Monday, June 26, 2006

Who doesn't love technology?


I've seen quite a few wine gadgets floating around out there, but the PDA Sommelier one seems to actually be cool and useful. This is a software that you can download to your Palm for around 30 bucks. I like that it doesn't get wine specific. If you ask it what goes with lamb, it suggests a varietal instead of a wine that the software developer has stake in.




Each section enables you to find information and get recommendations on one of 53,000 wines. My favorite section is definitely the Food/Wine Pairing section. Most people I know are always asking the same question. "What wine goes well with this?" With PDA Sommelier you have some guidance in the area of food pairing. You select the type of food you're eating and PDA Sommelier suggests a wine. I was suprised to find that when I selected "Fish" PDA Sommelier prompted me to be more specific about the kind of fish I was choosing and gave me a long list of choices. iConcepts, Inc. has obviously done their homework in putting this program together.

The only downside that I can see to this is that it doesn't eliminate the fact that if you are in a nice restaurant you still end up looking like a complete and total toolbag playing on your palm pilot trying to figure out what wine pairs best with crab cakes. I suggest getting a hold of the menu beforehand and use the software before you go.


Crazy Aussies!
Beer theft happens everywhere. Whether you return from a bathroom trip to find your cooler half-empty or you come back from the bathroom and the waitress has cleared your pint that was half full, it unfortunately happens. However, in Australia, it happens on a slightly larger scale. It seems as though a company has just realized that someone has been stealing about a pallet of beer a week for at least 2 years. I'm wondering if the dude in charge of inventory was drinking himself to not notice such a huge quantity of beer missing. Seriously? A pallet a week for over 2 years??? Those must be some happy warehouse employees ;) Police are still investigating. Full Story


Another Blog??
It seems as though everyone is getting into the blog game these days. Hell, if I've got one you could get one too! Miller has created their own blog aimed at industry professionals to keep them abreast of the ever changing beverage industry. So, for those of you who want an incredibly biased, self promoting blog about Miller and the rest of their brands, head on over to let them brainwash you.

Name Game

Let's play a game shall we? Can you guess the famous winemaker in this picture? Here's a hint....he's holding one of his wines. Mmmmmm!!

Post your guesses in the comments suggestion. If you get it right I'll give you props on Wednesdays blog.

Baby Bubblies

Check out the sweet new splits from Nicholas Feuillatte. I love it. Marketing genius. Yes I know it's geared towards women but they are way too cool. I love the fact that Feuillatte (a very decent wine for the money) is packaging splits that have a wrist strap already attached. It is a pain in the arse to get everything all rounded up and taken down to the beach (especially if you have a baby) so to be able to put your champagne around your wrist is ingenius for me. I can also definitely see us using these to tailgate at the Panthers games this season. Worst case scenario, if you get too drunk to find your bubbly, just put it around your wrist!! The blue is the Feuillatte Brut and the pink is their rose.Full Story

This is what happens when hell freezes over.

It seems that Coors Molson has developed a new beer to be marketed in the UK in an attempt to get the pub goers to drink cold beer as opposed to the temperature that it should be served. Coors has developed a system to serve beer at sub-zero temperatures.

Spokesman for the Campaign for Real Ale, Iain Loe, said: "If you serve any yellow liquid at that temperature you could probably drink it. Cynics would say that it was just a way of concealing the fact there's no taste there. And if there are any off flavors, you are not going to notice."

Ha! I love the fact that the guy refers to it as "yellow liquid". He's right though, piss from a dog with rabies would taste just fine that cold. Anything served at -4 degrees Farenheit could not possibly have any flavor. Now that I think about it, that would be the only way you could get me to drink a Coors.

Here's how they do it....

To serve the beer, a glass is placed on a turntable spinning at 45rpm while a jet of cold water sprays the glass, chilling it down to five degrees. The beer then takes 20 seconds to pour. Two seconds before completion, a sonic pulse is sent into the beer from the nozzle to create bubbles which help to form large ice crystals.

Cool technology, yes. But Coors Slushies?? Is that necessary?

No review today.
I had a long weekend of boozing and am paying for it today. I'm out. See you on Wednesday.

Cheers!