So George Bush dropped the bomb on a terror plot that was thwarted right after 9/11. One that included Los Angeles… hmmm… Los Angeles…….
This reminds of soap operas? When the wife? Is going to be left by the husband? So she fakes like she’s pregnant? So he stays. Then she has to go get pregnant […]

So it was my birthday. And since I’m celebrating this weekend down in Portland, I’m delaying gratification. After all, what am I, 12?
But to tell you the truth, all I wanted was to lay low. All I wanted was to watch my TiVoed Project Runway, with a Lillet on the rocks, spicy thai potato […]

I have a love hate relationship with “foodie” mags like Food & Wine. I flip through them like you would a fashion rag or an issue of US Magazine at the airport. Flip, flip, flip, flip. Like popcorn. A little blurb on my new toothpaste catches my eye…..and so does the little ditty next to […]

I saw a stat today: over 67 billion dollars spent on carbonated beverages last year in America. Total wine sales last year were something like half of that number.
Kinda puts this business in perspective, doesn’t it? It also puts that little over-hyped report on the French Paradox in perspective.
It’s not just red wine that the […]

Neighbor pissed me of today. I awoke to the distinct droning of a backho. Neighbor was ripping up MY beloved rosemary bush that just so happens to live behind his garage in the alley. What is neighbor doing? How will I make my rosemary blossom vodka in spring? The tiny plot of land is too […]

It hit me and a friend the other day when we were at an industry tasting. Our wine friends and the people we know are cool. But many wine professionals are not.
For example, the guy at Waiter Rant writes a great POST about how not to look like an idiot when ordering wine, and […]

One of the comments for my “judge a wine by its label” contribution to WBW #16 read as follows:
From Justin, “Now, I’m confused. Do lables mean something to you or don’t they? I thought I read somewhere else on this blog they mean nothing. Just provoking.”
Good question, allow me to clarify. Wine labels the likes […]

Ever seen the movie Big Night? You know the part when they light the little bits of paper on fire that then float up in bright green flames? Yeah, you can do that at home, too.
Start a new holiday tradition of your own with these Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno. Each pair of little dry, slightly […]

Had a rough day yesterday. Even though it was a rare snowy day in Seattle, it was as if–everywhere I turned–memories conspired against me. As you get older, the holidays become as much about celebrating family, as they do missing family. This year my Papa passed away and so the holidays and his birthday are […]

Last year at this time, it seemed that just about every other person that came into the shop asked for Ice Wine or wanted to talk about it. Did that translate into sales? Hell no. Became the nut in my holiday muffin, it did.
Obviously people were being inundated with the idea of Ice Wine, […]