Chateau De Fargues 2003 Sauternes
From The Wine Advocate:� The 2003s appear to be somewhat in the style of the 1990s, with high levels of residual sugar (higher than 2001 for the most part) as well as botrytis, low acidity, and fat, full-bodied personalities. This region’s harvest began extremely early (early September), and was completely finished within three weeks. It does not appear that the nobleness and racy richness of the 2001 vintage will be found in the 2003s, but readers who like the big, flamboyant, over the top style of the 1990s will enjoy the 2003's...�

We tasted this recently at Winex and were knocked out by the rich, sweet but not sugary glow it leaves on the palette.� If you've never tried Sauternes and want to treat yourself to a sipping, after-dinner delight, this is a great place to start. Pricey yes. But you're worth it. Go nuts.

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War! Global warming! Starvation! Disease! Terrorist threat! Yeah, that's all bad stuff, but what we really need is an Electronic Cigarette!

With all the crap going on around us, someone has tackled the big problem of what to waste money on that I can inhale? Essentially a nicotine injection system, the Electronic Cigarette allows the subject...dare I say victim... to choose his poison, high to low nicotine and in flavors! What's better than a "Cherry -flavored" Cigarette to go with your fav Chardonnay?

I can't be the only one to be embarrassed to be a human being at times.

Growing up through the 70's and 80's, far too many of us succumbed to the social norm at the time, to have a cigarette in one hand, a drink in our other. In retrospect it was a double-whammy considering what we were drinking. Boones Farm, Bartles and James and the cocktails in a can. Gag reflex. I quit smoking cigarettes in the mid-eighties. Had a long chat with my body and it said, "Hey idiot, those smokes are killing you." I'm fortunate to have been able to quit cold-turkey. But now for those who haven't been able to quit or just think the Surgeon General is some type of generic fish, you have another choice. The E-cigarette. Sorry, not kidding.

A. Plastic LED cover B. Li-Ion Battery C. Nebulizer Unit D. Nicotine Cartridge

If you really want to know more, Wiki it. I start feeling the numbing affect of something this stupid just talking about it.

I am so glad someone else came up with this loony invention before I thought of it. This would have had me tossed from the family trust fund for sure.

Let's see. The body's temperature is some where around 98 degrees. If you're wearing this on a night out, say, at the disco, chances are that plastic is warming the liquids inside to way past 100. Now I guess you could fill it with sake or Irish coffee, BUT WINE? Of course there's mulled wine I guess. Or maybe when skiing?

Then there's the Disappointment Factor. Your date shows up pretty well stacked and by the end of the date, she's flat and you're drunk on cheap warm wine? I don't see a positive. Wait a minute. I guess if you're driving along and she asks if you'd like a drink, then rolls down the window and hangs her "wine rack" in the wind. Does it come with a thermometer?

Oh I don't know. Sounds like a lot of trouble. Why not just stop and get a drink?

This "ingenious" dual-purpose "Wine Rack" can hold upto 750 ml of liquid. Retails for $40.

Worse yet, she's packing Gewurztraminer and you hate Gewurztraminer . What do you do? Say, "No thanks, had some already."?

Once in while … I like to go BAD FOOD. Shake my fist, holding some heart bursting corporate fast food concoction, right in the Devil’s face. “Get back ye Satan, this fat bomb is mine. Pass the ketchup.”

Smart? No. Fun? Yes…once in a while. Guess I should clarify what I mean by “once in a while?” For me, being a couple of stones overweight, it’s a rare event. Once every six months, followed by exercise and a bale of hay. (I like using the English weight, sounds so much better than 30 pounds. That sounds FAT.)

If you’re a skinny bastard, no heart problems, no cholesterol problems, and you hang out with Lance Armstrong, oh just go stuff your face. Then again, what caused the cojones problem? Huh? For the rest of us, somewhere between our ideal weight and all elastic waist pants, a program in Canada called “Keep Canada Slim” unwittingly has provided the information for a major pig-out.

A&W makes something called “Chubby Chicken Dinner” that weighs in at 1230 calories. Whoa! If you’ve grown past the hurt of friends and friendly bikers calling you “Chubby”, this might be the one for you.

For breakfast try Burger King’s “Enormous Omelette Sandwich”, 730 calories with 44 grams of fat and an even 2000 mg of sodium. If you live to lunch, try A&W’s large chocolate milkshake, registering 1720 calories, 47 grams of fat and an amazing 254 grams of sugar. Two hundred and fifty-four grams is about 60 teaspoons of sugar. Good god! Imaging eating 60 spoonfuls of sugar in one sitting? I’ve just fainted.

If you’re pairing wine with any of these, I REALLY don't think it matters. I’d go cheap. You’ve just eaten more calories than half of Darfur gets in a week.

Jeez. I’ve suddenly lost my appetite for bad food. I’m going to break out a bottle of something expensive, red and pair with a little cheese. Then I’m having a salad.

Thanks Canada. The idea of having a couple of million people the size of Americans just there above our heads is one scary thought.

How to Buy Good Wine in Bad Times

As wine enthusiasts and creators of The Winery Channel, we were fans of the Wine Exchange in OC (that's Orange County, California) before we created the website. So when we came up with the idea for our "Hot Legs" show, we wanted a sponsor like Winex to showcase wine and provide great service to our wine drinking peers. Turns out that Winex wine buyer Kyle Meyer was a natural (ham) and he's proven to be great wine reviewer. Both of us, Thief and Rat, have to restrain our buying habits when he gets into telling the story about each wine. His enthusiasm and straight-ahead, no B.S. recommends are infectious!

Most casual wine drinkers pick their wines from the supermarket shelves or local liquor store. That's cool. Easy when you're picking up the bacon or a six pack. However when you want to kick it up a notch, buying wine from the Wine Exchange brings you two important advantages. No. 1 is Price. No. 2 is Selection.

The store, like the website, has an incredible selection of wines from the U.S. West Coast and all over the world. Unlike many other stores who purchase their wines solely from distributors, which severely limits their choices immediately and takes the decision of what wines to sell from wine lovers and gives it to "bean counters,” at the Wine Exchange, on any given day, you'll see a line of wine sellers, winery owners and even the winemakers themselves, waiting to present their wines to Kyle and the staff.

Why does this matter? Well, instead of their being several levels of "suits" and "bean counters" between you and the wines available, you get just a couple of serious, sometimes even curmudgeonly, cynical wine enthusiasts who are making the decisions that determine what wines make the grade to be offered on their shelves and website. Is that one degree of separation? Compared to fifty degrees from the corporate wine machines? Heck, I'm no statistician, but it sounds better to me.

Then there's price. The wine business is cut-throat, period. Times like theses are good for the consumer and because the Wine Exchange deals directly, no "middle men/women" and works on extremely low margins, they are able to be as...well, cut-throaty as possible. Good for me and you.

Finally, taking selection and price and putting it together with home delivery via UPS, it's like it's your birthday every time a box of wine shows up at the door.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hooray! I'm getting older! And I got some wine! (Works for me every time.)

Cheers! The Wine Thief and Cellar Rat.

[End of the wine lovers advice/pitch/sales/PR/marketing blurb. That's it. Now for the heck of it and the fact that any day can be your birthday, pick out a half a dozen bottles you know or would like to know, and treat yourself. ] Winex.com

MAIPE 2008 - MALBEC

Wine Advocate 90 - $7.99

Perusing the veggie aisle for basil I was suddenly interrupted by a friendly fellow holding two bottles of wine who asked, "Do you drink wine?" (Which, for me, is like asking a coyote if he likes cat.) Turns out he's the winemaker for Dobbin Lane Wines and he was visiting supermarkets hustling his product. As I'm a little on the snobbish side, but cheap snobbish, I was curious what the wine might be like, especially at this PRICE! $6.95 for any of his cabs, merlots and chardonnays.

Generally that price range is a dead zone. A no go there as in "If your wine is not worth at least 10 bucks, no thanks." I can drink three bottles of Two Buck for that price. SURPRISE! Dobbin Lane is either really smart or nuts. I drank both their cab and merlot and in this price range it's a winner. Simple fruits, smooth follow through. It's a $10-20 wine at a Depression price value. I think this guy is smart. Good wine, good price. It's a buy at your local supermarket here in California. Check their website for more info.


Now about the basil. Why the hell does it have to come packaged like a Costco anti-shoplifter special? Maybe we wouldn't need "organic" if we stopped wrapping everything in plastic! It would just "be" organic.

THEY'RE HERE! The wagon's pulled up and the rubes are gathering. Put up the flags and bellow the message, "You're saved! Live longer! Live healthier! Step right up and get your bottle!

Peggy Krause, writer for the Disease Prevention Examiner spells out the simple truth for those products trying to cash in on the Red Wine=Health connection with "Red Wine Pills" that claim to be the fountain of youth in a bottle.

Don't waste your money.
"(One pill maker) makes the unfounded claim that the French eat a lot of fat and stay skinny. That's just nonsense. The ad states that the French drink a lot of red wine, and that they are spared from heart disease. The ad assumes that reservatrol is the beneficial compound that gives this primary benefit and is unique to red wine.

Folks, the only way to get the anti-oxidants that your body needs to repair the damages of daily living are found in plant foods, such as vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains. You can't find the 10,000 life-supporting nutrients in a pill."

The obvious is always so...obvious. Eat well, drink smart, exercise. Sorry, no pill will do that for you.

CHATEAU BOIS CHANTANT - 2005

It's getting much more difficult to find great deals from Bordeaux, especially when we're talking about two of the most recognized names in the region...Bernard Magrez and Michel Rolland. We're usually talking $75-$300 a bottle for the vast majority of the wines that come from the stable of these two Bordeaux titans, they're commitment to quality wherever they work second to none. But now you can have that experience once again for a measly $10! Uber ripe blackberry and cassis fruit with great balance, sweet tannins and a silky, long finish, this compelling blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cab and 10% Cab Franc is ready to drink now with an hour of air but also has the ability to age as well. Easily compares with wines that cost 2-3 times as much. $9.99

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