Archive for November, 2010
Cartoonish Bogeyman
November 30th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
Vinography spots an interesting book in Burgundy.
Posted in Good Stuff | Comments (0)
He Could Make the Argument That the Wine Was French to Begin With
November 30th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
As a result of what one spokesman for the French government described as behavior “incompatible with the professional conduct required of a French diplomat,” the French Consul in Hong Kong has been recalled to Paris after stealing two rare bottles of wine from a private club. Hong Kong media reports say the wine bottles were worth [...]
Posted in News | Comments (1)
Economic Indicators: Dumb Money, Big Money, and Chinese Money
November 30th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
Harry & David, where you can buy pears for $3.50 each, is getting into the wine business. Entry-level for the H&D Wine Club is $780 a year, in exchange for which you will get 36 more-or-less $20 bottles of wine. If you prefer to receive only wines rated 90 points or above, the tab is [...]
Posted in Signs of the Apocalypse | Comments (2)
The Slovenian Sense of Humor Is a Mysterious Thing
November 29th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
A couple of weeks ago I joked about the business opportunity implied by the perfectly preserved Champagne pulled out of a 200 year-old shipwreck. In a report about Champagne recovered from beneath the Baltic Sea, the BBC says that the bottom of the ocean might be the perfect place to store champagne. Apparently unaware that [...]
Posted in Oddities | Comments (1)
Thanksgiving Wine in Real Time
November 25th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
Thanksgiving this year is 21 people, so there’s a fair amount of latitude to bring different things to the tables. I got multiple bottles of a white and a red, and then a few bottles just to have around. I’m also not the only person bringing wine, so I’m figuring some of the basics will [...]
Posted in Tasting Notes | Comments (0)
Isn’t That Ronald Reagan at the Buffet?
November 24th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
Boing Boing has an ad promoting California “Burgundy” wine from back in the days when the glamorous Napa lifestyle involved the wearing of plaid sportcoats.
Posted in Good Stuff | Comments (0)
Do-It-Yourself Project: Heavy Construction Edition
November 24th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
Got a lot of leftoever wine casks lying around the house? Turn them into a hotel! Pictorial instructions here.
Posted in Do It Yourself | Comments (0)
The Conspiracy To Make Wine Drinkers Look Silly Continues
November 24th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
Industrial designer Alvaro Uribe decides that lifting up a wine glass and tilting it toward your face is just too much work. So: the Tipsy wine glass. Good wine is tested by its look, smell and taste. Thus, this glass’s head tips forward to give access to the best qualities of the drink. It releases [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (1)
Grumpy Old Men
November 23rd, 2010 by Tom Johnson
In Tom Wark’s annual American Wine Writer’s Survey, we learn that most wine writers are men over the age of 50. We also learn that wine writers working in print don’t, in general, like or respect bloggers. In fact, in identifying the greatest threats to professional wine writing, the wine writers surveyed zeroed in on three: the [...]
Posted in Data | Comments (12)
Best Read Wine
November 22nd, 2010 by Tom Johnson
This is actually kind of a good idea for a wine tasting: The theme for the night was “Wine and Literature,” so everyone brought a wine that went with a particular book passage. There were a lot of good wines, and it was fun to listen to everyone read their particular book passages…The first drink [...]
Posted in Good Stuff | Comments (7)