For the 4th we had a variety of friends over. We made some marinated
London broil, grilled veggies (sweet potatoes, squash, etc), mango
salsa, and a few other things. Friends brought a variety of salads and
desserts. We had a Frankfurter Challenge (see below if interested),
where the Hebrew National edged a local weiner from a farmer's market
(they were well-ahead of other contenders). The petanque game never
started, though the badminton progressed well.

We didn't have red, white and blue wines, but we did manage red,
white,and pink:

Red:

2004 Andre Ich=E9 "Les H=E9r=E9tiques" (VdP de l'H=E9rault)
My first try of the 2004. Juicy, sweet fruit with some lavender and
Italian herb notes. Easy to drink and fun, quite the deal at about
$7.B/B+

2003 Clos Roche Blanche Cabernet (Touraine)
Dark plum fruit, some light herb notes. Reasonable and ready to go, but
no need to search for. B

2001 Havens Bourriquot (Napa)
Fittingly on July 4th an American wine is my favorite of the day. Big
young wine that needs time for the ripe tannins and spicy/toasty oak to
integrate. But lovely balance and purity of flavors, long finish, great
potential. A/A-

2001 Jadot Beaujolais-Villages
I find this much better than I expected. Good acidity, clean cherry
fruit, somewhat light but so what. Decent finish. B/B+

2002 Clos del Mas (Priorat)
Oakchippy and with some green tannins, very soft and round. Seems
somewhat extracted, yet has short finish and is just not for me. C

2002 Escudo Rojo (Chile)
This also is a bit oaky, but the fruit is better balanced and the
finish clean. Decent. B

1999 La Fleur du Bouard (Lalande de Pomerol)
Deep rich lush fruit, some graphite and flowers over the bed of deep
black fruits. The oak is still a bit unintegrated, this could use
another 1-2 years IMHO but is pretty good now. Ripe tannins, long
finish. A-

2001 Domaine des Relagnes C=F4tes du Rh=F4ne Vieilles Vignes
Pleasant straightforward CdR, some ripe red fruit and Provencal herbs.
There's some light but gritty tannins in the back that bother me a
little, I might try holding my remaining bottle(s) a couple years and
hope the fruit holds out. B

White:
2004 Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet
Is there anything left to say about this? My favorite under$10 wine of
the summer to date. A- (solid A+ for value)

2003 Hawk's Crest Chardonnay (second label of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars)
Light-bodied Chardonnay, a touch of butter on some modest pear fruit.
A bit soft and maybe a touch-offdry, but ok. B/B-

Pink:

2004 Domaine de Chevalier Ros=E9
Another ros=E9 from a prestigious Bordeaux estate. This is simple fruit
juice, like the Monbousquet it leaves me cold. C+

2002 Reserve de Vignerons Cabernet de Saumur
Pleasant enough co-op ros=E9, light strawberry fruit over some floral
accents. A little short on the finish, and maybe a bit tired. B-

2004 Robert Sinskey Vin de Gris de Pinot Noir (Napa)
Strawberries, peaches, and honeysuckle on the nose, nicely crisp yet
plenty of fruit. Best ros=E9 of the day (I had a bottle of Il Mimo out,
but it eventually traveled to the house where we watched fireworks and
I never tasted). B+/A-

Afterwards we went to watch fireworks over the Hudson. Nice
Independence Day.


Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency

Purpose of study: To investigate and research the relative popularity of a
variety of frankfurters available in the New York metro area in a
head-to-head format.

The Weiners: 9 dogs were chosen for the competition.
Natural casing beef : Dynes Farms, Nathan's, Wellshire Farms, Boar's Head,
Papaya King, Sabrett's, Fairway
Kosher: Empire National, Hebrew National
Turkey, Pork & Chicken: Oscar Mayer Weiner
Some Intellig-Dogs/Tofu Pups arrived too late to be part of the judging.
Attempts were made to include Lobel's and Schaller and Weber, but time
constraints kept the author from the Upper East Side. It should be noted the
the Oscar Meyer entry was supposed to be the Beef Frank, somehow the author
grabbed the wrong package. '

Methodology: A pool of 25+ potential tasters were lured to a backyard on
July 4th with promises of free food, wine, beer, and juice. Tasters ranged
from 4 to about 64 in age.

3 of each wiener were grilled, and sliced into 6-7 portions. Test was not
blind, each plate was labeled. Judges were asked to try and get any
condiments consistent across the contestant franks. Attempts were made to
grill one dog lightly, one medium, and one with a good char to allow each
taster to choose according to their preference. Tasters were given score
sheets with each dog, with possible ratings of 1 (poor), 2 (OK), 3 (good), 4
(very good) or 5 (bodaciously great). 15 tasters filled out sheets, although
several missed one or two franks. After scoring, each taster could order
more of the frank of their choice.

Results: In a pretty tight race, Hebrew National edged Dynes Farms (Hudson
Valley product attained at a farmer's market). Final average scores we

Hebrew National 3.86 (54 points, 14 voters)
Dynes Farms 3.69 (48/13)
Nathan's 3 (42/14)
Wellshire Farms 2.85 (40/14)
Boar's Head 2.71 (38/14)
Empire National 2.64 (37/14)
Papaya King 2.64 (37/14)
Sabrett's 2.61` (34/13)
Fairway 2.46 (32/13)
Oscar Mayer 1.85 (26/14)

A few notes from the study's author:
While time and financial restraints prevent us from doing an intense
statistical analysis including standard deviation, a few points seem to be
obvious from the scoresheets:
1) Some voters have distinct preferences for casing vs. no casing
2) Sabretts & Wellshire Farms seem to cause the greatest variance of
opinions, they are the only franks to have scored both 1s & 5s.
3) Papaya King, Hebrew National, and Dyne's Farms had no 1 scores.
4) No scorer rated Oscar Meyer above 3.

The author makes no representation that this study is in any way indicative
of quality. As a matter of fact, the author only ranked 2 dogs as "4", the
Boar's Head and the Empire National. He ranked the top 2 vote-getters both
as a 3.

Dale

Dale, the best dog in the country is a White Hot from Rochester NY. The
Brand name is Zweigles.

Best of class!!!1


"DALE WILLIAMS" wrote in message
news:Zxyye.2326$gD5.517@trndny06...
Purpose of study: To investigate and research the relative popularity of a
variety of frankfurters available in the New York metro area in a
head-to-head format.

The Weiners: 9 dogs were chosen for the competition.
Natural casing beef : Dynes Farms, Nathan's, Wellshire Farms, Boar's Head,
Papaya King, Sabrett's, Fairway
Kosher: Empire National, Hebrew National
Turkey, Pork & Chicken: Oscar Mayer Weiner
Some Intellig-Dogs/Tofu Pups arrived too late to be part of the judging.
Attempts were made to include Lobel's and Schaller and Weber, but time
constraints kept the author from the Upper East Side. It should be noted
the
the Oscar Meyer entry was supposed to be the Beef Frank, somehow the
author
grabbed the wrong package. '

Methodology: A pool of 25+ potential tasters were lured to a backyard on
July 4th with promises of free food, wine, beer, and juice. Tasters ranged
from 4 to about 64 in age.

3 of each wiener were grilled, and sliced into 6-7 portions. Test was not
blind, each plate was labeled. Judges were asked to try and get any
condiments consistent across the contestant franks. Attempts were made to
grill one dog lightly, one medium, and one with a good char to allow each
taster to choose according to their preference. Tasters were given score
sheets with each dog, with possible ratings of 1 (poor), 2 (OK), 3 (good),
4
(very good) or 5 (bodaciously great). 15 tasters filled out sheets,
although
several missed one or two franks. After scoring, each taster could order
more of the frank of their choice.

Results: In a pretty tight race, Hebrew National edged Dynes Farms (Hudson
Valley product attained at a farmer's market). Final average scores we

Hebrew National 3.86 (54 points, 14 voters)
Dynes Farms 3.69 (48/13)
Nathan's 3 (42/14)
Wellshire Farms 2.85 (40/14)
Boar's Head 2.71 (38/14)
Empire National 2.64 (37/14)
Papaya King 2.64 (37/14)
Sabrett's 2.61` (34/13)
Fairway 2.46 (32/13)
Oscar Mayer 1.85 (26/14)

A few notes from the study's author:
While time and financial restraints prevent us from doing an intense
statistical analysis including standard deviation, a few points seem to be
obvious from the scoresheets:
1) Some voters have distinct preferences for casing vs. no casing
2) Sabretts & Wellshire Farms seem to cause the greatest variance of
opinions, they are the only franks to have scored both 1s & 5s.
3) Papaya King, Hebrew National, and Dyne's Farms had no 1 scores.
4) No scorer rated Oscar Meyer above 3.

The author makes no representation that this study is in any way
indicative
of quality. As a matter of fact, the author only ranked 2 dogs as "4",
the
Boar's Head and the Empire National. He ranked the top 2 vote-getters both
as a 3.

Dale

Richard Neidich wrote:

Dale, the best dog in the country is a White Hot from Rochester NY. The
Brand name is Zweigles.

Best of class!!!1

Yummmmmm!

--
H.