Wednesday, August 9, 2006

I'm not buying it!

The wine world is chock full of gadgets these days and this is one of the funniest I have seen in such a while. A physician by trade, Patrick Farrell claims that he has an invention that will improve the quality of a wine simply by pouring wine into a glass. Let me explain…

He has created a device that will fit around the neck of a bottle that uses magnets to enhance the wine.

Farrell started out tying magnets to the neck of a
bottle at the urging of business acquaintances who were distributing magnets to try to improve water quality. At the time, he thought the chance magnets would work on wine was “about the same as seeing pigs fly.”
But, he says, “I took the thing home, put it on a bottle of shiraz from Australia and was shocked to see it made it taste smoother and fruitier. So then I went down to my cellar and I got a bottle of Bordeaux from the Medoc and it made it taste softer and fruitier.”
Eventually, he came up with a molded plastic device that looks like a regular non-drip pourer and has an air hole to speed up oxygenation. That intensifies the effect of the wizard and differentiates it from other magnetic devices on the market such as The Wine Clip, which clasps around the bottle neck, says Farrell.

Um…magnets?? I guessing the pourer at the top actually aerates the wine and that’s what softens the wine as opposed to the magnets. But let’s see what the critics have to say.

“Testimonials are irrelevant. Tastings are not proof,” says Ball, a professor at Cleveland State University, and “amateur wine snob,” who says magnetic fields aren’t strong enough to change the shape of tannins.
“All that magnetic field is doing is separating you from your money,” says Ball, who won’t be trying the Bev Wizard any time soon.

Awesome! At $30 for the gadget you’re better off buying a $5 corkscrew and a $25 bottle of wine!!

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14229497/

Check it out!!

This really promises to be a cool event. I hope to see some of you there.

Seven North Carolina breweries - including all five from Buncombe County - are teaming up this month to host a Slow Food beer-tasting event at the downtown Asheville Brewing Company, 77 Coxe Ave.
Slow Food is an international group that works to preserve food traditions and sustainable agriculture. Proceeds from the beer tasting will be used to send local delegates to the Slow Food Terra Madre gathering, Oct. 26-30 in Turin, Italy.
The tasting, at 5 p.m. Aug. 27, will feature beers each from Asheville Brewing, Highland Brewing, Pisgah Brewing, French Broad Brewing, Green Man Brewing (all from the Asheville area) Catawba Brewing of Glen Alpine and Foothills Brewing of Winston-Salem.
Each brewery will have at least two beers at the event, and Asheville Brewing will likely serve all of their ales, said brewmaster Doug Riley. Beers will be served in four-ounce samples, and the evening includes pizza.
Tickets are $20, on sale now at Asheville Brewing and its sister operation, Asheville Pizza and Brewing, 675 Merrimon Ave.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060809/NEWS01/60809012/1119

So, things have been really hectic at work and with dial up access only (and limited at that) blogging is very difficult. Anywho I am not giving up on it, just lagging behind. I expect the next post to be on Sunday unless the heavens open up and smile upon me. Tomorrow I am going to a Highland Beer dinner at Ganache so I'll post the deets then. Lay-tah!!
Cheers!