MetaFilter posts tagged with wine

Goodbye Gastronaut

Elmore — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:25:05 -0800

Keith Floyd , the original Celebrity chef and the most flamboyant of gastronauts, has passed away from a heart attack at the age of 65. Floyd was known not just for enjoying a drink while he cooked, but also for making TV real. Slow cooked beef in red wine How to cook mussels Pheasant in Mead sauce Toulouse Cassolet Beef with Oysters and Guinness Fish stew Keith Meets Keith, which aired last night, for those who have access to Channel 4's 4oD (strong language). Keith's blog also has instructions on how to roast a turkey.

The cork is dead, long live the cork!

Brian B. — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:43:56 -0800

Alternative wine closures are being resisted. Alcoa's new glass stopper with Dupont's vinyl ring costs nearly the same as a cork (50¢ to 70¢ each), but requires new bottling machines. Although cheaper screw caps also prevent undesirable compounds from tainting wine, and eliminates the need for horizontal storage, they change the purist aspect of the bottle and are not biodegradable. Naturalists point out the problem of having cork forests disappear in the Mediterranean region from low demand.

World's next top brands set to rise in the east

nam3d — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:09:02 -0800

The world's next Coca-Cola or Starbucks is more likely to emerge from Asia, the Middle East or South America They comprise Juan Valdez Café, a Colombian coffee chain; Almarai, a Saudi dairy and fruit-juice company based in Riyadh; Patchi, a Lebanese boutique chocolate chain; ChangYu, China's biggest wine producer; and United Spirits, India's largest liquor group, which owns Scotch whisky Whyte and Mackay.

Saberriffic

mathowie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:09:41 -0800

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!

Extremely Highbrow Baconmania

mkb — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:11:11 -0800

"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) The Cochon 555 series has 10 events scheduled of which 5 remain, culminating in the double-sized Grand Cochon. Fair warning: the photo gallery on the site isn't safe for those who don't want to see piggy parts. Foodista has a better photo set focusing exclusively on the end products.

Grapes we can believe in

Joe Beese — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:59:16 -0800

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 )

The Wickedest Town in the West

Bageena — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:37:19 -0800

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. Jerome is the town of stories. The same fires that plagued the town plagued the mine. Strikes at the United Verde Mine lead to forced deportation of the miners at gunpoint. Capitalizing women opened bordellos. The population grew to a then-staggering 15,000 residents before the price of copper dropped and the mines went bust. In 1953 they closed, and the population dropped. Jerome is now known as an art destination, with more than 30 galleries and working studios. The Old Jerome High School is home to many artists and their open studios. The few hotels there are rumored to be haunted. The town currently boasts a population of 343, including Maynard James Kennan of Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer fame. He resides in the small town full time... making wine.

Why not wine?

JVA — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:09:41 -0800

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.

How do wines taste?

mathowie — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:42:37 -0800

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.

Free Codeweavers Products!

Kwine — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:35:28 -0800

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. This has been all over slashdot and digg today, and the traffic to the Codeweavers site has apparently been insane. I thought it might be a community service to post it here if you didn't catch it elsewhere.

Wildman of the Loire, Didier Dagueneau RIP

Izzy — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:52:10 -0800

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.

Mead Day 2008

maurice — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:59:50 -0800

Saturday is Mead Day, a day to make, drink, and celebrate mead (honey wine). There's an official recipe but if that doesn't strike your fancy you can select from lots of other recipes. Browse some historical recipes or try making the designed-for-beginners Joe's Ancient Orange. Mead making can be easy or complicated but there are mailing lists, discussion boards, and books to help you out. Don't want to try making mead? Maybe you can order online. Or maybe there's a meadery near you.

Mouton Rothschild artist labels

mattbucher — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:04:12 -0800

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. Artists from Picasso to Warhol to Prince Charles have contributed a painting to the labels. The link ends at 2004, but the 2005 label was done by Italian sculpter Guiseppe Penone; I'm not sure about the 2006 label as it is still a young wine.

7 deadly glasses

sir_rubixalot — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:51:52 -0800

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

Don't forget your display!

Made by: Hamilton Design

(via)

Wine Jelly!

sotonohito — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:55:31 -0800

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.

The Greatest Wine on the Planet

veedubya — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:00:14 -0800

How the '47 Cheval Blanc, a defective wine from an aberrant year, got so good.

Wine motherfucker, drinkin' wine.

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:46:46 -0800

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!

Manure-y bouquet, with pronounced hydrochloric acidity

preparat — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:10:53 -0800

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. Original article from L'Espresso (in Italian).

Grapes to Wine

mincus — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:35:11 -0800

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

A New Age of Sail?

[expletive deleted] — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 15:55:33 -0800

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. In other cargo-sail news, DHL and SkySails recently announced the first commercial shipment to use a towing kite to reduce carbon emissions. Pictures of the MS Beluga Skysails underway can be found here. Shipping cargo by sail and SkySails previously on AskMe and on the Blue.

Online archaeology and anthropology exhibits

Upton O'Good — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:06:16 -0800

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 pre vio us ly.)

Measure your bandwidth in liters.

drdanger — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:21:40 -0800

USB Wine. French comprehension not required.

Winemaking

Upton O'Good — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:26:26 -0800

Jack Keller's winemaking site has not only the basics of home winemaking in 5 parts [1 2 3 4 5], 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).

Something smells rotten

billysumday — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:45:59 -0800

Two tales of fraud from the New Yorker. [more inside]

I smell a rat|dog|cat|mouse

Gyan — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:24:02 -0800

Do You Taste What I Taste? - The first of Slate's 3-part series on the physiology of taste [parts 2, 3]