Archive for the ‘Wine Musings’ Category
If you are any sort of wino, it is probably old news that the 2005 Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was named Wine Spectator’s #1 wine of the year. What you may not know is this choice has generated a lot of debate . A lot of it is along the lines of how could Wine Spectator select such a pedestrian wine. It must be because Columbia Crest is one of their largest advertisers.
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‘Tis the season to drink a lot of wine. For those of you new to the pleasures of the grape, you may find yourself in a situation where your fellow revelers are discussing the merits of the wine at hand. You’re loving what you are tasting, but you would like to contribute more than “I like it” to the conversation. Here are some basic things to think about.
The Wine Witch has been meaning to write about this for some time. I have picked up a few tips on how to save on wine when dining out. The first is pretty obvious. Scout out places that are BYOB or bring your own to a restaurant that serves wine. Yes, you can do this and you should not get a dirty look for doing so. What the restaurant can do is charge you a corkage fee ($10-20) to cover their overhead for the glassware, etc.. I have heard that Charlie Palmer who used to charge $30, has waived the fee altogether in these difficult times.
In case you are not familar with the Slurpee, the home in question would be 7-Eleven. For the price of two Slurpees you may soon be able to pick up a bottle of their private label, Yosemite Road. That’s $3.99 – a bottle – for a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Chardonnay.
Gotta confess – I am betwix and between on this topic. Intellectually I understand the almost desparate need for a greener world – but decent wine in cardboard boxes? Here’s some facts.
The manufacture of glass bottles consumes natural resources and contributes to greenhouse gases. Additionally the process produces nitrogen oxide, sufur dioxide, and tiny particles that can damage the lungs. Sounds nasty.
Hand to God, the Wine Witch is not making this one up. Vince McMahon who is the owner of the WWE believe he owns the rights to the term “Smackdown”. It seems that the Philadelphia School of Wine had the temerity to host an event titled “Sommelier Smackdown”. Mr McMahon is taking them to court to cease and desist.
Betcha you don’t. I will give you three guesses – even ten. You are still not likely to get it. It is not any of the usual suspects – Napa, Bordeaux, New South Wales, or anywhere in South America. OK – drum roll please. The largest appellation in the world by land mass is – The Upper Mississippi Valley Wine Region!
OK, if you have been following this blog you know that Cabernet Sauvignon is not my go to grape. So balance what I am saying here against your own palate. Veramonte is a mega producer from Chile. I like their whites especially for the price point. I found the Cabernet Sauvignon disappointing.
No – that is not a misprint nor is it April Fools or an episode of Punk’d. Evidently there is a restaurant in the Soho section of Manhattan called Le Cave du Fondus that serves their wine in glass baby bottles along with, you guessed it, their fondue. Here’s the scariest part. They are not the first to do it. The owner took the idea from a Parisian bistro that adopted the practice to avoid the French tax on stemware. That you could almost forgive. Here it is just a gimmick.
If you have been following this blog you know I cannot resist a clever name, so here is yet another one. Amazingly most of these wines with cheeky names are very good. The Zen of Zin is no exception.
TripAdvisor recently conducted a survey to determine the top 10 American wine destinations. They also reported that the search word “vineyard” is up 10% the last six weeks as compared to the same period last year. If you are ready for a Fall wine getaway this is what TripAdvisor recommends:
The Wine Witch is on a bit of a rant today. However, it’s my blog and I can do what I want. As you know I frequently troll the internet looking for additional nuggets of wisdom on wine to share with you. Things were popping online earlier in the week about a recent study on the gold medals awarded at wine competition.
There the Wine Witch goes punning again. You know I cannot resist. Anyway, I just learned that there is a new line of Sopranos Wine. Yes, THE Sopranos as in Tony and company. The tag is “Sopranos Wine – Family Made”. See, I am not the only one that likes a play on words. Vincent Pastore (Big P****) and John Ventimiglia (Artie Bucco) are touring the country promoting the wine. HBO also has a hand in the venture.
