Fashion Board 5-7-04 to 6-9-04

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Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
I have a vacuvin. I hardly ever use it. It is more trouble than its worth. I stick a glass stopper I bought at BV in the bottle and finish it up tomorrow.

If I open something good enough to justify all the pumping the vacuvin requires, I'll finish the bottle and pump something else.

I have a vacuvin. I use it all the time. Sometimes the night after I have a glass or two of wine at home with dinner, I go out and don't have any wine at dinner. Wine generally tastes pretty shitty after a couple days if you just stick something over the mouth of the bottle.

Even if I have a really good bottle of wine, I usually tend not to drink the entire thing all on one night all by myself. Obviously, it's a whole different story if I have people over. If I have people over, usually all the wine gets drunk, even if I have to drink a whole lot of it by myself. This explains why I should not try to wash the wineglasses until the next day, at the earliest.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by baltassoc
And speaking of Bonny Doon wines with a screwcap, I had their Cardinal Zin a couple of weeks ago, and it was very nice. Robust, but not overpowering. A little pricier than the Big House Red (which I also like, and have previously mentioned) - I think it was $16 on sale.

Someone gave us a bottle of the Big House last week so I didn't know how much $$, but it was quite nice.

I had always heard that Bonney Doon had really cute labels, but was all flash and no substance. We are going to the winery in a couple of weeks, so I guess I'll find out then.

[Snidely Condescending]

Gin and juice is the Chateau Rothschild of today.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
I have a vacuvin. I hardly ever use it. It is more trouble than its worth.

Surprisingly, the people at Cook's Illustrated agreed in "Notes from Readers" from the January 1999 issue.

• {Taste-testing methodology omitted; click here for the article; paid subscription may be required but is worthwhile.}
  
  There was very little, if any, discernible taste difference between the recorked and vacuum-stopped wines.
  
  We are left to conclude, then, that the vacuum stoppers make no difference for the average wine drinker. This may not hold true, however, for those whose palates are experienced and well developed.

Here's the wino's alternative suggested by CI:

• As an aside, we were discussing this, and other matters, with Dr. Susan Brewer, an Associate Professor of Food Chemistry at the University of Illinois, and she mentioned that you can mimic the effect of the vacuum stopper by inhaling deeply, holding your breath for a moment, and exhaling into the bottle. The carbon dioxide you exhale will force the oxygen out of the bottle, thereby retarding oxidation.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Surprisingly, the people at Cook's Illustrated agreed in "Notes from Readers" from the January 1999 issue.

• {Taste-testing methodology omitted; click here for the article; paid subscription may be required but is worthwhile.}
  
  There was very little, if any, discernible taste difference between the recorked and vacuum-stopped wines.
  
  We are left to conclude, then, that the vacuum stoppers make no difference for the average wine drinker. This may not hold true, however, for those whose palates are experienced and well developed.

Here's the wino's alternative suggested by CI:

• As an aside, we were discussing this, and other matters, with Dr. Susan Brewer, an Associate Professor of Food Chemistry at the University of Illinois, and she mentioned that you can mimic the effect of the vacuum stopper by inhaling deeply, holding your breath for a moment, and exhaling into the bottle. The carbon dioxide you exhale will force the oxygen out of the bottle, thereby retarding oxidation.

We can therefore conclude that my palate is neither experienced nor well developed.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
. . . you can mimic the effect of the vacuum stopper by inhaling deeply, holding your breath for a moment, and exhaling into the bottle. The carbon dioxide you exhale will force the oxygen out of the bottle, thereby retarding oxidation.

That was a very handy trick back in college. I never actually tried it, but merely recommended it repeatedly to people, and so my roommate never once finished off my wine.

Originally posted by Oliver_Wendell_Ramone
Huh? Go ahead and swing for the fences, then. You may have to spell it out for me. W-A-...

This is actually a current issue for me. Historically, I really haven't had a problem with wine being left in a bottle. However, Mrs. Ramone has recently come down with a bad case of pregnancy, and she is not expected to recover any time soon. So, unless I want to turn into an even bigger drunk than I already am, I risk wasting a lot of wine when I open a bottle (although, at the risk of beating on a long-dead horse, Mrs. Ramone is enjoying the occasional glass of wine; my drinking is far from occasional).

You shoulda married me, doll. We'd be a couple of Attican Bedshitters with nothing but empty wine bottles strewn all over the place. It would be bliss.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
you can mimic the effect of the vacuum stopper by inhaling deeply, holding your breath for a moment, and exhaling into the bottle. The carbon dioxide you exhale will force the oxygen out of the bottle, thereby retarding oxidation.

I had Spooky do this once, but he hadn't flossed for a few days and the wine actually curdled.

[Slave Once Again]

[DELETED FOR VIOLATION OF TOS-YOU'RE ON NOTICE SLAVE]

Originally posted by Snidely Condescending
Gin and juice is the Chateau Rothschild of today.

What a phone in from a formerly reliable sock. Unorginal, unfunny, fucks up the wine reference and doesnt capture the essence of being snidely or condescending. Really, Ironweed. Not worth the logout.

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Speaking of wine, houseguests of mine (not rude and not fat, btw, although they did lounge on our couches) brought me maple wine as a present. It is made in Quebec and it is actually pretty good (I am a huge fan of all things maple - syrup, fudge, leafs, maple glazed donuts). Apparently it tastes very good with game. Since I am not a game-eater, I tried it with some cheese and it was tasty.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

(ahh, fuck it. I still stand by the vacuvin, though.)

[Not Flaming]

Originally posted by paigowprincess
What a phone in from a formerly reliable sock. Unorginal, unfunny, fucks up the wine reference and doesnt capture the essence of being snidely or condescending. Really, Ironweed. Not worth the logout.

2.

Although given the range of choices between his primary and secondary socks, he's not really worth the log-on to start with.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by Oliver_Wendell_Ramone
Cardinal Zin has one of the coolest labels ever.



This local favorite is also using screwtops for some wines:

http://www.stupedasso.com (good cheap zin, stupidasses)

[Cheese]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
Speaking of wine, houseguests of mine (not rude and not fat, btw, although they did lounge on our couches) brought me maple wine as a present. It is made in Quebec and it is actually pretty good (I am a huge fan of all things maple - syrup, fudge, leafs, maple glazed donuts). Apparently it tastes very good with game. Since I am not a game-eater, I tried it with some cheese and it was tasty.

I am always a tasty dish.
But the thought of maple wine is making me a little queasy. The insulin rush alone would by dizzying.