Monthly Archives: July 2012

Beware That Bottle Of Romani-Contée: It May Be A Knock-Off

Posted on July 27, 2012 by

It’s a side of human nature which we may not be proud of, but which we all possess.  That side that causes us inexpressible delight when our wealthy brother-in-law shows off his brand new luxury watch and we inform him … Continue reading →

Posted in GENERAL | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Chinese People Are Really, Really Tiny; Pass It On

Posted on July 25, 2012 by

Don’t get me wrong; I’m a smallish dude.  Not Chinese small, maybe—the average height of a Chinese person is 5’4”—but trust me, I was never the first kid with a finger pointed at him at the start of a pick-up … Continue reading →

Posted in CHINA | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Anatomy Of A Hangover And What To Do About It

Posted on July 22, 2012 by

In the previous century, when I was at university as a psych major, B.F. Skinner was all the rage, and my Operant Conditioning and Behavior Analysis class focused on the relative non-efficiency of negative reinforcement.  It stressed that ‘punishment’ changes … Continue reading →

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A Boyd In The Hand Is Worth Two Anheuser-Busch

Posted on July 21, 2012 by

If I was a chef (which I’m not, but I bet this conjecture is close to the mark) and one week I over-ordered, say, lobster, prime rib and maybe Macedonian weasel cheese, here’s what I’d do:  I’d purée them all … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Chardonnay, Moscato, Riesling | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sammy And Jack, Sammy and Jack; I’m Gonna Get Me Some Sammy And Jack

Posted on July 20, 2012 by

The  best part of covering celebrity wines is that you don’t actually have to taste them to finagle columns from them thousands of words long. And do you know why?  Because, my droogies, there’s no need to taste a celebrity … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, GENERAL, Napa, Rum | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Bœuf Bourguignon, Languedoc-Roussillon-Style—On The Hoof

Posted on July 18, 2012 by

Not saying that they are all simply crackers pastoral folk in Languedoc-Roussillon, that hillbilly heaven bucolic land in the south of France, but here is their recipe for Bœuf Bourguignon, one of the most beloved classical dishes of French culinary … Continue reading →

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I Am Woman, Hear Me Pour: The International Women’s Wine Competition

Posted on July 18, 2012 by

People are always winging on and on and on about things they hate—Monday mornings,  the Westboro Baptist Church, Rush Limbaugh, root canals, giant spiders in the basement, the U.S. military massacring innocent Iraqi civilians… Yeah, granted, all that stuff blows … Continue reading →

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Moscatos and Mosquitoes: Summer In The Motor City

Posted on July 7, 2012 by

Whenever I travel this wide and wonderful land, wherever I go—from purple mountain to fruited plains, beneath spacious skies and through amber grain waves, from sea to shining sea—I tell people I’m from Detroit and the response I get is … Continue reading →

Posted in Michigan, Moscato | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Block No. 42: Penfolds’ Ostentatious Obscenity

Posted on July 5, 2012 by

As a winery, Australian producer Penfolds has always tried to be all things to all people. In 1844, the cause was noble enough: Emigrated English physician Christopher Rawson Penfold planted vines around his Adelaide cottage and set out to produce … Continue reading →

Posted in AUSTRALIA | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Are Traverse City Lambic Brewers Up Shit’s Kriek?

Posted on July 5, 2012 by

Excuse me; I know I’m a bad man who in the afterlife will never make it out of the flaming tombs of Dante’s Sixth Circle, where I will lament forever with such heretics as Epicurus and Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti. But … Continue reading →

Posted in BEER, Michigan, MIDWEST | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments