Uh-oh... Winelovers, it's time to call your Congressman!

Looks like the lobbyists are surrounding DC as it relates to direct wine shipments! Read THIS ARTICLE and learn more! The horror!

You get what you pay for...

I always wondered what "Aldi" grocery stores were all about, so after having lunch at the re-opened "Havana" sandwich shop (best Cuban Sandwich I've ever had!), Susie and I gave it a shot. Other than finding some no-name lip-balm on the cheap (3 sticks for $1.50, compared to Nivea's $5 per!) and some Devil's Food Cake cookies (yum!) we picked up 2 bottles on the cheap, a Malbec from Argentina for $3.99 and a Crianza (aged in oak for a set time period) Tempranillo/Cab blend from Spain for $5.99. We haven't had the Crianza yet, so the jury's out, but the Malbec turned out to be pretty good, though the first 'fruit bomb' nose was initially a turnoff (but as it opened it was quite nice). No silly 'animal' labels or catchy names, just a varietal I like at a fair price. Caveat--I am a red-wine drinker and finding decent quality for a low price can be a difficult thing to find. For example, it is quite difficult to find a good, cheap Pinot Noir (a true oxymoron!). You CAN find some for around $14-18 (which unfortunately IS cheap for Pinot) such as La Crema or "A" by Acacia, but I recently had a Lindeman's "Bin" series Pinot for under $7 that was pretty tasty. Again, this is not even close to a fine French Burgundy (well, maybe the 1980's jug 'burgundy') but a decent, drinkable Pinot. I normally shy away from Cabernets and Merlots that are super cheap as they tend to be fruit bombs and not really 'varietal specific'. Again, for the price, what do you expect? I have had some success with Australian Shiraz (and blends) such as Rosemount's Shiraz/Cab blend and if you look around you can even find some inexpensive Rhône blends (such as Grenache, Syrah (Shiraz) Mourvedre).&n bsp; As always, it's all in the hunt! For under $10 what's the true risk? Be honest-when is the last time you had to dump out a freshly opened bottle of wine? Another trick at the grocery is to look at the 'gap' in sale prices at Kroger. If a wine is a dollar off, for example, I normally pass. As noted recently, I was 'rewarded' when I bought a Mumm Cuvée Napa rosé when it was marked down to around $14 from $24. If you have a clue what the price point of a wine 'should' be you can sniff out some bargains! Email me your wine 'finds' so I can share them!

Celebrations with bubbly-packaging!

We had a gathering at our partners' home in Moultrie, GA and enjoyed some yummy Veuve Clicquot champagne. We purchased it a few months ago and had it in the refrigerator at work just waiting to celebrate something. Well, an out of town 'break' was just the ticket and we took the wine with us! It was wrapped in a lovely orange neoprene 'huggy' that kept it nice and chilly for a few hours. We popped it in the fridge upon arrival but it was good to know that it remained cold for most of the voyage. Several producers have released their wines in unique packaging designed to keep the wine cool. I know Moet recently had a their base champagne released in a metal canister that served the same purpose. Why all the fuss? That can be followed up with this question: What hurts wine greatly? Temperatures! I've noted how leaving a wine in a hot car can pretty much ruin it (unless you like 'hot' wine like hot tea--or vinegar if you leave it in there longer!). With that being said, if your wine temperature rises or lowers over time, it should be okay (unless as noted you reach extremes, either too cold or too hot). A nice wine cellar is great, but as long as your wine is in a 'cool' dark place it should be fine. That lovely rack over your fridge? Not the best place, FYI. That rack in your dining room that receives full sun for most of the day? Ditto. If you don't have much space, take a wine case, turn it on its' side and leave it in a closet. Voila! A wine-cellar for 'our times'.

Illegal Wine Shipments?

One topic that drives me crazy is the fact that we can order ____ (fill in the blank with ANY product you can think of, PC's, food items, pet meds, fruit, etc.) and have it shipped to our home with just a click of a mouse or a phone call. What about WINE? NO. While our laws have been loosened slightly there are still barriers to receiving wine as noted. Read this article. It focuses on Indiana, but the facts are similar here in Georgia (I wonder if there is a 'follow the money' website for GA contributions to legislators? I know that the Alcoholic Beverage Committee receives thousands from the distributors as they want to limit our choices--to THEIR products. Anyway, that's my rant of the day....

Money talks... or does it?

Remember all the fuss about the 'cult wines' like Screaming Eagle? I can't quote true dollar figures but it seems like several years ago each bottle was worth several thousand dollars (worth? the proper word is 'cost'). I honestly believe they cost over $10,000 for each bottle, so at 4 glasses, it's $2,500 per glass, or at 24.5 ounces per bottle, that's $408 per ounce. OUCH. I read about some researchers at Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology who asked people to try some wines marked with prices from $5, $10, $35, 445 and $90. Care to guess the results? Yep, the $90 wine was 'the best'. In fact, (since they were scientist types) brain scans confirmed that when these people tried the expensive wine their "pleasure" sector of their brains lit up; when they tried the cheaper wines, the pleasure readings were lower. What can we conclude from this? Their expectation (based on price) was that a higher priced wine equated to a higher quality wine. That can be the same with any 'luxury' product that can be seen as a commodity such as a car--a Yugo can get you from point A to point B just like a Rolls Royce (okay, bad choice as the Yugo may or may not run) or a Timex tells time just as well as a Rolex (i.e. they all perform the same function. What is the punchline to this study? The $90 wine was the SAME as the $10 wine; the $45 wine was the SAME as the $5 wine. Who knew??? While I'd rather drive (or ride) in that Rolls vs. the Yugo for many other factors than just the price, remember to focus on the quality of the wine, not merely the price (or the silly label--check out this blog posting from AJC writer Gil Kulers on "Critter Wines" for some fun). Have a great weekend!

BoKnowsVino, but does Sarah Palin??

I caught this reference in a random email and had to click through to this article. It seems that Sarah Palin is going to speak at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America's convention in Las Vegas. What the? How could someone who preaches 'free choice' and/or 'open markets' speak to such a "controlling" group? You can read the article to fill in the blanks a bit more, but suffice it to say that Wholesalers as a rule are NOT truly looking out for the individual wine consumer's best interests. They do NOT like direct wine shipments to consumers and spend a ton of money buying politicians (I mean 'lobbying', sorry) in order to ensure that it is not easy for you to call a vineyard and order a random case to be shipped to your home. While Georgia's laws were relaxed a few years ago, we are still highly restricted as it relates to direct shipping. Nothing against Sarah, but I rank Wholesalers up there with Nancy Pelosi (actually, just under Pelosi) and I hope she gives them a piece of her mind, you betcha and all...

Going light = going green

I've blogged about this previously; looks like we're finally 'in production'. Lighter bottles = lower shipping costs. I'm interested to see if this makes it to our shores--I assume it will. It's funny-many wine producers have chosen 'pretty' bottles (and/or really 'substantial' or heavy bottles) to show off how cool or 'special' their wine is. Well, as always, it's not the bottle. It's not the label. It's the JUICE inside that matters!