Kswck wrote on Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:46:37 -0400:


> "T" > wrote in message
> . org...
> In article >,
> gravesend10 @verizon.net says...
>>
>> "James Silverton" > wrote in
>> message ...
> >> Andy wrote on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:40:39 -0500:
> >>
> >>> Who's in the business of making wine you wouldn't drink?
> >>> Boone's Farm!
> >>
> >>> Maybe based on personal taste?
> >>
> >>> First and last wine'd dish, beef bourguignon. Turned out
> >>> terrible. A flawed recipe.
> >>
> >>> Anyone?
>>
>> I almost never cook with wine. Dishes indicating wine I
>> think turn out better with beer... next stew add a couple
>> beers, whatever beer you're drinking.
>>
> >> "Wine you would drink" covers quite a range of prices.
>>
>> Anyone pours $30/liter wine into stew is an asshole... that's
>> as low IQ as using top shelf scotch for a sour.
>>
>> I tend to buy the
> >> more expensive 3-liter boxes with wine better than French
> >> and Italian country wines but the 4-5liter Almaden-type
> >> boxes have wines that can be enjoyed if not savored and are
> >> perfectly good enough for cooking. IMHO, of course. Wines in jugs
> >> are something else.
> >>
>> You actually think the size of the package makes a
>> difference... it all comes from the same place... many
>> different brands of wine are produced at the same winery in
>> the same vat. Most every winery markets multiple
>> brands (different packaging), it's all the same wine... this is true
>> of most all products, but especially in the food and beverage
>> industries. The cosmetic industry is especially
>> guilty of questionable practices. The lipstick at the 99¢
>> store is the same as from Neiman Marcus, for $10 more you get
>> glitzier packaging and the sales reps project an image so for
>> those few moments they're picking your pocket you feel like
>> royalty, but once they sit you down at the cosmetics bar
>> you're not going to leave without getting a custom make over and
>> dropping $300 for $20 worth of face paint. Wine
>> and spirits works the same schtick. There's absolutely not a
>> lick of difference between $15 vodka and $45 vodka, none
>> because it comes out of the same vat... fancy glass bottles
>> with foil labels in fancy schmancy presentation boxes and
>> slick magazine spreads cost more than nondescript plastic
>> jugs and zero Madison Ave input is all. All that bare
>> cleavage in Swedish vodka ads cost a lotta Krona.. with my
>> Crystal Palace all I get are my own manufactured dreams of
>> Rapunzel.

> Recall that a group did a study of vodka and found that
> running the cheapest vodka through a Brita filter a few times yielded
> vodka that was better than the high priced stuff.

Several years ago, Consumer Reports slipped in a ringer in a vodka
testing. It was made by diluting USP alcohol with distilled water and
was rated best.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not