Saturday, October 4, 2008

Full Court Press

Now that the "Boys of Summer", aka The Minnesota Twins, have packed their bags for another season, it is time to head for the woods with The Minnesota Timberwolves. Terminology changes with each sport and today it is all about the press.

A full-court press is a basketball term that refers to a defensive style in which the defense applies man-to-man or zone defense to pressure the offensive team the entire length of the court before and after the inbound pass. A full-court press takes a great deal of effort, but can be an effective tactic. Often when teams are behind late in a game, they will apply full-court pressure as a means of attempting to produce turnovers as well as tire opponents.

When it comes to wine terminology, press can be used two ways:

n. A device used to squeeze juice from grapes. Of the many types of presses in use today, the basket press, designed to squeeze out as much juice as possible, is one of the earliest. It uses a plate to push down on the grapes in the basket, forcing out juice through small slots. Numerous versions of this press have evolved over time and many are still used today. A bladder press uses an inflatable bladder that forces the grapes against a perforated outer shell through which the juice drains into a container. The most recent generation is the tank press, which uses an airtight tank lined with a membrane that lightly presses the grapes. The tank press is currently thought to be one of the best because the gentle pressure and lack of air exposure produces high-quality juice. press.

v. To extract juice from grapes using one of several various presses. Pressing usually follows crushing and precedes fermentation of white wines, but it follows the fermenting of red wines.

Celebrate the change in seasons and the changes in the sports you watch by enjoying last year's grape harvest, waiting in a bottle for you.