Here's another interesting, yet not so sensible wine accessory. The Ring of Oden is a polished brass ring that the inventors claim will age wine placed inside of it within 15-60 minutes. Take a look at this article for more info.

Seems kind of out there to me personally, but they apparently host wine tastings to prove the ring's affects.

While this might not be a very serious wine accessory, it is kind of fun. My Other Half is a pair of wine glasses connected with a tube. The idea is that it takes cooperation to drink from these wine glasses because when one is raised, the wine pours into the other glass through the tube. If you want to check out the designer's site, or buy a pair (very expensive by the way), check out www.jimrokos.com.

I just got back from the All Australia Wine Tasting in Denver, and wanted to let you all know my thoughts.

The event was hosted by Primo Vino, a wine store in Olde Town Arvada www.primovino.net, and featured a selection of 30 wines from Australia. While many people are only familiar with Yellow Tail when it comes to Australian wines, the goal of this tasting was to expose tasters to the wide variety of other wines available from the area.

There was a wonderful buffet to go along with the wines. And the views from the 15th floor of the Warwick Hotel were very nice.

Here are my top picks from the tasting:

• Mitolo Jester
Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale 2006 ~$18

• Penfolds
Magill Estate, Shiraz 2003 ~$43

• M.R.
Marsanne Roussanne, Barossa 2005 ~$30

• Hill of Content
Pinot Noir, Margret River 2005 ~$20

Here's a list of wine events coming up in the next few weeks:

• April 22 - All Australia Wine Tasting
I plan to be at this tasting myself. All wines from Australia, but no Yellow Tail allowed.
5-8pm at the Warwick Hotel in Denver - Info here
$45 advance purchase, $50 at the door

• April 26 - Experience Wine Class "Colorado Wines"
5:30-8pm at Mimi's Café on North Academy Blvd - Info here

• May 5 - Taste of the Springs Wine Dinner
6:30pm at the Craftwood Inn - Info here
$85 per person

• May 6 - Taste of the Springs
3pm at the Sheraton Hotel - Info here
$65 per person

• June 2 - Manitou Springs Wine Festival
12-6pm in Soda Springs Park
Includes a wine glass, and tastings from all of the wineries

Please feel free to email me and let me know if there are any events that I've missed.

I now have a Vinewords MySpace site up and running. Check out www.myspace.com/vinewords. Leave me a comment or become my friend! I'd love to hear from you!

Take a look at two new wine documentaries out there.

The first, Crush, is available online at Don Sebastiani & Sons, and is here below. This is an excellent short film that gives viewers a look at what a harvest is like. As a kid that was fascinated by those videos of how crayons and balloons are made, I really enjoyed watching this film. It gives you just a bit more a look into how wine gets to you.

All of Don Sebastiani & Sons films can be viewed on iTunes here.

The second film is not yet available to view online, but I'm hoping to be able to get a DVD copy so that I can let you all know what it's like. Harvest Young is a film about the wine industry's failure to market anything to those of the "millenial" generation (which I am a part of). For more information about the film you can check out the film's myspace site here or go to www.harvestyoung.com for more information.

I want to apologize to everyone for not posting anything new for a while, but as you can see I've been working on a new look for the site. I hope everyone enjoys the new layout and the new sections I've added. Please feel free to email me with any comments you may have, I would love to hear from you.

This past weekend I hosted a wine tasting for some close friends. I asked everyone to bring their favorite wine, so we ended up with quite a lot of variety. Here are my thoughts on some of the wines we tasted.

Beringer White Zinfandel
This is honest to goodness one of my absolute favorite wines. I truly think that rosé wines get a bad rap. They have a lot of the depth that red wines do, but they also have a fruity lightness that white wines do. White Zin in general is a fruity wine, with a slight hint of bitterness. If you like strawberries, you'll most likely enjoy a white zin.

Peter Mertes Spätlese Riesling
This is one of the best riesling I've ever tasted. Spätlese is a german term that means "picked late," which means that the wine is much sweeter than usual. It's a very light, sweet, and slightly bubbly wine. I highly recommend trying it.

Beringer White Merlot
This was a surprise wine for me. I'm not a huge Merlot fan, but I absolutely adored this wine. It's extremely fruity, with hints of strawberries and cherries. You know I love rosé wines, and white zin is one of my favorites, but this wine is right up there with it.

Martin Ray Cabernet Sauvignon
This is an excellent red wine. It has hints of fruit in it, but it's still a strong and bold red. While most of the wines I've listed here are in the $6 to $7 range, this wine is a bit more expensive at around $19. I believe it's well worth the price though.

If anybody out there has any thoughts on any of these, please feel free to post!