Irregular Update
Sydney Time
Copyright © Ric Einstein 2009
Welcome to this weeks Irregular Update which unfortunately does not
feature Chapter Four of the Tour Diary. It's not that I have been slack over the
last few weeks but unfortunately life's commitments can get in the way of my
vinous habit. It's also worthwhile remembering that when you are up to your
elbows in alligators, that your original intention was to drain the swamp. A
couple of weeks ago I decided the shop needed a newer computer. I bought a new
computer for home and downgraded the one from home into the shop. I was very
proud of myself when, within twelve hours, I had it ninety percent of where I
wanted it to be. And I thought the one in the shop was working perfectly too.
The less said about the last ten percent the better. To make matters "more
interesting" I also changed telephone carriers and finally threw out my
satellite Internet connection and replaced it with the new wireless broadband
service. And then to make things even more "interesting" I broke my voice
recognition headset and decided to upgrade that as well. Little did I know that
would require the whole program to be retrained from scratch. Let's just say it
became "very interesting" -- much more interesting than I had intended. Things
are now back on track and back to normal.
Chapter Four is just about complete and will be up next week. If all goes
according to plan Chapters Five and Six will be up by the end of the month. That
had better be the case because Brian and I are going to spend a week touring
South Australia with the Pie King towards the end of May.
There are a number of smaller bits and pieces for your reading enjoyment this
week. Firstly, in 2004 with Brian's assistance I wrote a story called The
Games They Play. That was a very popular article and Brian decided it needed
an update, so this time he did most of the work. It details the games retailers
play to try and separate you from your hard earned dosh and maximise their
sales. There are great wine retailers out there but they are in a minority. Some
wine retailers, like those in all industries, use many different "interesting"
practices to entice people to buy their products. This story exposes many of
these practices and details how they work, and potential traps that should be
avoided. Between us, Brian and I have over eighty years of wine buying
experience and have obtained wine from every every source possibly imaginable,
so why not take advantage of our experience and avoid possible buying problems
and disappointments. It can be found
here.
There is also a new Snippet. It's titled "I'm Confused!" and that confusion is there with good reason. Based on media reports, it is now becoming impossible to tell whether wine is good for you, or whether it is bad for you. Until recently most of the press reports were extolling the virtues of drinking a moderate amount of red wine daily, but recently there have been an increasing number of negative reports about drinking wine. This short Snippet gives some examples of the press articles that leads to this level of confusion. It can be found here.
During the week I received a rather long and involved question regarding
bottle variation. The question was expressed well with lots of examples
and comments. It certainly made me think and I thought my response would be
worth sharing with you. Hopefully when you read it you will nod your head and
go, so that's why. It can be found
here.
If you check out the homepage,
there has also been a couple of minor updates to previously written articles.
A few new Tasting
Notes have been added.
The News section has been dead recently. Stories of possible interest are:
-
Allegrini abandons DOC over screwcap ban
-
SA wine vintage 'one to forget' for some
-
U.S. woes hit wine export
-
Aussie wine producers are on the increase
-
India the big export market for Aussie wine
-
Australian wine: drawing a blanc
-
Big losses may end wine investment fund
-
Parker to be immortalised on film (
Those stories can be found here.
This weeks quote. "I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food!" -
Anonymous
Until next time .... Cheers!
Ric
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Copyright © Ric Einstein 2008