Taking the world one wine at a time.
I started this “Guinness Book of Wine World Records” article over a year ago, saved it to my drafts, forgot about it and I’m just now getting around to posting it. Enjoy! Most Wine Glasses Held in One Hand You know what they say about men with big hands! Well, in this case it means they can hold lots of wine glasses… The world record for the most wine glasses held in one hand…
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The traditional gap between a US and Euro-palate is becoming less obvious, according to a French-guy named Louis-Fabrice Latour (you might of heard of him), head of Burgundy negociant and grower Maison Louis Latour. “The trade in the US has become much more English-oriented,” remarked Louis-Fabrice in an interview with The Drinks Business. However, he clarified this perceived shift in the US palate by adding: “It’s the trade I’m talking about, not the final consumers.”…
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News article taken from Richmond Times Dispatch Something rather interesting happened recently at the Celebration of the Vine festival in Virginia. The red wine that took first place was Cooper Vineyards 2009 Petit Verdot. No huge surprises there. But what about the white winner? A white merlot! New Kent Winery’s White Merlot, to be precise. “This could be a first for a red grape,” New Kent winemaker Tom Payette said. To make a White Merlot, the…
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It seems that a select few California wineries are secretly producing wines laced with cannabis, according to The Drinks Business, and Cabernet Sauvignon seems to be the grape variety of choice for the blend. “Pot wine is increasingly fashionable in wine country – much of the marijuana used for the wine comes from California’s weed capital Humboldt County,” Crane Carter, president of the Napa Valley Marijuana Growers said. According to Carter, pot wine delivers a…
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News article taken from the National Post We see product placement everywhere. A trip to the movies has become a trip to a subliminal shopping mall, where the underlying takeaway message is: buy this. But what happens when film fans don’t like what the product placers are selling? What happens when they start messing around with something important? What happens when they turn James Bond, a suave, martini-drinking British secret agent, into a beer-drinker? That…
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News article taken from The Drinks BusinessA chocolate infused wine called Chocolate Shop has surprised its creators with surging demand from a wide range of consumers in the US and UK. “We thought the market would be female and young, but we’ve found that it has much broader appeal,” said Andrew Browne, founder of the product, citing demand from men and women, as well as older and experienced wine drinkers. The wine uses Bordeaux-blend of…
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The 2nd part of my 10 questions to ask yourself before you start a blog… 5. What are you really hoping to achieve from starting a blog? Money? Fame? Credibility? Free stuff?Without defining your purpose from the get-go, you’ll have no clear direction and/or achievable benchmarks on which to measure your performance. These benchmarks don’t always have to be money-based; for example, one of the goals I set myself early in my blogging, was…
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News article taken from Libation Law BlogMost people are probably very unaware, but the FTC has very strict guidelines regarding the disclosure of any relationship a company has with someone tweeting or blogging reviews of their products. The Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines “Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” are a pretty short read. Which is interesting given that they can amount to some extremely hefty penalties for any winery or brewery that…
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As is the way with these types of posts, I started writing this article hoping to try and fit it all into one, and soon realized that it just wasn’t going to happen. In reality, this post could have probably been 10x the length it is right now. What follows is part 1, and part 2 will probably be posted sometime over the next few days. These are my 10 questions to ask yourself (in…
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News article taken from Shanken News Daily A little-known small family-owned winery in California (you probably haven’t even heard of them) E&J Gallo has confirmed they’ve added Tuscany’s Brancaia label to their portfolio. The label was formally part of the Hess Collection.The Brancaia portfolio includes Brancaia Tre, a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon; Brancaia Chianti Classico; Brancaia Ilatraia, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Petite Verdot; and Brancaia Il Blu, a blend of…
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WARNING: THIS ARTICLE WAS PRODUCED AS PART OF APRIL FOOLS DAY JOKE. ALL CHARACTERS ARE FICTIONAL. I DO NOT REPRESENT THE COURT OF MASTER SOMMELIERS AND NEVER HAVE. It’s about time hyper-decanting was given the recognition the recognition it deserves!For those of you that aren’t in the loop, hyper-decanting is quite simply the process of pouring a whole bottle of wine (red or white) into a food processor, turning it to the appropriate setting for…
Read MoreResearch conducted at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has found that compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five to seven per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are almost four times likelier to use tobacco; more than twice as likely to use alcohol; two-and-a-half times likelier to use marijuana; and almost four times likelier to say they expect to try…
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