New Winos and the New Local blog for New Winos.

When I first descended into a life of Professional Troglodytism, I looked at the languishing Moselle Room and thought of making it The Disco Room.  Mirrored ball, velvet walls. Fortunately, this was never a realized-albeit-genius vision. I refer to the Moselle Room as the cheap seats because a locker can usually be had before getting that deep into the cavern. No longer!

The Moselle Room is mostly 12-case lockers.  Sometimes 12-case lockers are starter lockers.  Soon enough fever sets in and before you know it you need to move up to a 24-case locker.  Other times a 12-case is the locker of the tentative or undecided. A few cases come in to start...maybe a few more a year later...then no more and finally the decision to clear out.   

Every July, Southern California panics and I get many phone calls for lockers, but this is a markedly unusual year.   May - early September, 10 new people rented a 12-case.  An additional four people are scattered in larger lockers being charged for a 12-case until one opens up for them, so in 6 months there are 14 Brand New Winos in The Cave.  Wow!  What's going on out there?  What was the switch that flipped? Millennial Fever, perhaps?

This requires expertise, a mind more diligent than mine, and it turns out Glendale has such a mind.

Wine for the Win is a new local wine blog first posted October 13, 2013, so it's very easy to catch up.  October 28 is the post, What Millennials Want. Many tweets, articles, posts, conjectures and op-eds are looking at The Millennials as a viable shift in wine, the chaperones from the era of Parker to What's Next.  Judging by the sudden run on 12-case lockers, I think they want 12-case lockers.

Wine for the Win also has one very simple but brilliant feature: Nuts and Bolts at the end of every review.  If you scroll down this recent post on Area 5.1 Majestic 12, you will see this most handy quick guide with all the necessary stuffs.  I know, brilliant, right? Especially the re-imagined take on When to Drink.


However, a word of caution: do not drink wine and play with knives!

The October 16 review of Baileyana Pinot Noir included this photo, something pumpkin-like.

"Alright, alright, it was supposed to be a cat, but I mistakenly cut off its tail. Luckily for me, I know how to problem solve. Sometimes it looks like a bunny, sometimes it looks like my bird, Pepe, but I’ve decided to just describe this jack-o-lantern a bird."

Around the same time, this photo was making the
rounds, William Burroughs hatchet artistry.  Chances are we know what inspired Mr. Burroughs.  But boy, that Baileyena Pinot must have been something, too.