Wine

The Italian wines are more crisp than the Bordeaux and their clones in SA, Chile, US and Australia; this is the reds.  It is an impression their is more diversity than the french copies.  Strangely the Greeks should be making class wines (I am sure they do) considering the thousands of years they have had to perfect their craft; yet in the places I have been there are very few Greek wines for sale.

Red wine only of course, Tempranillo, Cab Sauv are my go to bottles.

If only one glass was ever enough.

According to the exacting standards of our inquiry here, the shown glass clearly contains more than the bottle. Trickery is afoot!   

There's also a lake of wines from the US. Wines from California, Oregon and Washington are generally very good wines. While I have heard that the very best wines of Europe are superior to US wines, the vin ordinaire of Europe is vastly inferior to the wines available from the US and elsewhere. Since I haven't the pocket book to indulge in the best class of European wines, I'll stick with the unpretentious but very good "Barefoot" from CA and the always reliable "Yellow Tail" from Australia.

To be frank I find little difference between expensive wines and the cheap ones; but I think that may say more about my palate. The average cheap wine about $15 a bottle.


I love trying new wines, especially Italian. The 1.5 litre bottles of pasqua merlot trevenezie for instance has an acidity that is refreshing, like the wines from Argentina or Chile. Home made wine is also great. In late summer, early autumn vineyards around here sell surplus grapes cheaply, so making 20 litres is relatively easy, even using the wild yeast on the grape skin.

Of course moderation is the key; I use pottery goblets now instead of glass; these hold about 400 ml, though a part of the pleasure is holding the wine to the light to view the color.

Venator wrote:
"Home made wine is also great. In late summer, early autumn vineyards around here sell surplus grapes cheaply, so making 20 litres is relatively easy, even using the wild yeast on the grape skin."

Brings back memories of hauling wine grapes to the Portuguese in northern British Columbia in the fall. I remember the boss telling me not to make more than four "drops" from the load. I thought that the old boy was slipping his clutch. I got paid by the trip so why would I make additional stops and delay my return home? My first stop was in a little sawmill town on the Yellow Head route. I had no idea that the "California wine grape truck" was such a big deal. I was backed up to a small warehouse on a dirt road. A couple of log trucks simply stopped in the middle of the road and the drivers hurried over to taste the grapes and place orders. I was given a glass of a previous vintage. Not a dainty little wine goblet but more on the order of an ice tea glass. The broker told me to take his pickup and go to a restaurant for whatever I wanted and they would take care of the unloading.

Nine stops later I finally finished out at Quesnel and headed home, two days late. Geez, was the boss pissed but apparently it was just a risk of hauling wine grapes so nothing more was done about it. Trucking in "the good ol' days".