In Vino, Room for Interpretation

Expensive wines can break the bank and cheaper ones may give off the impression of mediocrity, but they can save money without losing their taste

(NEWSER) - While most people prefer choosing from the top of any wine list, it’s not where you get the best bang for your buck, writes Eric Asimov in the New York Times. He suggests starting at the bottom. While expensive wines are a must-have for any respectable restaurant, “the lower end is their opportunity for personal expression.” More»

Dry notes make snobs too boring to mock—almost

(NEWSER) - When wine lovers say they taste notes of cherries or hints of tobacco, “usually all I can detect is a whole lot of jackass,” Joel Stein writes in the LA Times . Wine dialogue has devolved into a meaningless string of obscure scents, Stein says. It’s boring—too boring even to make fun of—and it says virtually nothing about the wine. More»

Food & Wine takes a look at the freshest cooking talent the US has to offer

(NEWSER) - Food & Wine has posted its Best New Chef awards for 2008. Look for their profiles in the July issue, but take a peek at the winners here:

1. Jim Burke: owner of James, a modern Italian restaurant in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood.
2. Gerard Craft: owner and chef at Niche in St. Louis, where bacon and eggs sandwich and braised pork belly top the menu.

Swapping price tags changed drinkers' opinions during study

(NEWSER) - The price of a bottle wine directly affects our enjoyment of it, a new study concludes. Volunteers were offered three different wines, with four different price labels, mixing up the order to see what effect price had on people’s tastes. Watching volunteers' brains via MRI scan, the researchers saw they got more pleasure from the bottle with a $90 tag, Science reports. More»

Senate moves to OK booze-by-mail 103 years later

(NEWSER) - The Senate has an idea to help save the Postal Service: Let people mail alcohol. After all, FedEx and UPS carry the stuff all the time. But a law from 1909—established 10 years before Prohibition came into effect—bars the Postal Service from shipping "all spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented, or other intoxicating liquors of any kind." Dumping the law, as new Senate-passed legislation would do, could be particularly helpful to the USPS in these days of online shopping, Time reports. More»