Wine

Not cheap for a village level wine, but hey, it’s very good. Also, comes with a screwcap, which is worth a whole lot more.

Well, you sort of don’t know often, exactly, how much to include in the name of a wine. It’s all on the label anyway.

Have to say, from what I’ve tasted, 2012 is certainly a vintage where you can start to believe the hype.

It’s not the first time over the last 6 seasons that Don has ordered an Old Fashioned. I am happy, however, that he still does. For a while there, the show was overrun with Seagram’s alcohol and Johnnie Walker. It just got hard to write about things. However, this was just a nice, simple Old Fashioned. from AMC TV In 1935, my grandpa was a bartender. I currently have a couple of his bartending books, published in the 20s and 30s. I know Old Fashioneds have changed a bit since cocktails have become such an art, but I still like to page through the old books. This recipe (use the bourbon of your choice) really gets to the simplicity of the cocktail. From “Old Mr. Boston DeLuxe Official Bartenders Guide,” 1935: 1/2 lump of sugar 2 dashes bitters 1 jigger water Muddle well, then add a jigger of Old Mr. Boston Rye or Bourbon Whiskey and a large cube of ice. Stir very well and decorate with a slice of Orange, a twist of Lemon Peel, and a cherry. Serve in an Old Fashioned Cocktail glass.

The time has come once again for you to give your digitus secundus (that’s your index finger, by the way… you creep!…) a momentary workout by using it to click on your favorite finalists in the Wine Blog Awards voting, this being the 2013 version thereof. I’ve got a long (in Internet time) history with the WBAs: I’ve been a winner, a criticizer, a judge, and an improvement-committee-member (yeah, I know, that last one does not quite roll mellifluously off the tongue, does it?). This year, I’m a finalist in the Best Overall Wine Blog category (thanks to the judges, and most especially to you for that!). Please consider voting, as the recognition of hard work and efforts well-spent probably means a great deal to those who are among the finalists. Also, it’s the easiest way to fill your good karma quotient fit the day. And if you don’t vote, then the fleas of one thousand camels might infest your armpits [ editor's note: this may not actually be true ]. You’re under no obligation to vote for me, of course, unless you want Ron Washam to lose a bet in which he will publicly sing classic Journey hits while wearing a baby costume – seriously, I swear that’s our bet! [ editor's note: this may not actually be true ]. Whatever… look, just drink up and vote, okay? Following are the finalists in the Best Overall Wine Blog category: Hosemaster of Wine 1 Wine Dude Terroirist The UK Wine Show Steve Heimoff Along with those mentioned above, there are some very interesting picks in the finalists across all of the various categories this year, and many of them are passionate and relatively new voices in the wine blogging crowd. Personally, I’m particularly pleased to also see academicwino.com, The Wine Curmudgeon, Hawk Wakawaka, Bigger Than Your Head, On The Wine Trail in Italy, Washington Wine Report, Jameson Fink, The Drunken Cyclist (despite his terrible taste in NFL franchises), and my Portuguese brother-from-another-mother Andre Rib also being recognized as finalists in various categories this year (though Andre’s listing was subsequently removed, for reasons not yet explained to me as of the time of this writing). If you aren’t familiar with them, go check them out. Voting remains open through this Friday, May 24th, so… prevent bad karma flea-infestations and GO VOTE! As for some personal thoughts on all of this WBA stuff (hey, it’s my blog after all)… I’m happy and surprised to be a finalist again; even though it seems as if people expect 1WD to make the finalist cut in some way/shape/form during this annual wine blog love-fest (as one first time finalist told me earlier this week, “this is old hat to you!”), *I* don’t expect it every year. The lack of consistency in the WBAs year-to-year doesn’t help in terms of boosting one’s confidence, either (example: several of last year’s winners aren’t even represented in the 2013 finalists list… I mean, what kind of universe are we living in here, where Jamie Goode and Alder Yarrow don’t make the cut?!??). I take chances with 1WD. I do shiz on here that would be considered certifiably, straight-jacket, get-the-meds-now, balls-on, bat-sh*t crazy just about anywhere else (especially in print). In other words, it’s my truest self in writing terms. Some days I’m amazed that anyone reads the stuff, which means I’m always (always!) grateful when they do. I couple the bat-sh*t craziness with an insatiable urge to tweak, and an unhealthy defiance of convention. The minute that something appears formulaic to me, and even when my own version of bat-sh*t crazy starts to feel formulaic to me, I pilot the ship in a slightly different direction, ripping off those whose literature has inspired me…, er, incorporating different writing influences, and basically doing everything that I possibly can to make 1WD feel like nothing else that’s out there. I haven’t always gott

If there’s a Bussell in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now. It’s just a made up brand by the Grant Burge.

May Showers (of Wine) Bring Happy HoursThe scariest thing about this wine is an empty bottle.It's such a lovely time of year - but not so lovely that it couldn't be made a little lovelier. Tip a glass or few of these fine wines and let their euphoric glow bring a sparkling sense of well-being to sunny and blustery days alike. Also they're super-cheap.

Commissioned to write 1500 words on “global warming and the SA wine industry. How rising temperatures have affected wines and farming methods locally and what will it bring further” my thoughts have been somewhat focussed of late. Although writing from a cold and rainy Cape Town, it’s hard to believe in global warming – especially [...]

Should wine’s first duty be to pleasure the senses or to stimulate the brain? Manfred Krankl, Sine Qua Non (Central Coast, California). My knee-jerk reaction is to say "pleasure the senses" because to me, at the very core of it all, that is what wine's essential function is. Particularly if one ventures beyond the very high-end wine market. I know a number of people who are not wine geeks; they do not study the subject or get too deeply into it all and so they certainly don't spend much money on wine, but they still get a lot of pleasure from a rather simple bottle. READ MORE »

Sub Regional Series. Wilyabrup, in this case. Made by Cliff The Biff Royle with cheese.