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| | The Complete Grape Growers Guide. |  | | A Complete Guide For Growing Grapes. Converts Very Well At A Reasonable Price! Growing Grapes And Making Wine Is A Very Popular Topic Right Now.
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| | Fool-Proof Wine Values. | | | Learn How To Easily Find Wines Of $50 Quality For $10 Or Less. Impress Friends With Your Expanded Wine Knowledge. Eliminate Your Dependence On Wine Salespeople. And Take The Hassle Out Of Buying Wine.
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| | Making Wine From Home. | | | A Fun And Very Informative Book On Home Wine Making. The De Facto Standard For All Home Wine Enthusiasts With Recipes, Advice And Tricks.
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Fotogramas de El puente sobre el río Kwai El puente sobre el río Kwai de David Lean
Kurzreview: Network (1976)könnt mich alle am Arsch lecken. Ich lass? mir das nicht länger gefallen?, schreit er sein Publikum an und fordert es geradezu auf sich zu erheben, das Fenster zu öffnen und ebenjene Worte lauthals zu wiederholen. Seinem Ärger Luft machen, die Wahrheit verkünden, das Elend dieser Zeit anprangern und es [...]
Timely reminder 2 & pantheon movie of the month - NETWORKNO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, the Coen Brothers and Cormac McCarthy lament the fact that every generation feels that it is uniquely witnessing the decline of humanity into barbarous savagery. And yet, no matter how far we think the bar has fallen, our children will no doubt distantly remember a golden age of civilisation and see their own frail dotage as the era of scandalous decline. I suppose one small upside to this relentless cycle of disillusionment is that we can truly relate and fully apprec
Network (1976, Sidney Lumet) Network lost Oscars. It doesn?t really matter what it lost them to, because the absurdity of the Academy Awards is summed up in that one statement. Network lost Oscars. I?m not sure what shot is Sidney Lumet?s best in the film, because I?m remembering two of them from the last half. These aren?t necessarily the best shots in the film, but they?re memorable because I can?t quite remember ever seeing anything like them before. The first is for Ned Beatty?s big scene. It?s an amazing scene from
Quinto potere In vendita su: Sidney Lumet Quinto potere Faye Dunaway; William Holden; Peter Finch; Robert Duvall; Ned Beatty; Beatrice Straight; Wesley Addy; William Prince; Lance Henriksen Un noto commentatore televisivo, in calo di popolarità, annuncia il proprio imminente suicidio in diretta. Il pubblico è elettrizzato. Una giornalista cerca di sfruttare fino in fondo l?avvenimento.
WGA Strike Ends! Celebrate With These Top 10 Movies About WritersThe strike is settled and the writers are back at work today! Celebrate their return with these top 10 movies about screenwriting characters, courtesy of EW.com. Visit the Writers Guild website to learn more about the vote to lift their 100-day strike, which began on Novermber 5, 2007. * * 1) THE WRITER: Mel Miller PLAYED BY: Walter Matthau IN: A Face in the Crowd (1957) 2) THE WRITER: Alfred Miller PLAYED BY: Michael Murphy IN: The Front (1976) * * 3) THE WRITER: Dixon Steele PLAY
Friday's 31 Days of Oscar line-up: Paddy Chayefsky Double Featurewill be putting up my thoughts on the films I will be watching during TCM's '31 Days of Oscar' marathon, so take a look here frequently as there's a look of interesting films they're showing on that marvelous channel. Here are the two films shown on Friday that I watched: The Hospital (1971, Arthur Hiller) Academy Award winner: Best Original Screenplay Academy Award nominee: Best Actor (George C. Scott) A very funny screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky, along with a terrific performance from G
?Cómo robar un millón y?? ser feliz en el intentodecirse que hay películas y películas. Pues razón lleva la frase: hay comedias que sacuden la sonrisa y comedias que roban la adhesión. Esa peculiar actitud carece de una universalidad estricta ?o casi, quien no se ría viendo ?Con faldas y a lo loco? (1959), aunque sea la vigésima vez, que se lo haga [...]
View allall Iain Hepburn's Tags 24 hour party people a lonely sky aaron sorkin adam curtis adrian lester airmiles al gore alan carr Alan Dale alexa chung alexandra bastido 'Allo 'Allo amanda holden american gladiators Anna Friel ant and dec Anthony H Wilson antony cotton any dream will do ashes to ashes atv bafta balthazar getty bank Barry Sonnenfield battlestar galactica BB BB8 BBC bbc four bbc scotland bbc three bbc two bbc1 ben elton Bez Big Brother Big Brother 8 bill oddie bill paterson billi
View allall Steve Purcell's Tags 2012 A1 GP abduction AC Milan Adams Park Alan Berg Alan Hansen Alistair Darling alps Amanada Holden America anagram andrew lloyd webber Arnold Schwarzenegger Arsenal arsene wenger aston villa Authorized Awaken the Dragon Barcelona Barclays Premiership Barry McGuigan BBC BBC Breakfast Beach Bee Gees Beechams Bernard Hopkins Big Brother Big Brother 8 Billy Corkhill binge drinking Bolton Bounty breathalyser Brian Dowling bride bridegroom Bristol britain's got talent
Trapped DOWNLOAD MOVIE Movie Director: Luis Mandoki Joe Hickley thinks he?s got a great scheme: kidnap the child of rich parents, hold it for 24 hours, keeping the mother under his control while an accomplice gets the ransom from the father, who is on a trip. But things go very wrong when he tries this scheme on the Jennings family, in part because their daughter Abby is asthmatic, and in part because the Jennings? find out more than Hickley wants them to know. Movie actors: Theron Charlize (Karen
Trapped DOWNLOAD MOVIE Actors: Theron Charlize Karen Jennings Love Courtney Cheryl Hickey Townsend Stuart William Jennings Bacon Kevin Joe Hickey Vince Pruitt Taylor Marvin Fanning Dakota Abigail Jennings Rankin Steve Hank Ferris Chalk Gary Agent Chalmers Markell Jodie Mary McDill Koby Matt Peter McDill Becker Gerry Dr. Stein Airlie Andrew Holden Lynne Randi Hotel Operator Camp Colleen Joan Evans Bivens J.B. Gray Davidson Directors: Luis Mandoki IMDB Rating:
Network A movie relating to the state of media in the 1970?s could have no bearing on what we see today. The simple notion that we have not evolved passed the archaic and bland media of yesteryear is absurd. Well actually, maybe not so much, Network is hindsight, insight and foresight in a delicious prescient movie package. I find myself struggling to not scream blind praise, as this movie may ring truer today than it did in its prime. Showing how ideals become bullet points and statistical figures
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| [11/20/2006, 12:28] | Dink while you drink | |  Marking the first anniversary of the 24 hour drinking licence laws, a 'rescue remedy' called Dink has been released.
It is supposed to mitigate the ill-effects of binge-drinking with ingredients that mop up free radicals produced by the liver when it is processing alcohol. It is also cheap and readily available. It is being marketed to "people who like to get merry". Presumably because they feel it is unwise to market it to people who like to get smashed out of their skulls every Friday night and throw up partially digested burgers on street corners. I think we know who it is actually aimed at. I must admit that my first thought was "great idea", sounds so useful. But while I'm no Catholic I do think the pain of hang-overs is justly deserved and should reflect any excess. The sparkle generated by a few drinks with friends too easily degenerates into boorishness and incapacity beyond a certain point. There are very few elegant drunks.
And aren't we supposed to be cutting down binge drinking, as a society? We need a cultural shift that comes collectively - social evolution if you like, of the kind we've seen with smoking, drink driving and wearing seat belts. Most Friday-nighters, though by no means all, are young people with their whole lives ahead of them and of course there is a natural protective urge to want them to stay healthy. The price that many of them pay for their excesses can be heart-breaking. Blaming them as being responsible for their own actions is ridiculous if the message they absorb is that getting really drunk and doing stupid things is clever and/or funny. And now we are giving them the tools to avoid hangovers. I like drinking and sometimes I drink more than I should, but I also know that my body hates it when I do. It's a natural defense mechanism to show us our limits and should not be overlooked as a preventative. If we no longer have any medical consequences we will push our bodies over the limit as a matter of course. But often the real trauma of binge drinking is the wider physical and emotional damage caused by violence, bravado, promiscuity or recklessness . Can we develop a pill for that too? | | | |
| [04/22/2008, 04:34] | Californian, Noosan, Kiwi vigneron | | | by Martin Field So I?m sculling a tasty New Zealand pinot noir at Laguna Jacks and this guy comes up to me and asks me in an American accent how I like his wine. I learn that his name is Quintin Quider and that the pinot is from a Central Otago winery, Wild Earth that he owns with wife, Avril. He adds that he hails originally from California, came to Australia after a stint in New Zealand, and now lives in Noosa. | | | |
| [05/09/2008, 16:08] | After hours: aged bloggers carouse | | | Quickly, about last night. I got home about 6pm, unpacked, ate the ritual return dinner of a turkey club and potato salad, and after enduring a couple of TV shows that Ken had recorded ("CSI Miami" and, God help us, that thing with Sally Field), I fortified myself with iPod and Charlie Christian's elegant guitar work and sped downtown on the beauteous 6 train to Il Buco. Sorry, that sentence was almost Italianate. Sorry, too, that this that is another of those dumb Twitter-like blog posts. Oh, who cares. It's... | | | |
| [05/15/2008, 07:00] | Tasca d'Almerita Sicilia Leone 2006 | | | Clean and fruity, with apple and toffee character and a hint of papaya. Full-bodied, with good fruit and a lively finish. Catarratto and Chardonnay. Drink now. 20,000 cases made. | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | 20 Not So Penetrating Questions with Sam Spencer | | I am a fan of Spencer-Roloson winery, so I sought out Sam Spencer for our “20 Not So Penetrating Questions for a Wine Craftsman.” Sam and his partner Wendy Roloson produce high-end, affordably priced, small lot Rhone and Spanish style wines, mostly reds and a couple of delightful whites. Simply, these people get it. They sell in Indiana, which always engenders a boutique producer to me, because most others eschew distribution in the state without understanding the opportunity. They sell Direct-to-Trade, a program that I helped initiate with Inertia Beverage Group; they are starting a blog and their positioning to market is, “Provocative Wines Evocative Dirt.” Oh, and this is on top of their wine line-up being fantastic from top to bottom. But, Sam doesn’t stop there, in fact he has side projects, too. His most recent project is the current Cameron Hughes “Hughes-Wellman” Cabernet. As a wine club selection and a slight one-off from the CH model, the $50 Cabernet with just 199 cases produced should go extremely fast. Available now at this link. Fortunately, Sam found a few spare moments to interview with us and our 20 questions … an economy of words and a spareness of detail makes this interview kind of like the subject—smart, to the point and without a lot of artifice. Though, as a child of the 80’s and a viewer of late night Cinemax as a young teen, I do have to chuckle at his favorite movie genre. Which of the Seven Deadly Sins are you most guilty of? Sam: Lust mostly, pride in the balance What is your biggest pet peeve? Sam: Poor diction and improperly spoken English. Although I speak Spanish terribly and mangle that language daily. Sam: Failing to keep your area/station clean What is on your nightstand? Sam:
James Salter: Last Night
John Mcphee : the founding Fish
Luca Turin: Perfume: the Guide What is in your refrigerator or pantry that you would not openly admit? Sam: Nothing What do you drink when you are not drinking wine? Sam: Tecate, Campari or Patron silver-rocks and lime What type of music or radio station is played most often in your car? Sam: KQED for news and KCRW via satellite for the best music in CA In what era would you live if you transport yourself? Sam: 100 years in the future What is the best wine-related book you have read? Sam: The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr and Assembling California by John Mcphee The former is about the science of olfaction, scent and the perfume industry the latter is about the geology of CA put into lay terms with explanations What is your favorite movie genre? Sam: 1970’s Soft-Porn Is your desk messy or organized? Sam: Both Are you always early or terminally late? Sam: Late Whom would you want to play you in the movie about your life? Sam: Jack Nicholson What super-power would you most like to have, and why? Sam: Super strength and endurance—Get more done with time to spare for hanging out with my family and friends What do you do if you have a spare hour? Sam: Ride my road bike What was the last great restaurant you ate at? Sam: Justus Drugstore in KC, MO and Momofuko-Ko in NYC. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Sam: Coffee What is the best compliment you have ever received? Sam: You are doing good work. For additional reading, check out Alder Yarrow’s post on Spencer-Roloson. | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | La Rochelle Cooking Class | | Tue Mar 1st, 2005, San Jose
La Rochelle Winery – 3000 Aborn Road, San Jose, CA 95135 Cooking Class Tuesday Evening - 7:00 p.m. | | | |
| [05/16/2008, 07:00] | Columbia Crest Syrah Horse Heaven Hills Reserve 2005 | | | Open-textured, silky and appealing for its cherry and plum flavors, shaded with coffee and bittersweet chocolate notes, which come up stronger on the finish. Drink now through 2012. 4,000 cases made. | | | |
| [05/08/2008, 04:12] | An Italian's Love For New York | |  ?Oshpett, oshpett,? the beer vendor barked on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Yankee Stadium. He was clearing the way for fans to get to their seats when I heard the remnants of a southern Italian dialect, several generations removed. For the folks he was selling beer to, he?d often end his transaction with a parting ?Chin-tann.?
Layered under decades of time and waves of subsequent immigrations, the Italian voice is stretched but not silenced. One needs only to scratch the surface only slightly to see the Italian presence in New York.
?Dig down into New York and you?ll reach Rome,? I once heard on a cold winter night several decades ago. I?m not sure how that applies in today?s world, but looking around the city today, it seems Italians are exploring the new New York, and loving every minute of it.
 Once a section at the ballpark would be filled with suited up gentlemen, hats and all, with their mandatory cigar, looking after the legacy of Lazzeri, Rizutto and DiMaggio. These days the field has altered and they sit in their seats along fellow fans from Japan, from all over the world, and follow the careers of Giambi, Jeter and Matsui. E la nave va.
 Hungry? Get yourself a Nathan?s, a kosher dog or a hot Italian sausage. You can even find a cannolo in the stadium if you dig deep enough.
Traveling in the subways and walking along the streets upside one can hear the ring of Italian being spoken. From the southern dialects now woven into a new patois? to the fresh staccato sounds of tourists from Friuli or the Veneto. The city is crawling with all kinds of Italians looking for a slice of New York to love.
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| [05/14/2008, 17:28] | wine and music? | | | If music be the food of love… This is a post from: Burgundy-Report wine and music… | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Cellar Troubles | | | It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. And right now I'm in between. About two years ago we decided to build a wine cellar in our house. I spent a lot of time with my wife choosing the various designs for the cellar, the ... | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Oil Slick | |  images by Suzi Q. Varin BUYING AND STORING OLIVE OIL
Choose containers that keep out light: dark glass, ceramic, even metal. With pricey oils, taste before you buy, and look for seal-of-approval initials such as DOP (Italy), DO (Spain) or COOC (California). Keep your oil tightly sealed; store it in a cool, dark place; and use it within two years (some say 18 months) of harvest, or one year after opening. Oh, and that plastic Jug O? Oil from the C word? Don?t go there. There?s inexpensive, and then there?s swill. WHAT?S YA FLAVA?
Fruity, peppery, buttery, appley, grassy, herbal, nutty? You?d think you were talking about wine. There?s actually similar flavor chemistry going on in olive oil and wine. Early-harvest olive oils taste greener and more pungent, like an herbaceous sauv blanc. The longer the hang time, the riper the fruit, the smoother the mouthfeel, the mellower the flavors. Late-harvest oils come across more like a full-tilt chard. Both can be great; it?s just a matter of what you like and how you plan to use it. (Uh, you are gonna use it, right? You want to decorate your kitchen counter, buy a bonsai.) GOT AN EXTRA VIRGIN?
The terms ?virgin? and ?extra virgin? really are more than just sexy sounding hype: they measure the percentage of harsh-tasting oleic acid in the oil (lower is better), which can translate to quality. ?Extra virgin? oils must have less than 1 percent acidity (many clock in below .5 percent) and require as much care in growing and production as boutique wines. Oils with up to 2 percent acidity earn the ?virgin? tag. Forget the sluts, er, oils over 3 percent. And also forgo ?light? olive oil: the only thing it?s low on is flavor. IN THE KITCHEN, AT THE TABLE, ALL AROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH
There?s a reason for the large variety of oils: different oils suit different purposes. Think basic wine pairing: match light with light and heavy with heavy. Use subtle oils on mild salad greens or as bread dips, or drizzle a bit on fish, chicken or simple desserts like fruit salad, pound cake or biscotti. Big oils can stand up to red meat - try the Tuscan trick of finishing off a thick grilled steak with a slosh of spicy, robust oil. Better yet, brush the oil on with a rosemary branch while the steak sizzles. Sometimes the best cooking is no cooking at all. There?s nothing simpler or more satisfying than setting out three or four bottles of oil at the dinner table, along with your chosen vino, some good bread and a cheese or three, before, during and/or after your meal. (If everyone wears black you can feel really superior and Eurotrashy.) TIPS FOR TASTINGS
Tasting olive oil is a lot like tasting wine: you can stick to one country (Spain, Greece), one region (Tuscany, Sonoma), or one varietal (manzanilla, arbequina) and compare six or eight side by side. Or you can taste a random assortment, and maybe throw in a flavored oil that has citrus or herbs blended in. Add some cubes of chewy bread, little bowls or paper/plastic tasting cups and some easy-drinking wine. Kick back. Speak to each other in Spanish. Wait for Penelope Cruz to show up. FOR MORE INFO
Check out The Flavors of Olive Oil by Deborah Krasner (Simon & Schuster, 2002) and the Web sites of the International Olive Oil Council (http://www.internationaloliveoil.org) and the California Olive Oil Council (http://www.cooc.com). Or just Google ?olive oil? and click around the 50 million or so sites that come up.  OLIVE OIL TASTING NOTES | | XX. Antara 
100% Arbequina Olives
Tarragona - Spain $16/750ml
The Ellen DeGeneres of olive oils - easygoing, smooth and slightly nutty. Close to XXX. |
| | XX. Nunez de Prado
Extra Virgin
Family Estates Crop; Baena - Spain $24/500ml
Chris Rock hosting the Oscars - dark, intense and zingers start to finish (but you know what you?re gettin?). |
| | XX. Caroliva
Extra Virgin
Estate Grown and Bottled; Andalusia - Spain $20/500ml
Think a big, buttery chard on steroids. Rich gold color, soft, round and juicy. Close to XXX. |
| | XX. Columela
Picual and Hojiblanca Olives
Andalucia - Spain $19/500ml
Gael Garcia Bernal?s eyes - big, deep and dark. Touch o? pepper on the finish. Close to XXX. |
| | XX. Gasull
Arbequina Olives
Catalonia - Spain $22/500ml
Cool deep-green bottle with a long slim neck. Purrs like Scarlett Johansson in a Ferrari: soft and elegant with a long, smooth finish. |
| | X. Jordan
Hand-Picked, Extra Virgin, From Italian Varietals
Alexander Valley - Sonoma $25/375ml
Kind of a bait-and-switch: starts out sweet and fruity, then morphs into a porcupine by the time it smacks your tonsils. Close to XX. |
| | X. L?Estornell
Extra Virgin, Organic Arbequina Olives
Catalonia - Spain $15/375ml
Like Erica Christensen in most of her movies: all sweetness and light in the opening scene, but she grabs you by the throat in the last act. Close to XX. |
| | X. Molino de Leoncio Gomez
Extra Virgin, Unfiltered, Picudo and Hojiblanca Olives
Cordoba - Spain $11/500ml
Gotta hunt for the flavors at first, then they do the Big Bang in the back of your mouth. Close to XX. |
| | XXX. Pons
Extra Virgin, Arbequina Olives
Catalonia - Spain $16/473ml
Yo-Yo Ma playing a cello concerto - rich, deep and resonant. Pale gold, medium body, with layers of fresh apple, almond and spice flavors, and a nice little kick on the finish. |
| | XX. Poplar Hill
2005 Extra Virgin
Spring Mountain - Napa Valley $20/375ml
Light, airy, silky, delicate and balanced; buttery, hazelnutty and smoooooth. An obvious late-picked oil (check the harvest date!) that deserves nothing more than a chunk of good bread and a pinch of salt. Close to XXX. |
| | XX. Skipstone Ranch
Melina?s Harvest, November 2004, Extra Virgin
Alexander Valley - Sonoma County $25/375ml
Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby - brawny, punchy, ends with a surprising knockout. |
| | XX. Soler Romero
100% Picual Olives
Andalusia - Spain $18/500ml
Why does this taste like nectarines, white pepper and grass? Starts fruity and sweet, then turns tangy on the finish. Slather some on sliced oranges with red onion slivers, lemon juice and salt. |
| | X. Unio
100% Arbequina Olives
Siurana - Spain $16/750ml
The NZ sauv blanc of olive oils - spicy and green start to finish. Makes a great pesto with basil, anchovies and good parmigiano reggiano. Close to XX. |
| | X. Zoe
Extra Virgin
Castilla-La Mancha - Spain $9/1-Litre Tin
A tad rustic and rough, but a good value. Great for stir-frying veggies. Close to XX. |
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| [08/11/2006, 06:59] | Hook and Ladder - The Tillerman White | | | The best kinds of cheap wines are the kinds that have a rich story behind them. Well, The Tillerman White wine brought to you by the Hook & Ladder Winery certainly fits the bill. At first glance this wine label made no sense to me… Hook & Ladder? The Tillerman? After doing some research, I feel enlightened knowing the origins of this fine cheap wine, so I’ll share: The owner of the family-run Hook & Ladder, Cecil De Loach used to be a firefighter! “Hook and Ladder” is just another name for a firetruck. And The Tillerman is guy who drives the back end of a firetruck. A firefighter and a wine-maker! What a life! 
I sampled several bottles of The Tillerman White, and I am glad I did. Not being a fan of white blends with a lot of oak, I enjoyed everything about this wine. The peach/apricot aroma was the most prominent feature of this wine as it approached my nose. The wine was very dry, tasty, had an awesome finish. Just a perfect all-around table wine. For about 16 bucks or less, this Sonoma County wine is a steal. If you see it in your supermarket, snatch it up! I look forward to trying some of their many other varietals. This same vineyard, the Russian River Valley produces Chardonay, Gewurztraminer, White Zin, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and the “Third Alarm” Reserve Chardonnay. Oh, how I would love to visit the vineyard one day.
Rating: 9/10 - Excellent! The only reason I’m not giving it 10 is because I promised my readers “cheap wines less than 15 dollars” and this wine retails for 16. Look around though, I’m sure you can find a good deal! Even if you can’t, it is worth the extra dollar. Extra Info: Hook & Ladder - Founded in 2004
2027 Olivet Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
phone: 707-546-5712 pH: 3.3
Acidity: .73
Alcohol: 13.8%
Winemaker: Cecil De Loach
Cases Produced: 2,400 | | | |
| [08/23/2006, 18:21] | From the bowels of the cellar | |  When you start building a cellar and amass any quantity of wine, you're bound to forget some of the bottles you've stashed away. Rediscovering them is like meeting up with an old friend.
So much to talk about, so many memories to rehash.
Last night, when the Chef brought up the Trapiche 2000 Malbec Oak Cask, it was a surprise. I'd forgotten about this bottle, which my friend Rachel gave to me years ago. Why I'd never thought to drink it, I don't know. The wine's not expensive - maybe $7-$10 - but I'm glad I held on to it. The aroma was powerful, with touches of violets, baked goods, cigar and cherries. The flavor itself was ripe with purple, stain-year-teeth fruit and spice. It started out weak in the middle of my mouth, but opened up beautifully and finished long. I'd put this wine up against any mid-priced, big California wine, and at the end of the day I'd have a few more dollars in my pocket.
It's been the case for me that these forgotten bottles tend to resurface at just the right time, for just the right meal, just the right occasion. This one - surprising, but still very promising - came as I'm preparing to make some job changes.
Some people have horoscopes, others magic eight balls. Me, I turn to my cellar. I'm taking this bottle as a good sign.
Categories: wine, Malbec | | WorldWine Tags: wine, Malbec, | | | |
| [08/27/2007, 01:42] | 2003 Embriux Priorat de Vall Llach | | | 2003 Embriux Priorat de Vall Llach $35 Wine label said: Wrong language! The bottle is no help! Vineyard66 says: This another of my series of Spanish wines, as we will be there next year and I’m doing my homework. The web tells me that Embruix means “betwiching” in Spanish, but also that it is primarily Cabernet and Grenache blend [...] | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Deal Me In | |  Never play cards with any man named 'Doc.' Never eat at any place called 'Mom's.' And never, ever, no matter what else you do in your life, sleep with anyone whose troubles are worse than your own. -- Nelson Algren Without man's innate urge to take risks, we'd all still be sitting around drawing on cave walls, grunting and belching. Fortunately, our daring ancestors ventured forth into the dangerous world and created civilization. Which means today we can take our risks in small doses, like sitting around a dining table playing poker... and grunting and belching. If you haven't smugly riffled a newly won stack of poker chips in a smoke-filled room surrounded by smelly guys swilling beer and cursing, then you haven't lived. You can leave the martinis, Baccarat and double-breasted dinner jackets to James Bond and his crumbled-British-Empire ilk. If you're an American man, playing poker's part of your heritage. Our nation was founded on the idea of taking chances. This country was built by a bunch of rowdy guys who liked drinking and taking risks, and didn't like being told what to do. This is precisely why poker -- that most American of card games -- couldn't have been invented anywhere else. The father of our country, George Washington, who also happened to brew his own beer, was known to host card games in his tent during the Revolutionary War -- a war in which, it's important to remember, our opponent held the far better cards. Against all odds, those stalwart colonial souls managed to back up their bluff and rake in the rich pot that included freedom, democracy, self-determination and the deed to several hundred thousand acres of prime real estate. Some years later (in the mid-1800s), poker as we know it today was invented in the American West. So, if our founding fathers hadn't played and won, we'd be as lacking in cultural identity as our floundering Canadian cohorts up north, eh? (Note to Canadians: Please address your letters to the editor, RE: Canadian Cultural Identity Crisis.) It's estimated some 60 million Americans play poker regularly. Some play for their love of gambling, some for their love of money, some to escape the humdrum routine of their lives, and some just for their fondness for camaraderie. Whether you win or lose, whether you know when to hold 'em or know when to fold 'em, gathering around a table with a group of pals, a deck of cards, stacks of colored chips, and some eats and drinks is one of the hallowed traditions of the American male. The human instinct to gamble with fate is probably as old as...well, human instinct. The Ancient Greeks believed the lofty Gods of Mount Olympus threw dice to divide up the world. (Crude dice have been found in most ancient civilizations.) Roman soldiers cast lots for Jesus' robes. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul to pay off gambling debts. It's a fair bet that amoebas floundering in the early primordial soup wagered on who'd be the first to make it out of the bog. |
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Wine Tasting Note: Howard Park Scotsdale Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005, Great Southern, Western Australia
Woo hoo! I'm thrilled to announce my contribution to this month's issue of Maxim, that venerable publication of scantily clad pretty young things and useful man tips on everything from screws to booze. Cue moi - I selected the wines and did much of the writing for the "Quaff On the Cheap!" piece in the Expert section of the March issue. I chose my fav five widely-available inexpensive reds, which they photographed for the very cool piece, and wrote up my thoughts on why they'll appeal to the mag's readers. Read on for the list of wines and a link to check it out! ;)
