Wine Truth: by Michael Dominic

Every year Wine Spectator Magazine and winespectator.com publish a top 100 list of wines that they feel are worthy of such accolades. WS is one of the top resources for wine critiquing and if I’m buying blind I will often default to a recommendation that they have highly rated. This does not mean that it will alway be to my taste, ad sometimes I just disagree.

This list will be released in two days, but as a member I get early access. Below you will find the top 10 of the top 100 of 2009.

After ingesting a good, albeit, oleaginous meal at Great Jones Diner, my friend Todd and I wandered over and down to East 1st Street. A new wine bar opened a few months back named Simon Sips. My wife and I sat and had a glass there a week earlier, while waiting for a table at a restaurant around the corner. It was relaxed, small and welcoming in comparison to other similar places, and made me want to return. My friend and I were greeted by a frazzled but kind-eyed woman. In the evening the space is dim, but in the day it’s large plate window pours the sunlight in.

One of the six or so small tables was available, so we sat down and looked over the menu. Next to us were a table of lanky women that could have only worked in fashion. At the outside tables there were men fiddling with laptops. Not only is Simon Sips a wine bar but it is also a cafe, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as brunch and an array of desserts.

I’ve really dropped the ball here. I stopped updating for two months. My only excuse is that I got married and I have been busy with married life.

I have a tendency to do things all or nothing. I’m talking about this site, not my marriage.

What I’m going to do from this point on is update when I feel like it. When things feel like an obligation or a job then it ceases to be fun. Plus when my video camera broke I couldn’t do videos anymore.

So, I will be updating soon.

One of the apps that just came out amongst the hordes of apps for the iPhone is Wine log, a simple note taking program that allows you to keep perfect notes on any wine you come across. It even lets you take a photo to attach to the profile.

This is way more convenient than taking notes in a moleskin notebook and trying to decipher my handwriting later. The only drawback is that I can’t send anything entered to myself or anyone else by email. Nor can I download the picture taken in the app. I can however easily take the picture first and attach it to the wines notes. I hope future versions will add more functionality, but at $2.99 this is a great app that will make my life easier.

I’m having some problems with my camera so there are some technical problems. The sound drops out at times. I am working to fix this.

I was supposed to post my weekly video today, but my DV deck is not working. I borrowed one from work and I will have episode #4 up tomorrow morning.

Today I want to give you a list of my favorite wine shops on and off-line.

People ask me why I tend to moan about the Stelvin screw caps. The answer is I think the ritual of popping out a cork is sexy. We as wine lovers fetishise the process. It’s the entry into the bottle, and once the bottle is open who knows where the night will go. If you’re on a date and you crack off a screw-top like your opening a two liter bottle of Coca-Cola, it’s not as sensual as sliding the cork slowly from the neck until you here the slight pop.

Consumers also just assume that a wine is bad quality when they see the Stelvin on the bottle. They look at it as tacky and will often move right past a wine that has one. The fact is that most people drink crap because they like the picture of the frog or the kangaroo on the label. Those companies know better than to put a cheap looking Stelvin on their products.