Friday, December 10 2010
Everybody's Talking About Wine
Hey, who's the guy in the dress with the Chateau-neuf du Pape?
Noodling about the interwebs, and apropos of only my own ongoing interest in winey news, I present the following. First, from the 'When Can I Get One of Those' files, Walmart to Install Vending Machines for Wine:
Dangit, they're always out of Gruner Veltliner!
The retailer has received a green light from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to put wine kiosks in stores across the state, CBS Pittsburgh reports.
The machines will reportedly have more than 50 varieties of wine. But before you buy, you'll need to swipe your driver's license and puff into a Breathalyzer.
Before you get up in arms about kiddies buying Pinot Grigio, or pre-teens cruising for a Grand Cru Burgundies, a couple of things: first, there will be someone actually watching the purchase over a video camera--a real live person has to approve each transaction. Second, you have to think about why they'd possibly do this, rather just sell the wine inside the store. It's because they can't sell it in stores in Pennsylvania. The liquor monopoly there has an iron fist of control on every sale in the state (leading people to drive to Delaware to buy booze most of the time, for vastly superior selection and prices that can be more than 30% cheaper). So, vending it is. I went to college in Japan, and the tennis court right next to my house had a beer vending machine that worked 24 hours a day, and I never brained my damage.
Yes, I attribute my long life to drinking. I'm 24 years old.
Next, good news for people patronising those vending machines: yet another study claims Wine Drinkers Live Longer:
The scientists, from Harvard Medical School and Biomol research laboratory in Philadelphia , have identified resveratrol as the key ingredient in red wine. This molecule is abundant in red wine. It gives red wine its anti-cancer and anti-heart disease properties. They have found that this molecule can influence genes that have been linked to lifespan in yeast.
The also found that quercetin, which is abundant in olive oil, has a similar effect. In particular, they affect those genes that have been shown to extend life as a result of a calorie-restricted diet by enabling cells to live longer.
In the case of resveratrol it was found to extend the life of some yeast cells by as much as 70%. Previous studies have suggested that severe calorie restriction can increase the lifespan of organisms like yeast, fruit flies, worms and rats.
Looks like I'm going to live to be 400.
That's good beach ball!
In the sour grapes category, Australian Winery Claims Winemaking Blunder Left Vintage of the Decade Undrinkable:
ALL Saints winery’s best vintage in 10 years smelt and tasted ‘‘like a beach ball’’ after a tainted additive was introduced to its wine during processing, a court has heard.
All Saints is suing Victorian Alps Wine Company for up to $4.3million for loss and damages in what has become a civil contractual dispute.
Justice Tony Pagone heard that All Saints did not have the facilities to process its grapes at the family-owned Rutherglen estate, so it contracted the task to Victorian Alps. It is during this process that various additives, including tartaric acid, were introduced, before bottling and maturation occurred.
The Supreme Court heard that the award-winning Rutherglen winery’s 2005 chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot varieties were among the wines rendered ‘‘undrinkable’’ after a contaminated tartaric acid was used by Victorian Alps.
Dang, and I thought a wee bit of bottle stink was a crisis. I want to know, however, who's been making wine out of beach balls?
More like a warm 'bienvenue'
And finally, in the Not Getting It's Product At All department, Drinks Giant Diageo Uses Image of French Coastline to Market Talisker Scotch:
Diageo has committed something of a faux-pas by using an image of the French coastline to publicise its Talisker Scotch whisky. The drinks giant recently began its first global push on Talisker and is using a poster that depicts a lighthouse on the island of Le Creac’h, off the coast of Brittany. The poster contains the slogan "made by the sea". Locals on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, where the Talisker distillery lies, are a little irked.
Whoa. I know Diageo likes to outsource and be all global, but honestly? I'm sure there's a good picture of the Isle of Skye somewhere, fellows. Say, this one:
That's more scotchy!
If you're trying to sell your whisky on its authenticity, shouldn't you strive for a little yourselves? Still, good whisky.
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