Many believe that using alcohol in a cooked dish is a waste of time, because all the good stuff evaporates long before the dish reaches your palate! I love cooking with alcohol and so many times when I feel that the flavour is too weak or too strong for my liking I adjust the quantity accordingly – but use it all the same.

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Our friends over at Tulleeho pointed us to this new website that encourages users to drink responsibly. TalkingAlcohol.com gives visitors advice about the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption. Download the drinking responsibly handbook.

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For many in the developing world, drinking wine is a complicated process. For most here in India, the complication borders on being even scary due to the sheer expanse of the perceived fears about its mismatch with Indian food. This keeps many away, besides being unusually judgmental, while considering a wine trial. Kulpreet Yadav reports.

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The issue of The Wine Magazine that you hold in your hands is bigger than previous issues. We seem to be running out of pages all the time! There is so much to report about the world of wine that I have a hard time selecting topics and maintaining a balance between stories of interest to newcomers and established players in the wine business – articles that are informative, educational or newsy and yet entertaining. Your issue should have reached you by now. Sommelier India is a friendly guide and does not purport to be a textbook. Reva Singh discusses the latest issue. Subscribe today

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In addition to the many fine classic labels imported into the country, India is now seeing a variety of new wine products coming in. XL Wines with its tall elegant bottles reminiscent of the world of perfumes is one of them. Cool Cache with its top quality semi-sparkling wines in cans is another and so is the Royal Kiss range. Avininder Singh reports on these new imports from Eppur Impex.

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Last month we launched two new features and this month we have another one - a brand new search function (available in the top right corner of the home page). You can now search the Sommelier India blog archives that go back to February of 2005 when the magazine started. These archives serve as a definitive record of all the important news and activities regarding the Indian wine scene.

The Sommelier India blog was a pioneer at a time when there was virtually no online truly independent email newsletters or any wine news websites that weren't a promotional one for a specific club, a consultancy or a winemaker. As testament to the influence of Sommelier India, the magazine often sets the wine news agenda. Articles that are published in our magazine or on the blog frequently serve as inspiration for stories in the mainstream press and trade publications. As always, our thanks go to the support of our readers, contributors and the industry as a whole.

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Like clockwork, the latest issue of Sommelier India hit the newsstands last week. The issue was also mailed out to subscribers around the world. The July/August issue is our largest yet and includes engaging and entertaining stories on wine and the culture around wine. For a list of contributors in the most recent issue, visit the contributors page. We also welcome to our pages Santa Margherita and Big Banyan along with Ethos Watches, Brancaia, Nine Hills, Bouvet Ladubay, Dubai Duty Free and HP Computers. Subscribe today!

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Wondering how much longer an open bottled of wine stored in a refrigerator lasts compared to one that's stored at room temperature? The answer is 6-16 times longer and if its the summer months, then potentially even longer! Don't leave your wine bottles out in the open. For more on the subject read The Perfect Temperature, Cellar Notes and Wine Lover's Page.

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Did you know that the bill for a celebration party for the 55 drafters of the US Constitution was for 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of port, 8 bottles of hard cider, 12 beers and seven bowls of alcohol punch large enough that "ducks could swim in them?"

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India is no stranger to wine. Tracing the history of the drink, its origins can be found in old religious writings. During the Vedic period, wine was often referred to as ‘Somarasa’. Hindu Gods Indra and Varuna are believed to have tasted a mixture of wine and herbs as per the Yajurveda. Reva Singh of Sommelier India is quoted in this Times of India article discussing the Indian wine culture.

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Back in the January/February issue of Sommelier India, the Grapevine talked about the Bordeaux-based wine merchant who in the middle of the 19th century shipped several barrels of claret to an Indian maharaja who did not find the wine to his taste and sent them back to Bordeaux. Well, Sanjay Menon of Sansula saw that tidbit in the magazine and sent us this which goes a little deeper into the story.

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The "Popular Pages Today" gadget shows you which of the thousands of pages on Sommelier India are being clicked on the most. The second which is more useful to advertisers tells you where visitors to the site are geographically based. Called "Recent Visitors" it shows that we have lots of visitors from the tier two metros in India and internationally too. Both features are on the lower right hand side of the home page.

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A new sensation for the palate comes from the Canary Islands, which has a history of winemaking going back to the 15th century. A family vineyard in northern Tenerife is using its speciality Macho vinegars to flavour gourmet chocolates. The owner of Bodegas Monje, Felipe Monje, hit upon the idea when talking to local chocolate maker El Aderno.

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With gas prices soaring around the world and no ceiling in sight, this photograph struck a chord. While we certainly don't condone excessive drinking or have an opinion on drinking versus driving, a little bit of humor is certainly warranted. Wouldn't you agree?

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Enterprising Australian vigneron Joanne Woodhouse has found a new use for the wine lees (grape skins and seeds) from the family vineyard in Victoria – she’s using them as the base for a range of handcrafted soaps, body care products and candles. The Chardonnay soap is said to be good for make-up removal, the Cabernet Sauvignon is for exfoliation, and the Shiraz for shaving. Her company, The Curly Vine, is now supplying outlets in Asia, Europe and the South Pacific. Sandra Westbrooke reports.

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Food and wine, like wine itself is a balance. Although in this case opposites do balance such as a lightly sweet white with very spicy food of any type, never underestimate pairing similar flavors. Similarly, match flavors. The grapefruit/citrus taste of Sauvignon Blancs goes with fish as well as and for the same reason that lemon does. For more insights on food pairings, study this chart.

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