What to drink this memorial day weekend? Hmm, a weekend of rememberance for those who have died for something and nothing. May I suggest you go for good ole US of A bubbles and join the fight to kick our ignorant, arrogant president out of office:
After Downing Street dot org
The now infamous “Downing Street Memo” […]

“d” commented in my post about wine shipping that Illinois must be pretty short-sighted to propose banning all wine, etc. shipments from within or out of state. He’s right. But if you look at who’s behind the push for the legislation, you’ll find a bunch of giant beer distributors. Check it out.
And they’re doing it […]

This is what my wine tasting group learned last week, a few names to look out for on the Champagne front:
Godme, Jose Michel & Fils, Camille Saves, Deutz, and basically any of the small offerings of Bobby Kacher Selections, Terry Thiese, or Becky Wasserman. Deutz is a “smaller” house owned by Roederer and imported by […]

I prefer Femme du Vin Fou, for the record. Hey, a boy agrees! Marketing to women when it comes to wine is, almost without exception, demeaning and idiotic.
I also really like this blog, add it to your favorites. You’ll feel lucky that he must have a lot of free time. Use this trackback to read:
Amuse […]

I started this blog back in January as a sideline, just to vent. I thought I’d see how it went, have a little fun. Then as spring approached, I had less free time to post. But the people were still coming. A lot of people, more every day. Emails harassed me for more posting. I’m […]

OK, don’t anyone bust out the credit cards just yet. Technically it’s legal for wineries to ship to all 50 states now. But big shoulder states like Illinois are bound to react. Keep in mind, distributors are the big money makers in this business (it’s never the creative talent), and they don’t like more competition. […]

I had a lady grill me today about New Zealand Sauv Blancs. Salesmen bring me about 7 or 10 a week–I’d think that I’ve tried them all at this point, surely. But now, I really must tell you…they don’t taste that different from each other. What!? let me explain.
Take tomato sauce, for example. A jar […]

At dinner last night, one of my major food ticks was outted for the first time. I don’t eat Belgian endive. For the same reason I don’t eat veal, because I don’t eat any humiliated food.
Allow me to illustrate why endive is like veal:
I was in my garden, digging up weeds. I moved a […]

What other product do you pay 300% mark-up for, just so they can open it for you? What’s the insentive for me not to bring my own and pay $15?
Coffee has a HUGE mark-up, but at least someone’s brewing or pulling the shot for you. There’s a process. And we’re only talking a few […]

Every month I’m hit with a new buzz, a different Zietgeist. Most recently it’s been the movie Sideways and Ice wine. This week, I was asked over a dozen times this week if I had a discount bin or sale rack.
Listen to me now and heed me later: the idea of a wine shop with […]