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Technology and wine news Here is another of those bright ideas whose time, heaven willing, may never come: Students at a London college have come up with high-tech wine bottle equipped with a tiny, built-in video screen. The British online news site Ananova.com reports that students at Central St Martins College of Art and Design in London were invited to create a new-concept wine bottle as part of the 150th anniversary observance of the huge Australian wine firm, Hardys. Asked what they thought wine bottles might be like in another 150 years, students Marten Lindquist and Brian Goulding responded with "The Self Cooling Animated Bottle," a multi-tasking device that features both a temperature control device and a miniature television screen on the label. The screen could display a short video sequence about the grapes, the wine making, tasting notes and food matches. Production may lie years in the future, if ever, but Hardys is apparently taking it seriously: The Australian wine giant, Ananova.com says, has already patented the concept. The bottle, and other student designs, will be on display at the International Wine Fair in Bordeaux next weekend.
For the full story and a picture of the prototype bottle:
If you like to keep up with wine news, one handy resource is Benson Marketing Group's ENews Monitor, a "newsfeed" that monitors the wine media and sends a daily E-mail summary of news, with Web links, every business day. To sign up, click
Another quick-and-easy wine-news resource is the Google.com's NEWS search engine, which can quickly and easily be focused on wine (or any other topic that interests you). We have a link to Google News - and to Benson Marketing and the British Just-Drinks.com newsfeed - on the WineLoversPage.com Front Page (page down the left-hand column to "DAILY WINE NEWS"). Or simply visit Happy surfing! You'll find no 22nd Century technology on the outside of the bottle of today's wine, but it offers a fine, textbook example of dry Gewurztraminer. If you think "Gewurz" is necessarily sweet, you might want to recalibrate with a taste of this delicious item from Kathy Lynskey Wines of Marlborough. 
Lynskeys 2002 Wairau Peaks Vineyard Marlborough Gewurztraminer ($14.99)
Very pale brass color, almost clear as water. Delicious fresh grapefruit scent, clean and pure, with hints of tangerine and subtle but distinct pumpkin-pie spices. (Despite the name, which is German for "spice," a spicy character doesn't necessarily define Gewurztraminer. But this one's an exception that proves the rule.) Crisp and fresh, citric grapefruit flavors follow the nose, fruity but quite dry, with only a threshold hint of sweetness at most; snappy acidity and a pleasant hint of cleansing bitterness in the finish. U.S. importer: Wimbledon Wine Co., Napa, Calif. (June 12, 2003) FOOD MATCH: A fine match with spaghetti alla carbonara (pasta tossed with eggs and, in this variation, smoky American-style bacon). It should go well with just about any style of pork or ham. VALUE: Appropriate value at this mid-teens price. WHEN TO DRINK: Fresh fruit is part of its charm, so drinking soon is advised; on the other hand, a good dry Gewurz of this style can develop interesting and complex flavors with careful cellaring.
WEB LINK: The importer's Website (which also includes where-to-buy-it information) has a Lynskey fact sheet here:
Wine Tour of the Andes Visit some of the best wineries of Argentina (Mendoza) and Chile (Colchagua Valley) at one of the best times of the year (December) at the right time (see the wineries of Chile before the coming of the Napa or Bordeaux crowd!) at the right pace (2 to 3 nights at the same hotel). Touring wineries with host, wine consultant and wine-and-food writer Michael Schachner, New York-based author of "Chile: the next Napa" in Wine Enthusiast magazine, March 2002. Leaving Buenos Aires on Dec. 1 for Mendoza. Three days tasting and visiting Catena and La Rural wineries with dinner at the renowned "1884 Restaurant," then Terrazas de Los Andes and Bodegas Norton wineries with diner at Norton. Then, on to Santiago, Chile, by road through the Andes for three days of winery visits and tasting. We'll taste at Aquitana and lunch/tasting at Concha y Toro, then dinner at Santa Rita winery. On to Colchagua Valley, three days, from Santa Cruz visiting/tasting at Viu Manent winery with lunch; Montgras, Casa Silva, dinner at Miguel Torres winery and Casa Lapostolle with lunch. This small group tour will be limited to 12 to 16 participants. For details and a brochure, contact Berrnard Streiff, E-mail ranchobernard@yahoo.com.
Rancho San Diego Travel The California Wine Club: Your Passport to incredible wines!
The California Wine Club has your Passport to incredible wines from the world's best boutique wineries! We've trusted them for nearly 14 years with our California selections. Now, Bruce and Pam Boring are traveling the globe, looking for the tastiest wines from the world's best boutique wineries. CWC's International Selections is a quarterly shipment of two bottles of incredible wine and an engaging newsletter, Passport. Bruce and Pam are importing the wines directly: There's no middleman, no distributor and with their 100 percent money-back guarantee, there are no bad wines! Quarterly shipments range in price from $50-$75.
For more information, call 1-800-777-4443 or visit Sponsorship Opportunities There is no quicker, better or more efficient way to deliver your wine-related message to 25,000 wine lovers around the world than a sponsorship in The 30 Second Wine Advisor! Sponsorships are limited to established wine-and-food-related businesses with a track record of customer service. For more information, write me at wine@wineloverspage.com. Last Week's Wine Advisor Index The Wine Advisor's daily edition is usually distributed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (and, for those who subscribe, the FoodLetter on Thursdays). Here's the index to last week's columns:
• Screw caps win respect (June 13, 2003)
• Front or back? (June 11, 2003)
• Exploring Pinotage (June 9, 2003)
• Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive:
• Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Ma Po Tofu (June 12, 2003)
• Wine Advisor Foodletter archive: To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, or for any other administrative matters, please use the individualized hotlink found at the end of your E-mail edition. If this is not practical, contact me by E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com, including the exact E-mail address that you used when you subscribed, so I can find your record. We do not use our E-mail list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail address to anyone. I welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. To contact me, please send E-mail to wine@wineloverspage.com All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry.
Monday, June 16, 2003 |
