Where to Buy Wine: Local Grocery Store

Living in the Midwest, it is fairly easy to find wines from the region. Besides the traditional wine and alcohol store or the winery itself, Midwestern wines can be found in drug stores, discount department stores, and of course, grocery stores. Our local grocery store, which is setup such that each department is in its own walled off section. Each section is designed and decorated according to its purpose. And no better section represents this better than the wine department. With its curved ceiling painted to appear like concrete and wooden shelves, it feels more like a wine cellar than a grocery store.

In the background, the more expensive wine bottles are stored properly on their sides to keep the cork moist. But the majority of the wines are still stored upright. This picture doesn't do the section justice, as it only displays about a third of the department. But here there are wines from all over the world including Australia, Chile, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, California, and of course, the Midwest. Most bottles are in a modes range of $7 to $15, with a few bottles costing $20 or more.

Here, you can see the entire Midwest wine section, which includes about 30 different bottles from about 10 different wineries. You'll notice that Oliver Winery has 9 different wines visible (to the right of the divider). This is why I write (link to Black Cherry) about (link to Soft Red) wine (link to Soft White) from Oliver Winery so much: their wines are easy to find in Indiana and there's several to choose from. The other wineries have a couple of their flagship wines: their most popular wines. There's nothing wrong with these selections, but it underscores that a grocery store is good for finding a table wine and can provide a decent selection, but not an excellent selection. For that, a trip to an actual wine shop is in order.

Ballmer Peak

XKCD Comic #323

Some people claim to work better under the influence of a bit of alcohol. (Except driving. That's NEVER a good idea. I won't even drink if I know I have to drive in the next 12 hours.) Being a programmer, writing Software is one thing I have tried after a glass of wine. I'm not certain it helped, but it didn't make my code worse. It certainly wasn't as bad as Windows ME.

There's been several studies on the subject and while alcohol appears to help some types of creative thinking, it inhibits others. Another study found alcohol to be detrimental to 3 in 4 drinkers. At best, it appears to be a mixed bag. This question of skeptics.stackexchange.com seems to sum up the studies nicely.

What do you think? Has a glass of wine helped you concentrate or otherwise produce some creative product that wouldn't have been as easy or good without the wine?

Dr Who Wine Accessories

There are a myriad of different definitions for a geek, but one I like the best is that a geek is someone who has an intense passion for one thing and obsess over it. By this definition, my wife is a movie geek, as she owns a large collection of movies and watches around 5 movies a week. I'm a more typical Science Fiction/Fantasy geek, obsessing over Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek and the like.

But one passion my wife and I have both discovered is watching Dr. Who. Together, we've watched all of the episodes from the 9th Doctor onward. We've had serious discussions of getting a Cardboard TARDIS to set up in our house.

While this might be a little too big for us, one thing that is not too large are wine stoppers. And who could say no to a Cyberman wine stopper?

If I had a need for an ice bucket, I'd also look into this TARDIS ice bucket, but I don't throw enough parties now to justify the cost. Perhaps I should throw a few more parties...

Hanukkah Wine Accessories

Each holiday should have its own wine decorations, and Hanukkah is no exception. While Hanukkah ended Saturday, Hanukkah decorations are very symbolic of the Jewish faith. Unlike Christmas or Halloween, there's fewer wine accessories, but still a few glasses and wine charms, such as this Hanukkah wine charm set from Boston Warehouse.

Amazon also has an amazing collection of hand painted wine glasses. Most are in the $30 to $40 range or higher, but this one currently runs on the lower end of this range and features a colorful, hand-painted menorah glass.

Finally, I'm a big fan of wine stoppers and this one is iconic with the menorah wine stopper in raised relief on the top. But what Hanukkah collection would be complete without a representation of the iconic Hanukkah toy, the Dreidal? This Metal Driedal Topper consists of 2 rubber rings and has consierable heft to it to keep it in place.

Know your Grapes: Table vs Wine grapes

Walk into a typical Grocery store (at least a typical Midwestern grocery store) and on any given day you'll find between 2 and 4 varieties of grapes for sale. The most popular are the Red and White Seedless varieties. In the Midwest, the White grapes are often marketed as Thompson Seedless, while the Reds are marketed as Flame Seedless. The white grapes have a sweet, mild flavor, while the red variety has a sharper edge, but still quite sweet. Occasionally, a store will get a shipment of Black seedless grapes. The final common grape are Red Globe grapes, which are not seedless. It tastes similar to the red seedless varieties, though is bigger and contains a seed. Together, all of these grapes are considered Table Grapes, since they are meant for the table. Other varieties exist, such as Concorde grapes, which are popular in making Grape Juice, Jam, and Jelly.

The rest of the grapes of the world are classified as Wine grapes. They differ from Table grapes by being smaller, having thicker skins, and are almost always seeded. In addition to oaking and aging, it is the unique characteristics of each different Wine grape that gives each wine its unique flavor. Once a month, I'll cover a different variety of grape common to the Midwest

At least 68 different varieties of grapes are grown in the Midwest, including:

Aurore
Baco Noir
Bluebell
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Sauvignon
Carmine
Catawba
Cayuga
Chambourcin
Chancellor
Chardonnel
Chardonnay
Chelois
Concord
Couderc Noir
De Chaunac
Delaware
Diamond
Edelweiss
Elvira
Frontenac
Frontenac Gris
Gamay Noir
Geisenheim
Gewürztraminer
Golden Muscat
Kerner
La Crescen
La Crosse
Landot
Lemberger
Leon Millot
Malbec
Marechal Foch
Merlot
Muscadine
Muscat Canelli
New York Musca
Niagara
Norton
Pinot Gris
Pinot Meunier
Pinot Noir
Rayon d'Or
Reliance
Riesling
Rougeon
Ruby Cabernet
Sabrevois
Sangiovese
Sauvignon Blanc
Seyval Blanc
St. Croix
St. Pepin
St. Vincent
Steuben
Syrah
Touriga Francesa
Traminette
Valiant
Vidal Blanc
Vignoles
Villard Blanc
Vilard Noir
Viognier
Vivant
Zinfandel
Zweigelt

Christmas Accessories

December is a great month to buy wine, and an even better month to drink it in, with all of the holiday parties. But these holiday parties call for wine accessories, and here's a few accessories to get a search started.

Personally, I prefer rubber wine stoppers, as the cork in traditional stoppers can dry out. This Snowflake stopper is seasonal, but can still after December without risking awkward stares.

For more seasonal accessories, there's a Wreath wine stopper, a Christmas Tree wine stopper, Ornaments Wine stopper (with cork instead of rubber), and of course the holidays can't be complete without a Nutcracker.

But who can forget the Leg Lamp from Christmas Story. There's full size replicas of the lamp available, but also a miniature version on a wine stopper.

As I've said before, Glass Charms are a cheap way to accessorize and decorate for a holiday. This set is a little pricier than some, but the details and colors look fantastic.

If you have a bit more to spend on accessories, then there's a number of neat Christmas and Winter glasses. This one is stemless with a very artful details on the glass. While this one is not clear, making it less then ideal for wine tastings, it is wonderfully hand-painted with one of Santa's helpers. Finally, there's these expensive, yet artfully done abstract winter glasses.

What I'm Drinking: Oliver Winery Soft White Wine

Oliver Winery has three 'Soft' wines Red, White, and Rose. All of these are Semi-sweet wines, with a gentle taste. I've heard these wines described as Kool-Aid wines due to how easy they are to drink. The acidity, bitterness, and alcohol levels are all low. When present, the tannins are low as well.

Right now, I'm drinking the Soft White, which is made from Niagra grapes, a North American variety which is a cross between the Concorde (which is used in their Soft Red wine) and the Cassady grape. This wine is the sweetest I've had yet and if I were to classify the wine, I'd call it a Sweet wine.

The wine's is very clear with a light hay color and a fruity scent. Complex, this wine is not. Yet, it is refreshing, tasty, and affordable. For all these traits, I give the wine a 65 out of 100 for its price point ($6 to $8 a bottle).

But for me, the best feature of this bottle is that its sealed with a screwcap so that the wine has stayed fresh for the first few glasses from the bottle.