March 20, 2008

Paso Robles! Friends, Me, and the 21st Century

If you’re on the newsletter mailing list, you are already aware that I did not fall of the face of the earth and am, in fact, still quite firmly attached to terra firma.

I am overloaded with stuff to tell you, and don’t know where to begin.

The Combatting Swirl Envy classes have been so much fun and gone so well. We're churning out wine snobs by the truckload! There will be one class in April, but afterwards we’ll be on a temporary hiatus after that point as I recover from a medical “procedure” (yes, you can squirm), and finish updating the class to meet the requested needs of the students. We’ll have an even better CSE course and series of classes that will meet the needs of the neophyte Wineaux. Fun? You bet!

Thanks and shout outs to Valley Cheese and Wine and Khoury’s for allowing me to have space in their wonderful establishments. The students love the stores and have a hard time leaving without buying more wine!

Okay, here’s the embarrassing part. It’s time that I was brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

If you look to the right, you will see two sites that I’ve linked to. One is VinoLasVegas, which is the other Las Vegas-centric Blog, and the other is Classic Wines. Both sites are great in that they have video (!!!)

Of course the granddaddy of online video is my new favorite wine critic, Gary Vaynerchuk. He is a total nutcase, but certainly has the whole non-snobby wine thing figured out. What’s more, he has placed his own reviews of wine on the Internet and has – in the approximately year and a half since he started – become quite the global phenomenon. WineLibrarytv.com.

While my buds here aren’t quite at the global phenomenon stage yet, they do have great video that you have to check out.

The Vino Las Vegas Blog is run by two of my friends, Scott and Elaine Harris (Elaine is the cute one). Anyway, ever since they went to the World of Pinot Noir, I’m barely speaking to them, but I’ll recover and talk to them again some day. Maybe. (As you can probably guess, I DID NOT make it to the WoPN. Can you imagine? Me. The ultimate Pinot Ho. My motto: If you drink no Noir, you Pinot Noir. Dammit.)

But I digress.

Classic Wines is a little different. Matt Apsokardu has an incredible website dedicated to informing people about wines and he does enviable interviews with winemakers, tasters, etc. It’s easy to spend quite a bit of time at his site (ask me how I know), and you’ll learn a lot when you do. And spend money. But that’s a whole ‘nother discussion!

And I don’t want to leave out a new friend, TheWineryChannel.tv. That’s sort of where I met Victor Abascal, owner of Vines on the Marycrest. What a wonderful little site they have!

And now we get to me. I have recently spent wayyyy too much time looking for a battery for a 30-year-old camera before I remember that it’s really older than my kids and what the heck am I doing?!? So my goal for this Spring/Summer is to actually buy a little video cam so that I can look as cool as Scott and Elaine as they get these great interviews, blah blah blah. Grrr. Anybody have a flash bulb?

New stuff! My trip to Paso Robles will see new pictures on the website, interviews, tastings, and more. AND!! Keep your ears close by for news about the upcoming Vegas Wineaux at sea as we explore new wineries in places that would surprise you!

Sound mysterious enough? Stay tuned …

And thanks to Roger of The Winery Channel for granting permission for me to reprint the following little blurb from his newsletter. It's so funny!

TOP TEN REASONS TO DRINK WINE

#10 - It's mostly water... really good water.
#9 - Wine is easy. Comes in shades of two colors.
#8 - Wine is fruit juice and everyone know that fruit is really good for you.
#7 -
The likelihood of a wine drinker strapping on a bomb
to blow up fellow wine shoppers at BevMo is virtually nil.
#6 - Wine is not explosive ... mostly.
#5 - Wine bottles hold the perfect amount to seduce a willing lover.
#4 - Wine is an excellent excuse for having a wine cellar,
thus a place to hide from your spouse and kids.

#3 - Wine grows in the most beautiful places, so it's obvious that God
wants you to visit there. Don't make him any madder. Go now!
#2 - A moderate amount of wine improves
your appearance, intellect & wisdom...for a short time.

And finally reason number one ---

#1 - Reasons? We ain't got no reasons.
We don't need no reasons.
I don't have to show you any stinkin' reasons!



* (with a nod to Alfonso Bedoya - Treasure of Sierra Madre.)

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