On Beer's Inherent Summer Vacation Advantage

Although beer consumption is way down annually at WWP headquarters, it tends to make a big comeback when summer vacation rolls around. As we were doing our grocery shopping to stock our vacation rental yesterday I couldn't help think: Beer has a tremendous set of inherent advantages over wine as the summer vacation beverage of choice.

 First, beer is so much more affordable. I think I've been spoiled by buying really good wines at deep discount from online retailers with private email lists. Buying wine this way signifcantly increases the selection compared to what's in a typical grocery store. And it decreases the per-bottle cost. Lacking this angle when shopping at a supermarket in a vacation town amplifies the price advantage beer has over wine. You can get some really interesting local brews - even in your vacation town grocery store - for less than $10. In the wine aisles this price range keeps you squarely in a class of wines which are serviceable at best but all seem taste about the same.

 Second, wine can be a hassle on vacation. Being on vacation means being away from your home turf. And it often means being at the beach, being on a boat, or being near a pool. All of these environments present challenge for wine service. Beer is packaged in a variety of user-friendly packages and retailers have an ample supply of them in coolers ready to drink. Compare this to wine where concerns about serving temperature, cork screws, stemware, and glass near water all conspire to make wine a pain to work with.

 Third, beer producers have done a great job with summer brews. Although new vintages of favorite wines are exciting, beer producers have done a tremendous job developing seasonable brews to create compelling new reasons to buy their product each year. For example, the release of Samuel Adams Summer Ale signals the unofficial beginning of summer. And certain beers just seem to go hand in hand with summer beach vacation. Take Red Stripe and Corona: On their own they're not particularly great beers. But man - they hit the spot on a hot summer afternoon near the water. Certain varieties of wine like Muscadet, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc are great in the summer, but they don't make me immediately think of summer vacation the way certain beers do.

 One solution which helps a bit is to bring your own wine on vacation. I've done that before and it was nice to have good wines from my stash with me. But there's something about that experience that subtly diminishes an important aspect of summer vacation. My idea of a great summer vacation is easy going nastolgiac familiarity. Going back to the same place you've been going for years. Sharing the same foods with family and eating at the same old restaurants. Introducing your kids to family traditions you enjoyed when you were young... Bringing your own wine from home doesn't necessarily fit into that scheme. Buying beer at the stores and bars you only visit when on vacation seems to fit better.

 Don't get me wrong - I love a nice glass of Pinot Noir at the end of the day after putting the kids to bed. But summer vacations are a tough occasion for wine.

 Question of the Day: What do you think? Are there better ways to enjoy wine on summer vacation? Or is it better to go with the flow and drink beer?

 


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/jq69wmliErE/on-beer-inherent-summer-vacation.html

sparkling wine moscato wine wine kits wedding wine wine price

WBW 74: Value Sparkling Wine

Sparkling wine is thought of by most American’s as a luxury to be consumed on special occasions like weddings, graduations and New Year’s eve parties. And that’s a shame since sparkling wine is so versatile at the table, pairing with a wide variety of food, made all over the world and available at every price point. Perhaps [...]

WBW 74: Value Sparkling Wine originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/K33rkIVgVPY/

italian wines types of wines types of wine about wine what is wine

Age Verification Comes to Twitter

It is a common occurrence to be barred from entering a wine related website until you have confirmed your birthdate, or at least confirmed you are of legal drinking age in your country. On Facebook it is already possible to stop under-age members from seeing certain content. However, until now this could not be done [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/TxMx5Vsz_Eo/

wine tasting white wine wine white wine cellar cabernet

Yao Ming Retires

It hasn’t been often that I’ve either written about sports in this space as of late, or frankly updated this blog. That has a lot to do, of course with being largely responsible for writing our official company blog over at Uncorked Ventures. While I certainly enjoy the work, it isn’t easy to write two [...]

Source: http://winewithmark.info/archives/649

wine shop wine glasses wine tasting white wine wine white

Berlin Tasting in Copenhagen

Berlin Tasting in Copenhagen" might sound a little confusing? However the Berlin Tasting is a reference to a famous tasting held in Berlin the January 23. 2004. It was held by the Chilean wine producer Eduardo Chadwick from Errazuriz and he had invited 66 wine journalists from all over Europe to taste the best Chadwick wines from Chile against the supernames from Bordeaux and Tuscany. 16 wines were tasted from the vintages 2000 and 2001, among them 2000 Chateau Latour, 2000 Chateau Lafite and 2000 Chateau Margaux.

Source: http://www.wine4freaks.com/37/berlin-tasting-in-copenhagen/

sparkling wine moscato wine wine kits wedding wine wine price

Michael Mondavi really gets wine blogging

While searching for something else this week I came across this random video of an Italian blogger who did a short video interview with Michael Mondavi. Mr. Mondavi’s answer to a simple question about wine bloggers shows he really gets how we fit into the wine conversation. The best part is the last 10 seconds [...]

Michael Mondavi really gets wine blogging originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/b6jgbhuqev0/

wine cellar cabernet riesling zinfandel rose

iTunes Now Includes All Podcast Episodes

This podcast predates iTunes so when it started only a portion of my shows appeared on the feed. After I posted my latest podcast I decided it made sense to consolidate all the shows into the iTunes feed with all future podcasts published in mp3 format. Down the feed to Winecast 33 are enhanced AAC [...]

iTunes Now Includes All Podcast Episodes originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/aa6lH_SXTNY/

discount wine wine distributors strawberry wine wine decanter wholesale wine