American Spirits on July 4th

There are plenty of wines and beers made in America with which to celebrate our independence on July 4th. But what do to if you are not a wine or beer drinker and you want to add a little American spark to your picnic beverage of choice? Lift your Spirits while still honoring American independence by mixing your cocktail with these Vodkas, Gins, and Rums made in the good ol' U S of A!

Vodka:
Smirnoff (originally a Russian brand)
Charbay
Hangar One
Square One
Roth (not a Vino Girl or Winemonkey fave but, hey, it's a free country!)

Gin:
Bluecoat No. 209
Junipero

Rum:
Charbay

Enjoy the holiday. Cheers!

Americans: The New Wine Optimists

Despite a down market, Americans are still intent on getting their wine fix. Although you might expect that beverages brandishing alcohol have their place in an unsteady economic environment, the interesting news is that the so-called luxury wine segment is on the uptick as well. Sales of “luxury” and “super luxury” wines, including bottles from $15 to $20 and $20+, have experienced increases over the last few months.

Sure, some consumers are looking to under $15 value bottles and professed “premium” boxed wines to lift their frugal spirits. But if that’s what it takes to keep Americans optimistic, we say off with the spigots and let the cheap wine flow free. Drink up!

France's Tangled Wine Web

An official list, developed in 1991, of approved media vehicles for alcohol marketing in France apparently does not include the Internet. This means that online wine advertising, e-commerce sites for French wine retailers, and even websites for such big name French brands as Chateau Margaux, are considered illicit business. The director of an online wine merchant in Bordeaux, Patrick Bernard, put it best when he explained that “In France whatever is not legal is illegal, in America it is the other way around…” In an uncharacteristically preemptive move, Microsoft has removed all liquor advertising and stripped related key words from the French MSN site while Google and Yahoo have yet to follow suit. This entire brew-ha-ha stems from a court decision in a case against Heineken. Stay tuned…

Brunello-Gate

You may have heard chatter that some producers of the well-respected wine from Italy, Brunello di Montalcino, are doing what no self-respecting Brunello producer would do -- using grapes from outside of the region of Montalcino in Tuscany, including foreign grapes such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. True Brunello di Montalcino is made from 100% Sangiovese grapes and the name translates literally to “Brunello (a nickname of sorts for Sangiovese) from Montalcino.”

The American government, concerned about the fleecing of U.S. consumers, has scheduled a meeting with the Italian Agricultural Minister to try and work out a resolution before instituting an outright import ban on the wine.

Considering Americans throw back approximately 25% of all the Brunello on the market, the Italians may want to skip the aperitivo and get right to the bargaining table.

Slender Splender!

Say it ain't so.

I apologize in advance to all you Hoosiers out there. Really, I do. But all I can say is that if you can't make quality wine in Indiana (come on, admit it, it's tough) then at least keep it real.

Chateau Thomas Winery in Plainfield, Indiana is introducing -- and I quote -- "the World's ONLY artificially sweetened wine." It's called Slender because (wait for it...) it has "no sugar, no carbs, no fats, no aftertaste, no KIDDING".

What it does have is three "flavors", including red, rose, and blush, and a $9.99 price tag. According to INDYSTAR.COM the wine is now sweetened with a naturally occurring sugar alcohol whereas previous versions were sweetened with Splenda. The Chateau Thomas website, however, still sites Splenda as the key to this wine's sweetness.

Okay, okay, so they are supposedly going to donate 50 cents to the American Diabetes Association for every case sold. That's nice and everything but somehow I envision the wine (see accompanying picture) being sipped by rail thing, artificially enhanced women kvetching by the pool. Does one sit by the pool in Indiana? Does one Kvetch? I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that I don't want anything to do with Slender (the wine, not the body type). ;)

If you want to get some of yours, visit Chateau Thomas and order it up. Let me know how it is, will you? Cheers!