Author Archives: intoxreport

Care And Feeding Of Your New Pet Peeve—Today’s Lesson: Booze

So, you woke up Christmas morning so excited that you soiled your jammies!  You ran out to check beneath the tree and found that Santa had left you a brand-new, snuggly-huggly, squeezable-pleasable Pet Peeve!  Good on ya, Junior!  But don’t … Continue reading

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Elvis And Wine: Red, White And Blue Suede Shoes

Of all High Holy Feast Days celebrated throughout the liturgical year of America’s one true religion—Orthodox Schlockologyism—today is the most sacred. ‘For the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which … Continue reading

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Beat The Muddles: Drinks from the Beatnik Generation

January 6, 2012 would have marked the 77th birthday of John ‘The Hipster of Joy Street’ Wieners, an influential lyric poet who was one of the lesser known writers of the Beat Generation. Like any self-respecting beatnik, Wieners was born … Continue reading

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There’s School Smart, There’s Street Smart, There’s Book Smart And There’s Me

Isn’t it amazing how the creative mind works—the literary brain especially?  Isn’t it spectacular how journalists are able to compose column after column, day after day, year after year, on topics of  interest to every human alive, from slobbering pre-schoolers … Continue reading

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I Drink, Therefore I Am: British Doctors Rail Against Abstinence

Sometimes, when the British are funny they know it—AbFab, Monty Python, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers.  And sometimes when they’re funny, they don’t—grownups who still have freckles, rich people with different accents than poor people, calling cigarettes ‘fags’,  chavs—especially those who incessantly … Continue reading

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Bordeaux Is Selling Out—Or At Least, It’s On The Market

‘Under-the-radar wine estate for sale, Saint-Caprais-de-Bordeaux, château-on-steroids, 20 hectares of vines that are firing on all cylinders.  Priced to sell, this turn-key opportunity is a win-win.’ In the business world, you call such a find ‘low-hanging fruit’ and then, you … Continue reading

Posted in Bordeaux, FRANCE | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Inniskillin Sparkling Ice Wine: Tweaking the Tweaked Tweak

I have not coveted my neighbor’s wife since the eighties, when Prime Minister Trudeau’s young bride Maggie—that vamping, voluptuous Vancouver vixen who, upon publishing her third book in 2010, became the only person in Canada to have written more books … Continue reading

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Iberian Intoxicants for New Year’s Day (And Beyond)

What’s the with-it Spaniard imbibing on this frosty January Sunday?  Something from Torres, no doubt. Founded in 1870 by Jaime Torres, the family now controls the largest winery in Spain along with the most extensive vineyards in  Penedès and can … Continue reading

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Bubbles For New Year’s Eve—England ‘n’ France, Sparkles ‘n’ Spats

Little known Champagne fact:  Dom Perignon did not say, “I’m drinking stars,” he said, “I’m seeing stars” after being clubbed over the head by a British arquebus. Verily, there’s been little love lost between France and England over the centuries, … Continue reading

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Vintage 2008: Donati Delivers A Digest of Doozies

It has been said (by Italians mostly) that there are only two kinds of people in the world: Italians and people who wish they were Italian. Whether or not you accept this, the fact is, in terms of cool, Italians … Continue reading

Posted in Cab/Merlot, Paicines | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment