Wine Spectator's newest wine spectator.

I know someone who fills out things online and then gets free things for it.  So now I have a magazine subscription to Wine Spectator. 

I've spectatored four issues now, and I like it, it's actually adding some clarification that is my hitherto muddled wine "journey" (word used loosely). What I'm mostly continuing to learn is that for every person, for every troglodyte, and for every species inbetween there are many definitons of wine journey.  Also, I am learning that mine might be the most laughable, or is it the least journeyest? 

For instance, I know: 

The most advanced thing I might ever think about a wine is that "it's really good,"  not to be confused with the mere, "it's really good."

slate.com

In the very first issue I received, I read about how Michael Mondavi keeps his wine cellar at 58 - 62 degrees in the winter and 65 - 67 degrees in the summer, as recommended by French enologist Emile Peynaud.  I LIKE THIS! I like the idea it implies, that wine exists to drink, eventually but soon enough.  Yeah I know, amongst other reasons it's made to collect,  invest in - buy-sell-trade  -  thus the need for need for excessive AC, the kind that's destroying the ozone.  In my simple, single-celled brain, if we just drank the wine the world would be a better place.


(not to be confused with I love my job, the very one that depends excessive, ozone-destroying AC.)

Bruno Giacosa Foto: Helge Hansen

Also there was an article on Bruno Giacosa and there is a guy here who like his wines so I got to read about  something that matters to my customers.  Usually for this I just peruse Air Conditioning Quarterly, equally enthralling.

gnarly!   http://www.historicvineyardsociety.org/index.jsp

 I learned that there is this thing, the 13 founder grapes from which 1,368current varieties arose.  That's kind of cool  because I spend a few hours a day wondering what's next in the world of wine and decided it would be wine made form original grape species.  Then I tell myself no one cares about that kind of stuff but me and maybe the Historic Vineyard Society, also something I learned about from Wine Spectator.






I read that the United States is the fourth largest consumer of Bordeaux Wines behind China, Belgium, and the UK.

Belgium, really?  That tiny pink blob in the upper right hand corner, THAT'S Belgium, and they're kicking our butts. Bad enough the UK is out-classing us.  Again. 

Lastly, I have a small crush on Matt Kramer.  He seems unaffected and practical and normal enough.