Wine Blog

Conrad Hilton had ‘marijuana and two bottles of wine in car when he crashed’ – Daily Mail

Daily Mail

Conrad Hilton had 'marijuana and two bottles of wine in car when he crashed' Daily Mail Sgt. OC Smith of LAPD's West Traffic Division told Radar Online: 'By the time the police arrived at the scene Conrad had left but he had exchanged his details with the second driver and a witness. 'He complied with the law and as there were no known … and more »

Hugh Johnson’s the Story of Wine

Customer Review: great!
a comprehensive guide to the history of wine. grape wine that is, they don’t go much into sake or wines made from other products, though some are mentioned. it goes through many countries and time periods and was overall very readable for a history text.

Customer Review: The most delicious wine book
Hugh Johnson’s marvelous book in a partial answer to a question that few of us have had the sense to ask. While many of us will spend valuable hours wondering: `which wine?’ we rarely ask `why wine?’

What’s the big deal? Why so many books, why such intense feeling? Wine is just the fermented juice of grapes. Yes, and music is just organized noise and sex is merely one of the ways in which organisms ensure perpetuation of their type.

The reason for the passion isn’t to be found in alcohol alone. Almost any sugary solution will support fermentation, and it seems that just about every possible sweet liquid has been fermented from time to time. An amateur winemakers’ guide in my library lists recipes for the production of wines from almonds, apples, bananas, barley, beetroot, birch sap, cloves, clover, eggplant, guava, lemons, oak leaves, orange juice, parsley, parsnips, peapods, squash, tea, tomatoes, wallflowers, yarrow and yes, to complete the alphabet, zinnias.

These ‘wines’are all possible, but none of them exist. In fact, we restrict our winemaking to just a few varieties of grape. Why?
Aside from the many economic advantages, the fermented juice of grapes is delicious. At its most common, it’s a fresh and fruity drink that quenches the thirst and gladdens the heart. At its most exalted, the basic flavors of the grape are transformed by fermentation and aging into a symphony of aromas and tastes and lingering associations. Both the bountiful nature of grape vines and the enormous appeal of their fermented fruit’s juice has led civilized man to attach a lot of meaning to wine.

Johnson’s book, a slimmed down version of the earlier Vintage , not only reminds us that the question of wine’s importance needs to be asked, it goes a long way to providing an answer. His range of reference is impressive and his writing-witting and incisive-is impeccable. When you’re ready to try to understand how wine attained its place in the modern world, there’s no better place to start than this book.

Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine

NEGA wine-grape vineyard could inspire others – Athens Banner-Herald
As the Peach State slowly cements its credentials for growing grapes — and making good wine from the fruit — one Northeast Georgia vineyard owner hopes she can inspire someone else to help build the state’s viticultural movement

Grape Sense: America’s most iconic wine name: Robert Mondavi – Tribune-Star
The Oct. 5 death of Apple founder Steve Jobs had many people grappling with perspective on his death. Many called him this generation’s Thomas Edison or Henry Ford. At about the same time, two shipments of Robert Mondavi wines arrived to my office

Grape City
Meet Charles, a demon forced to work shitty minimum wage jobs ever since Hell went out of business. He now lives in Grape City, which would be the worst place on Earth, provided all other cities weren’t just as bad. While adjusting to his new way of life, Charles passes the time by writing emails to Satan, going on blind dates with mortal women, and attempting to fit in with human society . . . unfortunately society is a mess of chaotic absurdities in which hack-raping and bang-murdering are cultural norms.”

Customer Review: When there’s no more room in Hell…they frost the windows and hang up the “Closed” sign
Actually, in Kevin L. Donihe’s Grape City, Hell closes because the Earth has become so appalling, Hell can no longer hold a candle. This is a topic I’ve believed for many years and it’s nice to see someone else vocalize it.

Charles, a re-named ex-9th circle demon, lives in Grape City where he now divvies up his time between Tony’s Used Cars and Burger Hut. He emails Satan, watches some TV, and does a little people gawking. These are the things his humdrum life now consist of. And he is completely disgusted with the state of the world.

In the catalog that accompanies nearly every Bizarro book, Donihe’s distinguishing factor is said to be his humor. More than a few times I found myself laughing out loud at the odd juxtapositions Charles and the other demons found themselves in.

Donihe also has a gift for evoking pathos. As a reader, you really do feel sympathy for these once grand rulers of the netherworld. Sure, they used to torture damned souls for what they thought would be eternity, but as Charles points out, there was a reason and a purpose. The humans left on Earth have devolved to the lowest common denominator and torture the demons sent to live there for no other reason than they’re being different.

In the best works of Bizarro, you can usually find an underlying message or bit of social criticism amongst the surreal mayhem. In Grape City’s case, Donihe’s message seems to be a critique on our society’s ongoing racism and xenophobia in a post-911 world. Charles is verbally baited several times during the story and has to mentally calm himself to avoid lashing out. There is even a Bizarro-version of the running of the bulls in which ex-demons are paid to run through the streets of Grape City and avoid being caught and tortured by the city folk.

I only had two minor qualms with this book. The ending was very abrupt and though I’d have liked to keep reading about Charles and his exploits, the sudden ending seemed more a problem of pacing. The first four chapters moved along at a steady consistent pace and then the last two doubled or even tripled speed. While that can usually occur at the climax of a story it felt like there were some things left on the writing room floor that needed to be re-inserted. The other minor quibble concerned typos. I read several Bizarro books and this is the only one that I’ve noticed at least one or two extra or left out words per chapter. It’s not a big thing, but it can be distracting after the author has gone to great lengths to create this surreal world with its own inner logic and the reader is pulled out by something as mundane as typos. But it happens.

Overall, I’d highly recommend Grape City to the neophyte and veteran alike. This is my first experience with Mr. Donihe’s work and it won’t be my last.

Customer Review: Weak Attempt – IMO
Okay, definitely an interesting idea for this short little piece…However, I noticed a huge trade off from purpose and story to pure weirdness. The bizzare happenings of the novel seemed far too exaggerated and leave this novella ultimately “quirky” at best.

A creative author, it seems, but if you’re trying to show us the madness of men by holding up a demon for comparison — put him in a realistic city! Let him interact with regular people, let him navigate the insanity of a New York city. Instead, we get a ridiculous “future” city that loses the reader.

When it comes down to it, Grape City seems to me, to be a personal work for the author himself. What it needs, is a good editor to keep his wild mind on track and produce a story that means something to the audience.

Vinifera: The World’s Great Wine Grapes And Their Stories
Boxed Set of 40 Wine Grape Varietal Reference Cards. Featuring color photos, interesting history, lore and food pairings for 40 glorious wine producing varietals. A set of fascinating wine cards, or more specifically, wine grape reference cards. The information contained in these wine grape cards is fun, educational, informative and often obscure. The photographs are colorful and sumptous. An excellent wine gift for any host or hostess. A perfect Holiday gift such Mother’s Day, Father’s Day Valentines’ day or Christmas. Learn about Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Aglianico, Albarino, Viognier, Merlot, Chardonnay, Dolcetto, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon, and many others. Ideal for wine tasting parties and blind wine tastings.

Customer Review: Wow!
I recieved this deck of cards as a hostess gift and was blown away by the detail and information that is on each card; the color photographs are absolutely stunning. The pairing suggestions on the back make choosing that perfect wine for your next meal a cinch and with 40 cards of different grape varieties, there are endless opportunities to explore… everytime I go to a friends house I bring a deck of these cards and a bottle of wine- they make for great conversation during the evening. These are a MUST!!!!!!!!!

Customer Review: CAN LEARN A LOT FAST
This is a really good wine guide, because it’s not like a wine guide at all. It’s fun. The photographs of the grapes are really beautiful. You’re not used to seeing the grapes themsleves in the field (Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio…etc.), so that context kind of gives you a new appreciation of what’s in the bottle. The information is a fun read, too. It’s got historical notes, where the names of the grapes come from, fun little stories, plus its packed with wine knowledge, but totally accessable. I didn’t know all that much about wines and this reference pack has made me a lot more comfortable ordering and talking about wine.