A Little Competition Never Hurts!

That’s right – it’s time. The Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition begins tomorrow. Nearly 100 international judges, more than 3,000 international wines. Who will take the gold? Keep coming back to find out more information about the 3-day event and watch for judges to be blogging and twittering in between judging!

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=60

Marika Dominczyk Marisa Coughlan Marisa Miller Marisa Tomei

Bytox Hangover Prevention Remedy: Might this thing actually work?

Shortly before the holidays I received a sample of a few Bytox hangover prevention remedies. The product is a patch you apply before drinking and remove the morning after that, according to the manufacturer, supplies your body with vitamins and nutrients otherwise depleted while drinking thus preventing bothersome side effects commonly associated with the overconsumption of alcohol.

Not wanting to risk a raging hangover myself, and not wanting to share my tales of overconsumption, I reached out to my friend George Kaplan who agreed to test the Bytox patch in a controlled experiment and share his thoughts for our collective consideration. He happens to be an excellent drinker. And as you'll find below, an equally excellent writer.

Bytoxification

I must admit, I was more than a bit skeptical when a friend of mine approached me with the opportunity to test the latest hangover remedy, bytox?. I am usually leery of these remedies, but with a full slate of holiday parties looming on my calendar, I decided I could use any help I could get.

The Setup

Before setting out for the evening, I thoroughly read the bytox? directions, and chose to ignore the warning to ?Stay well hydrated?. Sound advice, yes, but a bit of a cheat, as anyone who stays well hydrated is unlikely to end up with a hangover anyway.

My evening?s consumption began at 7:00 with a solid meal at my favorite haunt, and ended at midnight. Per my custom, I mixed and matched and stuck to no pre-set pattern; the final tally was four Old Fashioneds (Old Overholt), three Gin & Tonics (Beefeater), and two bottles of Lone Star.

The Results

As you all can imagine, I wasn?t exactly at my best the next morning. I did get up around five o?clock to have a glass of water and gobble down 800 mg of ibuprofen, but that?s my usual morning-after-a-debacle procedure, and I wanted to stick to it. You know, this being scientific and all.

The bytox ? did nothing at all to mitigate the day after lethargy, and I really fell off a cliff after two o?clock or so. But, skeptical though I was heading into this experiment, I must admit that the patch did help to alleviate some of the other, traditional ?hangover? symptoms. The horrible metallic taste in my mouth was absent, as was the stabbing pain behind my eyes and the hollow feeling that one sometimes gets the morning after drinking too much whisky. I had only a small headache, and the day-after hangover fogginess was noticeably diminished.

The Recommendation

I would definitely use bytox ? again. I don?t want to oversell this, of course; I was still banged up the next day, but I was able to function productively, rather than slumping senseless in a chair all day. What I did was excessive. If someone were to use this product because they usually have a little hangover after drinking a bottle of red wine the evening before, I?d hazard a guess that this handy patch would overcome the hangover altogether.

So there you have it. An impartial review of the Bytox Hangover Remedy.

For more information, and to request a sample Bytox patch for free ($1.50 shipping) visit:
http://bytox.com 

Question of the Day: What do you think of the idea of a hangover prevention patch? What are some of your favorite hangover prevention tips?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/gP2ejmgW7n0/bytox-hangover-prevention-remedy-does.html

Katie Holmes Katy Perry Keira Knightley Kelly Brook

Florida Jim Cowan?s 2012 Tasting Notes Archive

The 2012 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Prior year?s tasting notes may be found here. January 16, Winter Whites, etc Florida ?winters,? warm as they are, often suggest white/pink wine and lighter meals. For those rare days when we hit the 40?s, we break out the reds. By the [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/nUQeMMr7YtY/jim-cowan%e2%80%99s-2012-tasting-notes

Moon Bloodgood Mýa Nadine Velazquez Naomi Watts

Better Wine Blogging 101 ? Using Photos Correctly

Recently, a newbie wine blogger contacted me through Twitter to evaluate their post for general effectiveness. I promptly agreed, generally trying my best to help the community whenever possible, especially with someone new to the field. Quickly clicking on the link, I encountered 2 of the largest mistakes I typically see with new blogs, not [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/88fdy0zuxn8/

Summer Altice Summer Glau Kate Moss Kate Walsh

Tasting Report: 2009 Cameron Hughes Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Lot 271

Costco in Waltham, MA had a road show featuring wines from the Cameron Hughes portfolio this past weekend. Strangely, the wines weren't open for tasting but I did take note of the inclusion of a Russian River Valley wine in the portfolio - their Lot 271 Pinot Noir.
Cameron Hughes is the original American re-labeler who pioneered the art of bringing outstanding wines to consumers at a fraction of their original cost by working with wineries looking to shed excess finished wine inventory without tarnishing their brand. Over the past ten years they've expanded their endeavors into other labels and have become more involved with the winemaking progress. But the flagship "Lot Series" is where the majority of the action is and it's the wine we see around stores most frequently.

California's Russian River Valley in Sonoma County is one of the most prestigious appellations for Pinot Noir in America, so it's worth taking note of this bottling from Cameron Hughes. It is not necessarily the most consistent however, so as you're considering bottlings across appellations from a given producer be sure to sample wines from other areas. There's fantastic Pinot Noir being made in the Sonoma Coast, Anderson Valley, Carneros, Santa Lucia Highlands, and the Santa Rita Hills in southern California to name a few.

Here are my notes on this wine:

2009 Cameron Hughes Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Lot 271
14.4% Alcohol
7,205 Cases Produced
$15 Release Price ($11.99 at Costco)

Medium bodied visually, the wine seemed impaired aromatically when I first opened it. However, after about 4 hours of breathing in the bottle it came around nicely. Varietally correct aromas and flavors for the appellation (the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County in California) - strawberries, black cherry, florals and a touch of cola. I'd like it more if it had more depth and intensity. It kind of hints in the right direction but fails to make a confident statement. That said - I like it a lot at the price point.

86/100 WWP: Very Good

Buy it directly from the Cameron Hughes website
Get other opinions on CellarTracker
Find it for sale on Wine-Searcher

Lots of reviews coming up in the next couple weeks here - I'd love it if you subscribed to the site to get regular updates!

Question of the Day: Have you tried this wine? If so - what did you think?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/OK1gGQxRcHI/tasting-report-cameron-hughes-2009.html

Rebecca Romijn Reese Witherspoon Rhona Mitra Rihanna