Value Alert: 2009 Ninety Cellars Pinot Noir Lot 47 Reserve

The day after I tasted this wine I ordered a case. To give you an idea of how rare that is, I haven't ordered a straight case of any wine since 2005.

I've tasted over 100 different Pinot Noirs this year and the 2009 vintage from California has been a winner - more on that in this tasting report. I was leafing through Spectator's Wine of the Year issue last night and their crowning of a Cali Pinot Noir felt like a statement that California Pinot Noir deserves attention in serious wine enthusiasts' rotation.

90+ Cellars is a Boston-based company whose business model is to take finished, bottled wines from producers with a pedigree of 90 point ratings and deliver them to consumers at a fraction of the cost of the original label.

Their selections have come from all over the world. Their "Reserve" designation tends to be assigned to wines with a higher price point and esteem than their regular label - but their wines rarely exceed the $20 retail mark. This wine is available at retail for around $15 and I think it would fool a lot of people in a blind tasting of $40-$60 wines. Ample production should make this relatively easy to attain.

My Notes:

2009 Ninety+ Cellars Pinot Noir Lot 47 Reserve
14.5% alcohol
$17.99 (compare to $27.99)
2,400 Cases Produced

I think our friends at 90+ have caught lightning in a bottle with this one. Confusingly similar to Sanford on the low-end and Sea Smoke on the high-end. Utterly delicious.

Perfect floral/fruit-driven SoCal Pinot aromatics are the first things I noticed followed up by a satisfying experience on the palate. This one will sell out in a flash. I'm curious who the producer is. Fantastic stuff. Wow.

92/100 WWP: Outstanding

For more information or to purchase this wine directly from 90+ Cellars visit their website. I'll look forward to comparing notes.

Sample for review.

Question of the Day: Have you tried this wine? If so - what did you think?


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Bytox Hangover Prevention Remedy: Might this thing actually work?

Shortly before the holidays I received a sample of a few Bytox hangover prevention remedies. The product is a patch you apply before drinking and remove the morning after that, according to the manufacturer, supplies your body with vitamins and nutrients otherwise depleted while drinking thus preventing bothersome side effects commonly associated with the overconsumption of alcohol.

Not wanting to risk a raging hangover myself, and not wanting to share my tales of overconsumption, I reached out to my friend George Kaplan who agreed to test the Bytox patch in a controlled experiment and share his thoughts for our collective consideration. He happens to be an excellent drinker. And as you'll find below, an equally excellent writer.

Bytoxification

I must admit, I was more than a bit skeptical when a friend of mine approached me with the opportunity to test the latest hangover remedy, bytox?. I am usually leery of these remedies, but with a full slate of holiday parties looming on my calendar, I decided I could use any help I could get.

The Setup

Before setting out for the evening, I thoroughly read the bytox? directions, and chose to ignore the warning to ?Stay well hydrated?. Sound advice, yes, but a bit of a cheat, as anyone who stays well hydrated is unlikely to end up with a hangover anyway.

My evening?s consumption began at 7:00 with a solid meal at my favorite haunt, and ended at midnight. Per my custom, I mixed and matched and stuck to no pre-set pattern; the final tally was four Old Fashioneds (Old Overholt), three Gin & Tonics (Beefeater), and two bottles of Lone Star.

The Results

As you all can imagine, I wasn?t exactly at my best the next morning. I did get up around five o?clock to have a glass of water and gobble down 800 mg of ibuprofen, but that?s my usual morning-after-a-debacle procedure, and I wanted to stick to it. You know, this being scientific and all.

The bytox ? did nothing at all to mitigate the day after lethargy, and I really fell off a cliff after two o?clock or so. But, skeptical though I was heading into this experiment, I must admit that the patch did help to alleviate some of the other, traditional ?hangover? symptoms. The horrible metallic taste in my mouth was absent, as was the stabbing pain behind my eyes and the hollow feeling that one sometimes gets the morning after drinking too much whisky. I had only a small headache, and the day-after hangover fogginess was noticeably diminished.

The Recommendation

I would definitely use bytox ? again. I don?t want to oversell this, of course; I was still banged up the next day, but I was able to function productively, rather than slumping senseless in a chair all day. What I did was excessive. If someone were to use this product because they usually have a little hangover after drinking a bottle of red wine the evening before, I?d hazard a guess that this handy patch would overcome the hangover altogether.

So there you have it. An impartial review of the Bytox Hangover Remedy.

For more information, and to request a sample Bytox patch for free ($1.50 shipping) visit:
http://bytox.com 

Question of the Day: What do you think of the idea of a hangover prevention patch? What are some of your favorite hangover prevention tips?


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This past weekend, I was among a group of wine bloggers who participated in the 2nd TasteCamp East, this year in the Finger Lakes.  The local wine industry is the inspiration for this blog and my business as I’ve mentioned to you before.  I had nothing to do with the selection of our region as [...]

Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/tastecamp-east-voracious-wine-bloggers-taste-throughout-the-finger-lakes/

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Engage or Get Out ? Don?t waste your time with Social Media

So you have a Facebook page? Great! And a twitter account? Bravo! Even posted a couple of photos, maybe uploaded a video? Good for you. What?? You say you even have a blog? You’ve posted an article or two and have comments enabled? Wow, great job! You’re on your way. Now just stick in there [...]

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