Text 23972, 101 rader
Skriven 2007-12-11 00:46:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DALE SHIPP
Ärende: wine 539
================
[Cola Champagne]
 ML> I think the Champagne guys couldn't complain, because
 ML> the "reasonable" consumer would easily be able to tell
 ML> the difference between Cola Champagne and Champagne A.C.
 DS> They seem to be equating "bubbly" with Champagne -- but by that
 DS> standard all carbonated drinks could be called Champagne.  I wonder
 DS> if a microbrewery in Champaign, IL could call their pale ale
 DS> "champaign ale" without getting flack from the French?

No doubt; but a big new winery in Champagne, Louisiana
(gedanken experiment for the sake of argument only)
would most likely suffer real pain if it tried to mass
market a "Champagne sparkling wine."

 ML> I've tasted something labeled Kola Champagne, which is
 ML> presumably a different brand of the same thing: it tasted
 ML> like bubble gum.
 DS> UGH -- I've tasted a bubble gum Jelly Belly.  Not nice!

Not so nasty as the vomit-flavored ones, I am sure.

[bottle pricing]
 DS> Interesting -- for our favored wine, the double bottle is less than
 DS> twice the  price of the single.  I was aware of a premium for halfs
 DS> or smaller, but would have assumed that the larger bottles would be a
 DS> better buy per volume (but only if you were going to drink it all).

For popular-priced wines, the big bottles offer an economy of
scale to every participant in the distribution chain.

For the wines I drink, okay, the wines I admit to drinking,
the magnum plus product has been positioned as a luxury item,
suitable for the most lavish parties and the most generous
gifts; big format bottles are especially prized, availability
being extremely limited. Not hurting is the commonly held view
that wine stored in such bottles ages more slowly and keeps
better than wine in normal bottles (might make a little sense
because the relative exposure to oxygen is less).

[wine and dine, or at least plonk and oink]
My friend Jackie and I occasionally go out to dinner; as during
the holiday concert season I am spending most nights on her couch,
this has now taken the function of rent. The other day we went
to a place in Marblehead called the Jack Tar - back in olden days
of yore I used to take her there for the early bird specials
whose prices depended on the time your order was taken, with the
discounts starting at some absurdly high percentage and gradually
dropping to zero by 7 pm (a clever way of getting people to come
in early), so we'd fill up on all the pasta or chicken we could
choke down for ten bucks a head, less if we could get it together
before 6. The food is not spectacular but wholesome and abundant
- good for starving musicians in need for an evening out.

This night instead of having lots of beers, we decided to have
a bottle of wine, as it was more economical and better for us.
The stuff on the list was way overpriced (3 or 4x retail), but
there was one that I saw that showed promise, so we ordered that.
Jake's Fault Shiraz 2005 (California, I think Central Coast or
somesuch). Bright ruby color, intriguing herbal and almond scent.
On the palate some tannin and structure that sadly evaporated too
rapidly to a cloying softness; a raisin and dried cherry taste
proceeding to a medium-length finish. As with most mass-market
wines, a hair too sweet, the sweetness coming out more in the
glass. She liked it.

The bread basket has really good rustic, from someplace like
Iggy's, and it comes with olive oil infused with red pepper
flakes (good) and Parmesan (less good, but at least I wasn't
trying to make an impression [poot poot]).

Jackie (I used to spell her name Jacquie, but she points out
that her real name is not Jacqueline) had one of our old
standbys, the lasagne, which was a large portion as always but
chilly in the middle - it smelled okay, but I refrained from
taking a taste. I asked for jambalaya extra hot; the waitress
told me that it was normally quite hot, so I reiterated my
request. When it came she waited around to make sure I wouldn't
run out of there, flames emanating from my head; it was what
I'd call medium minus but still was in fact too hot for Jackie.
The ingredients: a bed of converted rice (not too good).
An Italian sweet sausage cut up (okay). Half a chicken breast
cut up (surprisingly not bad). Three giant Gulf shrimp
(pretty good). All in a fairly good chunky tomato sauce,
premade but probably in house. I could smell the cayenne the
kitchen threw in for my benefit, probably half a teaspoon.
Something like fifteen bucks, cheap at half the price.

No room for dessert, so we went home and had a couple beers.

This year's Harpoon Winter Warmer has a strong, almost numbing
clove taste with undertones of nutmeg and other spices. It's
fairly low in hops, so the malty sweetness is prominent. Jackie
is trying to shed a few pounds, so I had bought her some
Heineken Light, which tastes like watered-down regular Heineken.

P.S. I find that Trader Joe has that Jake's wine for $5 a
bottle, which means that in fact I paid 4.5x retail (the
regular stores have it for $9).
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