First and Lasts

Well it wasn't my intent but I ended up with two posts in April, on the 1st and the 30th(last).

Insanely busy month, wife's major fundraiser meant she worked extra long hours. In return I had to take time off to be Mr. Mom (no hardship), plus the restaurant is booming and I've taken on the additional responsibility of "Interim Wine Director".

The long and short has meant little time for blogging but here are a few thoughts.

With Calgary eliminated earlier their are no Canadian teams that I can stomach left in the playoffs.

Interim Wine Director shortens to IWD which sounds a lot like a form of contraception.

I saw a Car Repair Shop the other day which advertised that they "Specialized in Import and Domestic Cars". Are there any other kind ?

Vancouver has lost every playoff game that has occurred on a night that I did not work.
Should Anaheim, San Jose or Detroit wish to offer me incentive to take nights off in the future they can leave a comment on this post and I will get back to them.

The NFL Draft occurred on Saturday morning and I didn't care - this is one of the signs of impending Armageddon, or my maturing (less likely).

The Toronto Blue Jays will not win the World Series this year.

Had a delicious Malbec the other night from Domaines Jean Bousquet, (Argentina, CSPC#807263, $15.99 -widely distributed). It's certainly New World in style, with rich red fruits, briar and chocolate notes but there was enough acid to carry the Rib Eyes so I give it a solid recommendation.

Now that I'm buying for the restaurant I've been looking over price categories a lot and I'm amazed at the lack of product in the $15-$20 range. Agents tell me that once they go over $14 they have a hard time selling the wine yet my conversations with the people who ask me for buying advice indicates the opposite. When people ask me for wine recommendations I always ask "What do you want to spend?" and the answer is inevitably "$15 to $20".

I wonder if this is a "chicken & egg" problem, is there a lack of $15-$20 wines because people don't buy them or do people not buy $15-$20 wines because so few are available. I think it's the latter but have no hard evidence to prove it.