How to Make a Sidecar

Do you have a bottle of cognac lying at the back of the cupboard? If so read on, as this week the Ideal Wine Company lets you know how to make a sidecar.

We do more than just wine

The Ideal Wine Company is a firm which is dedicated to supplying you with a range of luxurious wines from around the world at prices you can actually afford.

Yet we specialise in luxury tipples and as such there’s more to be found than just wine on the Ideal Wine Company product list. You can also find a range of decadent cognacs such as Remy Martin, Delamain and Claude Thorin for prices destined to leave nothing more than a light dent on your bottom line.

Get creative with your bottle of first-rate cognac

But what should you do once you’ve purchased your bottle of first-rate cognac? Obviously, you may want to drink it neat however if you’re the kind of person who likes to get creative with their after-work nightcap we’d suggest you use it to craft a delicious cocktail.

Cognac is a key component in a range of cocktails including the Sidecar. Invented roughly around the end of World War One, the Sidecar is a classic cocktail which combines cognac, triple sec and lemon juice to lend any party a touch of 1920’s glamour.

Guide to making a Sidecar

So if you want to use your bottle of mouth-watering cognac to provide festivities with an air of flapper culture the next time you throw a party, it might be a good idea to learn how to make a Sidecar. Luckily it’s a pretty easy drink to make…

·       Gather together 5cl of Cognac, 2cl of triple sec and 2cl of lemon juice. 

·        Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker.

·        Fill with ice and shake vigorously for one to two minutes 

·        Strain and pour into a cocktail glass.

Give your guests the shindig to end all shindigs!

Voila. It really is as simple as that. Follow these instructions and you can use any bottle of the finest cognac from the Ideal Wine Company to craft a cocktail your guests are destined to love the next time you decide to throw the shindig to end all shindigs!

Five Foods to Pair with Rose Wine

If you’re looking for the perfect complement for your luxury bottle of rose stick around. This week the Ideal Wine Company reveals five foods to pair with rose wine.

What should you do with your bottle of rose?

As a provider of fine wines from around the world at a price you can afford, the Ideal Wine Company has a range of luxury rose wines and champagnes ready and waiting for you to purchase.

But what do you do once you’ve bought one. Maybe you should save it for a special occasion; perhaps a dinner party? Wine is the perfect tipple for a sophisticated dinner party yet it’s a complex drink – you can’t just pair it with any dish or the tastes will strike too sharp a contrast.

Try these five foods with your bottle of rose

The right dish can set off the intricate flavours laced through a bottle of rose just right, but what should you pick? Try pairing your bottle of rose with one of the following five foods…

1)      Chicken: When it comes to meat there’s a rule of thumb. The heavier the wine, the redder the meat. That’s why if you’re looking to serve meat with rose or white wine you should opt for grilled chicken.

2)      Curry: No, we’re not joking. Spicy foods actually strike a scintillating contrast with a glass of rose and the best way to capture this amazing gastric experience is to team your bottle with a curry. The spice cuts through the fruitiness perfectly.

3)      Spanish cheeses: Wine and cheese is a winning combination, yet it’s so hard to get right. Both are so complex that if you pick the wrong cheese for your bottle of wine the flavours clash, leaving a horrible taste in your mouth. Avoid this when pairing cheese with rose wine by going for a nice Spanish cheese such as Roncal or Idiazabal.

4)      Salad:  Salad is a light, refreshing dish. You wouldn’t want to accompany it with a red. It would prove overpowering. Opt for a lighter wine like a rose instead and its subtle undertones will set your lovingly prepared Nicoise off swimmingly.

5)      Rice: Have you ever tried pairing a classic rice dish like Paella with a wine before? It works beautifully as long as you go for something crisp and flavourful yet light. Rose fits that bill to a tee.

Try the Dom Perignon 1996

In other words there are lots of foods that you can pair with rose wines and champagnes. Try some out for yourself now by pushing the boat out and buying a bottle of Dom Perignon 1996 from the Ideal Wine Company so you can see which dish goes best with a stunning rose vintage!

Five Must-Know Facts about Rhone Wine

If you want to learn more about one of the most prestigious wine making traditions in the world stick around. This week the Ideal Wine Company reveals five must-know facts about Rhone wine.

You Have to Try a Rhone at Some Point in Your Life

Because we’re dedicated to providing you with fine wines from around the world here at the Ideal Wine Company, we had to include vintages from the French region of Rhone on our product list.

It may not be Champagne or Bordeaux, but the South-French region of Rhone has a robust wine-making tradition that goes back as far as before the time of Christ. The region is known for its stellar medium bodied reds which every wine enthusiast needs to take the time to try at some point in their lives.

Five Things You May be Interested to Learn about Rhone Wine Making

Introduce yourself to this proud wine making tradition right now. Check out the following five fascinating facts about Rhone wine…

1)     Its Production Began a Really Long Time Ago: No one knows exactly when viticulture was first introduced to this famously hot French region, but we do know it was a really long time ago. Experts suggest that wine making first came to the Rhone as far back as the 3^rd or 4^th Century B.C.

2)     Its Reds are Out of This World: You can find a decent white from the Rhone but the region is most known for the quality of the reds produced in its vineyards. Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre are the most common red grapes grown in the Southern French region.

3)     It’s Really Popular: Statistics show that 400 million bottles of Rhone Valley AOC vintages were sold in 159 countries around the world in 2012-2013 alone. Considering the fact that someone on this plant enjoys a bottle of Rhone every 13 seconds, it must be pretty popular!

4)      It’s Really Loved by the Americans: As if you needed any more evidence to suggest that our cousins across the pond love a little Vino! The States is the number one export market for Rhone Valley AOC wines, spending a colossal 85.7 million euros on the tipple!

5)      It’s Got a Lot of Flavour: Wines from the Rhone are known for their complex array of dazzling flavours that make each sip as compelling as a glass of the finest Bordeaux. Common flavours include dark fruit, herbs, coffee, and earth.

Buy the Hermitage La Chapelle 1985

In other words you get quality, complexity and a rich wine drinking experience when you buy a luxury vintage from the outstanding French wine making region of Rhone. Try one out for yourself and buy a bottle of Hermitage La Chapelle 1985, a classic Rhone vintage, from the Ideal Wine Company today.

Canberra Fine Wines Grow in Popularity

This week the IdealWine Company asks; what is it about Canberra fine wines that has seen them become the vintage of choice over the past few months?

Australia: The Emerging Wine Hotspot

The Ideal Wine Company strives to bring you a range of fine wines from around the world. As such we feature a variety of vintages from emerging wine hotspot Australia.

Its unique climate, varied landscape and glorious weather make Australia the perfect place to produce a bottle destined to delight the senses and dance on the tongue. Therefore the last few decades have seen the land down under become recognised as one of the world’s key fine wine producers.

The Growing Market for Canberra Wine

According to the Canberra Times, the rise of Australia as a luxury vintage producer has spurred the popularity of bottles from one of its lesser known grape-growing regions. Canberra.

Speaking to producers in the region, the publication discovered that demand for Canberra fine wine has been growing for some time. However the last six months have seen producers stretched to their limit as demand for their product soars and Canberra district wine is labelled “the flavour of the month” amongst those in the know.

“We Have Only 40 Cases of Shiraz Left”

Take Bill Crowe from Four Winds, an up-and-coming Canberra wine producer. He revealed to the Times that his family-run winery near Murrumbateman has had to double production every 12 months since it opened four years ago. Recently he even had to increase space for grape fermentation to stay abreast of demand.

Crowe said: "The first year I got to Four Winds vineyard we would have done around 10 tonnes – this year we are doing 56 tonnes… We have only 40 cases of Shiraz left and we will probably sell out of all these wines before the new ones are on."

“Some of the Best Fine Wines in the World.”

Crowe went on to talk about the growing popularity of the Canberra vintage. Crowe said that the region is “making some of the best wines in the world. The Riesling and Shiraz I've had out here is second to none, and we do other varietals extremely well too." 

These sentiments were echoed by Canberra District Wine Industry Association’s John Leyshon. He suggested that "fine wines are the flavour of the month at the moment... There is an increasing demand for Canberra district wine, and its fine wine." Leyshon went on to comment that "Canberra locals don't know how lucky they are ... they've got some of the best wines in Australia only 30 minutes' drive from their front door."

Try a Bottle of Canberra’s Finest

We wish we were that lucky. From the sounds of things Canberra fine wine has become the vintage of choice for one reason. It’s laced with pure quality. Next time you get the chance, the Ideal Wine Company would suggest that you try a bottle of Canberra’s finest for yourself for see what all the fuss is about.