Guns, Germs, Yeast, and Parker

Posted by Alana Zerbe on Dec 25, 2010 in News | 0 comments

Alice Feiring wants to save you from Robert Parker.

The “Parkerization” of the wine world is a hotly debated trend in said world. Interestingly, it is also a method of protecting a steel surface from corrosion and increasing its resistance to wear through electrochemical phosphate conversion coating. Parkerizing is commonly, and most notably, used on firearms.

Corrosion, conversion, guns?

In the case of The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization, Alice Feiring is the loaded gun; and like a modern day John Wayne, she sidles into many a saloon (well, in this case, many a winery) and lets loose on all those outlaw Parkerites, those over-manipulators of wines (boo, ssss); and, yes, ol’ Bob Parker himself. All while heroically standing up for the traditional winemaker: farmers and wine makers who work the land they love – some passed down over time, some newly acquired; and those who let the wines they cultivate stand on their own with little or no manipulating of any kind. (more…)

Apparently, You Are What You Eat

Posted by Alana Zerbe on Dec 25, 2010 in News | 0 comments

(Credit: iStockphoto/Stephanie Swartz) at ScienceDaily.com

Taste and Share – a social network connecting food and wine enthusiasts from around the world – recently published a fascinating article connecting one’s proclivities for sweets to their personality.  Interestingly, impulsivity and a lack of openness towards experiencing new things can be traced to that Snickers in your back pocket.

This is a fascinating scientific breakthrough that explores and connects one’s psychological make-up to food.  What does this mean for the food and wine lover?    For one thing, this:   “As food marketers delve deeper into our psyches, expect more research that links what we buy to who we are as people.”  Read more on the “the link between taste preference and personality traits” here.

Green Design and Wine – The Wine Cask Hotel

Posted by Alana Zerbe on Dec 25, 2010 in News | 0 comments

There’s a saying about being “in the cups”.  But in the cask?  

The  De Vrouwe van Stavoren Hotel in the Netherlands has designed rooms out of salvaged wine casks. 

And with prices as affordable as this (check out the winter rates!), one can afford to drink a lovely bottle while staying in one of these cozy, recycled rooms.  

From inhabitat.com.

Authentic Brunello di Montalcino

Posted by Alana Zerbe on Feb 5, 2010 in News | 1 comment

The scandal is in the past, but not the too-far past; thus,  many questions still surround whether one is buying an authentic Brunello di Montalcino or a bottle of Rosso di Montalcino (those “Brunellos” made with grapes other than Sangiovese).  Hark! And good news!  One can now check the 2004 vintage using either a cell phone or the internet.

ABC News reports.

How Convenient

Posted by Alana Zerbe on Oct 5, 2009 in News | 1 comment

Toilet paper?  Check!

Prescriptions?  Check!

Colt 40?  Check Check!

Walgreens – the largest drug store chain in the states - announces it will begin selling wine and beer in most of its 7000 stores nationwide.  Read it here.