Yet another politician opposing direct shipment of wine

Written on February 8, 2010 by William Wilson in Wine
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The Baltimore Sun reports on a member of the Maryland senate who will not allow a vote in her committee on a bill that would end the ban against direct shipment of wine. Again we get the tired old “minors will get alcohol by ordering online” argument. Never mind that the facts don’t support this position.

In the U.S., there is only one (maybe two) documented incidents of minors trying to order alcohol online–and it was as a part of a “sting” organized by the wholesalers (who want to protect their economic fiefdom). Apparently no one recalls the basic facts:

  • Ordering wine (or other alcohol) online is not easy. Retailers want to ship to a business address so there is certain to be someone 21 or over to sign for the package during the day. Residences are often empty during the day, so retailers do not want to ship to them.
  • Ordering wine online is expensive. The shipping costs add plenty of dollars to the cost of the wine. Minors, for the most part, don’t want to spend the extra money nor are they likely to have it. Minors want a cheap buzz.
  • Minors already have plenty of access to alcohol: getting older friends, siblings, or others to buy it for them. Minors also want instant gratification. I doubt many would be willing to wait for delivery, especially when responsible sellers will delay shipment if the weather is unfavorable in terms of temperatures during the shipment.

I have often said it is easier to buy a gun online than it is to buy wine online. If  you think I’m kidding, check out this gun dealer’s how-to information. It’s not as easy as ordering from Amazon.com, but it’s definitely not impossible.

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Where can I buy that wine?

Written on February 1, 2010 by William Wilson in Resources, Wine
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If there’s one thing about being a wine enthusiast that will drive you buggy, it’s trying to buy wines you’ve heard about. If you live in a state like Indiana in the US, the wholesalers bring in only 5% of the wines available in the US. It can be tough to find wines that Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, or even just the local newspaper are writing up.

Luckily, for some folks in the US, there is a partial solution. I don’t normally plug vendors here, but WineAccess.com is worth mentioning. I’m an affiliate, which means like with Amazon.com, I get a commission from any sales through this web site. More importantly, though, I’m a customer. And if I didn’t do business with WineAccess.com myself, I wouldn’t bother to mention it.

One of the cool things about Wine Access is that they occasionally find wines that they can get for a song. Maybe a winery is going out of business, or it’s a distributor. Last year, Wine Access picked up a bunch of cases of California Merlot. The winery priced them at over $40 per bottle. After someone went kablooey, Wine Access purchased the remaining cases and offered them for $140 or so–for all twelve bottles.

Is it the best Merlot I’ve ever had? Perhaps not. But I am glad I bought the case. For fifteen bucks a bottle, I have plenty of wine I can serve with food and enjoy. The wine tastes like few other $15 bottles of Merlot–and I mean that as a compliment. It turned out to be a good deal.

So, if you’re looking for a particular wine here in the US, you might give WineAccess.com a shot. Perhaps they have it, and perhaps they ship to your state–perfect. If they don’t have the wine, you can always browse their other offerings.

Whenever you want to look at the inventory over at WineAccess.com, remember to visit this site and click on the little graphic in the right side bar. You get your wine, I get a few quarters thrown my way, and with that disclosure the FTC is as happy as we are.

Tweet and Taste Live–Michigan on March 8

Written on February 1, 2010 by William Wilson in Wine
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Michigan wines are largely unheard of outside of the Great Lakes region. Nevertheless, there are parts of Michigan that have great climates for grape growing. Michigan has grown wine grapes for decades, and is now coming into the forefront of up-and-coming wine regions.

On March 8, a group of wine bloggers and wine professionals will participate in Taste and Tweet Live. We will sample and discuss 3 Michigan wines from Black Star Winery. You can join us, if you wish. All the details can be found at the Taste and Tweet Live–Michigan site.

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What to do when they bring you the bottle, by Judy Beardsall

Written on January 19, 2010 by William Wilson in Uncategorized, Wine, Your Wine Education
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Let’s say you asked for a bottle of Napa Valley Chateau Montelena and it comes to your table already opened. If they don’t show you the uncorked bottle, you’ve got a problem… Send the bottle back.

Don’t let the waiter or sommelier pull the cork in some distant part of the bar or kitchen and arrive at your table ready to pour. Tradition holds that they must show you the bottle so you know you’re getting the wine you just ordered and not a substitute – or that it was not opened earlier in the day and refilled with something else.

Look carefully at the wine label. Take the time to check the name and the vintage. It’s not uncommon for someone to make an innocent mistake, especially at dinner rush, and bring the wrong wine. Make sure you get what you asked for. There’s no shame in asking to see the bottle.

With the bottle in front of you:

— Check for a leaky capsule. Seepage around the neck means it may have seen poor handling or storage and it could affect the taste.

— Visually check the level of the wine in the bottle. If the level is much below the neck, it could also mean trouble.

— Feel the bottle. This is very important, especially in a restaurant. For red wine, the bottle should be cool, not warm to the touch. Temperature drastically affects the taste of the wine and can mean the difference between great taste and spoiled wine. The ideal room temperature for storage should be at about 50-55 degrees. White wine should feel cool, not like an ice cold bottle of soda.

— Check the cork, which adds fun to the detective work of making sure you’ve got the wine you want. Do look at it but, of course, don’t sniff it… Does the information on the cork correspond to what’s on the label? Inexpensive wine may not have matching information on the cork, but there’s usually a distinctive branding mark with some part of the name to prevent fraud.

— Are pieces of cork floating in the wine? Don’t worry about it. If there are cork fragments in the glass, fish them out. A little piece of cork never hurt any glass of wine or anyone drinking it. People get agitated when they see floating cork bits and think they should throw the glass of wine away. Only do so if the cork is totally crumbled, and covers the surface of your glass. This would mean the cork is really old and the wine may or may not be in top condition.

Restaurants tend to train their staff to keep on pouring. The more you drink, they conclude, the more you’ll reorder. The truth is that one of the biggest, if not the biggest revenue producer in restaurants is wine, because of the huge markup. So, while you’re chatting away and having a good time, they keep filling your glass….

…Take charge and don’t despair. You’re there to enjoy yourself. Don’t be a restaurant wine victim. Don’t be bullied!

www.judybeardsall.com

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What can I do for you?

Written on January 18, 2010 by William Wilson in Miscellaneous
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Every once in a while I like to ask readers to give me a bit of feedback. Specifically, I like to ask:

  • What do you like about Wine For Newbies (the web site)?
  • What do you like about Wine For Newbies 2.0 (the podcast and vidcast)?
  • What do you not like about the web site/podcast/vidcast?
  • What makes you spend time at the web site?
  • What could Wine For Newbies do that would make you declare WFN to be the world’s best web site? (Okay, maybe not the world’s best site, but what would make you tell all your friends, Facebook contacts, and so on?)

If you’d be kind enough to leave a comment with your thoughts about these questions, that would be outstanding!

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