I believe I owe y'all a huge apology! I never meant to start a war among friends...honestly. It was an innocent enough post...wasn't looking for advice...it was just an observation...although I did ask why they use multiple mediums, for heaven's sake...LOL I just this morning closed on my house up north after 3 LONNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG years and have been busy on the phone all week with my honey, the title company, Realtors and of course, the new home owners, GOD BLESS'M!, so I haven't been back online. Sorry...it was not my intention to start a thread...never to respond. My honey is on his way home as I type with my other green obsessioncolor=green> ...hehehe! Firstly, I want to say that the plant was great looking the first week until the remaining buds blasted. I can't take any of the credit for the decline of this plant, because apparently it was in bad shape when I brought it home. Who could tell it was in peril unless one had x-ray vision and could view the roots and medium? Furthermore...I neglected to post that the reasoning behind my re-potting and not just waiting it out, which I know works for me, was the condition of the growth. I wish I had taken a shot of it to show you. The base of the entire plant, at 'soil level' had turned to mush overnight...that was why I felt it needed drastic action. I misted it and gave it very little water while under my care, so the mushy base didn't make sense...I felt it had to be that the store had over-watered it and the medium was probably retaining too much water. (This is the time of year where I withhold water from all my dens, BTW) It was the sudden failing of the plant that lead me to pull it just to see what the heck it was growing in. Now, I could be wrong, but hey!...better I learn from a grocery store chid than on a $200+ imported beauty, I say! I am still learning, after-all. :) Yes...I live in Florida...I grow my orchids outside and although I read & digest all of what everyone here writes I tend to 'listen' more to those who cultivate in like climates such as Olya, Sambac and a few others do...Not because I don't value others' opinions, but because well...its different in Flarda. I know nothing about FC's or light meters and which window's best...probably never will. Doesn't mean I can't grow orchids. It may take me longer to get the hang of it simply because its new to me...but when one of'm blooms big time or shoots up new growth at an alarming rate all the while smilin' at me...I figger I AM learning. I thank each and every one of you for all your help, even if I do hafta kinda sift through what might or might not work for me. Just because what 'A' or 'B' might post doesn't necessarily apply to me and my region, doesn't mean I learn nothing from the advice. Please stop attacking each other. Y'all have so much combined knowledge to share...it'd be a shame if this board lost any one of you! OK! On a lighter note... Anyone remember my V. Mote from last spring? She has two spikes this season so I reckon she loves me...or Florida...hehehe! This was last year... Film @ eleven... Oh...and SCOTT...KETTLE ONE, my dear...KETTLE ONE...LOL

My daughters spent part of their childhood here in Spain where it was often customary to give the children a few drops of wine in a glass when it was being poured for the adults at the table. But it was diluted for them with a good squirt of the ever-present mesh-covered squirt bottle of carbonated water that graced most tables during that time. It was used for diluting drinks or drinking straight and was useful for moistening a napkin to mop off any food spills on your clothing while you dined LOL. If you see old photos of Europeans dining in restaurants or even at home pre-1970s you will often see the familiar mesh-covered sifon bottle on the table. I always had one on my dinner table. We would take the empty bottles back to the corner store and for a peseta or two (think cents) get a full bottle in return. (Now does that make me sound old!) This is one way I have made salmon and it was good. I'm accustomed to cooking with wine and wouldn't worry about serving this to children...but you could just give a small amount of the sauce if you were concerned. Here's how it looked when I made it: - Makes 4 servings. 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 (6-ounce) salmon steaks or fillets 2 teaspoons honey 3 teaspoons olive oil, divided 8 cups spinach leaves 1/2 teaspoon minced peeled garlic 2 cups red seedless grapes, halved 1/2 cup dry red wine Combine salt, mustard, thyme and pepper; mix well. Rub salmon fillets with honey and sprinkle with half the seasoning mixture. Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a nonstick skillet. brown both sides of salmon fillets. Toss spinach and garlic with remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Place salmon on spinach, cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 300°F for 10 minutes. Sauté grapes in skillet used to brown salmon. Add wine bring to a boil, season to taste with remaining seasoning mixture; reduce by half. Serve salmon on spinach; top with grape sauce. Served on a bed of spinach and spiced with garlic, thyme and mustard. Recipe Source: California Table Grape Commission. SharonCb

I think that it's fine for lighter colored wines to be bottled in dark glass. It gives them more protection from damaging sunlight and, as you say, you can always put it in a decanter for people to see the wine. Personally, all of my wines and meads go into dark bottles since I want people to focus on the wine when it's in the drinking glass where it can really shine and be appreciated. Congratulations on the blackberry wine! When it's well done, blackberry is very tasty and the color is beautiful. Fizzy while you're bottling can be a couple of things ... either coming out of the racking tube into the bottle very fast and splashing around inside the bottle (which isn't too bad) or the wine is not done fermenting (which is only good if you're intending on it and using champagne bottles). I'd move one of the bottles to a warm spot for a few days and then open carefully to see if it's settled down or if you're making bombs. A little harsh at bottling time is probably not too much to worry about depending on how long you've bulk aged the wine - a lot of that harshness will hopefully go away with a few months in teh bottle. I've never used screw top bottles with a cork and I haven't seen it recommended. I think it's something to do with the design of the neck on the screw tops and possibly their strength to hold a cork but I don't remember exactly. I haven't bought labels in a long while - I just grab a graphics package like MS-Publisher or Photoshop and create them there. Then I print them on normal paper, cut to size and attach to the bottles with a glue stick. Works well and it's pretty fast if you have a little help. For the vin ordinaire that I just serve at the house for friends, I'm really lazy and just write what's in the bottle using a silver or gold glass marking pen from Staples. I have to get brewing again this weekend - I've just been overwhelmed at the though of racking 15 batches to free up some glass but the thought of starting a mandarin orange metheglin and some cyser in season is getting really exciting. Good luck with your batches.

Re wine temp, "room temperature" does not refer to American houses. It's about old European stone houses, and in the mid-60s F. Storage temperature should be literally cave temperature, which is the mid-50s. Most of the year my kitchen is 75-80°F. For reds, cool, not cold or warm brings the best flavor balance and appreciability. Warmed wine isn't usually good, unless it's rich, not so complex and full of mulling spices. I.e., you're not really tasting the wine. The reason for putting opened wine in the fridge is to keep it from deteriorating as fast. Pour a glass and let it come to temperature before drinking it. Whites are different. Most are better cold, but Northern river cold, not icebox cold. This brings out the crispness. Too cold and it doesn't taste like much. This is orthodoxy, of course, but I've experienced it myself, and really, since that's the temperature the vintners are assuming it's going to be served at, it would make sense that the wines are optimized for that temperature. I will put a red in the fridge to cool down if it's been in the kitchen, and forget it, so have experienced it too cold. I have left it on a sunny counter, and experienced it warm. Best is cool. At the time approved temperature. This is not scientific, of course, but I figured there are plenty enough out of the boxers to challenge the orthodoxy, and I haven't heard anyone seriously wanting to upset this apple cart. From Wikipedia: TRPM5 is a calcium-activated non-selective cation channel that induces depolarization upon increases in intracellular calcium, it is a signal mediator in chemosensory cells. Channel activity is initiated by a rise in the intracellular calcium, and the channel permeates monovalent cations as K+ and Na+. TRPM5 is a key component of taste transduction in the gustatory system of bitter, sweet and umami tastes being activated by high levels of intracellular calcium. It has also been targeted as a possible contributor to fat tastesignaling.[7][8] The calcium dependent opening of TRPM5 produces a depolarizing generator potential which leads to an action potential. I only understand part of that, but I notice that it doesn't affect all taste sensors. That may explain why some foods taste better hot or cold but I don't see how it implies warm is better for wine. Dcarch, do you prefer warm wine??