Alcademics.com

Good Booze, Bad Booze: Remember the Champagne

 
One day science says drinking will make you live forever. The next day science says it will kill you tomorrow. Good Booze, Bad Booze is an Alcademics category where I put all these stories together. 

 

5/14/13:  Scientists reveal drinking champagne could improve memory  [link] 

From the University of Reading: "New research shows that drinking one to three glasses of champagne a week may counteract the memory loss associated with ageing, and could help delay the onset of degenerative brain disorders, such as dementia."

 

Previous Good Booze, Bad Booze

4/07/13:  Self-medication drinking may lead to alcohol dependence  [link] 

4/06/13:  Binge drinking in your 20s can trigger heart disease, as being young has no protective effect against alcohol  [link] 

04/106/13:  Three glasses of fizz a day 'could improve your memory' [link]

3/19/13:  College enrollment does not lead to problem drinking in adulthood [link] 

 3/09/13:  Heavy drinkers get extra brain fuel from alcohol [link] 

2/15/13:  Alcohol said to have big role in cancer [link] 

1/29/13:  Local bottle shops linked to mental health [link] 

1/23/13:  Alcohol and a Good Night's Sleep Don't Mix [link] 

 1/09/13:  Resolved to give up alcohol for January? It could do you more harm than good [link] 

 12/31/12:  Settling down with a Christmas tipple may be good for your health - but only if you're slim [link] 

 12/17/12:  Depression risk reduced in women who drink moderately [link] 

 12/10/12:  Beer is good for you: study finds that suds contain anti-viral powers [link] 

11/20/12:  Alcohol aids survival of traumatic injuries, UIC study shows [link] 

 11/13/12:  Resveratrol From Red Wine Grapes Could Help Kill Prostate Tumor Cells  [link] 

 11/7/12:  Could a glass of wine help a woman beat breast cancer?  [link] 

 10/27/12:  Red Wine Compound May Not Help Healthy Women  [link] 

 10/27/12:  Just two glasses of wine a day can nearly halve the number of brain cells we produce   [link] 

 9/9/12:  Consuming three or more alcoholic drinks daily may raise risk for hemorrhagic stroke  [link] 

 9/9/12:  No fun! Non-alcoholic wine best for health benefits  [link] 

 

see plenty more news stories after the jump...

Wine and Spirits (in the Same Bottle)

I'm not exactly sure what brought on this trend, but over the past year multiple brands have begun combining their spirits with wine. Here's what I know about so far.

Absolut Tune

Is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand and Absolut vodka. It's 14 percent alcohol.

Courvoisier Gold

Courvoisier Gold is a blend of Moscato wine from the South of France and Courvoisier cognac. The product is 18 percent alcohol.

Courvoisier Rose

This is a blend of Courvoisier cognac and French red wine grapes. It's 18 percent alcohol. 

Exclusiv Rose

Exclusiv Rosé Vodka merges raspberry vodka with Moscato Rosé wine. It 32 percent alcohol by volume. 

The Sangria Spectrum in Fine Cooking Magazine

In the June/July issue of Fine Cooking magazine I have a story about sangria.

We kind of rewrote it a bunch of times and now it's mostly a list of tips on how to make a good sangria, but here is the intro.

Traditional sangria is delicious, but it can also be a bit predictable: a pitcher of red wine with orange liqueur or brandy, slices of citrus, and sometimes a splash of soda for fizz. Recently, though, sangria has been showing up to the party dressed in new shades—pink, white, and even yellow—thanks to a base of rosé, white, or sparkling wine. The fruit accessories have diversified, too. Some recipes call for vibrant peaches or pastel pears, and others boast a rainbow of kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries. With so many options, today’s sangria is practically a year-round drink, changing to suit the season and the occasion.

There are also two sangria recipes. The first is from Kathy Casey, a strawberry-melon sangria in a deep red color.

The second is by Kim Haasarud, author of 101 Sangrias. It is a yellowish pineapple-orange sangria with peach vodka and Riesling. 

The pictures are better in the print magazine, I promise. 

My First Wine Fraud Email

Hooray! Fishing comes to the world of wine and spirits.

I got this email the other day. It's obvious fishing/wire fund/money order spam to me, but might not be if you happen to sell wine in Texas. Be on the lookout, and God Bless America

Gerrard Silver <salest106@copper.net>

reply-to    salest9@gmail.com

to    salest9@gmail.com

date    Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 9:06 PM

subject    Thailand Wine Inquiry !!!!

hide details 9:06 PM (13 hours ago)

Hello,

    My name is Gerrard Silver , an American .I live and work here in Thailand . Actually when I was home last time in Texas, I got a bottle of one of your wines from a friend as a birthday gift and I love the taste Since then , I have been planning on getting your wines for my wedding coming up soon, here in Thailand ,I got your contact through your website and I want to know if you will be able to supply me some cases of those wines.I will be making my payment via my American issued Visa & Master card .  

    I am registered with a shipping agency in USA, which has other representatives in USA .So you are not to get the wines shipped but the wines will be picked up at your location by this licensed shipping agency. The shipping agency have all the appropriate exportation documents and permits papers, Therefore concerning the shipping of the wines , I will refer you to this shipping company that will come for the pick up of the wines in your location once I have made my payment .They have got items shipped to me here twice without any delay .

You can also forward me the list of Wine Vintages you have available.

Kindly get back to me so that I can make my orders.

Warm and Best Regards

God Bless America

Gerrard Silver

This Arbor Day, Plant Your Butt on a Barstool

Earth Day is April 22 and Arbor Day is April 30th: What are you doing to celebrate? You could run out and plant a tree but that would be messy and dirt would be involved. Gross.

Luckily several booze brands make it easy for you to do almost nothing while getting the full bragging rights of eco-activism. That's so American!

Here are some ways you can help the earth while harming your liver:

VeeV acai liqueur hosts the Treetini website, where you can learn locations of bars in which to order a Treetini- made with Veev, natch. For every drink you buy, they'll plant a tree. But don't have more than 10,000 of them this April, because that's the limit!

There's a Chilean wine called  Root:1 that is sponsoring a “Together We Can Plant a Forest” program. Luckily you don't have to go meet all the filthy riffraff planting the forest. Instead you buy a bottle of their wine, and they throw a buck (up to $10,000) to the Global ReLeaf fund.

 Tru Vodka doesn't need no stinking Arbor Day to plant trees. They've done a tree for every bottle since they launched- about 60,000 trees so far. 

The well named PlantATree Wine plants a tree for each bottle of wine you buy. This may be only available in Canada, where they seem to have plenty of trees already.

Trinity Oaks (from California) has a different name but a similar program, planting a tree for each bottle. They claim over 2 million trees planted already.

One Hope Wine actually has several different hopes, depending on the wine. Merlot purchases go to fight Aids, Chardonnay money goes toward battling breast cancer, Cabernet fights Autism, Zinfandel supports troops, and each bottle of sauvignon blanc sold gets a tree planted. My hope is that they have a good accountant to keep it all straight.

Purus Vodka's website looks kind of broken but on it they make the very abstract promise that, "One precious sapling will be planted and nurtured somewhere in America for each person who registers on this website."

Glossy Booze: Early November Edition

Glossy Booze is a regular Alcademics round-up of booze stories in magazines.

Details (November) has a story on underappreciated red wines.

Imbibe (Nov/Dec) has recipes for homemade eggnog, drinks with figs, and party drink recipes, a comparison of witbiers, a story on Greg Boehm of CocktailKingdom.com,  one on barleywine, another on bargain sparkling wine, fancy hot chocolate, and a travel piece on drinking in Hawaii.

Malt Advocate (Fall 2009) has stories on Japanese Whisky, Australian whisky, water in whisky, GlenDronach, and drinking in Bardstown, KY.

Men's Journal (November) has stories on California blended wines and good Canadian Whisky.

Food & Wine (November) has stories on ten Thanksgiving wines, new wine books, a recipe for mulled wine (to use with leftover bottles), American ciders, and $10 holiday wines.

Delta's in-flight magazine Sky's October issue has a round-up of wine and food festivals, and a big feature on visiting the world's best wine regions. 

Sunset (November) has a round-up of spirits new spirits distilleries in the west, lists their annual Wine Awards, and lists a recipe for kumquat digestif.

Everyday With Rachael Ray (November), in addition to the story I wrote on avoiding hangovers, has a few recipes for simple cocktails.

GQ (November) has a recipe for a 2:1 Martini.

Esquire lists recommended single-malts from Scotland's islands, Highlands, and Lowlands, and adds two new bars to its best bars list: One Flew South in the Atlanta airport, and Dutch Kills in Queens.

In ReadyMade (November/December) Alex Day shares sherry knowledge and there's a project on making a rolling bar out of an old trunk.

And the winner for best booze coverage this month goes to Conde Nast Traveler (November), with its this huge round-up of 38 bars in New Orleans' French Quarter. 

Glossy Booze: Big October Edition

Glossy Booze is a regular Alcademics feature in which I cover the liquor coverage in glossy magazines.

Bon Appetit (October)lists a recipe for the Highland's Fall from Peter Vestinos, available here. Also, a story on dry cider and one on dessert wines. In November St. John Frizell has a recipe for the coffee/rum drink Koffie Van Brunt.

Everyday With Rachael Ray (October) has a story on "gum cocktails"- not something you get at Tailor, but combining flavors of gum to make new flavors.

GQ (September) had a big feature on the six best drinking cities in the US. They were San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, Portland (OR), Nashville, and New York.

Conde Nast Traveler has a list of three tropical island bars in the Bahamas, plus a recipe for the Goombay Smash.

7X7 (September) has a story on Rickhouse. In the October issue, Jordan Mackay writes about relocated NYC sommelier David Lynch. 

Men's Journal (October) list America's best beers here, and the top five beer towns here.

Sunset (October) has beer and food pairings for Octoberfest, and a story on green wine packaging.

Esquire has a recipe for the Grasshopper. Really!

Details lists some "really excellent canned beer,"and a few places in which to drink it.

And the winner for best drink coverage goes to Food & Wine- and they didn't even have any cocktail recipes. Their stories are:

• What sommeliers know best.
•  Understanding Oregon Pinot Noir country
• Wineries by the sea all over the world- France and Spain, US, Australia, Portugal, and South Africa.
• Wines for drinking, not overthinking
• American Wine Awards
• A preview of the F&W Wine Guide 2010
• How to be a smarter wine shopper
• Gruner Veltliner
• 50 classic wines to try
• 15 rules for wine and food pairings

Technique vs. Terroir

My wine knowledge is... limited, so maybe this happens all the time: A group of five winemakers in Oregon took grapes from five vineyards and each made wine from it. Now those wines are ready for release and you can buy them as a set (for $1250). The experiment explores the technique of the wine maker versus the terroir of the vineyard as each winemaker puts his stamp on the same set of grapes. Cool stuff, says me.

Willamette Valley, Oregon (July 22, 2009) - Five renowned Oregon winemakers have tapped five Willamette Valley vineyards to create 25 unique expressions of Oregon's signature Pinot Noir - these are the wines of the Cellar Crawl. Designed to explore how soil, geology and the winemaker's approach impacts the expression of wine, this collection of 25 Oregon Pinot Noirs will be unveiled at the annual International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) held in Oregon's Willamette Valley on July 24 - 26, and available for purchase as a set at the participating wineries.

In 2006, five winemaker friends - Terry and Ted Casteel (Bethel Heights Vineyard), Steve Doerner (Cristom Vineyards), Ken Wright (Ken Wright Cellars), Lynn Penner-Ash (Penner-Ash Wine Cellars) and Laurent Montalieu (Soléna Cellars) - picked fruit from the same five vineyards, with each winemaker creating their own barrel from each lot, then bottled and named it after their tasting group Cellar Crawl. Now, after three years, it's ready to be released.

"This is the first time that winemakers have joined forces and created a platform to help us better understand the influence that soil and individual style have on Oregon Pinot Noir," says Ted Casteel of Bethel Heights Vineyard. "This project is about education and transparency, so we're bringing it out of the cellar and making it available to the public."