Half Of All Wine Customers Stick To Just Four Favorite Wine

Photo: Men are twice as likely than women to buy a wine after seeing it on a TV programme

4,000 Grapes To Choose From... But We Stick To Four Wines Because We Don't Know What Else To Choose -- Daily Mail

If the choice of wines in the supermarket leaves you feeling a little overwhelmed, you’re not alone.

According to new research, almost half of us stick to a repertoire of just four favourite wines because we don’t know what else to choose.

Even though there are more than 4,000 distinct grape varieties, research by Asda revealed that 46 per cent of us won’t try new wines for fear of wasting money on something we might not like.

A quarter said they are too scared to experiment for fear of embarrassment.

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Editor: The top four wines stay-safe shoppers are most likely to drink are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay, with each being the favourite of more than 60 per cent of respondents.

How To Protect Your Booze From The Mootches

Lockley USA

Protect Your Booze From Mooches With This Handy Bottle Lock -- Business Insider

This is the Lockey Bottle Lock from LockeyUSA.

Why We Love It: There are a lot of reasons you might want to secure your spirits — to keep expensive liquor safe at a party, away from roommates, out-of-reach from children or teenagers, or just as a self-preservation tool when you come home drunk at 2am.

Whatever the reason, this bottle lock slots into most standard-sized wine and liquor bottles and secures with a four number combination. After inserting the lock, change the combination and twist into place to secure. Only entering your personal four-digit password will release the lock.

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My Comment: I need to order a few dozen of these locks.

American Single-Malt Whiskeys Are Being Noticed

At Balcones Distillery, Alex Thomas stirs a wash of blue corn whiskey. Allison V. Smith for The New York Times

American Single-Malt Whiskeys Serve Notice -- New York Times

THE humid streets of Waco, Tex., may not have much in common with the misty glens of Scotland, home to some of the world’s best malt whiskeys.

Not much, that is, until last month, when a single-malt whiskey from the Balcones Distillery in Waco bested nine others, including storied Scottish names like the Balvenie and the Macallan, in a blind panel of British spirits experts.

It was the first time an American whiskey won the Best in Glass, a five-year-old competition to find the best whiskey released in a given year.

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My Comment: It's about time that someone is giving some competition to Scotch whiskey.

50-Year-Old Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Sells For $27,000

Lyle Schellenberg, left, recently bought a $27,000 bottle of Glenfiddich scotch at Southwest Portland's Hillsdale Liquor, owned by Bruce Randall, right. Rebecca Koffman/Special to The Oregonian.

Hillsdale Liquor Store Sells 50-Year-Old Bottle Of Scotch Whisky For $27,000 -- Oregon Live

A small crowd gathered at Hillsdale Liquor Store last week to mark the sale of the most expensive single bottle of alcohol in Oregon's history.

The 50-year-old Glenfiddich single malt Scotch comes in a bottle of hand blown glass. Its sterling silver collar is engraved with a picture of Queen Elizabeth II wearing an oversized crown.

It has a wax stamp bearing the number 183. It is part of a batch of 450 bottles released in groups of 50 between 2009 and 2017. The 2012 release commemorates the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

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My Comment: He is not going to open the bottle.

Yellow Tail Wine Being 'Crushed' By The High Australian Dollar

Australian Dollar Crushing Maker of Yellow Tail Wine -- Wall Street Journal

The maker of Australia's mass-market Yellow Tail wine is in emergency talks with its lender after recording its first loss in more than 20 years, illustrating how the soaring Australian dollar is squeezing local wineries dry.

Yellow Tail—known for its kangaroo logo, attractive pricing, and fruity finish—is but one of the brands produced by Casella Wines. Australia's largest family-owned winery relies on the U.S. for three-quarters of its sales, but the Australian dollar's rise against the U.S. dollar has made its products less competitive against wines from rival regions such as California's Napa Valley and South America.

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Update: Problem, Aussie Wine Has A Yellow Tail Problem -- Wall Street Journal

My Comment: I remembre my first Yellow Tail bottle .... great taste and cheap. Sighhh .... the taste is there but the prices are not.

America's Wine Industry Is Booming

A Stunning Visualization Of America's Wine Industry -- Business Insider

America's wine industry is booming.

But a new study from Michigan State Professor Philip Howard shows "industry" maybe something of a misnomer. While you may see a wide variety of American labels at your local wine shop, the vast majority are merely offshoots of mega producers, most of them concentrated in California, Professor Howard found.

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My Comment: An impressive graphical interface.

It's Not Champagne

French Wine Lobby Bristles At California 'Champagne' For Obama's Inauguration -- The Hill

The French wine lobby is upset about the menu for Obama's inauguration and is penning a letter to the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), The Hill has learned.

At issue is the menu's dessert course, which will be accompanied by “Korbel Natural, Special Inaugural Cuvée Champagne, California,” according to a press release from the inauguration committee. That description violates U.S. law, according to Sam Heitner, the director of the Champagne Bureau, a Washington lobby.

The inauguration committee however says the wine itself is labeled in accordance with U.S. law and will be correctly identified on the menu.

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My Comment: The French are right .... California sparkling wine is not French champagne.

South Africa Wine Workers Strike Turns Violent

Reuters

South Africa Police Fire Rubber Bullets At Farm Workers -- BBC

South Africa's police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse striking farm workers in the wine-producing Western Cape region. The workers barricaded roads and threw stones at police in De Doorns town, a top grape-producing area outside Cape Town, local media reported.

The strikers, who pick and pack fruit, are demanding their daily wage be more than doubled to about $17 (£11). South Africa has been hit by a series of wildcat strikes since last year. Talks between trade union and employer representatives to avert a strike on the farms broke down earlier this week. "We have been met with naked racism and white arrogance," said Nosey Pieterse, the general secretary of the Agricultural Workers Union.

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Update: Thousands of S. African farmers to go on strike -- World Bulletin

My Comment: Both sides are not budging.

An App For Curbing Wine Habits

 Photo: prayitno/Flickr

Curbing The Wine Habits Of Scotland’s Women: Yes, There’s An App For That -- Wired 

Scottish health officials are banking on an Android app and the human tendency toward vanity to help reduce the incidence of alcohol-related illnesses and deaths among Scottish women. On Tuesday the office of the Scottish health secretary launched a free Android app, called Drinking Mirror, which shows women just how much older they’ll look in 10 years if they toss back 10 glasses of wine per week.

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My Comment: An app that illustrates wine making you age .... I am skeptical.

Chateau Margaux Video

Wine Auctions Drop 19% In 2012

Photo: A case of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild from the 1982 vintage. It sold for 32,200 pounds at an auction of a private collection of Bordeaux wines at Sotheby's in London on Jan. 25. Another case sold for $33,460 at Hart Davis Hart in Chicago on Dec. 8. Source: Sotheby's via Bloomberg

Wine Auctions Drop 19%, Chinese Demand Cools For Bordeaux -- Bloomberg

Wine sales by the biggest auction houses plunged 19 percent in 2012 as economic and political uncertainty in China cooled demand for trophy-name Bordeaux.

Sales by Acker Merrall & Condit, Christie’s International, Sotheby’s, Zachys and Hart Davis Hart Wine Co., excluding Internet business, raised $322 million with fees this year, down from the record $397 million achieved at equivalent events in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

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My Comment: More proof that money is getting tighter.

Record For World's Most Expensive Cocktail Broken

Liquid history: The cocktail was made using vintage drinks from Salvatore's collection including a 1770 Kummel Liqueur and 1778 Clos de Griffier Vieux Cognac

Record For World's Most Expensive Cocktail Broken As £5,500 Drink Is Mixed Ffrom Ingredients More Than 200 Years Old -- Daily Mail

Guests at a London bar were hoping it wasn't their round after a £5,500 cocktail was mixed by a leading drinks expert.

Salvatore Calabrese broke the record for the world's most expensive cocktail with his 'Salvatore's Legacy' drink which was made up of ingredients more than 200 years old.

Salvatore, whose nickname is 'The Maestro', made the costly concoction using 1778 Clos de Griffier Vieux Cognac, 1770 Kummel Liqueur, Dubb Orange Curacao circa 1860 and two dashes of Angostura Bitters circa 1900s.

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My Comment: Sadly ..... too rich for my taste.

Presentation Of The Biggest Wine Cellar In The World

From YouTube: Head Sommelier Patrice Frank for Hôtel de Paris in Monaco presents the biggest wine cellar in the world - 560,000 bottles! This is Albert II, Prince of Monaco's cellar as well as the cellar for Alain Ducasse's 3 Michelin star Le Louis XV and 1 star Michelin star Le Grill among other restaurants in Monte-Carlo. Read and see more at wbpstars.com - only about the best restaurants in the world!

A Wine Cellar Design

Chateau Lafite Rothschild Video

A Glimpse Inside One Man's Collection Of 4,000 Bottles Of Wine

Bubbles Are The Clue For Good Champagne

Cheap Bubbly Or Expensive Sparkling Wine? Look To The Bubbles For Clues -- NPR

There's nothing like the distinctive "pop" of the uncorking of a bottle of bubbly to create a sense of celebration. Whether it's Dom Perignon or a $10 sparkling wine, bubbles add pizazz. Sparkling-wine lovers sometimes point to the glittering streams of tiny bubbles as an important attribute. Why? Well, tiny bubbles are a sign of age, explains French chemist Gerard Liger-Belair, author of Uncorked: The Science of Champagne. "Old champagnes always show tiny bubbles, mainly because they have aged several years and lost a significant amount of dissolved CO2, the gas that produces the bubbles," Liger-Belair told us in an email. And what else can the bubbles tell you? Well, if the streams of bubbles remain down to the last sip, this can be a clue as to how it was produced.

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My Comment: One more reason why I will stick with my Moet Chandon.

The Rebirth Of Rye Whiskey

Templeton bottles, filled and almost corked. Noah Adams/NPR

The Rebirth Of Rye Whiskey And Nostalgia For 'The Good Stuff' -- NPR

It used to be said that only old men drink rye, sitting alone down at the end of the bar, but that's no longer the case as bartenders and patrons set aside the gins and the vodkas and rediscover the pleasures of one of America's old-fashioned favorites. Whiskey from rye grain was what most distilleries made before Prohibition. Then, after repeal in 1933, bourbon, made from corn, became more popular. Corn was easier to grow, and the taste was sweeter. To be sure, rye whiskey production is only a drop compared with the rivers of bourbon produced now, although rye whiskey sales have tripled in the past five years.

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My Comment: Ahhh .... the 'good stuff'. :)

The Secret Of Scotland's Islay Malt Whiskeys

The Secret Of Scotland's Islay Malt Whiskeys -- CBS  

(CBS News) We all know Scotch whisky comes from Scotland. But to true Scotch drinkers, just WHERE in Scotland makes all the difference. Willem Marx takes us on a tasting tour: At the outermost edge of Scotland's wild Atlantic coastline lies a small island with a big reputation. The Isle of Islay is called the "Queen of the Hebrides" for its natural beauty, and can seem rather a peaceful little spot. But the sleepy harbors, flowery meadows and ancient villages today play host to an increasingly global industry. While Jamaica is liked for its rums, and Madeira known for its sherries, this island is loved and famous for its unique-tasting Scotch whiskys, known as Islay malts. Islay has just over 3,000 year-round residents, but in their midst nine whisky distilleries are thriving.

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My Comment: Makes me want to move to Scotland

Is Beer Food?

Beer Now Considered Alcohol, Not Food, In Russia As New Restrictions Take Hold -- NBC 

It will be tougher for Russians to cry in their beer in 2013. Restrictions on when and where beer can be sold go into effect Jan. 1 with a law that declared beer is alcohol, not food. Under the new rules, beer can only be sold in licensed outlets — not street kiosks, gas stations and bus depots like it has been. Russians won't be able to buy it from shops between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m., and beer commercials are a thing of the past. The limits are part of a government effort to reduce alcohol abuse in Russian, where one in five male deaths are linked to booze, according to world health experts. Not everyone is toasting the change, however.

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My Comment: My dad (who is Russian and when he was alive loved beer) always treated beer as food.