I always enjoy receiving reader feedback. Over the years I’ve received all kinds of notes from readers. Some are serious, others are funny and occasionally a reader will offer a solution to one of my questions.
One of my favorites was just after a column on the up and coming glass closures. “Lorri, if the glass closure becomes more popular and used more, are you going to have to change the name of your column from Uncorked?” It made me smile.
I once read an article about the most frequently asked wine questions on Ask.com, a website that specializes in answering just about any question you can dream of (What is Twitter? What is the meaning of life? What is Miley Cyrus’ phone number?). I found the top wine questions interesting because they not only reflect what the general public wants to know about wine, they are also the same questions I most frequently get from Uncorked readers.
Here are the answers to a few of your most asked questions.
How do I remove red wine spills from my carpet?
I always keep a bottle of Wine Away on hand for stains. It’s the best remover I’ve found for carpet and upholstery and costs about $9 a bottle. Another option is to use paper towels to blot up as much of the stain as possible, then saturate the spot with cold water and then blot. Then, mix a paste of three parts baking soda to one part water and put over the spot. Let the paste dry, then vacuum.
How many calories are in a glass of wine?
Wine, like any alcohol, contains calories. Sweeter wines generally have more sugar, therefore more calories. Dry Riesling has about 90 calories; sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir have about 95 for a 4-ounce glass. A 4-ounce glass of merlot has about 100 calories. Port has about 185 calories and Madeira has about 160 calories. A great resource for calorie and nutrition data on all matter of foods and beverages is the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database website, ndb.nal.usda.gov. The site allows you to search by specific grapes and different serving sizes.
How long does wine last once it’s opened?
Once a bottle of wine is opened, it immediately begins to deteriorate. A light-bodied white wine can spoil in as little as one day.Higher tannin structure can help slow this process, and red wine keeps a little longer than white. One thing you can do to preserve an open bottle is to replace the cork and keep in the refrigerator for about three days. If you remove the oxygen with products like Vacu Vin, it can last up to five days.