Drink the Best Wine First - Or Just Stick to Cheap Wine. Your Call.

While I may heartily agree with Nanuchka, I also don't think the best wine has to be expensive. Given my past swilling break-even Welch's, I can honestly say I have enjoyed cheap wine on many an occasion.

Recently, however, I have fallen victim to what appears to be an American trend in wine purchasing: Almost every bottle I buy is $12-$18. While I sometimes plan on buying a cheap magnum of wine, I am seduced by the rack upon rack of wine and when my eyes are dragged to the sale bottles, I end up thinking "$11.99 down from $15.99, that's a steal" when I should really be thinking "If they can sell it for 3/4 the listed price, I could probably find something that tastes as good for 1/4 the price."

A recent Slate article prompted me to write on this topic. Also, according to Slate, one of the biggest complaints some people have (I've never really minded this) about cheap wine - the inconsistent quality - is no longer a factor because of "falling market share over the last 15 years."

So, here's to drinking cheap wine from large glasses and getting flushed without paying much.

Oh Nein Meine Trauben

Earlier this week an awesome/awful crime was committed. Around 5,500 lbs of premium grapes were stolen in the middle of the night from a German vineyard. The gutsy thieves brought their own harvester and escaped with nothing but tracks in the mud.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/bild-787436-263023.html

Instead of the desperate work of professionals, I personally hope it was a pair or trio of home-brewers out to make the wine batch of their lives. How cool would it be to have a couple years worth of premium pirated wine locked away in your cellar? Just saying.

The World's Oldest Champagne

This July a remarkable find was made in Finnish waters - the world's oldest Champagne.  The champagne dates back to somewhere around 185 years ago.  Wow.

Champagne this old makes the 8-week Welch's brew look just as gross as it should look.  Everything about a 185 year-old bottle of champagne is awesome.  Not the least of which is that it was found at the bottom of the ocean... again, Wow!



Cheers to the intrepid diver who swigged a bottle expecting salt water and was instead greeted with sweet alcohol.

According to Champagne expert Richard Juhlin, the bottles could go for $135,000 each at auction depending on who shows up to bid.

Orange Liqueurs

Well, I did a little digging after a few gins last night, and discovered that my price range for the orange liqueurs I listed last time weren't accurate - I was pricing the Grand Marnier too low.

According to my sources over at google, the prices are as follows:

Grand Marnier:  $45
Contreau:           $40
Triple Sec:         $Depends, but anywhere from $5-20 for 750ml

That really turns me off to Grand Marnier and Contreau, because I feel like there is no middle ground orange liqueur.  Now I'm all for premium brands, and I drink them when I get the chance, but I seldom if ever have bought a bottle of premium at this point in my life.  I know there will come a time when my liquor shelf (cabinet? closet? larder?) extends to excellent brands of all sorts of liquors and liqueurs, but for now, I wish there were something better than the triple sec freshmen use for their kamikazes, but less expensive than the Hampton's priced Contreau/Marnier.

Last night I was having the bartender (behind the open bar) make a Bombay, Contreau, and seltzer drink that wasn't too bad.  Wasn't great, but if I tweak it, maybe it'll be better than a watered-down French Kiss.  I'll give an update if/when I get around to trying it.  Don't expect me to use Contreau though, not at $1.60 an ounce.  Maybe I'll put that bottle of Dubonnet to some more use though...