wine

Lance himself brought this wine to our attention. It happened to be reader Lance M., but we thank him just the same; he noted as follows:

Lance Armstrong has made great strides with his charitable Lance Armstrong Foundation (Livestrong). Now, he has taken one more stride, with Livestrong wine. The bottle has the famous yellow band with Livestrong prominently displayed across it, and a note from Lance. The note gives a good summary of the Foundation’s goals and ideals, as on his website:  “We believe that unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything.” According to the label, the wine is a 2004 Napa Valley Red Wine produced and bottled by TNVR. TNVR (or The Napa Valley Reserve) is a community of members who have access to an 80 acre ranch in the Napa Valley. The Napa Valley Reserve is owned by Bill Harlan, and allows members to make their own private label wine. According to its beautiful website, the expert staff from Harlan Estate Winery monitors not only the vineyards, but also the winemaking process. It grants people the luxury of being involved in their private label production as much as they are interested, with the added benefit of experts to guide them. If the wine turns out...

Despite many problems here in the US, the beer on the left shows the First Amendment is alive and well. Does anyone else find it a remarkable testament to the country’s strength, that the executive branch would affirmatively approve a label rather bashing the sitting president? This label does not pull any punches, with a reference to Brown and the Katrina fiasco. It goes on to say “It’s Fall of 2008, so that means we’ve nearly seen the last of the Ugly American.” TTB has approved only a small number of labels referring to presidents. For those disinclined to find fault with President 43 we’d recommend the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Most wines play up their fine pedigree. A few cut in the other direction and proclaim their normality. Pretense wine, bottled in Napa, does the latter with dramatic visual flair. The common paper bag looks surprisingly good and fresh here. Pas Mal Syrah is another example of this trend. It is a Santa Barbara County Syrah and “Pas Mal” is French for “not bad.” The back label unabashedly says “French critics agree, Pas Mal is not bad. ‘I would cook with this.’” Let us know of other unabashedly self-deprecating alcohol beverages.