Archive for the ‘Culture and Wine’ Category
Jim Gabler will be familiar to readers of this blog who count themselves devotees of the more esoteric wine literary pursuits. An expert on wine and the life of Thomas Jefferson, Gabler has penned two of the more fascinating books in the American wine literary canon: "An Evening with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson" and "Passions: The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson," winner of the Veuve Cliquot Wine Book of the year. He has also penned, "Wine Into Words,"…
One of the most striking controversies in the world of alcohol today is whether or not Caffeinated Alcohol drinks are safe to consume. In October, 23 students at Central Washington University were hospitalized after drinking Four Loco, one such caffeinated alcohol drink. In Maryland, a woman crashed a truck and died after consuming Four Loko. Numerous colleges have now banned the consumption of Caffeinated alcohol drinks, the states of Michigan and Washington have banned such drinks and other states are…
Making the move from living in a Baseball-Fan-Martyrdom to the pinnacle of Baseball-Fan-Rewards is not an easy transition. It feels very much like when I went from lowly-Wine-PR-Guy-Who-Drinks-What-He-Can-Afford to working for a wine auction house where I realized I was actually the Lucky-Guy-Who-Tastes-Great-Wines-I'd-Only-Read-About-Before-and-Who-Tastes-Them-Regulatory-Now. It's disorienting and necessitates a re-adjustment in one's attitude. The appeal of martyrdom ("I've waited all my life for my Giants to win the World Series, and they keep letting me down, but one day…") is derived…
On my Thursday mind… "It's like using an ATM"Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board spokesperson Stacy Witalec on the new "Wine Kiosks" spreading to various grocery stores in the state Well, not really, unless you have taken an automated breathalyzer test by blowing into the ATM prior to retrieving your 20s. The absurdity of the PA wine kiosks that force you to look through a little window at the wine bottle, stare into a camera, hope the person looking at your…
Beer, spirits and wine compete with one another, as industries, for the nation's "Booze Market". What these three products have in common with one another are many. Fermentation. Alcohol as a component. Socializing as a byproduct. Differentiation based on taste. Highly regulated rules of sales, distribution and consumption. And…they also all have in common the primary effect of using them: inebriation. They are mind altering. So is Marijuana. And based on the polls I'm reading there is a high likelihood…
