Good wine only comes from good grapes, and good grapes can only be grown in certain parts of the world. This is why few countries have made names for themselves by producing good wine. Champagne is actually a region in France where sparkling white wine was concocted. The French, alongside many other Europeans make good wine. America and Australia also have great wineries that turn grapes into the best drink you can have with your meal.

California. If you’re visiting San Francisco, you cannot miss crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and have a wine tour in Napa Valley. The climate and geography in Napa County are perfect for growing grapes. Near Napa is another county that is recognized for great wine. Sonoma County has similar environment as Napa which also makes it a great place to grow grapes. California produces both red and white wine. They are particularly famous for their Cabernet and Chardonnay. Click here to fly to San Francisco for free and start your wine tasting now!

France. Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne are the top regions to get your wine. Bordeaux is more famous for their red wine, which they produce in wide varieties. You can get the strong and full taste of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes which is great with your meaty dinner. Burgundy grows Pinot Noir grapes which is softer than Cabernet. Chardonnay is also widely grown for fine white wine. Champagne, of course, is where you can get the top-of-the-line sparkling white wine.

Italy. A town in Italy is also internationally recognized for its production of sparkling white wine. Asti Spumante comes from Moscato Bianco grapes which are widely grown in Asti. In contrast with your red wine which is a perfect match to your steak, Asti Spumante is sweet and does not have high alcohol content, making it a great drink with dessert. Chianti in Tuscany, on the other hand, is keener in making red wine.

Spain. Red wine is more widely produced in Spain, but they have more white grape vineyards! This is because aside from fine red wine, Spain produces the best brandy. Simply click here to fly free to Spain! Taste not only great red wine but their prided brandy.

Choosing your wine is a lot like choosing an outfit. There are so many choices and mixing and matching is important. To totally satisfy your palate, think of which grapes you want. Will the sweet Asti Spumante suit you or are you in the mood for some strong Cabernet Sauvignon? Also, consider the meal you are having. Beef will have you craving for Cabernet, and poultry will surely match your Chardonnay. Lastly, bear in mind the place where it is produced! Click here and you can get 6 bottles of wine for free!

Greeks centuries ago have started the tradition of listing seven of the world’s wonders. Yes, this list that has been numerously altered is older than Jesus Christ. The first list of wonders is more known as the Wonders of the Ancient World. This is an appropriate title because almost all of the sites in the list come from places that you probably have only heard from myths and ancient history. Plus, only one site from the list survived calamities and still stands today. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Mausoleum of Mausolos at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria all exist only in drawings or text descriptions. The six are already in ruins. The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt is the only wonder that got passed the ancient times.

During the Middle Ages, people have gone far in the field of architecture and were able to put up yet another seven marvelous structures. The next list include England’s Stonehenge, Rome’s Colosseum, the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall of China, The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, Turkey’s Hagia Sophia and Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa. Many lists came to follow this one, but most of them include these sites as well. Splendor and distinctiveness in architecture placed these seven in the Wonders of the Medieval World.

Most recently, another group who conveniently call themselves The New 7 Wonders Organization came up with a new list. International voting through the internet, text messaging and phone calls the world took part in naming the new 7 Wonders. The list includes familiar places; sites that have already been included in previous lists. Unsurprisingly, the Great Wall, Colosseum and Taj Mahal made the list. South America has a lot to be proud of as three of the New 7 Wonders come from Peru, Mexico and Brazil. The Machu Picchu of Peru, with a combination of long mountain ranges and amazing architectural ruins, should undeniably be on the list. Mexico’s Chichen Itza also is another remnant of a great South American civilization. Brazil’s monument of Christ the Redeemer also makes the list. This tall statue of Christ with arms wide spread stands on a mountain. Petra in Jordan concludes the list of New 7 Wonders. As with the others, it has exemplary architecture and history.

There are many other lists. There is the Natural Wonders of the World, Wonders of the Industrial World etc. It is inevitable to come up with new lists because it is impossible to sum all of the world’s wonders in a list of seven sites. There are so many structures, places and sceneries that we are yet to unearth and discover. There are other wonders that we will never see again. We never know when an earthquake will bring a building to rubbles. It is always good to acknowledge these structures and appreciate them for their grandeur and beauty while it still stands.

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Food has been strongly used to establish the identity of most European countries. But if you come to think about it, most of these foods originated not in their prided land, but from the invaded tribes in the new world that they discovered.

Chocolate has to be everyone’s guilty pleasure. The texture of creamy bitter-sweetness melting in your mouth will definitely make you reach out for more. Spain has found countless ways to produce good chocolate since they were the first European country to use it. But they were not the first to use it in the whole world. Chocolate has been an important drink in Mayan and Aztec cultures in pre-colonial South America where the cacao plant is abundant. The Spanish, in their travels to the new world, introduced the much-loved chocolate to the rest of Europe, then the rest of the world.

Cheese is also big in Europe. The Dutch especially has embedded cheese-production in their national tradition and culture. Gouda, Edam, Alkmaar and Hoorn are the major cheeses from Holland. But legend, no matter how varied the versions are, says that cheese originated from Asia. Middle East back then made portable water containers out of animal stomach skin because it is water proof. A stomach enzyme from the container called rennet causes milk to curdle. So when the stomach was used to contain milk, it came out as cheese after some time.

Lastly and most surprisingly, pasta which gave Italians much pride and identity is not an indigenous produce. Same as with the origin of cheese, there are different versions of the story but they all come down to the same conclusion that Italian pasta that we enjoy today did not exactly come from Italy. Marco Polo is said to have brought pasta from China. But even before Marco Polo, Italy already had food similar to pasta, but it was baked rather than boiled so it really isn’t the same pasta that we enjoy now. It was during the Arab invasion that Italy learned about dried noodles. Since then, Italians widely produced pasta.

Years of voyages to and discoveries of the new world led to centuries of colonization. People usually perceive the colonized countries to be heavily influenced and molded by their European conquerors. But what people do not recognize is that there was cultural exchange between the conquistadors and the “savages” of the past. Though the explorers taught religion, systems of government and education, these Europeans also learned and took a lot from the cultures of the colonized. Asia and South America provided the rest of the world with timeless luxuries for the palate.

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