Forgotten Anniversary

No, Susie is not angry with me because you may remember we celebrated our actual Wedding Anniversary WAY back in September. I'm referencing an event that I knew about (and 'celebrated' in my own way) back on December 5th--the Anniversary of the reversal of Prohibition! I truly enjoy wine with my dinner and I am thankful that the vineyards were able to remain in business through that dark period (sacramental wine, indeed!). Now look at the California wine industry-so strong, but do you know that there were wine producers all over the US prior to Prohibition? Yep, many were forced out of business thanks to all the people who wanted to force their will upon someone else (wow, Libertarianism 2 x in one day--take this quiz, you may be surprised to find you're one too!). We now have vineyards in most (if not all?) of the US again, but we could have better quality wines by now from some of these fledgling vines/vineyards. For an off the wall Libertarian view, read this article from the Wall Street Journal. Not sure how I feel about some of the items referenced being legal, but the premise sure makes sense... In any event, I'm hoping Friday traffic has slacked off a bit so I can get home to enjoy some Vino! Cheers, Bo

Turkey Wine and Out of State experiences!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving and enjoyed some Beaujolais Nouveau prior to devouring our Turkey. We drove to KY to be with my family and brought a mixed case of vino (most under $12) including the Beaujolais. Most of the wines we drank were Zinfandel as they went perfectly with the meal. A Pinot Noir may have worked but the fruit of the Zin (remember, this is NOT the Pink stuff!) paired with everything, even the sweet potato casserole. We brought this wine from GA to KY because my parents cannot find a lot of variety in the big O (that would be Owensboro to you non-Kentuckians!) and what they do find is often overpriced due to lower competition. Meanwhile, before departing I made a run to Total Wine off Barrett Parkway (there is now one in the Perimeter area, there should have been one in Alpharetta but I was told that the powers that be blocked it--short sighted and silly at best) and made some fun selections for them. It's about choice, people! If I wasn't 'bootlegging' for them, they had no other option as you can't ship wine there (even GA still has some limits). Contrast this with Michigan-it's bad enough the auto biz is in the toilet (not that Real Estate is going gangbusters!) but the State is trying to limit their wine choices as well. Read THIS to see what's going on; I think they are fools. Let the people order their favorites and they can also pay TAXES on those wines (more money for MI). Wine lovers get what they want, the state gets what they want (MONEY). What's not to love? Well, for starters, the liquor/beer/wine retail industry has deep pockets. And politicians? They love to line their pockets with this type of special interest money! So consumers lose and politicians (and distributors) win. I wish the people of Michigan the best; hopefully a balance will be struck so there can be a "WINE-WINE" result! Cheers, Bo