Hidden Treasures in Hidden Treasure Chests

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“Hunting Wines” field team

The Animal Planet show “Finding Bigfoot” is fun to watch except we never get to see the critter. Storage Wars, Antiques Roadshow, Bering Sea Gold would be nothing without the payoff. Show me the buried treasure. The same principle holds when hunting for worthy wines at even more worthy prices. Here is the premiere episode of Hunting Wines. Continue Reading »

Waikiki: Wasteland / Wonderland

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Hotel Street action ca. 1960s

Waikiki is Bourbon Street meets the Vegas Strip. People come to the Hawaiian islands and stay a week or longer in Waikiki. Same crew that buys all their wine from BevMO. Then there are other people who fly right past Oahu on their way to Maui, Kauai or the Big Island and stay in a destination resort. They include those who only buy wines rated 90 points or higher. There is more to wine and more to Oahu [ed. and more to the outer islands; g'head and be obnoxious].

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new wine shop owner in Princeville

After 5 days of rain and grey skies on the north shore of Kauai – and buying wine in the new Princeville Wine Market – we were ready to wash Hanalei right out of our hair. Fortunately, we had set aside three nights and three and a half days in Honolulu because we like the city and the island. It is much more cosmo than Dancing with the Stars. Continue Reading »

Notes On a Scorecard: New vs Old World = USC vs UCLA?

uscuclaWEB wine grapes value value value u20 syrah salta rhone mourvedre montepulciano la culture grenache chianti wine regions chateauneuf du pape cafayate cabernet franc argentina March Madness is everywhere. tBoW is on holiday and waiting to tee off once it stops storming. The Bruins and Trojans are looking for coaches. Turmoil is everywhere. We have tasted several very interesting wines but before we report on those there are a few other matters worth referencing. Continue Reading »

The Praedominium of Wine: a Passover Tale

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Seige of Jerusalem

The history of Jerusalem is beyond EPIC. No filmmaker has or will ever capture the full impact [ed. Kingdom of Heaven is decent]. Only a great modern biographer such as Simon Sebag Montefiore can do the story justice; pick up Jerusalem: The Biography.

Jerusalem is not the most ancient city nor is it necessarily the most historic although there would certainly be arguments on that point. It is without doubt the most holy city if for no other reason than three major inter-related religions – Islam, Christianity and Judaism – claim Jerusalem as their own but have been forced to share it for millenia. Neither Buddhism nor Hinduism have a Jones for Jerusalem. Think of Buddhism as the Riesling of important religions: alluring with its particular salvational purpose [ed. would you align Hindi with Chianti?]. Which brings me to wine worship. Continue Reading »

Wines Made for Food. Not Investment. Not Trophies. FOOD.

martin OVPX 2011WEB wine grapes value value value u20 sangiovese pinot noir piemonte pedro ximenez oregon nebbiolo chianti wine regions chianti argentina After 45 minutes reading about the New Wave of Napa Cult Cabs I had to have a wine that not one post economic meltdown real estate food importer online gaming new Napa mogul would ever reach for; a wine that if it was presented to the owners of the new wave Napa cult Cabber Patch Kids would produce the same look Karl Rove had when he was told by Megan Kelly Romney really did lose. You know the look – “uh you’re kidding.” Now YOU are looking at my fantasy wine right above this paragraph: a white wine from Argentina made from an obscure if very respectable grape that is M-A-D-E-F-O-R-F-O-O-D. If you like the concept please continue reading. Continue Reading »