Vera Wang

They have two adopted children, Josephine, born in 1993, and Cecilia, born in 1990, who both currently attend The Chapin School. Catherines Wine Tasting of 2005, and many others. Wang currently lives in New York City with her husband, Arthur Becker, the CEO of a company called Navisite. The importance of blind tasting is demonstrated in the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, the Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981, the St. In June 2005, she won the CFDA (Council of the Fashion Designers of America) women's wear designer of the year. This is done because knowing the identity of a wine easily prejudices tasters for or against it because of its geographic origin, price, reputation, or other considerations. She also penned the book Vera Wang on Weddings which was released by Harper Collins in October, 2001. Blind tasting of wine involves tasting and evaluating wines without any knowledge of their identities.

She has expanded her brand name though her own fragrance, jewelry, shoe and houseware collections. The quantity of sulfites in a glass of wine is the same as a serving of dried apricots. She has designed costumes for figure skaters, including Nancy Kerrigan and Michelle Kwan, and has made wedding gowns for Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson,Victoria Beckham and Sharon Stone, among others. Many consumers who have adverse reactions to wine, such as headaches or hangovers, blame added sulfites but are probably reacting instead to naturally-occurring histamines. In 1990, she opened her own design salon in Carlyle Hotel in New York which featured her trademark bridal gowns. In the USA nearly all commercially produced wine, including that with no added sulfites, is required to state on the label "contains sulfites." In other countries they do not have to be declared on the label, leading to a common mistaken belief that only wine from the USA contains sulfites. She worked for Ralph Lauren as a design director for two years. They can trigger a severe and life-threatening allergic reaction in a small percentage of consumers, primarily asthmatics.

Wang was a senior fashion editor for Vogue magazine. Sulfites (or sulphites) are chemicals that occur naturally in grapes and also are added to wine as a preservative. When she failed to make the US Olympic team, she turned to her other passion, fashion. Trace amounts of resveratrol exist in grapes, white wine and peanuts. Figure Skating Championships. Sinclair of Harvard University and others claim that resveratrol is the active molecule responsible for the significant difference in lowering cancer risks and that the required amounts are only found in red wine. As a girl, Wang trained as a figure skater, and competed at the 1968 U.S. Dr.

Her maternal grandfather was a warlord in China. However, recent studies show that only red wine reduces the risk of contracting several types of cancer where beer and other alcoholic beverages show no change. Her paternal grandfather was a military general in China. Other studies have shown that similar beneficial effects on the heart can be obtained from drinking beer, and distilled spirits. Her father started and owned a chemical company. With excessive consumption, however, any health benefits are offset by the increased rate of various alcohol-related diseases, primarily cancers of mouth, upper respiratory tract, and ultimately, cirrhosis of liver. Her mother often took her to fashion shows in Paris. Red wine also contains a significant amount of flavonoids and red anthocyanin pigments that act as antioxidants.

She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in art history. One particularly interesting polyphenol found in red wine is resveratrol, to which numerous beneficial effects have been attributed. She is a Chinese American raised in an affluent family and attended the The Chapin School, which both her daughters currently attend, and the Sorbonne in Paris. Compounds, known as polyphenols, are found in larger amounts in red wine, and there is some evidence that these are especially beneficial. She is known for her wedding gown collection among other specialties. Originally, the effect was observed with red wine. Vera Wang (Chinese: 王薇薇; Hanyu Pinyin: Wáng Wēiwei; born June 27, 1949) is a fashion designer based in New York, NY, USA. It now seems clear that regular consumption of up to 1-2 drinks a day (1 standard drink is approximately equal to 5 oz, or 125 ml, of 13% wine) does reduce mortality, due to 10%–40% lower risk of coronary heart disease, for those over the age of 35 or so (see Alcohol consumption and health).

In the USA, a boom in red wine consumption was touched off in the 1990s by '60 Minutes', and other news reports on the French paradox. The health effects of wine (and alcohol in general) are the subject of considerable ongoing debate and study. 9:20-21) Wine remains an essential part of the Eucharistic rites in the Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican denominations of Christianity. (Gen.

The New Testament even states that Jesus' very first miracle was to turn water into wine (John 2:1-11), and the Old Testament states that the fermentation of grapes was first discovered by Noah after the great flood described in Genesis. Wine is also used in religious ceremonies in many cultures and the wine trade is of historical importance for many regions. If in doubt, it is better to err on the side of too little aeration than too much. As a general rule, younger white wines normally require no more than 15-30 minutes of aeration while younger red wines should be no more than 30-60 minutes.

It should then be tasted every 15 minutes until the wine is, according to individual preference, ready to drink. In general, wine should be tasted as soon as it is opened to determine how long it may be aerated, if at all. Breathing, however, does not benefit all wines, and should not therefore be taken to the extreme. Wines that are older generally fade (lose their character and flavor intensity) with extended aeration.

During aeration, the exposure of younger wines to air often "relaxes" the flavours and makes them taste slightly smooth and better integrated in aroma, texture, and flavor. "Older", on the other hand, refers to the last one third of their lives. For most white wines, "younger" means up to one to two years, while for red wines, they could mean as little as a few months, for a Beaujolais Nouveau, up to ten years for a hearty Barossa Shiraz. The word, "younger", refers to the first one third of a wine’s life, which varies from wine type to wine type and from wine to wine.

Generally, younger wines benefit from some aeration, while older wines do not. 'Breathing' means allowing a wine to aerate before drinking. to "breathe"), while other wines are recommended to be drunk as soon as they are opened. The labels on certain bottles of wine suggest that they need to be set aside for an hour before drinking (ie.

Although there are many classes of dinner wines, they can be categorized under six specific classes as follows:. The apéritif and dessert wines contain 14-20% alcohol, and are fortified to make them richer and sweeter than the light wines. Red, white and sparkling wines are the most popular, and are also known as light wines, because they only contain approximately 10-14% alcohol. Wine is a popular and important beverage that accompanies and enhances a wide range of European and Mediterranean-style cuisines, from the simple and traditional to the most sophisticated and complex.

Use of the term Meritage is protected by licensing agreements by The Meritage Association. For example, Meritage is generally a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and may also include Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. Some blended wine names are marketing terms, and the use of these names is governed by trademark or copyright law, rather than a specific wine law or a patent on the actual varietal blend or process used to achieve it. Thus, the finest sparkling wines from California will be labeled "sparkling wine", while some less expensive sparkling wines from California as well as states, such as Ohio and New York, may bear the name "Champagne".

For example, makers of American sparkling wines now generally find it to be of no advantage in the marketplace to use the name "Champagne" because the quality of their products is widely recognized. Generally only less expensive, mass-produced wines (or vin ordinaire) make use of these place names as semi-generic wine names. Some European producers protest the practice for fear that it causes loss of sales, although only the most unsophisticated consumer would be confused or mislead by the practice. winemakers to apply these terms to their wines even though the product does not come from these specific places.

While most countries restrict the use of these place names, there exists a legal definition called semi-generic in the United States that enables U.S. All of these are names of specific regions in Europe. However, in the United States (except Oregon), the following European appellations are allowed to be used as generic wine names: Asti, Burgundy, Chablis, Champagne, Chianti, Madeira, Marsala, and Moselle. For example, in most of the world, wine labeled Champagne must be made from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France and fermented using a certain method, based on the international trademark agreements included in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.

The inconsistent application of historical European designations can be confusing. New World wines are known primarily by their varietal content, and not by their region. The AVA designations do not restrict the type of grape used. The appellation system is strongest in the European Union, but a related system, the American Viticultural Area, restricts the use of certain regional labels in America, such as Napa Valley, Santa Barbara and Willamette Valley.

These naming conventions or "appellations" (as they are known in France) dictate not only where the grapes in a wine were grown, but also which grapes went into the wine and how they were vinified. Historically, wines have been known by names reflecting their origin, and sometimes style: Bordeaux, Rioja, Mosel and Chianti are all legally defined names, reflecting the traditional wines produced in the named region. The taste of a wine depends not only on the grape species and varietal blend, but also on the ground and climate (known as terroir) where it is cultivated. To accommodate market demands, an increasing number of French wine makers are labeling their bottles with the variety or varieties of grapes included, as permitted by law.

Within Europe, a major exception to the no-grape rule is with German wines, for which it is not uncommon to find this information on the front label. This is understandable; the many systems of geographic nomenclature with their precise meanings and implications are highly complex.[4]. For example, 72% of French adults report that they have difficulty understanding wine labels. However, to the typical or even to the well informed wine consumer, the system can be confusing if not impenetrable.

This is not the case with most European wines because tradition and legal restrictions enable a well trained connoisseur or other expert to know what variety of grape is in the bottle. Examples of recognized locales include:Napa Valley, Russian River Valley, Willamette Valley, Sonoma, Walla Walla, etc., Still, though, the grape variety is almost invariably present on the label. More and more, however, market recognition of particular regions and wineries is leading to their increased prominence on New World wine labels. New World wines (those from everywhere except Europe) are generally named for the grape variety.

Generally speaking, Old World (European) wines are named for the place of production, with the grapes used often not appearing on the label. Wines are usually named either by their grape variety or by their place of production. Instead of labels, the bottles (red, as well as white) had printing in gold on them, as seen in the illustration. An example is the Mildara Rhine Riesling produced in 1973 to mark the opening of the Sydney Opera House.

Some wines, produced to mark significant events in a country or region, can also become collectible because of labelling design. False labeling is another dishonest practice commonly used. Like any investment, proper research is essential before investing. Wine fraud scams often work by charging excessively high prices for the wine, while representing that it is a sound investment unaffected by economic cycles.

Also investment in fine wine has attracted a number of fraudsters who have played on fine wine's exclusive image, and their clients' ignorance of this sector of the wine market. Many wine writers have decried the trend, as it has pushed up prices to the point that few people will consider drinking such valuable commodities, and consequently they are kept in bottles undrunk where they eventually deteriorate into a substance very much like red wine vinegar in taste (and desirability). The most common wines purchased for investment are Bordeaux and Port. Secondary markets for these wines have consequently developed, as well as specialised facilities for post-purchase storage for people to "invest" in wine.

Exclusive wines come from all the best winemaking regions of the world. Some high-end wines are veblen goods (for conspicuous consumption). For restaurateurs, serving old vintages is a risk that is compensated through elevated prices. This is for a reason: diners will often return wines that have spoilt and not bear the expense.

Restaurants will often charge between two to five times the price of what a wine merchant may ask for an exceptional vintage. Part of the expense associated with high-end wine comes from the number of bottles which must be discarded in order to produce a drinkable wine. On the other hand, they may spoil after such long storage periods, unbeknownst to the drinker about to open the bottle. Such wines are often at their best years, or sometimes decades, after bottling.

Red wines, at least partly because of their ability to form more complex subtleties, are typically the most expensive. At the highest end, rare, super-premium wines are amongst the most expensive of all foodstuffs, and outstanding vintages from the best vineyards may sell for thousands of dollars per bottle. It can sometimes profit from aging 2-3 years and some Prestige Cuvées even much longer. French Champagne is often non-vintage, but still expensive.

There are exceptions though. Conversely, wines such as White Zinfandel, which don't age well, are made to be drunk immediately and may not be labeled with a vintage year. Some vintage wines are only made in better-than-average years. Superior vintages, from reputable producers and regions, will often fetch much higher prices than their average vintages.

Whilst vintage wines are generally made in a single batch so that each and every bottle will have a similar taste, climatic factors can have a dramatic impact on the character of a wine to the extent that different vintages from the same vineyard can vary dramatically in flavor and quality. They are therefore more expensive than non-vintage wines. For most types of wine, the best-quality grapes and the most care in wine-making are employed on vintage wines. These wines often improve in flavor as they age, and wine enthusiasts will occasionally save bottles of a favorite vintage wine for future consumption.

"Vintage wines" are made from grapes of a single year's harvest, and are accordingly dated. Wines may be classified by the year in which the grapes are harvested, known as the "vintage". Specific flavors may also be sensed, at least by an experienced taster, due to the highly complex mix of organic molecules, such as esters, that a fully vinted wine contains. Dry wine, for example, has only a tiny amount of residual sugar.

The sweetness of wines can be measured in brix, at harvest, but is in actuality determined by the amount of residual sugar in the wine after fermentation. Wines may be described as 'dry' (meaning they are without sugar), off-dry, fruity, or sweet, for example. Different grape varieties are associated with the aromas and tastes of different compounds. They are made up of chemical compounds which are similar to those in fruits, vegetables, and spices.

Wines may be also classified by their primary impression on the drinker's palate. Grappa is a dry colorless brandy, distilled from fermented grape pomace, the pulpy residue of grapes, stems and seeds that were pressed for the winemaking process. Brandy is a distilled wine. Fortified wines are often sweeter, always more alcoholic wines that have had their fermentation process stopped by the addition of a spirit, such as brandy.

In most countries except the United States, champagne is legally defined as sparkling wine originating from a region in France. Other international denominations of sparkling wine include Sekt or Schaumwein (Germany), Cava (Spain), Spumante or Prosecco (Italy). In France, wines that gain their carbonation from the traditional method of bottle fermentation are called Méthode Traditionnelle. To have this effect, the wine is fermented twice, once in an open container to allow the carbon dioxide to escape into the air, and a second time in a sealed container, where the gas is caught and remains in the wine.

They vary from just a slight bubbliness to the classic Champagne. Sparkling wines, such as champagne, are those with carbon dioxide, either from fermentation or added later. Another form of Rosé is called Blanc de Noir where the juice of red grapes are allowed contact with the skins for a very short time (usually only a couple of hours). Rosé wines are a compromise between reds and whites: a small amount of red wine is blended with a white wine.

A white wine made from a very dark grape may appear pink or 'blush'. White wine can be made from any colour of grape as the skin is separated from the juice during fermentation. Red wine is made from red (or black) grapes, but its red colour is bestowed by the skin being left in contact with the juice during fermentation. Grapes with colored juice are known as teinturiers, such as alicante bouchet.

The colour of wine is not determined by the juice of the grape, which is almost always clear, but rather by the presence or absence of the grape skin during fermentation. These include classifications such as sparkling, still, fortified, rosé, and blush. Wines may be classified by vinification methods. Their producers will try to minimize differences in sources of grapes, hide any hint of often-unremarkable "terroirs", or climatically under-performing harvest years, by:.

However, flavor differences are not necessarily a desirable quality for large producers of table wine or more affordable wines, where consistency is more important for mass-market wine brands. Many small producers use growing and production methods that preserve or accentuate the aroma and taste influences of their unique terroir. The variety of grape(s), aspect (direction of slope), elevation, and topography of the vineyard, type and chemistry of soil, the climate and seasonal conditions under which grapes are grown, the local yeast cultures altogether form the concept of "terroir." The range of possibilities lead to great variety among wine products, which is extended by the fermentation, finishing, and aging processes. Grafting is done in every wine-producing country of the World except for Chile, which has yet to be exposed to the bug.

This is common practice because North American grape species are resistant to phylloxera. Most of the world's vineyards are planted with European vinifera vines that have been grafted onto North American species rootstock. Hybrids are not to be confused with the practice of grafting. Although generally prohibited by law in traditional wine regions, hybrids are planted in substantial numbers in cool-climate viticultural areas.

Concord wine (Vitis labrusca species). Vitis labrusca, Vitis aestivalis, Vitis muscadinia, Vitis rupestris, Vitis rotundifolia and Vitis riparia are native North American grapes, usually grown for eating in fruit form or made into grape juice, jam, or jelly, but sometimes made into wine, eg. Wine can also be made from other species or from hybrids, created by the genetic crossing of two species. Blended wines are in no way inferior to varietal wines; indeed, some of the world's most valued and expensive wines from the Bordeaux, Rioja or Tuscany regions, are a blend of several grape varieties of the same vintage.

When one of these varieties, such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, or Merlot, for example, is used as the predominant grape (usually defined by law as a minimum of 75 or 85%) the result is a varietal, as opposed to a blended wine. Wine is usually made from one or more varieties of the European species, Vitis vinifera. In 2000, Great Britain imported more wine from Australia than from France for the first time in history. The leaders in export volume by market share in 2003 were:.

The vineyards of Algeria used to produce many fine wines, especially during and immediately after the era of French colonization, but civil strife since the 1970s has greatly reduced this industry. In the United States, California accounts for the largest share of wine producers, including Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Monterey, Paso Robles, and Santa Ynez. The 13 largest export nations (2005 dates) – Italy, France, Spain, Australia, Chile, the United States of America, Germany, South Africa, Portugal, Moldova, Hungary, Croatia and Argentina. Grapevines prefer a relatively long growing season of 100 days or more with warm daytime temperatures (no greater than 95°F/35°C) and cool nights (a difference of 40°F/23°C or more).

The world's most southerly vineyards are in the South Island of New Zealand near the 45th parallel. Wine grapes grow almost exclusively between thirty and fifty degrees north or south of the Equator. The advent of wine in Europe was the work of the Greeks who spread the art of grape-growing and winemaking in Ancient Greek and Roman times. By the end of the Old Kingdom, five wines, all probably produced in the Delta, constitute a canonical set of provisions, or fixed "menu," for the afterlife.

Winemaking scenes on tomb walls, and the offering lists that accompanied them, included wine that was definitely produced at the deltaic vineyards. The industry was most likely the result of trade between Egypt and Canaan during the Early Bronze Age, commencing from at least the Third Dynasty (2650 – 2575 BC), the beginning of the Old Kingdom period (2650 – 2152 BC). 3000 BC. A thriving royal winemaking industry was established in the Nile Delta following the introduction of grape cultivation from the Levant to Egypt c.

In Ancient Egypt, wine played an important part in ceremonial life. None of these areas can be singled out, despite persistent suggestions that Georgia is the birthplace of wine[3]. Wild grapes grow in the northern Levant, coastal and southeastern Turkey, the Caspian coast of Iran, Armenia, and Georgia. However, the first large-scale production of wine must have been in the region where grapes were first domesticated, the Near East.

It could have been anywhere in the vast region, stretching from Spain to Central Asia, where wild grapes grow. Exactly where wine was first made will probably never be known. The identifications have not yet been replicated in other laboratories. These identifications are regarded with caution by some biochemists because of the risk of false positives, particularly where complex mixtures of organic materials, and degradation products, may be present.

The identifications are based on the identification of tartaric acid and tartrate salts using a form of infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Records include jars from the Pottery Neolithic (5400-5000 BC) site of Hajji Firuz Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of present-day Iran and from Late Uruk (3500-3100 BC) occupation at the site of Uruk, in Mesopotamia[2]. Wine residue has been identified by Patrick McGovern's team at the University Museum, Pennsylvania, in ancient pottery jars. There is scanty evidence for earlier domestication of grape, in the form of grape pips from Chalcolithic Tell Shuna in Jordan, but this evidence remains unpublished.

Grapes were, of course, also an important food. There is also increasingly abundant evidence for wine making in Sumeria and Egypt in the third millennium BC. Domesticated grapes were abundant in the Near East from the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, starting in 3200 BC. It is unlikely they could have been the basis of a wine industry.

However, wild grapes are small and sour, and relatively rare at archaeological sites. This would have been easier following the development of pottery vessels in the later Neolithic of the Near East, about 9000 years ago. It is plausible that early foragers and farmers made alcoholic beverages from wild fruits, including wild grapes (Vitis sylvestris). Little is known of the prehistory of wine.

[1]. Some believe this word was derived from the Georgian ghvino. The word wine comes from the Old English win, which derives from the Proto-Germanic *winam which was an early borrowing from the Latin vinum (related to Greek οἶνος), which can mean either the "wine" or the "vine" . .

The English word wine and its equivalents in other languages are protected by law in many jurisdictions. However, in such cases a qualifier is often legally required (e.g., "elderberry wine"). Wine-like beverages can be produced by the fermentation of other fruits and flowers (fruit or country wines), barley (barley wine), rice (sake), honey (mead), and even herbs (Chinese wine). Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of grapes and grape juice.

The series was very popular and a wine named Falcon Crest even went on the market. Falcon Crest, USA 1981-1990: A CBS primetime soap opera about the fictional Falcon Crest winery and the family who owned it, set in the fictional Tuscany Valley of California. In search of themselves., in which wine, particularly Pinot Noir, plays a central role. In search of women.

Sideways, 2004: A comedy/drama film, directed by Alexander Payne, with the tagline: In search of wine. Mondovino, USA/France 2004: A documentary film directed by American film maker, Jonathan Nossiter, explaining the impact of globalization on the various wine-producing regions. Often referred to as a winemaker. Oenologist: A wine scientist.