Monthly Archives: October 2011

Novemberfest, 2011: A Random Trio

Posted on October 31, 2011 by

What’s that?  It’s Oktoberfest?  I thought Oktoberfest was in September.  And I thought October was spelled with a gentle Anglo-Saxon ‘c’ instead of a massive, intimidating Teutonic ‘k’. What’s up with that, anyway?  Cologne with a ‘K’, Caesar with a … Continue reading →

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Ghost Pines Chardonnay: Did Thirty-Five French Generations Get It Wrong?

Posted on October 30, 2011 by

I begin with a short and doubtlessly dull philippic on vineyard designated wines.  And all you smarty-pants enophiles who already know this stuff are encouraged to go back to The Marriage Plot or Unbroken or whatever the hell you’re reading … Continue reading →

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English Wine: A Convenient Truth

Posted on October 28, 2011 by

Among the reefs upon which English culture has traditionally foundered are the following: Oral hygiene, naming food (spotted dick, bubble and squeak, blood pudding…  Seriously?), failing to be suitably deferential to Americans for kicking arse in 1776, then winning World … Continue reading →

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Hoary Antinori Does it Again. And Again… And…

Posted on October 27, 2011 by

A cardinal difference between the outlook of Italians and Americans is that in Italy, a hundred miles is a long way while in the USA, a hundred years is a long time. I think the Antinori family will confirm this. … Continue reading →

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Gold and Glory: Partida Tequila’s Personal Eldorado

Posted on October 24, 2011 by

Your garden variety Mexican-art-collecting, charity-focused California philanthropist  might resent  being compared to a predatory 15th century  Spanish Conquistador, but J. Gary Shansby is anything but boilerplate.  The San Francisco private equity investor, a 35-year veteran of consumer brand development for … Continue reading →

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Heineken: Nineteen Emerging Designers Selected to Create Futuristic Concept Ashram

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

Amsterdam, 19th October 2011 – Heineken today announced that nineteen emerging designers have been chosen to co-create a pioneering ashram concept as part of Heineken’s Open Design Explorations Edition 1: The Spiritual Hermitage. Esteemed designers working in the fields of … Continue reading →

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Gustatory Gascony: France’s Hidden Heartland

Posted on October 20, 2011 by

Apparently, thanks to yet another mediocre film adaptation, there’s going to be a brief resurgence of interest in The Three Musketeers, so here’s a useless bit of trivia:  d’Artagnan was a real guy. Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Comte … Continue reading →

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Salads with Wine: Tossing Out Some New Ideas

Posted on October 20, 2011 by

I think we can all be pretty confident that Adam and Eve served wine in the Garden of Eden.  Otherwise, what kind of Paradise would it have been? Eating ultra-fresh salad in the spring and early summer is often reminiscent … Continue reading →

Posted in PAIRING WINE AND FOOD | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Here’s a Reason to Toast the Season: LPVA Wine Tour

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

‘Fess up: The expression ‘holiday tradition’ sort of gives me the willies.  It conjures up images of some calculated and obligatory family nightmare to which you drag yourself reluctantly, year after year after year, until the one year nobody gets … Continue reading →

Posted in Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan | Tagged | 1 Comment

The ‘I’ Generation: Everybody’s Favorite Letter

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

This is a rather odd piece, granted.  It involves an attempt by Siberian winemakers to produce Super Tuscans in a climate where it snows in July and the average temperature is minus forty. Not really.  It’s really about Moscow’s recent … Continue reading →

Posted in Vodka | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment