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.

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.

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?

A few weeks ago, I did a post about NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon’s signature wines.  I thought it was unusual that a NASCAR driver would put his name on wine, since the sport is more commonly associated with beers like Busch and PBR.  However, it appears that more NASCAR fans are wine lovers than I realized.  A blog called NASCAR Wines commented on my Jeff Gordon post, so of course I went and checked them out.  It’s a very good blog, and worth taking the time to read if you’re into wine and racing.  In addition to posts, the blog also lists the season’s racing schedule.

Did you know that there are NASCAR wine glasses, too?  You can buy them here.

Being a computer geek, Lifehacker is one of my favorite sites.  Normally it serves up reviews of the latest and coolest software tools.  But recently, Lifehacker has ventured into the field of booze.  In Sunday’s post, I linked to an article of theirs teaching you how to make the perfect Bloody Mary; now they’re back with an article on how to wrap a wine bottle restaurant-style using a cloth napkin.

It’s not hard to learn, and it looks really classy.  If you’re a bartender or server, this would be a useful skill to have in your toolkit.  Don’t forget to check out or collection of wine tools and corkscrews as well.

It’s Tuesday morning and you’re probably bored out of your mind at work. So here’s a wine crossword puzzle from the Chicago Tribune to occupy your time. For best results print it out - the font looks a little bit crowded on screen.

If you’re still bored after completing the crossword puzzle, you can shop for one of our many wine racks.

A new movie called Bottle Shock hits theaters today. The movie, starring Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman, is about the 1976 “Judgment of Paris” wine tasting that pitted California wines against French wines. Up to that time, California wines were considered inferior to those from France. However, when the California wines won the competition, they had to be taken seriously, and the West Coast wine industry began to boom from that point on. More details about the movie in this USA Today article.

So let’s hear it for California wine! Why not enjoy your favorite California red or white in one of our many fine wine glasses.

With people grilling out for the summer, it’s time to take a look at which wines go best with burgers. This Calgary Herald writer says the best choices are full-bodied reds, noting that the best ones are not too tannic and offer lots of juicy flavor.

The writer notes that Red Zinfandel is his favorite burger wine, but he also recommends a good Spanish Grenache and an Argentine Malbec to compliment a grilled burger.

Be sure to check our store for a large selection of glasses in which you can enjoy your wine with your next meal.

New York’s governor has signed a bill that allows ice cream made with wine to be sold in the state.

Designed to help New York’s dairy industry, the bill removes the requirement that wine ice cream be sold as an alcoholic beverage; sounds like it can now go in supermarket freezer cases in New York alongside regular ice cream. However, the bill still prohibits the sale of wine ice cream to minors, and limits the alcohol content to 5%.

What is resveratrol? It’s an ingredient in red wine, a protein linked to long life in research done on many species. It may be capable of reversing many of the ills that come with old age. Experiments on mice showed that large doses of resveratrol did not necessarily cause mice to live longer, but it did cause them to have a higher quality of life for the number of days they already had. More details can be found in this article.

There ya go… now you have an excuse to power-drink that magnum of red wine. To make the most of your wine-drinking experience, check out our line of corkscrews, stoppers, cellars, racks, and cabinets.