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Good drink.

Take a red grapefruit and squeeze half of it into a glass, with some ice. Then take some gin, the cheaper the better, and add around three ounces. Fill it up with 7-Up and enjoy. Warmest regards, Doc.

Wine Review: Poverty Hill of Eden Valley, Australia

It’s not every day that I would devote a post to just one wine, but this is no ordinary wine. A friend of mine, from South Australia had alerted me to this new winery, and lo and behold, I became the happy recipient of two bottles, one sublime 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, and no less spectacular bottle of Riesling, 2004. Read more »

This Just In!

People who drink alcohol are less prone to the sometimes crippling disease called rheumatoid arthritis compared with non-drinkers, according to a Scandinavian study published on Wednesday. People who had a moderate alcohol consumption were 40 and 45 percent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis compared with people who did not drink or drank only occasionally, it found.

Among those who had a high consumption, the risk was reduced by 50 and 55 percent respectively.

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Think Twice Before Drinking Energy Drinks!

Clinicians should consider screening energy drink use in their patients to ensure a greater understanding of the possible impacts of long-term exposure to the high-dose caffeinated products, new findings have suggested. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts’ Division of Medical Toxicology, reviewed how the products’ ingredients are absorbed, digested and then expelled from a body amidst concerns over increased reports of caffeine poisoning.

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Red Wine’s the Drug!

I knew it! Fresh evidence that supports the potential protective health properties of wine with a US study suggesting a glass of red wine a day could actually protect against liver disease. People who drank up to one glass of wine a day saw the risk of liver disease due to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) cut in half, report researchers at California university’s San Diego School of Medicine, who carried out a study of nearly 12,000 individuals. Don’t drink the whole bottle though!

NAFLD, almost unknown over two decades ago, is the most common liver disease in the US. Affecting over 40 million adults in the US alone, its prevalence is expected to grow worldwide as nations become increasingly obese. Read more »

On Pastis

One of the typical scenes to be found throughout my neck of the woods, Provence, is of men gathered around the town square playing pétanque and drinking the aniseed flavored liquor, Pastis. Many afternoons I spent playing this game in my youth, with the object of winning a couple of apéritifs!

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Time for a Cocktail…or two

Most cocktails have some pretty hilarious names like Adios MF!, Two Nights into Georgia, Lava is Flow and so on. I used to spend some of my time in Australia making up alcoholic concoctions devised to lose one’s head, and quite rapidly at that. I had somehow managed to get my own (fully licensed) restaurant & bar at the tender age (read dim) of 23, and the first five months or so were spent blissfully drinking the bar’s shelves, starting from the left to the right, a system I used until I became almost broke. My two regular acolytes were a mad Armenian gambler and an Aussie surfer (though during those heydays, he saw little ocean action), and since the place was next to an Avant-Garde gallery full of nutty artists, there was always someone on hand to help me getting a step closer to the poor house. Read more »

Cocktail Recipes

Everyone loves a cocktail, particularly after a trying day. There’s nothing better than sitting with a few friends outside, a sunset and a jug of Margarita.

I use Cointreau (a tenth of the jug), a good brand of Tequila, finely crushed ice, and lots of fresh lime juice. A little rock salt…

What rocks your boat?

In Vino Veritas. A guide to New World Wines, part 1

There isn’t a Latin expression that rings truer to me. Ne plus ultra may come a close second. I have seen people confessing to unusual habits and revealing their innermost secrets when thoroughly infused with the nectar of the Gods. That may be the reason why I don’t drink in public anymore, for fear of my neighbor knowing all about my passing interest in playing mini golf in the nude or worse, my newly found liking of Doris Day’s & Harry James recordings from the notable film “Young Man With A Horn”.

I run a Jazz wine bar and I have managed to make a living out of it in the last few years. Having been born in France to a family of hoteliers, I remember that as young as seven I was told the difference between a Bordeaux and a Burgundy and was made to sniff out many premier crus though I wasn’t allowed to even take a small sip (this I did under the table with my cousins whenever there was a family reunion.) From age ten, I was allowed a touch of wine mixed with mineral water. It’s actually clever way to teach kids how to drink properly ie in moderation.

I favor quite a few of the New World wines these days as they seem fairer to me in pricing (I mean, who can afford $1.600 for a bottle of Chateau Petrus, still my “ne plus ultra” wine of choice if I had Bloomberg’s bank account).

One does not need to spend over ten dollars for a reasonable drinking wine, particularly when it comes from the cooler regions of Chile or the chalky plains of Argentina. If you want to celebrate a birthday or a special occasion, then anything between $20 and $40 is ample money unless you want a bottle of bubbly. That’s another diary.

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A Champagne Diary

e Champagne is the product and La Champagne is the region, just so you know. There are just 34,000 hectares to the East of Paris, of which 31,000 are planted, and these provide the entire world, a yearly average of 280 million bottles with an absolute maximum of 310 million. The vineyards of Champagne are divided between 310 villages or crus. The terroir (I’m not talking about terroirists here!) of these crus change dramatically and those with the most suitable soils, aspects of the sun, inclinations and good climate will produce the better grapes. Vines are planted on south-facing limestone or chalk slopes. The deeper, more fertile soil is used for farming and raising cattle. Ownership of the land is just one aspect of a most elaborate system that includes how the grapes are grown and the wine made, all of which is controlled by the most rigorous and strictly enforced rules and laws designed to ensure quality over quantity. The regulatory body known as the CIVC (Comité Interprofressionel du Vin de Champagne) is based in the lovely town of Eperney, the capital of La Champagne. The town’s centre, La Place de la Republique lies at the start of the wonderfully named Avenue de Champagne which the old Churchill called the finest address in the world (I bet he knew a thing or two about this tipple and downed his fair share!) Anyone planning a trip to France should include a couple of days motoring through the region (a couple of hours from Paris) as many of the Champagne houses are open to visitors. You can also purchase ex-cellar at better prices and stock up for the festive season (and piss off Bill O’Reilly in the process, he hates all things French!)

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