Last week I posted a great article from the Dallas Morning News about wines to pair with various foods.  One area the article didn’t cover, though, was chicken wings.  That’s okay, because the Chicago Tribune has wine-with-wings pairings covered.  In the article, Natalie MacLean, author of Red, White and Drunk All Over, is interviewed about wines that go well with different varieties of chicken wings.  Other wine experts chime in as well, with honey barbecue wings in particular being examined in depth to find wines that bring out their flavors.

Red, White and Drunk All Over is one of the many fine books available in our bookstore.

Twelve barrels of beer were mistakenly delivered to Queen Elizabeth recently, according to this DigitalJournal.com article.  It so happens that there is a pub called Windsor Castle about five miles away, where football (soccer) fans had gathered to watch the big match.  However, there was no beer for them to drink, because the delivery driver thought the beer was headed to the other Windsor Castle - the one where the Queen lives.

Personally, I think it would be a good idea for dowdy old Queen Liz to pop open a cold one from time to time - it’ll make her subjects feel like she’s more in touch with them.  She should’ve kept the beer.

A self-service wine bar called Ceviche has opened in Washington, DC. At this bar, patrons can transfer money to debit cards, similar to the ones you might use to purchase copies at Kinko’s.  You can then take the card to kiosks located around the bar, and use it to buy servings of many different wines.  You can buy amounts ranging from a one-ounce sample similar to what you might receive at a wine tasting, all the way to a full five-ounce glass.

The great thing about these self-service bars is that they allow customers to try rarer, more expensive wines that would normally only be available by the bottle in restaurants.  Many restaurants don’t serve wines by the glass that cost upwards of $200 per bottle; there’s too much risk that once the first glass is ordered and the bottle opened, another glass won’t be ordered for weeks, and the remainder of the bottle will have to be thrown out.  At the self-serve wine bar, even the most expensive wines are within most people’s range in the one-ounce serving size, and so a bottle lasts no more than 4 or 5 days.  Proper equipment is used to keep the wines refrigerated to the proper tempertature.

If you don’t have a self-service wine bar in your town, you can use one of our wine refrigerators to prepare for your own wine tasting at home.

The Canadian Press reports on a new drinking game that is gaining popularity at parties.  The idea of the game is simple:  You drink a beer, and tape each can to the one before it, building a stack of cans.  As the stack gets taller, it becomes a walking stick, which you carry around for the night as you play.  The can stacks are called “wizard sticks” because as they get tall, the cans often slump over, forming the shape of a staff carried by a wizard.  Anyone whose walking stick exceeds his or her height obtains “wizard status.”

You can find many more drinking game ideas here.

If you have a friend who loves wine, this may be the ultimate gift.  The Wine Enthusiast Complete Wine Tasting and Aroma Kit contains everything a person needs to detect the main aromas and essences present in wine.  Delivered to you in a beautiful pine box with leather handles and a brass latch, the kit contains nine vials of common essences (tastes) found in wine, such as “fruity” and “oak.”  Accompanying these vials are nine coasters to help you identify wine tastes.  You also get 36 vials of the most common aromas found in wine, such as “dark chocolate” and “apple.”  Accompanying these are 36 cards describing each scent and the wines in which they are present.  You also get two tasting glasses.

With this kit, you can impress your friends by being able to identify the fine nuances of the wine you sample.  Without a doubt, it is a fantastic way to quickly acquire expertise on the subject of wine.

TheStreet.com has a good article on how to make beer-can chicken, a cooking method that involves inserting a can of beer into the hindquarters of the bird.  The chicken’s legs and the can are then used to prop the chicken up, levitating it from the grill.  This gets the dry heat to the places the chicken needs it most.  The skin gets tight and crispy, but the meat inside stays moist and juicy.

You can get the complete recipe and cooking instructions in Beer-Can Chicken and 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill by Steven Raichlen, one of the many fine books available in our bookstore.

If you like to enjoy wine with food, this article from the Dallas Morning News is one you’ll want to bookmark.  In addition to making wine recommendations for items traditionally consumed with wine (e.g. steak, cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, pork tenderloin), the writer also gives advice on pairing wines with barbecue, red snapper, gourmet popcorn, cheese grits, Thanksgiving dinner, fried chicken, Thai food, and pizza.

Whatever you’re having for dinner, be sure to maximize your enjoyment by pairing your wine with some of our fine wine glasses.

The Business Sheet interviewed the executive vice president located on 59th Street in New York.  Due to the recent financial crisis, the VP said, scotch and vodka sales are up 23% from this time last year, and delivery is up 18%.  Although sales are up, however, revenues are not, because people are downgrading their tastes in liquor and buying the cheap stuff.

If you want to join New Yorkers in drowning your sorrows in booze, why not stimulate the economy at the same time by buying some of our alcohol-related products.  Whether you’re looking for books about booze, flasks, glasses, mugs, or mixing equipment, we gotcha covered.

The world’s largest beer festival, Oktoberfest, opened Saturday in Munich, Germany.  According to this article, the liter-sized tankards of Oktoberfest beer are expensive this year, costing 8.30 euros, or about $12.  The beer is pretty alcoholic, between 5.3 and 6.6% alcohol (by comparison, Budweiser is 5.0%, and beers over 6.0% alcohol content have to be sold as liquor in many states).

Most of the seats in the beer tents have been reserved months in advance by the 6 million people who will attend the festival this year.

If you can’t make it to Munich, you can still pick up an official 2008 Oktoberfest beer stein right here.

This article in the UK Independent is one for wine lovers to read.  It attempts to answer some commonly-asked questions about wine, including

• What does it mean if someone asks, “Waiter, is this wine corked?”
• What was the truth about Cleopatra’s pearl?
• Why do we drink red wine too hot?  (Don’t forget, Mid-South Alcoholic Supply has wine refrigerators that can help you preserve wines at the proper temperature.)
• Does wine really provoke the desire for sex, and take away the performance?
• Can anyone remember why we drink to forget?
• Is wine becoming more alcoholic?
• Is English wine any good?
• Do you understand winespeak?
• What can you do with left-over wine?
• What is a connoisseur?