Look good, pour easy...The Foil Cutter

The foil cutter is a very simple but necessary part of the wine opening process. Many people (including myself in the past) think that all they need to open a bottle of wine and get to the good stuff is a corkscrew. The corkscrew, or Rabbit or Screwpull will do the job but you may risk stripping the cork and have a foil mess on your hands if you don't use a foil cutter. It also makes that $6.99 bottle of wine look like a $26.99 bottle.

So save yourself the embarrassment of a bad open and have something to talk about with all of your wine newbie friends and buy, steal or borrow a foil cutter right away.

A Great Wine Shop in Orange, CA? It's True!

No really, there is one of the best wine shops in all of California called the Wine Exchange in Orange. They are not a fancy wine and cheese shop with soft jazz and trendy patrons (though they do have a pretty nice tasting room on the side). The Wine Exchange offers a dizzying selection of wines in all price categories from all over the globe. Their selection of Zinfandel, normally relegated to 1/2 a shelf in most supermarkets is about 40 feet long with great selections from the Central Coast and Lodi.

The staff at the Wine Exchange is extremely knowledgeable from a practical (drinking) and academic (hitting the books) wine education. They will ask you what type of wine do you like and if you don't know they will talk about your favorite foods, flowers, smells and tastes to help pick a style just right for you.

They also offer twice weekly tastings on Wednesday or Thursday and always on Saturday that are nice to taste and then go pick out your favorite bottle of the day at a discounted price. Liquor, beer, cigars and some gourmet foods are also offered but at the Wine Exchange, wine rules the day.

You can find the Wine Exchange at the following address:

1500 E. Village Way #2364
(Near Tustin & Heim)
Orange, CA 92865
800.76.WINEX
714.974.1454
714.974.1792 (Fax)

Check out there online specials and calendar of events at: http://www.winex.com/

Welcome to Vino and Vistas

Hi and thanks for stopping in for a quick drink. Vino and Vistas is dedicated to sharing information about two of my favorite hobbies, drinking new wine and visiting new places. Some of my favorite places are Hawaii, Italy and the Sierra Nevada in California and some of my favorite wines are Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.

I will hope to write about one good wine or food experience and one good trip (day, week or longer) each week. There will also be information about travel and wine accessories and specific hotels and wineries.

See you soon...Salud!