Brad Pitt Set to Star in The Billionaire’s Vinegar Movie.
May 4, 2012 
It was just announced this week that the long awaited movie The Billionaire’s Vinegar is to be released in cinemas this year.
Will Smith bought the rights to the book as part of a Hollywood consortium and has been named as one of the producers. The New York Times has some guy named Brad Pitt listed in the Acting Credits.
The movie is set to be directed by David Keopp, the screenwriter for such mediocre films such as Men In Black III, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, War of the Worlds and The Taking of Pelham 123).
Based (and I’m sure it will be very loosely “based”) on Benjamin Wallace‘s book: The Billionaire’s Vinegar – The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine, it tells the story of William Koch, a billionaire Florida wine collector, who in 2005 bought four bottles of 1787 Château Lafite engraved “Th.J” (allegedly bottles owned by Thomas Jefferson). The bottles were sold to him by German wine dealer Hardy Rodenstock for around half-a-million dollars.
Posted in News | Tagged Bordeaux, Brad Pitt, Brad Pitt new movie, Brad Pitt wine movie, Chateau Lafite, The Billionaire’s Vinegar, Will Smith | Leave a comment //Wine and Spicy Food: How to Pair When the Heat is on!
May 4, 2012
Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, and right about now you’re probably all stressed-out wondering which wine to pair with your Mexican fiesta feast, aren’t you!?!?
Okay, maybe not! You’re probably just going to reach for a Corona or Margarita and call it a day…
When it comes to spicy foods (no matter the time of year) most people tend to steer clear of vino, for the simple reason that a wine which drinks just totally fine by itself can end up being completely destroyed when paired with fiery foods. For this reason, I decided to put together a few tips to help temper those flames:
- Avoid oak where possible, whether it’s white or red wines you’re dealing with. Spice and oak are not best buddies!
- In general, reds are less successful than whites for spicy pairings, unless they’re more fruit forward and less tannic and maybe even served with a light chill. Think about red grapes such as Gamay (Beaujolais) or Grenache etc.
- Bubbly can quite often work as well as beer if you’re pairing with foods where the spice has been kicked up a notch. Reach for Prosecco, Cava, California sparkling or French Cremant.
Are Wine Apps a Dead and Dying Breed?
May 3, 2012
Paul Mabray (owner of Vintank) writes in Palate Press:
Why are wine iPhone and Android apps not succeeding when other niche apps like Foodspotting are doing so well?
Over the last year and a half we have seen the most tragic case of inertia for wine apps, with many going out of business and most of the stars stagnating and wasting screen space on our phones. We watched as apps shot into the scene (Crushd) only to quickly burn out. We have seen apps that gained the attention of mainstream wineries (Blush) but never answer requests from a few major wineries to do something to accept revenue.
SO WHY DON’T PHONE APPS SUCCEED?
Too Niche
Wine itself is very-much still in the minority. When you look at the people who drink wine vs. talk about wine, you drill down to approximately 10 million social wine customers. Of that group only 2 million journal about wine, and most do so with pictures. We estimate that in the U.S. market there are only about 250,000 über-oenophiles who write detailed tasting notes.
WA Gov. Chris Gregoire: Kicking California Winemaker Ass and Taking Names After Dubbing Their Wines as "Jug Wine."
May 3, 2012
The Governor has officially put herself on the “Most Wanted” list (at least as far as Californian wineries go), after she deemed all Californian wines to be “jug wines“.
Gov. Chris Gregoire stated that there’s no competition as far as the quality of Washington’s wine goes. She really drove the point home when, recalling a trade mission to Europe in which someone asked her about California wine. Her blunt response was: “They make jug wine. We make fine wine.”
Central Coast winemaker Gary Eberle (owner of Eberle Winery in Paso Robles) is pissed.
“From the many, many blind wine competitions, California has proven itself as one of the premier wine producing regions of the world.” and he added “Washington does buy a lot of California grapes….”
What’s the Deal with Non-Vintage Wine?
May 2, 2012
First World Wine Problems…
May 2, 2012
Waterbrook Chardonnay, Columbia Valley, Washington State.
April 30, 2012
Wine: Waterbrook
Place: Columbia Valley, Washington State
Grapes: 95% Chardonnay, 5% Viognier
Price: $14-15
Win a T-Shirt from Wine is Life!
April 30, 2012
This competition is brought to you from the fine people at Wine is Life, my official t-shirt sponsor! That’s right, you heard me correct, I have a t-shirt sponsor!
Whether you appreciate white or red, sweet or dry, the grape-inspired graphics and sayings from Wine is Life are sure to put a smile on your face. All t-shirts are made from soft brushed cotton for maximum comfort and style. Enzyme washed, environmentally friendly and they feel as though you’ve been wearing them for years!
See below for details on how to win…
Wine is the Same as Toilet Paper According to Costco’s Lead Wine Buyer.
April 28, 2012
News article taken from Eater.com
The lead wine buyer for Costco, Annette Alvarez-Peters seemed to have a little trouble discerning the difference between wine and toilet paper, on the CNBC show “The Costco Craze: Inside The Warehouse Giant,” which aired a couple of nights ago.
Here’s what she had to say:
Alvarez-Peters: “Is it more special than clothing, is it more special than televisions? I don’t think so.”
CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla: “Certainly it’s different than toilet paper? Or different that tin foil?”
Alvarez-Peters: “Why?”
Quintanilla: “Because it’s personal.”
Alvarez-Peters: “People can look at it that way. But at the end of the day, it’s a beverage.“
NB: Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly greeted too warmly by the wine industry! As Talia Baiocchi writes:
A Guide to Wine Faults – Sediment
April 28, 2012
Sediment
That gritty-stuff resting at the bottom of some wine bottles shouldn’t really be viewed as a true wine fault.
Let’s go back to science class for a minute: Sediment comes about when naturally occurring tannins in a wine polymerize (cling together), making them larger and therefore more visible. This is a good indication that the acids and flavors of a wine have started to change and mellow out a little more. For this reason sediment can be viewed as a good thing!
The interesting point about sediment is that there’s very few firm guarantees as to where you will or will not find it. I’ve personally had 3 year old wines that threw a sediment, and 10 year old ones that didn’t.
Posted in Facts | Tagged A Guide to Wine Faults, Sediment | 2 Comments //Winning!
April 27, 2012
Guinness Book of Wine World Records.
April 26, 2012
I started this “Guinness Book of Wine World Records” article over a year ago, saved it to my drafts, forgot about it and I’m just now getting around to posting it. Enjoy!
Most Wine Glasses Held in One Hand
You know what they say about men with big hands! Well, in this case it means they can hold lots of wine glasses…
The world record for the most wine glasses held in one hand was 39 by Reymond Adina at the Quatre-Gats restaurant in Barcelona, Spain on 24 October 2007.
The number of glasses a waiter can hold is a matter of pride amongst the service staff in Barcelona held in the hand is a matter of pride for Barcelona waiters (probably going back to my first point), and many regularly carry dozens without breaking them.
Surprisingly, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t actually find a picture for this amazing feat. So you’re going to have to settle for a photo of Philip Osenton, the guy that took second place with 31 glasses held.
World’s Smallest Bottle of Wine
Thanks to Steve Klein of Klein’s Designs, you can drink 10 bottles of wine and still drink home safely!
His miniature wine bottles stand 1.2 inches tall and hold 0.026 fluid ounces. Each bottle is corked, sealed, and labeled. What’s even better is they’re for sale! Prices currently range from $20 all the way up-to to $90 for a bottle of Gros Frere et Soeur ‘Richebourg’ which has a 24 carat Gold Seal.
World’s Largest Collection of Wine labels
“Tonight on ‘Hoarders’…”
Sophia Vaharis of Athens, Greece, has a little-bit of a wine label hoarding addiction. She’s managed to collect over 15,200 different labels from wine bottles from over 50 different countries. Pretty impressive!
She catalogues each label using a special computer program that won’t accept duplicate entries, and so to do my bit, I’m going to send Sophia a Boone’s Farm label and see what she makes of that….
Most People Treading Grapes
Best. Party. Ever!
The world record for the most people treading grapes is 977 and was achieved in September 2010 in Labastida, a village located in Basque Country, Northern Spain.
During the afternoon the 27.56 tons of black grapes were carried by a big lorry and tipped into the main square, which soon became a juicy and tasty black carpet of grapes.
What they did with all that grape juice after the event is anyone’s guess!
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