another wine blog

Plume Bleue Vin de Pays d’Oc is a 50/50 Grenache Syrah blend made by a very good winemaker. This big fruity wine has lots of plum, cherry and dark berry flavors with just enough chewy tannins to balance it out. It has a mildly smoky flavor.
This stuff just begs for some grilled lamb or pork. [...]

“Get up, Stand up
Stand up for your rights”
-Bob Marley, Peter Tosh
This week I bought a new iPod Nano. Despite not being a huge Apple fan, I love this thing. So, yesterday I visited a large electronic superstore near my house. This place is geek heaven and has a great selection. I wanted to purchase a [...]

I have been planning on writing an article along these lines. While looking for inspiration I came across this article at Food and Wine
Inspired by the book He Said Beer, She Said Wine, F&W invited authors Sam Calagione, the founder of Delaware’s Dogfish Head brewery, and Marnie Old, a wine educator, to a taste-off. The [...]

I came across a good article on pairing wine with cheese.  It has (mostly) very good, practical advice, as this isn’t as easy as it sounds. Although, for wine and cheese lovers, it is hard to make a really bad match.
The one issue I have with any of the tips is the one about red [...]

One of my personal heroes is gone. George Carlin was one of the shaping forces in my life. As teenagers, my friends and I memorized his albums. I can still recite many of his routines verbatim. His impact on many people went way beyond just making us laugh. He picked up the torch that was [...]

Vinography has an excellent article entitled Terroir vs. Pleasure in Wine that discusses flaws in wine, whether they are part of the terroir, and whether they should be eliminated.
Some excerpts:
How many times have I told myself not to meddle in the world of terroir? Having (or starting) discussions about the traditionally French notion of how [...]

I was sent a message with the following question: If you could only drink 2 wines, one white one red, for the foreseeable, what would they be?
The questioner is writing a book, and his final chapter will include answers from wine lovers to this question. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that I can help him by [...]

This is definitely a sangria with some zing. Give it a try on a hot summer afternoon.
1 bottle of Zinfandel or Syrah
2 cups Vernor’s ginger ale
1/4 cup simple syrup
2 lemons cut into wedges
1 orange cut into wedges
2 limes cut into wedges
1 ruby red grapefruit, segmented
1 oz good gin
Make sure that all ingredients are well chilled [...]

You mean that I have been wasting my time spending all of those hours at the gym? I only needed to drink more red wine?  I think I will start tonight.
The findings, to be presented this week at The Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, show that in laboratory experiments with so-called “pre-fat cells,’’ [...]

This is my last piece on BBQ for a long time, I swear.
As I mentioned yesterday, every year Texas Monthly Magazine ranks and reviews the Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas. One thing that is a constant each year is that Smitty’s Market in Lockhart, Texas will be in the top 5, if not in [...]

Every year Texas Monthly Magazine ranks and reviews the Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas. This year’s issue had a lot of surprises. One of the biggest surprises for me was the inclusion, for the very first time, of a restaurant that uses a mechanical cooker. Not only that, but it is not even [...]

Our friends at Drinkplanner have some excellent advice dealing with open bottles of wine. As always, the advice is good, snarky, and delivered with a wink.

To give everyone a quick respite from tales of Austin, here is a nice Summer recipe. More BBQ tales soon.
This refreshing Mediterranean-style pasta salad works as either a side dish or a full meal and is very wine friendly. It can be eaten cold, room temperature, or hot. I rarely make vegetarian dishes, but this [...]

One of my favorite places in Austin is a place called Cork and Company on Congress Avenue right in the heart of downtown. Cork and Company is everything a great wine bar should be. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable, the selection is varied both in styles and price range, and the pours are [...]

I have no idea where you are right now, which is probably quite a relief to learn, but I am pretty sure that wherever it is, it probably isn’t as cool as Austin, Texas.
I recently had the pleasure of spending a few days in Austin. My wife was a delegate at the recent Texas Democratic [...]

Like my last post about a bargain wine, this one is also not about a great wine. However, this is a very good one that comes close to greatness, if there is such a category for humble table wine.
Little James Basket Press is a non vintage single varietal French  Vin de Table from Saint-Cosme. The [...]

I have absolutely no idea, but I hope that the players for my beloved Detroit Red Wings are busy finding out.
Okay, that was a lame way to work my obsession with Detroit sports into my blog about my obsession about wine, but I couldn’t help myself. On the bright side, I don’t follow baseball and [...]

This is not a great wine by any means of reckoning, but it costs around 7 bucks a bottle. Besides, who can drink great wine every day? This is a very drinkable wine at an exceptionally low price.
This wine is 100% Riesling and has never seen any oak. As a result it is crisp, sweet [...]