Tasting sized pours — cellar, wagyu, koshu, and EU
Vote it up
Voting ends today in the inaugural edition of the American Wine Blog Awards. Consider Dr. Vino in two categories! You can vote here.
Vote it down
Mariann Fischer Boel, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, was dealt a setback in her reform for the wine sector. The EU Parliament voted 484 – 129 against her proposal to uproot almost 1 million acres of vines. The Parliament is a consultative body so the reform is not dead but it may be wounded given the lopsided nature of the vote. [Bloomberg]
Cellar time
Park B. Smith, the eminent wine collector featured along with this cellar (check out the slide show!) in this week’s NYT, invited Eric Asimov to lunch in the cellar. On his grand cru blog, Asimov recounts the “parade of Chateauneufs.” [The Pour]
La vache qui boit
Kobe beef cows are a pampered lot since they are seranaded with Mozart, massaged and fed beer to make their meat succulent. But their analogues in Australia, where it is known as wagyu, are being fed red — a premium red wine blend that is, costing A$20 (16 USD) a bottle! “The addition of a litre of premium wine to each animal’s feed for the last 60 days of its life is said to give the meat a sweetness that lifts the quality even further. The antioxidants in the wine are also thought to improve the colour and shelf life of the beef.” [Daily Telegraph, via Uncorked]
Koshu, nice to meet you?
Who’s heard of indigenous grape varieties in Japan? Well, first class travelers on Japan Air Lines will be getting to know the koshu grape variety better as it will be poured in their cabin. [JAL, thanks, Mark!]
Drink inside the box
According to this story, the French are discovering bag-in-a-box wine. Now we can too with the next edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, scheduled for March 14. [Box Wine Blog]
tags: wine | food and drink | wine collecting
On February 11th, 2008 at 8:55 am ,Best Restaurants wrote:
I’m in love with Wagyu!
On February 13th, 2008 at 9:15 pm ,Dan Morgan wrote:
Yes, Wagyu beef is great . The article about using wine in the diet is a stretch . In a nut shell Wagyu genetics, then proper management of the animals from before birth to harvest including all the feeding then proper management of the harvested carcass then proper management of the cuts of the meat make for a great dining experience. As the French say ” this is not beef” this is an eating experience.