Archive | January, 2009
wine-link-chain1

Ladies and Gentlemen, I Present The Gravity Defying Wine Bottle

by Gavino on 30. Jan, 2009 in Gadgets & Paraphernalia

  I have to confess that I’m a sucker for pointless gadgets.  Not even the impending collapse of Western Capitalism could stop me whipping out the credit card on this one.   This has got “Amaze your guests with gravity defying wine bottle stand” written all over it but I fear it’ll end up in [...]

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viktory-dogs

The Carivintas Winery 'Vicktory Dogs Collection'

by Gavino on 29. Jan, 2009 in Just Plain Weird, Wine Label Oddities

Here in the UK, the Superbowl is followed only by a handful of nighthawk fanatics but for American readers here’s a truly bizarre wine story with an NFL theme (from trendhunter): If you think animal lovers have forgotten about former NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s infamous dog-fighting ring, think again. Carivintas Winery, which is in my [...]

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BBC NEWS | England | Pensioners refused wine over ID

by Gavino on 28. Jan, 2009 in Just Plain Weird, WOTW News

I’m really at a loss with this one. Two pensioners from Essex were left stunned when they were asked to show photo identification to buy a bottle of wine. Jennifer Rogers went to her local One Stop convenience store with a 70-year-old friend.But a staff member refused the sale saying she needed photographic identification to [...]

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winevendingmachines

Wine Vending Machines for "America's Finest Homes"

by Gavino on 27. Jan, 2009 in Gadgets & Paraphernalia

     For this blogger, much of the joy of wine relates to the rituals associated with the serving of this most precious of liquids. So when I recently came across The Skybar Wine Preservation and Optimization System I felt a tad discombobulated. I’m still (metaphorically) scratching my head as I write this post. Is [...]

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speakers

Japanese Turn Wine Into Music…

by Gavino on 26. Jan, 2009 in Gadgets & Paraphernalia

  Sometimes there’s nothing quite like the accompanying sound of sweet soul when sipping a glass of smooth Rioja with the woman you love. And occasionally a full throttled Californian Zinfandel cries out for the irregular beats of space-rock infused jazz-yap techno slam.  So, if your love of wine has progressed from an obsession to [...]

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winerack

Grow Your Own Wine Rack!

by Gavino on 25. Jan, 2009 in Gadgets & Paraphernalia

  It’s approaching the end of January, and in gardening terms the month allocated for planning is nearly over. Top of my planning priorities for the small plot of North London land that we call our garden, is the “grow your own wine rack kit”.   Marketers like to call these sorts of products “innovative” [...]

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wine_points

Nil Points! Is Robert Parker Still Relevant?

by Gavino on 19. Jan, 2009 in But Seriously...

This weekend’s Financial Times carried a full page reader offer for 2004 Chateau Langoa-Barton with the by-line “Awarded 90 points by Robert Parker, this wine is not to be missed”. The rating of 90 recalled to mind an article by professional cynic John C Dvorak who describes a 90 point Parker rating as “the chicken [...]

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A Drink by the Pool Madam? Or Would You Prefer to Drink the Pool Itself?

by Gavino on 19. Jan, 2009 in Just Plain Weird, WOTW News

There have been times in my professional drinking career when a wine has tasted so good I have wanted to bathe in it.  Well, at the Hakine Yunessun Spa in Japan you can do just that. The newly-opened Beaujolais Nouveau spa offers visitors the chance to bathe in the wine while they drink it. Beaujolais [...]

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make-wine-not-war

West Bank's settlers try new tack: Wine and a bus tour

by Gavino on 16. Jan, 2009 in WOTW News

SHILOH, West Bank — Israel’s West Bank settlers have been ratcheting up their violence, defying their own government and flouting international public opinion.

But on Monday a settler group tried another tack — wooing foreign journalists with a bus tour featuring a glass of merlot and a visit to a home overlooking the site where the biblical Israelites housed Moses’ stone tablets.

“Here you see the miracles and the prophecies actualized in front of you,” said settler Tamar Yonah Feld, portraying Jewish settlement in the West Bank as a fulfillment of God’s will.

The settlers said they wanted to show the world they are just trying to have peaceful lives. But the bulletproof windows on the bus, the ubiquitous barbed wire and the watch towers at settlements betrayed an existence that is anything but normal.

Despite the wine, a mouthwatering lunch and an earnest video on the land’s Jewish roots, the interaction with the visitors was often heated.

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marathonman

A Different Kind of Mouthwash at a Manchester Dentist

by Gavino on 15. Jan, 2009 in Just Plain Weird, WOTW News

A dentist in Manchester encourages clients to arrive 20 minutes before their appointments in order to have a relaxing drink (or Dutch courage, depending on your point of view). “Some dentists will offer medication to help a patient relax before painkillers and surgery,” says Dr. Prav Solanki, who runs the practice with his brother, “whereas [...]

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