Author Archives: intoxreport

Certainly Maceration Is Normal For Boys, Ben. But…

…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 , , | 12 Comments

Tits For Taittinger: S.A.G, Not Saggy

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

Posted in Champagne, GENERAL | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

British Columbia: Gem of A Whole Different Ocean

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 , , , , | 5 Comments

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

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

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

“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

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

Posted in Port, PORTUGAL | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

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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Att. Winos: Turns Out It’s Brain Buds More Than Taste Buds

In this vale of toil and sin where your head grows bald but not your chin, there are very few universal experiences.  One of them is this:  You’re in your car, at the club or listening to music in your … Continue reading

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