Experts say that’s too hot … not “flavor optimal”
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Taste research conducted by Sydney Wine Academy and Taylors Wines observes that most people drink red wine at room temperature … and, concludes that’s to hot.
Conversely, most people serve white wine too cold for optimum flavor.
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Here’s the logic …
According to MyHealthNewsDaily.com …
Despite urban legends to the contrary, drinking doesn’t lead to a better night’s sleep.
Having a few drinks may help you fall asleep, but that deep slumber continues for only part of the night.
After that point, getting shut-eye becomes more difficult … and there’s a serious downside.
Researchers analyzed … more than 500 people who drank low, moderate or high amounts of alcohol before going to bed, and underwent testing while they snoozed in a sleep lab.
Here’s what they found ..
In California, Two-Buck Chuck has been upchucked … from $1.99 to $2.49.
Is nothing sacred?
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Here’s what’s behind the end-of-an-era pricing move …
From WSJ …
According to a study published in Science magazine 93% of the world’s population is completely predictable.
“Spontaneous individuals are largely absent from the population.”
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Restaurant wine lists, however, are much less predictable than people — one list may look nothing like another.
Lists of wines are typically organized by:
There are shortcomings to every kind of wine list and certain compromises must always be made. And yet, there a few changes that could easily improve each type of list.
A wine list, after all, is ultimately a sales tool.
It can be complemented by a person who talks about wine — or better yet, offers a free taste.
Excerpted from WSJ: Building a Better Wine List, August 7, 2010 :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703545604575407470969205984.html?mod=djemonwine_t
TakeAway: Slowly but surely, historical barriers to entry into different food categories are crumbling.
What was once seen as sacred pairing – wine and cheese – is now an optional pairing.
Beer is determined to expand its usage occasions to include cheese, and consumers are buying in.
By gaining support from industry organizations and restaurants, the beer/wine pairing is gaining credibility, creating awareness, and educating consumers. Go beer.
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Excerpted from WSJ, “Trouble Brews for Wine; Cheese Chooses Beer,” By Davide Berretta, September 25, 2009
After wrestling for a spot on the gourmet drink list, beer is trying to push deeper into wine territory: right by the cheese platter …
The beer and cheese combination has long been a staple in Belgian cuisine, but in recent years, the pairing of beer and cheese has gained legitimacy even in wine-obsessed Italy — where beer is hardly the default drink to accompany fine dining …
For brewers, teaming up with cheese is part of a campaign to show that beer is as sophisticated as Bordeaux, not just a tipple associated with student parties and sports bars. The idea is to “bring it up at the same level as wine” …
Slow Food, for one, is putting its clout behind the beer-and-cheese combo. At the nonprofit group’s Cheese 2009 — a biannual international fair held in the northern Italian region that shares a border with cheese superpower, France — cheese lovers and producers from around the world tasted dozens of varieties, with beer helping wash down the food in addition to the usual wine … Slow Food is eager to give more attention to artisanal brews, and has elevated beer’s role from bit player to supporting actor …
Part of the appeal comes from the fact that beer and cheese are part of a common farm cycle. In the 19th century, Belgian monks would brew beer, feeding their cows the leftover barley husks. The cows’ milk yielded cheese that the monks — many of them vegetarians — liked to munch while enjoying their beers …
The owner of New York’s Beer Table, a gourmet beer bar … has been serving beer and cheese since opening the bar a year and a half ago, says consumer palates have warmed quickly to the pairing, such as his proposed meeting of Swiss cheese with Swiss Rebetez beer … “A year ago, it was a new experience for everybody we presented it to,” Mr. Philips says. “Now just one in 10 are surprised.”
But beer fans still have a long way to go if they want to convince the public that suds are a worthy partner for cheese, especially in France …
Edit by TJS
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Full Article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125383275067639085.html
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Excerpted from WSJ, “10 Ways to Save Money Ordering Wine”, March 7, 2009
Here are 10 insider tactics for not overpaying for wine at restaurants:
1. Skip wine by the glass. Restaurateurs like to make enough on a single glass to pay for a whole bottle … many wines by the glass are poured from bottles that have been open for too long and mistreated after opening … wine bars that specialize in wines by the glass, and keep them well, are a major exception.)
2. Make sure the wine is from a very recent vintage. Most wines are meant to drink young and fresh and many restaurants, especially informal restaurants, don’t keep their wines in perfect conditions. .
3. Bypass the second-cheapest wine on the list. Restaurateurs know that diners don’t want to appear cheap by ordering the least expensive wine on the list, so they’ll hose you for ordering the second-cheapest. The least expensive is actually a pretty good deal at many places.
4. Scope out the owner’s passion for value. If there are, say, a dozen wines from South Africa on the list and no more than a handful from anywhere else, chances are the owner knows and cares about South African wine — and therefore is more likely to know good values from there.
5. Avoid the Chardonnay tax. Chardonnay is America’s favorite wine. Just about everybody loves it and feels comfortable with it, which is why the Chardonnays on so many lists are grossly overpriced compared to other wines.
6. Never order Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. Because so many people like it, it is routinely one of the most outrageously priced wines on the list. If you stay within your comfort zone, ordering only wines you already know, you will be punished for it, price-wise. There is value in tasting something new.
7. Don’t ignore house wines, by the bottle or in carafes … more often than not, we have found these lusty and fun.
8. Look for half-price deals. This trend is sweeping the nation. Look around and you are likely to find a deal like that in your neighborhood.
9. BYOB. Check around for restaurants that allow you to bring your own wine. More restaurants than ever, eager for business, are relaxing their rules on BYOB and lowering corkage fees. Even some fancy places now are offering special BYOB nights.
10. Check online before you dine to see a restaurant’s wine list . This will give you more time to study the list to find good values.
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No wine is going to seem like a good value to you when you know you could buy it at a local store for half the price or less.
And while personally we wouldn’t do it, we know there are people out there who enjoy bargaining and we’d guess that at least some restaurants would be willing to dicker on the price of more-expensive wines these days.
Full column:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123638925101858707.html?mod=djemtastings
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Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle, “Suddenly, Those Rare Wines Aren’t So Rare”, by Jon Bonne, January 30, 2009
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Industry experts estimate most of us are shrinking what we’ll spend on a bottle of wine by 20 to 50 percent for anything more than $10, with the occasional splurge. The thirst for $25 has dwindled to $15; $8 is the new $12.
That perilous midrange above $30 and below, say, $100? That’s where the real fear lies if you make wine.
Wine auctions struggled through the latter half of 2008, slashing their projected hammer figures, and lot prices have dropped between 10 and 30 percent since last summer, in part a correction of a runaway bull (wine) market in the past three years.
San Francisco’s Vinfolio, which specializes in locating high-end wines, has a different worry. Its average bottle price remains around $170, but with fewer sales.
In other words, it’s a buyer’s market. If you have the money, now is the best time in perhaps a decade to start a collection or taste the unattainable.
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Wines once nowhere to be found on store shelves have for months been making quiet appearances there, often because restaurants’ allocations have been left adrift. Retailers are suddenly scoring bottles of a litany of impressive California names.
All of this should give pause to wineries still playing in that realm over $30. (Beyond $100, you’re either betting on a track record or blindly ambitious.) Brand loyalty? In a recession it has the life span of a housefly. Uniqueness sells wine, but there are oceans of not-so-unique wine around. Plus foreign currencies have weakened just enough to let us all drink astoundingly well from overseas.
Part of survival is pricing to the market. It’s going to get interesting when the inevitable price correction for all those overblown $50 Syrahs and $80 Cabernets bump up against California’s fixed labor and grape costs.
There is opportunity here. For a while, more California winemakers have needed to fill the gap between cheap table wines (we have plenty of those) and fancy bottles (plenty of those too) with honest under-$20 wine that looks and tastes sophisticated while speaking honestly of its origins.
Edit by DAF
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Full article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/30/FD5L15EMGG.DTL&type=printable
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Excerpted from WSJ, Tastings, “Easy on the Wallet, Lovely on the Palate”, Dec. 26, 2008
WSJ’s Tastings columnists John Brecher and Dottie GaiterWe taste around 2,000 wines a year at all price ranges, and conclude that price is absolutely no guarantee of quality. Here’s their 2008 list of 10 “wonderful” wines for $10 or less.
Full article (with tasting notes):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123033096164636121.html?mod=djemtastings
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Excerpted from WSJ, “Costco Cabernets”, Nov. 15, 2008
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10% of all the money that Americans spend on wine at stores in the U.S. is spent at warehouse club stores.
Costco has become America’s wine store. In the U.S., Costco warehouse-club stores sold more than 75 million bottles of wine for$1.1 billion, making it the nation’s top retailer of wine.
After a slow start, Wal-Mart is trying to catch up. More than 2,000 of its stores now have beer and wine licenses and of the 594 Sam’s Club stores, 453 sell wine.
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Some Cabernets — carried at the clubs — recommended by the authors:
J. Lohr Winery Estates “Seven Oaks” 2006 (Paso Robles). $11.52. Good/Very Good. Best value.
Pleasant and grapey, with some acidity and blackberry fruit. Nicely dry finish, with some herbs and pepper. Well-balanced. This will be drunk merrily. We didn’t like the 2004.
Charles Krug Winery 2005 (Yountville, Napa Valley). $20.99. Very Good.
Lovely dark color, with cedar on the nose. Ripe, dark fruit, excellent tannins and some aging potential. A complete wine, with layers of flavor — Bordeaux-like structure and rich California fruit.
Simi Winery 2005 (Alexander Valley). $20.48.Very Good.
Looks rich and even smells like ripe, chewy fruit, with blackberries, blueberries and savory spices of the kind we’d put into stuffing. Earthy, with good tannins and a little bit of bittersweet chocolate. Big, rich, friendly wine.
Raymond Vineyard & Cellar “Reserve” 2005 (Napa Valley). $22.99. Very Good.
Lovely fruit and nicely dry. Tastes classy, with some structure and even a hint of tobacco, like a fine Bordeaux. A wine of some stature, appropriate to a fine meal.
Sterling Vineyards 2005 (Napa Valley). $20.86. Good/Very Good.
Crisp, clean and nicely acidic. Mouth-watering, with some minerals and a nice little bite at the end. Good with food because it’s not too heavy. John thought it was thin; Dottie thought it was simply restrained.
Full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122669984967629523-lMyQjAxMDI4MjE2NjYxOTY5Wj.html
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