The Blog Moves Slowly

So, I finally made the transition from my personal website to the hosting services here at Blogger.com (aka Blogspot). I hesitated to make the switch, because I knew it was going to be quite a project. The template for the site was broken along with the links to many images, etc. Quite a pain. But now everything is up and running properly I think. Well, except the Google Search window. I have tried everything I can to make it functional, and it's still broken.

Why was all this necessary you ask? Because Blogger decided to no longer support FTP site updating. I don't blame them. I fully understand the reasoning behind the move. As blogs were getting bigger and bigger, they have steadily been forced to FTP massive amounts of data every time an individual would make a post. That is too much to ask of anyone. I will miss hosting the blog on my personal site, and I'm not too keen on having the blogspot.com nomenclature in the blog's new address, but c'est la vie.

At least now I can focus on renewing my effort towards updating the blog on a semi-regular basis. Before I made the move, Blogger was not allowing me to make any posts. I look forward to your comments as usual.

Happy Holidays!

Sean.

Diet Time

So, again I must apologize for my lack of updates for the last month or so. I've been taking it a little easy on the vino. My wedding approaches. Time to lose those extra pounds. And, as it turns out, wine is a substantial portion of my caloric intake. So, the few times a week I get to enjoy the red stuff, I tend to purchase slightly more expensive bottles. But don't fret. I shall be back in no time. In fact, I bought a couple $10 bottles just this evening to share with all of you...

How much weight have I lost in the last four weeks you ask? 16 pounds so far! Pretty good eh???

Site Search

Okay, so I FINALLY added a site search to our little blog (with the help of Google). I've been notified by our readers that due to the growing number of entries it was becoming quite difficult to locate particular bottles. Now one can use the search to find vintages and labels using just about any criteria. Just give it a shot...

Of course, the Labels and Tags listed down the right-side column are still as useful as ever.

Trip to Ireland

Sorry for my disappearance over the last few weeks. I was off to the lovely, lush, green land of Ireland. Man, I love that country. I always find it hard to return... In the immortal words of David O'Hara, "it's my island!"

While there, I did have the opportunity to sample many wonderful wines. But being in a mindset of vacation and pleasure, I did not review any of them. Seeing as none of them could be purchased here in the United States, I just didn't think my memoirs were called for. Besides, I was having much, much too wonderful a time to stop and take down anything legible.

Varietal Explainations

This is another great article by the folks at Appellation America not only explaining the differences between 142 grape varietals but also assigning each a character to evaluate or associate with. If you truly take the time to read each one as I did, then you will be well on your way to understanding the differences between wines... which, really, is completely unnecessary for enjoying this website.

Varietals Characters

{added February, 2008}

I recently came across this varietal explanation as well:

Grape Profiles

The Future of Corking

This is a great article I ran across this evening regarding the past, present, and future of corking. Will the move away from natural cork continue? And what will replace it? The article goes on to explain the benefits and woes of plastic, screw caps, and glass corking techniques as the industry attempts to descern what to do about the corking problem. The article by Eleanor & Ray Heald goes on to introduce the issues behind cork replacement and the money behind the effort to leave it be...

To Cork or Not to cork?
by Eleanor & Ray Heald
Published October 26th, 2007

And So It Begins...

Welcome to our little wine club! This club is started in the spirit of fun and to reduce the number of bad wines accidentally purchased with the pre-notion of saving a buck or two. Dealing with wines in the under $10 catagory has always been a hit or miss scenario. With this club we hope to eliminate several of the misses for our readers.

These reviews are simple and probably not what you're used to. We're not wine experts by any stretch of the imagination. Some of you may enjoy, while others may loath or just simply disagree. Laughter is always a good result in our book as well. Either way, consistency is key. If you find yourself constantly in opposition to my reviews, then you'll probably be safe always picking up a bottle of the wines I distaste. Then everyone is happy!

We will explore some new finds here as well as some old standbys. So, if you don't see your wine here initially, never fear. It is sure to appear eventually, for the folks involved in this club tend to drink copious amounts of the stuff...

About Us

We are your humble reviewers. We all drink wine, but are by no means wine-connoisseurs. We all live in the fine city of Seattle, WA. The following lists our main members:

Sean (aka Psydr, your host)
Jay

We will do our best to inform you as best we can. Our reviews are certainly not without flaw. Your best bet is to choose a reviewer you more-often-than-not agree with or one you completely oppose. Or just use our ratings as a guide for your next wine selection at your local grocery or wine shop.

Our real goal here is to help YOU not throw away your hard-earned cash on a bottle of inexpensive vino you may just end up pouring down the drain. We're all looking for that delicious bargain bottle of wine for everyday drinking that doesn't taste of spoiled cork. Let us help you determine which bottles not to toss your $7 down-the-drain on.

And, most importantly, while visiting, please leave your own review to further help our fellow vino veterans...