer or spirits - or, if they were of a Puritan bent, eschewed the practice of drinking alcoholic beverages altogether.
During the period of the Revolutionary War, there was an effort to create a national identity for the new American nation. Those that continued to embrace old customs - and the papacy - were considered to be refusing to assimilate, and their traditions were shunted aside as being barbarous and dangerous to society as a whole.
Indeed, the temperance movement, which has ebbed and flowed throughout American history, did an amazing job cementing cultural stereotypes by depicting certain ethnic groups as wine-swilling (or in the case of the Irish, whiskey-swilling) drunks with doubtful hygiene and a tendency to swing wildly between cartoonish sentiment and unspeakable violence.
For well-bred Americans (read those who weren't from a wine-consuming nation), alcohol was nevertheless on the rampage. Instead of wine, the folks were drinking down large amounts of beer, whiskey, and gin, and saloonkeepers were rich men indeed. A little old lady might prize her elderberry or dandelion wine - for medicinal purposes, of course (wink, wink), but the idea of imbibing from the grape seemed to smack of being - well, Italian, Spanish, or French.
It simply wasn't done.
From the 1860s to the 1880s, however, a vine disease nearly decimated the vineyards of Europe. In response to the sudden demand for wine of any ilk, wine production in America boomed, and American winemakers sent their product to all of those wine-drinking countries in Europe. However, the American market was glutted with wine when production recovered in the European vineyards, and for many years, the industry floundered - especially in California, where property values were skyrocketing and the same vine disease that had earlier hurt Europe's vineyards was now rampant.
Amazingly, it was Prohibition that saved the wine industry in the United States. Although spirits were outlawed, doctors could prescribe alcohol and wine could be manufactured for religious purposes. Add to that the fact that Prohibition laws had been expanded to allow families to produce 200 gallons of wine each year for personal use. Many families merely sent their own bottles to be filled by wine producers, or let the winemakers send unlabeled bottles.
Following the repeal of Prohibition, some U.S. winemakers turned to the production of fortified wines, which were cheap to produce and sell. They also contained a very high amount of alcohol, and as such, they appealed to those wanting to get drunk fast and inexpensively. Sadly, this gave some unknowing Americans the idea that wine was for winos, not connoisseurs or even people of good taste. That was the heyday of the cocktail, and unless you could really afford the really good stuff - or were at a wedding enjoying a champagne toast - you just didn't drink wine.
By the late 1960s, however, there were a lot of young, affluent, and well-traveled Americans. Their relatives had come to America some years earlier, probably fought in World War II, and this new generation was the answer to those years of sacrifice. The New American was probably college-educated, or at least had been a fixture in the corporate world for a while - and they embraced the traditions they had experienced in Europe, including drinking wine.
Jug wine sold very well during the period, with the idea that pouring out wine from a jug - arguably, not always very good wine - was somehow earthy and European. Most of the wine was simply produced and a bit on the sweet side, giving rise to the White Zinfandel craze that hit the nation in the early 1980s. Winemakers - some of them owned by large corporations - had figured out how to market their products, and, reaching the masses, were able to sell large amounts of swill, and smaller but still acceptable amounts of better wines.
Today, wine-lovers have embraced varietals and host and attend tastings. Dinner guests strive to bring impressive bottles and hosts venture to one-up their guests with rare vintages. Good wine can be bought for less than $20, or way up into the thousands of dollars.
If you've developed a taste for the good stuff yourself, why not show the world during non-drinking hours with a pair of wine connoisseur cufflinks? Or better yet, flash a pair of wine cufflinks during a tasting and start off your evening as the One Whose Opinion Matters. Cufflinks that pay homage to your passion depict grapes, corkscrews, and wine glasses - and what is a connoisseur if he's not also dressed to the nines?