Wine around the world

ROUGH DRAFT: Feedback/suggestions requested.

I wish I was a gangster. Anything illegal, immoral or dangerous seems extra exciting to me. There’s also something about being a conflicted character that’s appealing. I love the gangster who runs a soup kitchen by day and smuggles whiskey by night. I’d rather be a good bad-guy than a bad good-guy–I guess it seems more achievable.

If I were a gangster I’d definitely be a good bad-guy. I wouldn’t be a knuckle-dragging jailhouse–sissy hanging my pants off my ass. I wouldn’t wear red or blue or even green. (I also wouldn’t wear a double-breasted pin-striped suit with a fedora.) I wouldn’t advertise with a can of spray-paint. Sign language would be reserved for communicating with the hearing-impaired. When you’re a real gangster showing off is redundant.

If I were a gangster, I’d spend my time fighting the bad good-guys and eliminating the bad bad-guys. I don’t know what to do with the good good-guys. I’m not even sure I know who they are. Maybe they could just go around, undisturbed by the rest of us, being delightful.

I don’t think I’d have a problem doing-in the bad-guys–they have it coming. They wouldn’t be surprised either. When you play the bad bad-guy game you know someday your number will be up. (Good-guys everywhere are cringing because I ended the last sentence with a preposition.) The only difficulty I anticipate is distinguishing between the good bad-guys and the really bad ones.

Who are the bad good-guys? There are at least two different types. They both steal from the poor to give to the rich and they do it legally. If a bad bad-guy stole as much as they did, he’d go to prison for life. If a bad good-guy steals the same amount he’s promoted to the executive office of either the boardroom or the White House. These two groups are corporate executives and government bureaucrats.

If the people try to redistribute a rich man’s wealth it’s called communism. (The executive hopes the working man is too ignorant to realize that a large portion of his income is in the form of dividends and options which are taxed as capital gains, and aren’t subject FICA taxes. Leaving them with greater income and a lower tax rate than the pawns.) If that same business man exploits those workers, pays them a fraction of their worth, and laying them off “at will”, it’s called capitalism.

The Yankee Capitalist is a master manipulator of political correctness. He would NEVER own slaves, and secretly despises a geographical region that once did. The executive actually preaches the value of diversity. Of course he doesn’t give a rip about equality or reparations. He has no intention of raising a disadvantaged group to the prosperity level of the advantaged. His aim is to save a buck by lowering all workers compensation to equal that of the lowest group.

While the businessman doesn’t practice human ownership, he is an expert at marketing reduced wages. Instead of referring to what historically has been called “wage-slavery” he offers a salaried position with benefits and calls it security. Of course this employee has no realistic expectation of benefiting from the businesses up-side potential and bears a disproportionate exposure to down-side risk. If the capitalist makes an error in judgment, he simply lays-off the thousands of people who did the real work of the business.

As a gangster I’d say, give the executives their salaries, bonuses, options, and golden parachutes; extortion is much more efficient when wealth is concentrated. Anyone who believes they deserve a retention bonus equaling TWENTY YEARS of income for the average American family has enough moral material to support a profitable blackmail enterprise.

Government bureaucrats represent another ripe opportunity for a gangster. As a group, government officials compete most aggressively with the gangster. But there is room for optimism.

Gangs used to run loan-shark, liquor, gambling, and violence rackets. Now the government backs Fannie, Freddie, and Sally. It peddles, licenses, distributes, and taxes liquor and tobacco. (Hey–why prohibit something when you can tax the hell out of it?) The same goes for gambling. The government runs everything from Vegas to Powerball. It’s a great idea! Tax the poor to subsidize education for the middle class so they can work as middle-managers for the upper-crust. Now that’s capitalism. Don’t even get me started on the violence! Classify gun-owners as Jesse James-style outlaws and regulate anything that can do more than bring down a deer. (Consider this an armed-uprising prevention strategy, which helps soothe the fears of the rich.) Next they recruit the lower classes into the armed forces to fight wars for the wealthy. (Oops, I meant to say patriotically protect America’s vital economic and political interests.) Later those soldiers can retire to the police force to protect the rich from poor-crime.

It wouldn’t hurt my feelings a bit to take a bite out of their crime. Sin tax is a wonderful opportunity for an enterprising gangster like myself. Corporate-types can’t compete with a dirty black market opportunity.

In some states, the government is the sole liquor distributor. Retailers pay huge license and franchise fees to the state for the privilege of selling the alcohol they bought from the state. Bars and restaurants have to buy from the retailers, pay additional license fees, which are in addition to their own business licenses, sales, property, and if they earn a living, income taxes.

Consumers pay more tax on a pack of cigarettes that the combined revenue of the grower, manufacturer, distributor and retailer combined. To add insult to injury the sin tax is added to the retail price and subjected to a sales tax. Meanwhile the tobacco industry pays income and property taxes at every stop from seed to sale.

Where does all this tax money go? To police departments that prevent poor-crime. To prisons that house poor-criminals. To schools that convert dumb poor-people into wage-slaves for the rich. More importantly it’s a direct deposit into a gangster’s bank account called “opportunity”.

As a gangster, I can solve these problems and become a hero to the unrepresented classes. It wouldn’t be hard to find an over-zealous Marlboro salesman who would be willing to bypass the federal cigarette tax by selling to me through an Indian reservation. (Hey, he’s just trying to work his way up to CEO.) It wouldn’t be hard to buy Tequila in Mexico. (NOTICE to all Illegal Immigrants: While you’re walking across the border, please take a case of Petron with you.)

From there it’s a simple matter of finding an underpaid, disgruntled 7-11 clerk or a bartender. They simply maintain their own inventory of the best-selling cigarette or liquor selling their inventory instead of the store’s to cash customers.

I’m not sure if I can really compete with the corporate or government elite, but that’s part of the gangster attraction for me. I guess when I say I want to be a gangster, what I really mean is that I want an honest, honorable opportunity that makes me a killing, helps the little-guy, and sticks it to the bad-guys (and the bad good-guys.)

Just returned from Napa/Sonoma and found the same story there as everywhere else in the country. People are spending less. Gas prices are inching back up, and in a State where driving is the ONLY way to move, that “inching” up leaves those wallets emptying faster. Top restaurants in the Bay area are cautious. They hope as the warm weather comes and tourism increases they will find their tables once again filled.

As for the wine…there is plenty of it! The highly allocated, limited production wines like Caymus and Shafer are not anymore plentiful but that second and third tier of high end wines are now being released to us as the higher end restaurants in NJ can no longer afford to fill their cellars without the foot traffic to support it. What it means for us is more of those wines that wineries insisted went to the 80-20 rule. That rule has driven us nuts for over the years. The 80-20 rule is 80% of the winery’s allocation in New Jersey market goes to restaurants and 20% to retailers.

The 80-20 rule is counterproductive, especially in our State with so many great BYO’s. I challenge anyone to go into Café Panache in Ramsey and not find some of the best wines from all over the world represented on the tables by diners who appreciate great food with great wine.

For Bottle King, our trip was very successful. Made new friends, solidified established relationships and bought a cellar or two or three or four or more of GREAT values that will be coming over the next few months.

Best wines I tasted: Caymus Special Selection 2004 (courtesy of George Louis at Caymus Vineyards) Clos du Bois Calcaire Russian River Chardonnay 2005 (courtesy of Erik Olsen, Winemaker, Whitehall Lane Reserve Cabernet 2005 (featured in our Club at $69.98!!!!) loaded with black fruit and elegance in its balance and structure. Courtesy of Tom Leonardini, Jr.

Best accommodations: Il Villagio Resort and Spa, Yountville.

Best dinner: The Market, Main Street, St. Helena (Hawaiian Ahi Tuna)

Best beer at Fisherman’s Wharf while watching the sea lions: Anchor Stream; of course!

And what’s the best wine in the store….yep, the wine YOU like the best!

Larry LaScola
General Manager
The Bottle King Group

when i sat down to watch television the other night, francis chan was not on tbn so i did a little channel-surfing. 

on the travel channel, i encountered andrew zimmern (”bizarre foods”) and adam richman (”man vs. food”) together on the same program.  if you are not familiar, both of these gentlemen are renowned for their willingness to eat anything.  both, however, have their specific specialties: zimmern is known for trying (and enjoying) peculiar foods and richman is known for eating vast quantities of almost anything.  on the program i happened upon, zimmern was introducing richman to the joys of lutefisk.  the only reason i know anything about lutefisk is that i am a fan of garrison keillor’s writings.  in fact, i will let keillor describe lutefisk for you (from his book, “pontoon”): 

“Lutefisk is cod that has been dried in a lye solution. It looks like the desiccated cadavers of squirrels run over by trucks, but after it is soaked and reconstituted and the lye is washed out and it’s cooked, it looks more fish-related, though with lutefisk, the window of success is small. It can be tasty, but the statistics aren’t on your side. It is the hereditary delicacy of Swedes and Norwegians who serve it around the holidays, in memory of their ancestors, who ate it because they were poor. Most lutefisk is not edible by normal people. It is reminiscent of the afterbirth of a dog or the world’s largest chunk of phlegm.”

on the aforementioned tv show, zimmern coerced richman into taking a tentative taste.  after the compulsory comments and facial expressions, andrew zimmern made one of the most ridiculous comments ever uttered: “it’s an acquired taste.”

we’ve all heard it, but have you thought of how absurd that is?  you are basically saying, “i put something disgusting and repulsive in my mouth over and over until i finally became impervious to the revulsion it caused initially.”  why on earth would someone do that?

i thought about this while i was mowing yesterday (what else are you going to think about while doing yardwork?  i tried to think about god but my mind kept drifting to this subject).  i was reminded of a recent debate on “out of ur” about alcohol (if you like, you can check it out here and here).  the purpose of this post is not to discuss my views on alcohol (although we could do that one day), but to apply the convoluted logic of “it’s an acquired taste.” 

look…i know why people drink.  to get a buzz.  to relax.  to take the edge off.  so, then, what is the point of a glass of wine with dinner?  some people apparently love wine, but honestly, didn’t it taste better when it was just grape juice (before it “soured”)?  i have friends (some pagans and some liberated believers) who tell me they just love the taste of beer.  i’m not buying it.  i can’t get past the smell, much less “enjoy” the taste.  one of my best friends tried to introduce me to the joys of single malt scotch.  last time we were together, he poured me half-an-inch in a tumbler (about $19 worth) and urged me to sip it slowly.  to me, it tastes like a hospital smells.  i felt like i was tasting insect repellent.  i cannot do it. 

if you’re telling me i need to keep trying (and try again) until i get past the revulsion stage to where i can tolerate it and maybe one day drink it without scrunching up my face (and not to gut drunk, mind you, but just to have a drink), then i have one question:  why?

i’d sooner try lutefisk.  you see, it’s an acquired taste. 

The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration launched a new website Monday aimed at helping people get through the current economic crisis without putting a bullet in their head.

Matthew Perry?

The guide provides information about how to effectively manage stress as well as how to spot signs of alcoholism, drug addiction, and depression.   The site also contains links for troubled homeowners that may help to alleviate some of their stress.

It may not look pretty right now, but the United States will get through this recession.  Here is a tip: You can actually make money off of this recession if you do a little research.  If you are particularly stressed about finances, talk to some of your friends and try to get it on the toxic assets that the government will be selling.  They are going to be backed 97% by the FDIC.

RWP Rating: Normal

Full Story: http://www.samhsa.gov/economy/

From: Betty Crocker
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Makes: 8 servings

Ingredients
1/3 cup sugar
2-2/3 cups fresh orange juice, chilled
2 bottles (750 ml each) champagne or Catawba grape juice, chilled
8 orange slices

Directions
1. Place sugar and orange juice in blender container. Cover and blend on medium speed about 15 seconds or until foamy.

2. Pour 1/3 cup into each of 8 tall glasses; add about 1 cup champagne to each. Garnish with orange slice.

Not everyone spends a lot of money on wine. And many have stopped buying expensive wine and buy “everyday” wines for every day.

But even if your budget now limits yourself to, say, $10 per day for wine, you can still enjoy fine wines, perhaps not as often, but it’s still within reach.

If you have a $10 limit (or $15 or $20), there are many regions that offer top quality for lower prices. Portugal, Argentina, lesser-known (but not lesser-quality) regions of Italy, such as Sicily or Umbria and others. The Languedoc region of France is another.

But there is also another way to get fine wines. Assuming your price point is a $10 bottle of wine per day. This does not mean you can never spend over $10 for wine, but that your average bottle is $10. So if you spend $8 on a bottle, that allows you to spend $12 on another bottle. If you buy two bottles for $8, you can either spend $12 each on two bottles, or buy one bottle for $14. But a case of this $8 wine, and you can spend up to $34 on a single bottle and have a special bottle for a special occasion without going you’re your $10 limit. And so on. And there are indeed great wines for less than $10.

For instance:

2006 Bodegas Castano Monastrell, from Yecla in Spain. It’s only $6.99! Is it good? Well, here’s what Stephen Tanzer said about it: “Dark purple. Luscious blackberry and blueberry aromas are at once expansive and precise, with sexy floral and spice qualities adding complexity. Juicy dark fruit flavors deliver a sexy wallop of sweetness, with no rough edges or animal, earth or herbal character. This very fresh wine finishes with impressive cling and length. And the price is unreal.” (Sept/Oct ‘07)

Or this:

2007 Tormaresca Neprica, Puglia from Italy. $8.95. 90 points and a “Best Buy” designate, Wine Enthusiast: “You cannot get better value than this. Ripe berry notes, cassis, molasses and cola serve as a preface for the thick texture and smooth density that this wine delivers to the palate.

There are many such wines. The prices listed may vary in your area (these prices were noted in California), but there will always be bargains in wine that will allow you to drink top quality wines without paying top dollar.

Another way to find bargains is to look for closeouts. A closeout does not mean the wine is bad and the retailer is looking to unload it on unsuspecting customers. (It may, but not if it’s a reputable store.) A new vintage may be arriving and there’s no room on the shelf for the older one, or there might be less than a case and the store prefers selling case lots.

But a little bit of diligence can yield some remarkable bargains, introduce you to new wine areas and add a whole lot of flavor to your wine drinking. There’s no reason to sacrifice quality, and this approach allows you to maintain your budget even if you splurge every now and then. So for 6 days a week if you find great wines at $8 each, then you can have a wine for $16 each on 3 Sundays and a wine for $35-$40 once a month. And you are still within your $10 per bottle limit.

Hey peeps, look. Though we are miles away, but creativity will not limit us from toasting to each other at 2am through webcam!!!  Cheers to our friendship and buddy-hood!

See you back in town! Meantime, let’s work towards our goal of great results in uni and big bucks!

++

At the moment with my crappy little PC system I actually get better FPS on World of Warcraft running XP. So usage of Linux will be put on hold until after my PC upgrade.