As the story was told to me: In the 1970’s, the general thought was that French Wines were the Best Wines In The World. Also, sales were stagnant. There was, however, a British wine seller (Steven Spurrier) who thought that what was needed to give sales a kick in the pants was a contest. You’d have a blind taste test of ten French Wines and ten Californian wines and then when everyone swooned as they sipped the French and took turns dodging the Californian wine as it was spat, we’d have new stories to tell as people came into the wine shops looking for a bottle of French Wine.
Brilliant, right? Well, the US *WON*, believe it or not.
(Insert paragraph here discussing the subjectivity of taste tests, how such things cannot be taken seriously, and other things that the French Press said about the event.)
Anyway, this was called “The Judgment of Paris“. (Check out the link to find out what happened at the 1986, and 2006 rematches with the same wines to see whether it was true that French wines aged better than Californian.)
They made a movie about this called Bottle Shock
Check out the trailer:
So… what are you reading and/or watching?
Finished Holy Motors last night. I may try to write a review, time permitting (probably a pipe dream).Report
Still reading July 1914.
Yesterday, I picked up:
1. Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World by Roy Porter
2. The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism by Peter Gay
3.Theater & Revolution: The Culture of the French Stage by Frederick Brown.
All from Aardvark Books.Report
Finally got started on the book club show last night (finished watching season 2 of Quantum Leap before I went to NZ).
Read several doorstoppers in NZ, among them N0S4A2 (Joe Hill), Stone’s Fall (Iain Pears), The Highest Frontier (Joan Slonczewski), and a couple of short crisp ebooks – Danse de la Folie (Sherwood Smith) and Station Life in New Zealand (Mary Anne Broome aka Lady Barker). Since I got back I’ve been reading more NZ books – such as Spinster (Sylvia Ashton-Warner) and a long-overdue reread of The Bone People (Keri Hulme). Just picked Heiresses of Russ 2012 back up, and I have a copy of SIone’s Wedding (us title Samoan Wedding) sitting around to watch.
Oh, and I saw Wolverine in NZ, too, and the 3rd episode of Orange is the New Black.Report
Oh, and today I am watching Sione’s Wedding (US title Samoan Wedding), which is a bro flick about 4 Samoan guys in Auckland who will only be allowed to attend the wedding of the little brother of one of them if they find girlfriends to keep their partying hijinks in check. It isgoofy, immature, the opposite of subtle … and downright charming. Plus, Auckland – I keep saying “hey, I was there!”Report
I just finished Cold Days. I’m now reading How to Measure Anything, mostly for professional interest.Report
How to Measure Anything.
I’ve heard that for some things size doesn’t matter.Report
What did you think of Cold Days? It’s one of my favourites of the Dresden Files so far, mostly for its expansion of the worldbuilding.Report
_Skin Game_ is scheduled for release on December 3rd, 2013.
That’s 107 days.Report
I liked Cold Days, it’s remarkable that every time Dresden (and by extension us) think we have the world figured out, he pulls back and shows us another layer. He also knows how a drop a bombshell too.Report
At the end of Ghost Story, I thought that there might be two, maybe three, more books.
At the end of Cold Days? I said “He’s got at least a dozen.”Report
Apparently has has a 20 book arc planned out, or something like that anyway.Report
I was watching preseason football and reading an article in the National Journal about the damage caused by PFC Manning and his leaks. It is very interesting considering all the talk from liberals that he didn’t hurt anyone.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/wikileaks-collateral-damage-20111216?mrefid=mostViewedReport
NotMe,
I apologize for the spotty memory, but are you the young lady who is the die hard Packers fan?Report
No, that is definitely not me in more ways than one. Not the least of which is that I only root for my Redskins.Report
My apologies! I blame the lil’ cretin for the brain fart.Report
Well, I was going to watch Summerslam with my friends but none of them showed up to Kelly O’Briens.
Personally, I think that they knew who was going to be the new WWE champion and just decided to skip without telling me.Report
Dude. I was sure that Summerslam was the last week of August.Report
I watched that new movie by woody allen, Blue something, with kate blanchet. She was outstanding. Even better without elf ears. 🙂Report
I just finished Clear History, starring Larry David and Jon Hamm.
There is a very famous actor playing a secondary role, but you have to look really closely to notice it is him.Report
Just finished “Wolf Hall” and can’t wait to start “Bring Up the Bodies.”Report
Eh, those’d just stay on the shelf above my fireplace.Report