Wine around the world

By Calvin Palmer

The Houston father whose car went out of control into a flooded bayou, killing five children, had traces of PCP, marijuana and alcohol in his blood.

Prosecutors had already revealed in court that Chanton Jenkins’ blood alcohol level was 0.079 and 0.082 some 2½ hours after the crash on April 18, when he veered off Greens Road into 9 feet of fast-moving water in a Harris County Flood Control drainage ditch.

A source close to the investigation revealed that the results of blood tests became known on Tuesday and also confirmed the presence of the drugs in Jenkins’ blood.

The 32-year-old unemployed father-of-seven is being held in jail and faces five charges of intoxication manslaughter.

Dreton Thompson, aged 11, Malik Barlow, aged seven, Devin Jenkins, aged four, Hallie Jenkins, aged four, and Karrinton Jenkins, aged one, were killed in the accident. Autopsies revealed they had all drowned. None of them was wearing a seatbelt or strapped into a child seat.

Jenkins was the father of three of the victims, as well as the only child to survive — 10-year-old girl Jada Barnes who has since been placed in foster care. Jenkins’ adult brother also survived.

PCP, or phencyclidine, is known as angel dust. It can cause hallucinations, disorientation, lack of sensation and bursts of superhuman strength. Users may be impaired by the drug for up to 24 hours.

[Based on a report by the Houston Chronicle.]

Throughout my many years as a Sommelier I have made a point of always carrying wines from this particular Winemaker. I guess you could say that Randall produced the first “cult” wine that piqued my attention. Indeed 14 years ago the very idea of a Rhône styled blend from California (replete with a funky label) was something truly special. So obsessed was the young Jamie Drummond with this wine that he was occasionally seen sporting a Cigare Volant T-Shirt (perish the thought of me being caught in branded gear these days!).

Randall Grahm, Winemaker at Bonny Doon, was one of the first of the so-called “Rhône Rangers” and was so obviously an inspiration to so many Californian Winemakers. He also had a profound influence over the way I began to look at wine. Randall (through his Monty Pythonesque newsletters) showed me that wine could be fun, that wine could be irreverent, that wine didn’t always have to be so damn serious… a philosophy that I hold true to this very day.

You can find a little story I wrote about my rather comedic interactions with one of Randall’s wines here.

Randall Grahm and Jamie

If you never have you should really check out his website, full of wildly interesting nonsense about Randall’s takes on the world of wine at www.bonnydoonvineyard.com

Listen to my interview with Randall Grahm, “Grand Master of the Dooniverse” Bonny Doon, California right here.

You can either stream it through the built-in Flash player or

Right-click and “Save Link As” if you’d like to save it to your hard drive…

Running Time: 31:24 | File size: 19.8MB

If you’re my friend on Facebook or read LENNDEVOURS regularly, you probably have heard about the upcoming and  first TasteCamp EAST event that has me writing this to you from Midtown Manhattan.  I came in a day early to be sure that I don’t miss any of the fun.

Since getting back from the Wine Bloggers Conference last fall, many of the East Coast bloggers in attendance have been “harassing” Lenn about taking the lead and organizing a reunion for those of us on the East Coast so here we are, thanks to Lenn.

Not only am I looking forward to touring and tasting the wines of Long Island and having fun with my fellow bloggers, but now I see that May is rose’ season throughout Long Island wine country...yes, I love rose’ almost as much as Riesling, so there’s yet another reason to be here.

I plan to blog when possible, but also look for photos on my Facebook profile as we go along.

We visited our second country on the trip, Vatican City.  We toured the Vatican Museum, thoroughly enjoyed the Sistine Chapel, and walked around in St. Peter’s Basilica.  After a looooong day there with no lunch, we made our way to Campo de’ Fiori for dinner.  I guess they don’t sell wine by the glass very often, its sold frequently by the bottle or sometimes by the half bottle.   Well after all that walking, Emily’s feet were sore and she was ready for a glass of wine, and if the only thing available was a half bottle, so be it.  Unfortunately Jim stuck to his coke light and Emily had to finish the wine on her own.  So we had a light hearted dinner and the walk back to the hotel seemed a lot easier for Emily than ever before.  Maybe the Italians are on to something with this wine . . . we finished the day with a cannoli from Piazza de la Republica.  Overall a great last day in Rome.  On to Venice!

In Campo de' Fiori -and Emily was the one with all the wine???

David and Goliath - all guys T-shirts $10 this week

David and Goliath make neat T-shirts. Don’t be put off by the dollar-symbol - whilst buying from the US isn’t as good a deal as it was a few years ago, if you buy a 4 or more T-shirts, it still works out at less than £12 per shirt.

Play.com - up to 80% off DVDs

Having been on a bit of  a DVD spree myself recently, I wish I’d waited a little while for this offer!

Argos - special offers on Wii console bundles this bank holiday

Why spend all that money on a PS3 when you can get more fun games on a Wii for a lot less money. This is perhaps the perfect way to treat yourself after exams and for the inevitable rainy summer.

Drive supercars for a day for £50

Lambos, Ferraris, Porsches and more. Anyone fancy this next month? I can drive…

Tesco - Any 2 70cl bottles of  spirits for £18

Available on Bell’s Original whisky, Captain Morgan’s Dark Rum, Gordon’s Gin,
Smirnoff Red Label, Malibu, Archers Peach or Pimm’s No 1.

Sainsbury’s - BOGOF on Durex condoms

For those of you who don’t suffer the non-Durex condoms of the students’ unions or the clinic, this could save you some serious money depending how much fun you’re having… Available on Sensations, Easy-on Tingle and Pleasuremax.