Sep 26, 2006
When was the last time you saw someone or read an honest argument for the obvious fact that the drinking age in America should be 18 years old? This idea is absolutely fringe at this point. Only the most ensconced politician in a district that supported them by 80% of the vote in their last election would even broach the subject…and even then they might lose. The argument is simple enough. An 18 year old may fight and die in…
Sep 18, 2006
I must admit, I am fascinated by the campaign in Massachusetts that has that state deciding whether or not wine should be sold in grocery stores. Currently one must go to a liquor store to buy wine. There is a good deal of money being spent with grocers on one side of the fight and liquor stores and distributors on the anti side of the fight. What struck me in the articles I’ve been reading about this campaign is that…
Sep 13, 2006
How much do you tip in a restaurant? I tend to go wit a standard 20%. If the service is just south of par I give the server the benefit of the doubt and continue along with the 20%. If the service is really bad, I go south of 20%. The interesting question is, do you apply that 20% to the wine you ordered. I never do, at least if it’s a bottle of wine I’ve bought. Part of the…
Sep 11, 2006
Wow…talk about the power of the wine critic. It’s one thing to bestow a wine with a score of 75 points or one star and leave for the consumer to decide after that. It’s an altogether different thing to ban the sale of wine in an entire country because there’s something about its color, aroma or taste you don’t like. That appears to be the case in Russia where the all powerful "Rospotrebnadzor", that country’s consumer rights and sanitation department,…
Sep 8, 2006
Massachusetts is one of those places that still has amazingly antiquated laws on the books regarding wine and alcohol. One of those laws allows wine only to be sold in "package stores". Basically a "package store" is a liquor store. The law is being challenged and it looks like People are in favor of it. The proposal in MA to end the package store monopoly on wine sales doesn’t so much have an organized opposition as it does an organized…