How to properly open a bottle of bubbly with a saber is an awesome entry from the French Culinary Institute's tech blog. Features a detailed video how-to with 1000 frames per second super slo-mo shots of proper saber technique. Impress your drunken friends at your next party with the ultimate sommelier trick!
posted by mathowie on Jul 3, 2009 - 72 comments

"Cochon 555 is a culinary event featuring 5 chefs, 5 pigs, and 5 winemakers in a friendly competition for a cause. Each chef will prepare a 70 pound heritage pig from head to toe for 200 enthusiasts." (flash site) [more inside]
posted by mkb on Apr 15, 2009 - 18 comments

The first female White House chef, a naturalized Philippina named Cristeta Comerford, was appointed by George W. Bush - who told Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, "I am reminded of the great talent of our Philippine Americans when I eat dinner at the White House." Despite the urging of American food icon Alice Waters, President Obama has left Comerford in charge of the White House kitchens - though he's keeping quiet about it. But on the basis of the wines served at Obama's Inauguration Day lunch, oenophiles are still hoping for change. (more First Food posts here and here )
posted by Joe Beese on Feb 7, 2009 - 56 comments

The town of Jerome was incorporated on March 8, 1889 when Arizona was still a territory. A mining town of the real 'wild west' variety, Jerome was incorporated after three devastating fires within an eighteen month period that nearly destroyed the town. Jerome was a wild town with little law enforcement, building codes, or real government. It earned the title "The Wickedest Town in America" by the New York Sun in 1903 for being a hotbed of gambling, prostitution, and vice. [more inside]
posted by Bageena on Dec 2, 2008 - 23 comments

The debate over wine in Tennessee grocery stores rages on! Both sides have reasonable arguments. We've all heard that wine is good for us, but won't anyone think of the children? Popular opinion seems to favor the bill but there has been a lot of back and forth already.
posted by JVA on Dec 1, 2008 - 80 comments

How do different wines taste? An interesting visualization tries to answer the question of what is different about a Shiraz vs. a Pinot vs. a Cab, built from scanning keywords on 5,000 tasting notes over a five year period.
posted by mathowie on Oct 31, 2008 - 42 comments

Codeweavers is offering their product line for free until midnight Central time tonight. They implement versions of WINE, which allows one to run Windows programs under Mac OSX and Linux, including implementations focused on running games. [more inside]
posted by Kwine on Oct 28, 2008 - 40 comments

Wildman of the Loire, Didier Dagueneau RIP Didier Dagueneau, iconoclastic motorcycle driving beard-sporting winegrower of France's Loire valley, died today in a private plane crash. Dagueneau pushed winemaking in his region to a new level; his Silex (100 percent sauvignon blanc), farmed biodynamically on flinty soil, is a profound wine. I recently tasted the '99 Silex, one word: incroyable. A wine that redefines sauvignon blanc and makes you happy to be alive. Dagueneau also pushed younger colleagues like the cidermaker Eric Bordelet to pursue their craft at a higher level: the result is Bordelet's Granit pear cider, from 300 year old biodynamically farmed pear trees.
posted by Izzy on Sep 17, 2008 - 45 comments

Saturday is Mead Day, a day to make, drink, and celebrate mead (honey wine). [more inside]
posted by maurice on Jul 28, 2008 - 39 comments

Since 1945, one of the great wineries of the world, Château Mouton Rothschild, has commissioned great painters, sculptors, and artists to illustrate their wine labels. [more inside]
posted by mattbucher on Jun 27, 2008 - 13 comments

Wrath, Greed, Pride, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, Sloth

Don't forget your display!

Made by: Hamilton Design

(via)
posted by sir_rubixalot on Jun 11, 2008 - 22 comments

Wine jelly. Yes, wine jelly. It isn't bacon flavored, but you can make it yourself and its damn good. Distilled beverages can also be made into jellies, though they tend to be mixed with fruit juice.
posted by sotonohito on Jun 7, 2008 - 11 comments

How the '47 Cheval Blanc, a defective wine from an aberrant year, got so good.
posted by veedubya on May 30, 2008 - 58 comments

The best-known version of that joyful ode to getting smashed, Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee, would surely be the Jerry Lee Lewis rendition, and Memphis rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette recorded a hopping little version of the tune as well. But the song was written and originally recorded by Stick (aka "Sticks") McGhee, who adapted it from a chant he learned during his stint in the Army. And yes, "spo-dee-o-dee" was a substitute for another word, which, though fine for the Army, wasn't exactly radio friendly. Stick wrote a few other tunes in celebration of the alcoholic beverage, including "Six To Eight" and "Jungle Juice". And as has been pointed out previously, the song title was likely the inspiration for the alcoholic concoction known as the "spodi". Drink up!
posted by flapjax at midnite on Apr 13, 2008 - 8 comments

Italy produced and sold at least 70 million litres of cheap wine containing acid, manure and fertiliser, Italian weekly L'Espresso said on Friday largely blaming organised crime in the south. [more inside]
posted by preparat on Apr 9, 2008 - 54 comments

Spring is the perfect time to start planting your grape crop - First choose your grape and then your training system. Don't get too excited though, it will take about three years before you start getting any usable fruit to make your own homemade wine (pdf). So you might pass the time with some alternative wine making recipes. -Previously
posted by mincus on Mar 25, 2008 - 21 comments

Some time this month, French wine will once again be transported by sail. As the Guardian reports today, French vineyards concerned about climate change are about to make life much easier for oenophiles wishing to reduce their carbon footprint. Later this month, the Belem, a 19th century barque will sail from Languedoc to Dublin with 60,000 bottles of Bordeaux. [more inside]
posted by [expletive deleted] on Feb 24, 2008 - 85 comments

The Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has a nice collection of online exhibits, including ones on Roman glassmaking, the ancient history of wine, and a history of body modification. (Other exhibits have appeared on Mefi previously.)
posted by Upton O'Good on Jan 13, 2008 - 3 comments

USB Wine. French comprehension not required.
posted by drdanger on Dec 15, 2007 - 39 comments

Jack Keller's winemaking site has not only the basics of home winemaking in 5 parts [12345], but also information on more advanced topics, including acidity, blending, and using a hydrometer. Equally interesting is his extensive collection of recipes for making wines out of things other than grapes, including dandelions and other edible flowers, wild plants (including nettles!), cabbages and beets, tea and coffee, mint, pomegranates, and pumpkins. A complete list of recipes is here, if you'd like to click through alphabetically, and a list of specially-requested recipes is here (scroll down a bit).
posted by Upton O'Good on Oct 28, 2007 - 11 comments

Two tales of fraud from the New Yorker. [more inside]
posted by billysumday on Aug 27, 2007 - 39 comments

Do You Taste What I Taste? - The first of Slate's 3-part series on the physiology of taste [parts 2, 3]
posted by Gyan on Jul 15, 2007 - 13 comments

Gunman bursts into party, tastes cheese and wine, gets hug, then leaves.
posted by Alex404 on Jul 13, 2007 - 56 comments

Put off by the stuffy old world of wine? Try watching Gary Vaynerchuk's Wine Library TV. (Bewarned: you might end up a Vayniac.)
posted by progosk on Jul 4, 2007 - 16 comments

Where the South Really Begins [Flash] Forget the Mason-Dixon Line. The South really starts at the Sweet Tea Line. [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha on Jun 8, 2007 - 98 comments

Ben and Nate do Asia...or does Asia do them? Ben and Nate are a couple of food and wine freaks on a mission from God: to find the best bowl of noodles in Asia...if they survive to tell about it.
posted by darkstar on Feb 20, 2007 - 12 comments

Know thy wine labels. Know where your Clos-de-Bieze is from, and the difference between the Garganega and Grignolino grapes. Do you go with the 2000 or the 2001 d'Yquem? Just remember that brut is drier than dry and trockenbeerenauslese ist nicht trocken.
Buy your wine en primeur or from the Froogle of wines. But beware of the worst website in winedom.
posted by noble_rot on Jan 21, 2007 - 15 comments

Historic Glass Bottles. Bill Lindsey of the BLM created a tremendous resource to assist you in identifying and dating most utilitarian glass bottles and jars produced in the United States and Canada between the early 1800s and 1950s. Check out information on glassmaking, bottle dating, and bottle types. Of particular interest to me are the pages on liquor, wine, and beer bottles.
posted by monju_bosatsu on Oct 7, 2006 - 14 comments

Moldovan wine was famous throughout the former Soviet Union. The centerpiece of its industry was (and is) a huge network of caverns known as Cricova where Stalin supposedly stored the remnants of Goering’s wine collection. The collapse of the Soviet Union brought extreme economic hardship to Moldova. In the midst of this hardship, the Russian Government imposed a ban on Moldovan (and Georgian) wines and cut off access to their largest export market. You might want to consider their plight if you visit the liquor store this weekend.
posted by jason's_planet on Aug 12, 2006 - 11 comments

The more than 100 wineries of Virginia are varied and roam the entire state from the Chesapeake Bay to the mountains and back. You can even find wine on the lake created to be a nuclear plant cooler: Lake Anna. Virginia wines are even becoming competitive with California wines. My jaunt through winery links today, though, was inspired by Ingleside Winery, a small winery, right outside my hometown.
posted by SuzySmith on Aug 6, 2006 - 20 comments

How to use a cellphone without looking like an asshole. Or maybe you need a primer on ordering wine instead. Once again, Waiter has you covered.
posted by kyleg on Jun 27, 2006 - 123 comments

A Vine Romance I spite of his critics Robert Parker has vastly improved the wine experience for all of us!
posted by sameasthem on Jun 17, 2006 - 10 comments

Swine penis. Swine Penis. Swine penis. Penis whine. Penis wine. [a little nsfw]
posted by jessamyn on Apr 15, 2006 - 49 comments

A vessel to fill with mirth. Drinking vessels from days of yore, including Lord Byron's skull cup, a fuddling cup, a black jack (leather cup), a pot crown ( a precursor to the beer helmet?), and a whistle cup. The site contains lots of other wine history as well. Ah, but they didn't have lover's cups back then. (via Cynical-C)
posted by caddis on Mar 24, 2006 - 5 comments

It took 30 years to spread from California to New York but the Trader Joe's grocery store chain is finally making a foothold in the Big Apple. The deniznes of NYC will now be able to obsess about something new. Not everyone is a fan, but maybe it's just that they haven't yet tried the Two-buck Chuck.
posted by scblackman on Mar 8, 2006 - 113 comments

Bumwine.com: "Call them bum wines, street wines, fortified wines, wino wines, or twist-cap wines. Whatever you call these beverages for the economical drunkard, this page explores the top five. So curl up on a heating duct and enjoy..." I stumbled (sober, honestly) across Bumwine.com while researching the right beverage to enliven a fictional description of lewd drunkenness in an email to a friend. It's an informative, sometimes humorous, reference site--historical and otherwise--to the world of inexpensive wines with useful links to other sites and articles, like this one (including a tutorial) from the Michigan Daily.
posted by josephtate on Mar 7, 2006 - 52 comments

"Champagne" in a can. An offer you can refuse?
posted by CunningLinguist on Dec 31, 2005 - 66 comments

Top 100 Wines of 2005.
posted by The Jesse Helms on Dec 14, 2005 - 58 comments

Kiwi Actually French: Film At 11. The French wine industry is notably protective of domestic producers' rights to use terms like Champagne and Burgundy, both geographic indications of areas of France. The Institut National des Appellation d’Origine even protested against the US registration of the trademark Goats do Roam (sounding similar to Côtes du Rhône). Now one winemaker, Lacheteau, which sells French wine under the brand Kiwi Cuvee, has successfully scared off a New Zealand winery from using the "Kiwi" appelation in the EU.
posted by afiler on Dec 6, 2005 - 24 comments

European Wine Fighting For Survival
posted by Gyan on Nov 7, 2005 - 35 comments

Ted Allen interview! The food and wine expert on Queer Eye has a new cookbook out, and he talks to Slashfood about...well, everything: favorite foods, music, books, beer, birds, and other things.
posted by braun_richard on Oct 20, 2005 - 15 comments

Six Drinks that Changed the World. Beer, Wine, Coffee . . . Their impact upon the history of the World. via GeekPress
posted by caddis on Oct 9, 2005 - 50 comments

Do you like claret? Wine reviewer writes haiku. (More fun than Parker.)
posted by Vidiot on Sep 26, 2005 - 9 comments

Did you know that Merlot = cherry + plum + raspberry + strawberry + Dr. Pepper? Neither did I. But at the Jelly Belly Wine Bar, you can recreate your favorite varietals in confectionery form.
posted by Vidiot on Aug 10, 2005 - 20 comments

Raise a glass! Today the Supreme Court struck down laws in Michigan and New York (and by extension, probably those of 22 other states) that forbid interstate sales of wine. The ruling is based on the Commerce Clause, which allows only congress to regulate interstate trade, and which today is held to trump the 21st Amendment. Though some allege that online sales make it easier for minors to buy liquor, the majority found little evidence that this is a major problem. Will protectionist liquor sales laws be felled by this ruling, too? Time (and further litigation) will tell. [MI]
posted by rkent on May 16, 2005 - 30 comments

With My Special Partner, I can drink my way back to the 7th Millenium BCE for ancient music, and the fish’ll tell me how to get home.
posted by dfowler on Apr 13, 2005 - 13 comments

Free Online Wine Course from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). We’ll give you a sample of our in-depth, on-site courses by taking you on a virtual journey through three of the world’s top grape varieties.
posted by crunchland on Apr 8, 2005 - 2 comments

How deep is your love? Experts may claim that size is meaningless; science now proves that friendship can be measured in millimeters
posted by IndigoJones on Mar 2, 2005 - 17 comments

Which celebs make the best wine? Slate notes that Sofia Coppola, Sting, Olivia Newton John, Ernie Els and Bob Dylan are among the household names now putting out wines. Sadly, they didn't note the only celebrity wine I've ever had, which was surprisingly good. Anybody trie any of these?
posted by soyjoy on Feb 17, 2005 - 33 comments

China's Latest Innovation: Fish Wine
The French used grapes, Russians fermented potatoes, Koreans put ginseng in their drink and Mexicans distilled cactus plants to make fiery tequila.
Now China has made wine out of fish.
posted by fenriq on Jan 31, 2005 - 43 comments