Good Grape Wine Company

December 21 2007

News, Notes & Dusty Bottle Items Pt. II

Some quick hits and random thoughts … I wonder if getting your Master of Wine is harder than passing the bar exam, or taking your CPA test?  All three require an almost encyclopedic body of knowledge in a subject matter. 

I think most people want to discount the Master of Wine because of the subject matter, but I would be surprised if actual sheer knowledge and forced recall wasn’t greater than (or at least equal to) a CPA or Law exam. 

I’m not trying to fan flames here, but it would seem, without question, that the Master of Wine is tougher than the SAT, or, perhaps, even the GMAT—tests for which the questions come from a finite pool in a finite subject matter with an abundance of study aids available. 

Just my opinion …

I won’t go into how I did against last years New Year’s resolutions, but I will say that I did do one thing that I was very proud of—increase the clarity of writing voice on this blog, making it much cleaner to read.  And, I’ve basically taken my writing from being in the passive voice about 40% or greater to less than 10%.  Frankly, I had to because my wife, the English Lit. major, was going to scratch my eyes out if I didn’t…

Ah, but this year as a New Year’s resolution is different: I think everybody should resolve to stop reading about the “green movement” on dead trees and start calling their recycling center to begin recycling.  It’s hard for me to buy into this greening of America when individual recycling rates are under 5%.

One additional change that I am resolving to make is to drink more white wine.  I drink 90% red and 10% white.  I think I might change that up in 2008.  Why?  I’m tired of drinking red wine clunkers.  White wine, predominantly, is easier to make technically correct and pleasing at lower price points.  And, my palate is much more giving for whites.  I don’t need to have my socks knocked off by every under $20 bottle of red that I drink, but I’m growing weary of being non-plussed.  Drinking white solves that dilemma for me and will probably save me a good amount of money in the process.

Or, maybe not … perhaps I should stick with reds … according to a recent article in the New York Times (thanks to Wine Canine for the pointer) … a recent medical survey in The American Journal of Epidemiology showed that, “drinking 8 to 14 glasses of wine per week, particularly red wine, was linked to as much as a 60 percent reduction in the risk of developing a cold. The scientists suspected this had something to do with the antioxidant properties of wine.” Sign me up for more reds and less colds, I guess!

Or, I could just drink 375 ml half bottles.  Dr. Debs points out a site called Half-Wit Wines that features over 1000 ½ bottles, Half-Wit was recently featured in a Wall Street Journal article (with a reference to the New York Times already I’m searching for a USA Today reference just to make sure I have my national newspaper bases covered) that had columnists Dorothy Gaither and John Brecher calling half bottles, by the headline, the, “next big thing.”

I really like the idea of Half-Wit wines and in a moment of “open-palm-slapping-forehead ‘why didn’t I think of that’ ” it dawned on me what a great idea it is to have an online store featuring only 375 ml size bottles. 

In fact, my wine of the year just happened to show up on my door step today in six little hand-dandy half bottles. 

I had a bottle of the 2003 Arzuaga Crianza in a traditional size bottle and fell in love with its rich complexity and layer after layer of flavor.  This wine is a stunner.  Think of fresh black cherries at their peak of ripeness floating in a combination of Kirsch, Chambord and Kahlua, with balanced acidity and enough oak to make this go the distance and you come close to approximating this nectar of the Gods.  When I went to replenish and get a couple more bottles of this to hold, I could only find the ’03 in 375’s.  If you’re interested, Morrellwine.com has it in stock.

… Changing the subject, I’m always a sucker for a wine-related diversion.  If you have five minutes to burn check out www.instructables.com and search for wine.  You’ll find instructions for wine box projects, making bum wine and a bunch of other wine-related projects that sound good on paper.  Or check YouTube, perhaps the greatest time waster yet invented.  Somebody sent me a four minute clip of A Capella Christmas carols—that’s time I’ll never get back.

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