Monthly Archives: January 2012

Mr. Natural Wine Sez: ‘YOU’RE The Right Tool For The Job, You Tool’

Posted on January 31, 2012 by

Unlike most wine columnists, I never get ‘writer’s block’.  Au contraire, I deny that the phenomenon—whereby people who can’t think of anything to say go ahead and say it anyway—even exists. Oh, sure, sometimes our personal muses get all PMSsy, … Continue reading →

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Certainly Maceration Is Normal For Boys, Ben. But…

Posted on January 29, 2012 by

…not during Algebra.  Now, wash your hands and finish your polynomials. Yesterday I had my wine tasting acumen publically mocked by Ben Fawcett because I dared to suggest that I am a fan of Beaujolais—or rather, because  I like the … Continue reading →

Posted in Beaujolais, FRANCE, Gamay | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Tits For Taittinger: S.A.G, Not Saggy

Posted on January 28, 2012 by

As a connotation, as a concept and as a cliché, Champagne is a titillating tipple, entangled in seduction, raveled in sex and wrung out into seven-ounce flutes as a morning-after testimonial.  Therefore, when I developed an instantaneous crush on Champagne … Continue reading →

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British Columbia: Gem of A Whole Different Ocean

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

I’ve been drinking, thinking and inking wine for about twenty years now, but every now and again, a growing region pops up that existed so far on the periphery of my mental wine map that I never gave it so … Continue reading →

Posted in CANADA, Onkanagan | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Pairing Wine With Spices: The ‘It’ Flavors Of 2012

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

Once a year, the multibillion dollar spice spigot called McCormick & Co. releases a sprinkle of predictions about what flavors will be in vogue during upcoming months—a compilation collected by their posse of parlously picky palate probers including staff chefs, … Continue reading →

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The Drupe Dupe: Extra Virgin Olive Oil. P.S.; Neither Was Your First Wife

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

This is a website about drinking, so whenever I wander off topic and enter the realm of cuisine—a subject about which I know even less than wine—I do so at the peril of my long-suffering readers. Technically however, I suppose … Continue reading →

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Only 98 Photoshopping Days Left Until The Bordeaux en primeur

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

“I’m on a seafood diet.  I see food and I throw up.” – Runway model Filippa Hamilton-Palmstierna A pair of recent headlines—one excoriating Ralph Lauren for photoshopping cover-girl Filippa Hamilton-Palmstierna to resemble Bobby Sands during Extreme Unction and another excoriating … Continue reading →

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Can’t Get Much Cooler Than This Fonz: Fonseca Bin No. 27

Posted on January 16, 2012 by

What do Arthur Fonzarelli and Bin No. 27 have in common? Both are feisty and irrationally cool, both dwarf their categorical co-stars in popularity, both have pinged in and out of cultural relevance—and prior to the early seventies, nobody had … Continue reading →

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Drugs ‘N’ Stuff: Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Posted on January 14, 2012 by

I used to make fun of songs like ‘We Are The World, We Are The Children’, but you know what?  Every once in a while, who among us hasn’t taken a moment from our hectic daily grind to glance wistfully … Continue reading →

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How It’s Made®. This Episode: Babies, Buzzes and Hangovers

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

Maybe once in a lifetime—if you’re lucky—somebody invents something that truly rocks the planet, and it’s fair to suggest that Ron Popiel had nothing to do with any of them.  If you’d lived in the disease-ridden slop-pit destined to become … Continue reading →

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