Wine For Newbies

This is way off topic, but for those in the Southern California area, I have three tickets to next Saturday’s USC game against Notre Dame. I don’t want to eat them (I’d rather spend the money on wine) so I’m hoping someone out there in the region would be interested. Email me if you are and we can work out the particulars.

While I have definite opinions on how many of the U.S. elections should come out, I’m not going to get into them here. But I am going to plead with my readers in the U.S.: if you haven’t already done so, please make sure you vote today (if your state has early voting) or tomorrow. We all tend to gritch about what our elected officials do, but if we don’t vote, we lose that right.

Perhaps you feel as though the two major presidential party candidates don’t represent your views, so you’re thinking of staying home. Please don’t. There are at least two minor party candidates who might be worthy of your vote. Even if you aren’t going to vote in the national election, there are countless local elections and ballot questions that will have an impact on your community. At least go vote in those races. Many of them are decided by a few votes.

We all claim to hold democracy as a sacred ideal, but we often do not act that way. This year can be the year to start walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

GO VOTE! If you don’t, your wine will go bad, your refrigerator will die, and your tastebuds will stop working.

Seriously, just VOTE!

I ran across these factoids about the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival’s “supplies” over the 45 days of the festival:

· 33,000 bottles of wine and champagne

· 1.2 million hors d’oeuvre plates

· 2.1 million napkins

· 750,000 beer cups

· 600,000 forks

· 338,000 wine glasses

· 100,000 miniature desserts

· 3,000 gallons of soup

· 1,500 pounds of fresh strawberries

I knew they poured a lot of wine at this event over six weeks or so, but 33,000 bottles? Holy cow…

Here in the U.S., we celebrate Labor Day, a national holiday to honor the contributions of organized labor. Labor Day also marks the end of summer for many Americans, even though the summer season won’t actually end for a few more weeks.

Still, although summer is moving past us, it’s still warm enough to enjoy your favorite warm weather wines. I lean toward rosés and lighter whites, like Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc. (Sangria is another great option!).

What are your warm weather favorites? Leave a comment and let’s see what other great ideas are out there!

Good Wine Under $20 points us to a product you can buy to help guide your tasting notes. Writing a good tasting note can be intimidating for novices (and me as well). What should go in it? What if I leave something out? How many adjectives can I come up with to describe a wine without sounding like I’m trying to sell it?

I prefer the De Long Wine Co. tasting note form (plus, it’s free). Now if only I could figure out a way to get that thing in an iPhone application!

Technorati Tags: wine, tasting note, learn about wine, wine education

Each week I receive an email or two that expresses appreciation for this web site and the old podcast. I love getting those emails–it’s like receiving a pat on the back, and everyone feels good about positive feedback.

While I was reading articles with my news reader today, I came across this one about how web site ads are not the online tip jar. The points in that post make a lot of sense, so I will ask a few favors of you if you like the site and/or podcast.

First, please participate in the conversation by leaving a comment. Don’t feel you have to say anything brilliant or show any wine expertise. Even something as simple as “I didn’t know that, thanks!” or asking a question of me and other readers is a great contribution.

Second, tell your family and friends about the site. I know many have spread the word about the podcast. Listeners have burned CDs to give to their friends and family, which is really cool to hear about. Just this morning I received an email from a listener in Seoul, South Korea, who wants to summarize the podcasts in his native language and put them on his blog. But don’t forget to spread the word about this web site–email people about it, tell your co-workers about it, become a missionary for the gospel according to Wine For Newbies.

Third, if you have a web site or blog, link to the site or even to specific articles. That’s a huge help.

Finally, if you want to make a donation, I’d like to offer something in return. I’m thinking something like one of the ad blocks that reads “This week is brought to you by Joe Wino.” Or, it could be whatever you want. You don’t have to go that route, but I’m open to different ideas. Send me an email and we can figure something out.

I am very grateful to all of you who support this web site (and the old podcast) in whatever way you can.

As you can see, there’s been a major change to this web site. There are still some things to be done, but it’s now after 11:00, and I must get up in about six hours. The fixes (and there are plenty, I know) will have to wait until tomorrow after work and a board meeting. 

Thanks for all the messages of continued support!

At least that’s the findings of a recent medical study. As one who may be dealing with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, this is welcome news (although it suggests I should definitely not assume that if one glass is good, two must be better).

Wow…this is rather humbling. Sometime within the next, oh, sixty days or so, the 1,000,000th podcast episode will be downloaded. Unfortunately, I don’t have any tools that will let me identify who the person is that downloads that file, otherwise I’d offer up some kind of prize.