If you’ve been to a grocery store in New York anytime recently you may have come across some people looking for you to sign a petition. The idea represented by the Vote Wine 2009 coalition was to allow grocery stores to sell wine. A notion I don’t find all that abhorrent really. But I also don’t see a need when I’ve got access to 2 or 3 liquor shops that are decent, and one fantastic one that’s only a 10 minute drive away. more…

The two parts of a date that used to cause me trepidation were the ordering of wine, and the final moments when I dropped a girl off. I never went for the swirling around and slurping of wine situation, simply because I felt it looked pretentious. Not that I’m ignorant to the reasons, I just didn’t want to look like an idiot. So I check for sediment, give it a quick whirl, sniff and taste to ensure it’s OK and call it good. more…

Wine enthusiasts can boast about their impressive wine cellar, and the collection of fine wines that go along with such a use of space. But until they’ve slept in a wine-cask I will call shenanigans on their claim to be wine aficionados. You may think I’m too harsh, but since the Hotel de Vrouwe van Stavoren allows you to do just that there’s no excuse. Well, maybe the excuse of the economy tanking and all of their money being tied up in vintage wines could be acceptable. For now. more…

It’s the third Thursday in November, and that means two things: Next week is Thanksgiving, and Beaujolais Nouveau is now available. This is a young version of Beaujolais, with the Gamay grapes being handpicked and the bottles shipped around 7 weeks after fermentation. There are specific rules on what makes a Nouveau, and one is the release time frame. It’s a good way to hit up the market with some hype just as people are preparing to make trips and attend the biggest dinner party of the year. more…

I give up on stores. They continually decide to showcase Christmas stuff well before Thanksgiving, heck our Wegmans was putting out Holiday bric-a-brac before Halloween. So how about I share with you a deal going on until the end of the weekend? See, it’s not like I’m shilling some Holiday stuff yet. This is just a gift suggestion. Up for sale over at Woot is the Epicurean Wine Preservation system. more…

Over at the Wall Street Journal’s Tastings column there is something intriguing going on. Wine journalists Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher have announced their wine gift pack for this holiday season. Now, you’d expect such a selection to be a $100 bottle of the finest French wine. That’s just not so. In keeping with my own tradition of having some reasonably priced wine on hand they have chosen a case of Gamay from the Beaujolais. Yup, not an expensive pinot but a bargain basement priced Beaujolais is their recommendation for the holidays. more…

If you just spent a good deal of cash for a bottle of 2003 Opus One Cabernet Sauvignon you’d likely be hoping nothing went wrong prior to the bottle arriving to your lips. Like the wine leaving its optimal temperature range. If Cletus decided to throw the box of wine bottles up front with him and leave them there for 3 hours while he went into a truckstop in Nevada you’d be inclined to want to know that information. more…