<a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_idlYwkc9AhE/SN7ETrdSsWI/AAAAAAAAEq0/_OPCWSmDY-4/s1600-h/palinsyrah.jpg”><img style=”float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_idlYwkc9AhE/SN7ETrdSsWI/AAAAAAAAEq0/_OPCWSmDY-4/s200/palinsyrah.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”"id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250850057922720098″ /></a>Her detractors say GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has no experience in international matters. One product from a boutique Chilean winery might be pointed to by her supporters as evidence of her international reach.
It’s called Palin Syrah.
The actual pronunciation is <span style=”font-style:italic;”>pah-leen</span>, referring to the ball in a Chilean-style hockey game.
We know such plays on names are all part of the ephemeral thing that is politics, and reading any significance into them is about as useful as, well, as putting lipstick on a pig, as some current poltical hacks would say.
Nevertheless, Fox News thought it important enough to have a reporter for its election news Web site check out the political and business implications of such a wine being available to American consumers.
The bottom line, says Fox, is that San Franciscans are so left-wing they hate anything remotely resembling a Republican in name, wine or anything else, so Palin Syrah is being shunned even though it sold well before anyone outside her state knew of Sarah Palin. And, meanwhile, in the Republican stronghold of Texas, the wine is selling like mad.
If you must read the whole story, just click <a href=”http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/24/palin-syrah-wine-drinkers-balk-at-a-chilean-wine-with-hints-of-alaska/”>here</a>.
While I admire its aspiration to be the lead dog in the pack of magazines telling men how to dress, eat, drink and behave, I have difficulty with GQ because it insists we all should be untucked, unshaven, uncombed and generally unimpressive looking in a world in which women are expected to be sleek, stylish and perfectly coiffed.
GQ’s idea of what a man should look like is precisely what many of us laughed at when we were in our 20s.
That aside, any magazine that goes to the trouble of coming up with an illustrated guide to the 20 “best” cocktails currently being served in America has to be given its props.
Lest you think all such drinks are pricey, one that particularly caught my eye was The Margaveza (seen here) from a Brooklyn, NY, spot called Daddy’s. It’s described as “a rock ’n’ roll bar tucked into an obscure block of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that’s staffed and patronized by obscure Brooklyn musicians.”
The Margaveza was invented by Eric Copeland, of the band Black Dice when he was a bartender there. Says GQ’s Will Welch, “It’s wildly simple: a 12-ounce bottle of Sol poured into a pint glass, topped with four ounces of frozen margarita, and garnished with a lime. All for five bucks. Why didn’t anyone think of this before?”
Chalk up one more health claim for red wine. And, one more plus for reservatrol.
While that may sound like the name of a medicine, reservatrol actually is a component of red wine that researchers now say may contribute to extending the human lifespan.
The study is, of course, based on giving reservatrol to mice, but there are some scientists who like the prospects so much they have begun taking it in capsule form.
The latest speculation on reservatrol’s efficacy revolves around a company called Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, founded in Cambridge, MA, in 2004 and just sold to pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million, certainly a vote of confidence in its work.
Sirtris (not to be confused with Marina Sirtis, of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fame) is working on development of drugs that activate protein agents known in people as sirtuins. It reported in April that its formulation of resveratrol, called SRT501, reduced glucose levels in patients with diabetes.
Simply put, the theory behind the research is that of a human biological survival mechanism that, when faced with starvation, switches the body’s resources from fertility to tissue maintenance, thus cutting down on the degenerative diseases of aging — what researchers usually refer to as the “period of morbidity.”
A number of researchers have been studying the phenomenon and reservatrol’s role in it for 20 years or so. One of the most promising results was announced last year by Dr. John Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France. He said his experiments elevated lab mice into stronger versions of themselves, able to run twice as far on a treadmill before collapsing.
Sirtris plans to start clinical trials of its reservatrol mimic soon. Sirtris’s value to GlaxoSmithKline is presumably that its sirtuin-activating drugs could be used to treat a wide range of common degenerative diseases such as cancers and Alzheimer’s if its underlying theory is correct.
A University of Wisconsin research team this week reported in the journal PLoS One that reservatrol may be effective in mice and people using much lower doses than previously thought necessary.
The Wisconsin scientists said because red wine also contains a number of compounds similar to reservatrol, a 4- to 5-ounce glasses of wine may be close enough to the amount of resveratrol they found to be effective.
Until all the results are in and proven conclusive, it certainly won’t hurt the average person to begin a daily regimen of one glass of red wine per day for health reasons. Heaven knows, I’m years ahead of schedule and feeling just fine.
If Hillary Rodham Clinton makes it to the White House, we know one thing that will be on the daily agenda: The return of the cocktail hour.
The current top resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue doesn’t drink anymore, and there have been other teetotalers in the White House. But many of our presidents were known for their cocktail preferences. George Washington ran his own distillery. John Adams started his day with hard cider. Thomas Jefferson even introduced the presidential cocktail party.
In later years, Franklin D. Roosevelt quickly mixed up a martini — the real kind, with gin — to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. John F. Kennedy regularly served daiquiris aboard the presidential yacht. Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon both enjoyed drinking Scotch.
Now we have Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, the likely contenders for the office in November, each of whom has the occasional drink. But Clinton makes no bones about enjoying her drinks more than they do, and likes them neat, as this photo — one of a series taken aboard her plane by the Associated Press and made available here in slideshow format — shows after a campaign stop in South Dakota this week.
Clinton also made news a few weeks ago when she had a shot of whiskey and a beer with some members of the public during a campaign stop in Indiana, but this is the first time she let her hair down with reporters. This time, she showed the good sense to avoid the Canadian whiskey she had in Indiana and enjoyed a shot of Maker’s Mark bourbon from Kentucky, US of A.
After hosting thousands upon thousands of visitors from all over the globe, my drinks Web site just got its first visitor from Andorra.
That may not mean anything to most people, but for someone like me who has had a lifelong fascination with maps, geography and tiny, out-of-the-way countries (see San Marino, Liechtenstein and Kiribati), a real-time connection with someone in Andorra is like striking gold.
I’ve visited a couple of tiny countries — Luxembourg, located at the confluence of Belgium, France and Germany, and Antigua & Barbuda, an islands-nation in the Caribbean, for example — but they’re easily reached.
The Principality of Andorra is a bit more remote, tucked into a 174-square-mile pocket in the eastern Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, although 10 million tourists manage to get there each year.
That must agree with the 72,000 locals since tourism provides 80% of the country’s income and the population has the highest average life expectancy of any nation in the world (80 for men, 86 for women).
One of the biggest attractions is the large amount of area for skiing. This Sunday, for example, the main race of the Andorran Ski Championship will be held and thousands of fans will flock to the mountains for the event.
But that’s the touristy stuff. When I visit a country I prefer to find something offbeat. In Andorra, that can be the bordas, the old traditional mountain homes. More than two dozen of them have been converted to public restaurants, most of which are known for a signature dish. Thus, a tour of the bordas is a gastronomic treat that comes highly recommended.
I’m making out my dining list right now. If I can just link up to my Web site visitor, I may even be able to get a personal tour.
First it was ’60s movie sex siren Mamie Van Doren coming out of retirement to bare it all for a new line of wines bearing her image. Now, as if to show that the younger generation can take a marketing hint, celebutart Paris Hilton is showing up in the nude to push her new canned wine brand.
In a sense, she’s not strictly nude. She is covered in gold paint, as you can see.
The wine in a can, called Rich Prosecco, comes in original, passion fruit and strawberry flavors. It will make its European debut this week, and be introduced to the U.S. soon after the first of the year.
This follows Hilton’s other products, including perfume, shoes, jewelery and handbags as well as the occasional film or pop album.
While she and her people may know a thing or two about marketing her, they’re not terribly original about how they do it. English actress Shirley Eaton beat them to the gold gimmick as an ill-fated James Bond girl back in ‘64.
The resemblance is uncanny in some photos, but the intent was purely unintentional.
The pub sign in a soon-to-open UK watering hole in a place called Rock Ferry, Wirral, is supposed to be an homage to poet John Masefield, according to the pub chain JD Wetherspoon.
Unfortunately, the image of Masefield (right) looks a lot like one A. Hitler, late of Berlin, Germany. A lot of customers and neighbors have begun calling the pub The Adolf. They are asking the chain management to change the sign before the pub opens for business.
Says manager Seanie Walsh, 55: ”We must admit he does look a bit like Hitler on the sign, but that didn’t occur to us until after we put it up. We’ve got lots of pictures of John Masefield inside from different stages of his life and we hope people come down and learn more about him while having a drink.”
Masefield, who died in 1967, is perhaps best known for his poem “Sea Fever,” which begins: “I must go down to the seas again … .”
At least this faux pas wasn’t on purpose, unlike one in India in which a restaurateur decided to post a swastika over the store and call it Hitler’s Cross. As the headline on my blog entry said about that one, “Perhaps the Hitler Youth menu was over the top.”
If the group that started a petition drive to bring the Trader Joe’s grocery chain to the Capital Region is looking for something to do now that its efforts seem to have fallen on deaf ears, they may want to try starting a Sonic boom.
The sprawling chain of more than 3,200 drive-in and eat-in restaurants has franchises popping up all over the country — except for the northern states that border Canada. For the geographically impaired, that includes New York.
In the past year it has opened its first restaurants in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Oregon and Washington state. Approximately 25 units are expected to dot the Columbus, OH, market in the next few years and 30 in the Pittsburgh market. And, the first New Jersey unit is now being built off Exit 69 of the Garden State Parkway. Even in places such as Maryland, which has Sonics, they want more and have a petition drive under way to get the company’s attention.
So far, there also are franchises in Mexico and the list of target states for more growth includes Alaska and Hawaii. But, not New York. Odd, since it’s a known brand with a cult following for its commercials even in markets where there are no restaurants. And, it ranks No. 1 in the annual franchisee satisfaction survey conducted by the industry magazine QSR.
Locally, the closest we can come to Sonic is enjoying the clever TV commercials with which we’ve been inundated lately. You know the ones, with people sitting in their cars, enjoying one of Sonic’s imaginative drinks (the chain claims in excess of 13,000 different recipes, but not all available at all times) or meals.
PHOTO BY WILLIAM M. DOWD (Double-click to enlarge image)
VIEW OF THE GREEN ISLAND BRIDGE FROM BROWN’S
Good news for anyone who has ever plopped himself, or herself, down on the rear deck at The Taproom at Brown’s Brewing Co. (seen here) on Troy’s River Street and quaffed some of Gary Brown’s beers and ales.
Brown’s long-held dream to expand brewing operations and perhaps even his number of brews is getting some timely backing.
It’s been five years since Brown purchased the former Flomatic Corp. paper mill in North Hoosick with the aim of converting it into a brewery.
Now, the Hoosick Town Board is applying for a Restore New York grant for that and other projects. If it is successful in obtaining the state money, it could pay for 90% of the restoration costs, with Brown paying the remaining 10%. A firm estimate of renovation costs is not yet known, but it will be in the millions.
Applications for grants are due to be turned in by Sept. 28. The program is open to the entire state and has $300 million to award. The amount of grant money allowed is determined by the size of the community.
For 23 years, John Stoate proudly brought a taste of his English homeland to Rensselaer County at his Man of Kent tavern and cafe on Route 7 near the Vermont border. Now, it’s up to new owner Jon Bombard to handle such things.
Bombard, 30, (seen here) managed Kevin at Mike’s Place in North Bennington, VT, for nine years before purchasing Stoate’s pub. He says he bought it because he wants it to remain the way he’s experienced it as a decade-long customer.
That means the drinks menu will continue to include its traditional 14 beers on tap and more than 100 different bottled beers.
By the way, the Man of Kent also will continue to include the man from Kent. Stoate, 67, will be working behind the bar on the day shift Mondays through Thursdays.
An increase in boorish behavior on the part of some Finger Lakes winery tourists has led to the Safe Group Wine Tours Initiative.
It’s a cooperative effort of the Keuka, Cayuga and Seneca wine trails. Taking a page from the rules of soccer, tour groups who exhibit intoxicated and/or disruptive behavior will get yellow-card warnings. Repeat offenders will get red cards that will deny the company or groups admittance to any of the 50 or so participating wineries.
As tourism increases throughout wine country, chauffered vehicles have become more popular so visitors can visit more winery tasting rooms without worrying about driving. Conversely, more groups and individuals have overdone that freedom, leading to instances of verbal abuse of tasting room staff, public urination and other raucous behavior.
According to the wineries, overindulgence comes mainly from drinking on commercial vehicles, not from visiting tasting rooms. State law allows open bottles in livery vehicles.
Some tour groups prohibit consumption of any alcoholic beverages in limos or buses. Some even warn customers in advance that disruptive behavior will result in their immediately being dropped off the tour.
Forget the recent reports on soft drinks’ contributions to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. It’s summer!
The Magic Springs amusement park in Hot Springs, AR, has announced that visitors will be able to drink all the soft drinks they want at the park for free this summer.
As a nod to good health, however, they’ll also be offered free sunscreen creams and free use of riding tubes in the Crystal Falls waterpark.
Special events usually bring out the creativity in public relations specialists.
Just one quick example of one of the press releases I’ve seen in the past few days:
“Super Bowl Sunday is the day of the highest consumption of Hass Avocados from Mexico, which are used to make millions of pounds of Guacamole on what is the number 1 at-home party day of the year.”
Millions of pounds of guacamole? Millions? Guacamole? Good lord, what an embarassing testament to the creativity of humankind after all these years on Earth.
Unless, of course, you know how to serve it as creatively as you can write about it. What true avocado fan could argue with that?
The New York City Health Department has come up with a restaurant guide that might prove as popular as Zagat’s or Michelin.
It’s a new Web site that lists health code violation points.
Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said his department is queried so often about code violations they decided to simplify access to it. The site had been getting an estimated 7 million hits a year. When the redesign was unveiled the other day it got so many hits it crashed. Access problems continue, so if you try to use it and can’t get through, be patient. My call to the department’s public information office revealed that access is intermittent as techies work on de-bugging the new site.
The site allows the public to search for restaurants by name, ZIP code, borough and neighborhood. It also allows users to sort restaurants by violation points.
Scores below 27 are deemed safe, 28 or higher not so safe. Officials said about 10% of the city’s 20,000 eateries fail inspection each year and about 500 are closed.
If you’re planning to visit the Big Apple tomorrow, be assured the weather is more predictable than the rat-’em-out Web site’s availability: mixed sun and clouds, a high of 42° and a low of 27°.
