As an entrepreneur and business owner, one must [...]]]> Even though I have been a wino for many, many years and have been in the wine business for over 20 years, I have a rather geeky side when it comes to technology and economics. In full disclosure I actually have a degree in International Business, but I digress…

As an entrepreneur and business owner, one must always look at the glass half-full and have an almost “depressingly” cheerful outlook on life and the economy, which sometimes can be subdued by reality…but as we head into this fall, I wonder…it sure feels like it, but is the economy really improving? Why yes, it is, but…at least according to our sales and much anecdotal evidence…coming out of recessions we want quick fixes and unfortunately we must live with ups, downs and false starts before we see a broad based, job generating broad recovery.  There is no real V straightline recovery. It is a myth. I am certainly seeing that in our business lately. After a slow summer, we actually finished August up 19% vs. last year and we have already booked more business in the first few days of September this year than we did most of September last year – I just don’t think I should expect that as a business owner every single month – the economy is improving, but has yet to attain a progressive and sustained improvement, it will take some false starts and hiccups…the good news now is only coming in fits and spurts, but that will soon enough turn into a broad based recovery in the next year or two…Sometimes I run into some really well written blog posts, that may not have much to do with wine, but they certainly make sense to look at when it comes to the broader picture and I feel it is important to share the pertinent information.

One such blog post comes to us today from the Economists View…and I will quote from the most salient excerpt from said post…

“One point is that recoveries are not generally linear affairs:

“Growth at the end of last year and early part of this year was stronger than I anticipated while economic activity in the second and third quarters seems weaker than I expected.

“But such ups and downs are not unusual during a recovery. A little history: following the 2001 recession, gross domestic product (GDP) grew at the annualized rate of 3.5 percent in early 2002. Growth then decelerated to about 2 percent for the next two quarters then fell to almost zero in the fourth quarter. Entering 2003, growth edged up to a little over 1.5 percent and then accelerated from there to a sustained period of relatively strong growth for two years.”

…Even in the rapid-growth, pre-1990 recoveries, there was generally a quarter or two of growth that underperformed. …”

The economic recovery is underway and it will take some time. We just cannot expect to go from first gear to overdrive right away. Patience and time is needed, but unfortunately many Americans are at the end of their ropes and don’t have either. I hope we can all hang on long enough to enjoy the ride back up…

[...]]]> See, I knew I was doing at least something right to live a long life, I just didn’t know how much the daily wine drinking was helping or hurting…well, this Newsweek article via Yahoo News sure nails it…. who am I to argue.  How Rad are your Grapes? Drink up!

One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don’t drink actually tend to die sooner than those who do. The standard Alcoholics Anonymous explanation for this finding is that many of those who show up as abstainers in such research are actually former hard-core drunks who had already incurred health problems associated with drinking.

But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that – for reasons that aren’t entirely clear – abstaining from alcohol does actually tend to increase one’s risk of dying even when you exclude former drinkers. The most shocking part? Abstainers’ mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers. (See pictures of booze under a microscope.)

Moderate drinking, which is defined as one to three drinks per day, is associated with the lowest mortality rates in alcohol studies. Moderate alcohol use (especially when the beverage of choice is red wine) is thought to improve heart health, circulation and sociability, which can be important because people who are isolated don’t have as many family members and friends who can notice and help treat health problems.

But why would abstaining from alcohol lead to a shorter life? It’s true that those who abstain from alcohol tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes, since drinking can be expensive. And people of lower socioeconomic status have more life stressors – job and child-care worries that might not only keep them from the bottle but also cause stress-related illnesses over long periods. (They also don’t get the stress-reducing benefits of a drink or two after work.)

Here’s the rest of the article…

My favorite part of the article is the following line – ” Even though heavy drinking is associated with higher risk for cirrhosis and several types of cancer (particularly cancers in the mouth and esophagus), heavy drinkers are less likely to die than people who have never drunk.”….Wow…

My birthday weekend started with some tailgating at the Jets/Redskins game with my friend Dave on Friday afternoon.We had invited some other folks, but as is usual only the “diehards” showed up…

Early tailgaters get the best spots...

Since [...]]]> Wow, what a birthday weekend it has been so far….Thanks in great part to friends and the perfect weather.

My birthday weekend started with some tailgating at the Jets/Redskins game with my friend Dave on Friday afternoon.We had invited some other folks, but as is usual only the “diehards” showed up…

Early tailgaters get the best spots...

Since it was a 7pm kickoff , Dave and I got to the stadium early and fired up the grill and opened a bunch of Bodega UNO wines: 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Roble, 2008 Malbec Roble and the 2007 Tempranillo Roble. The cool thing is that just the day before I finally met Francisco (who makes the Bodega UNO wines) and his wife on their first trip to NYC.  Great wines always come from great people…I cannot wait to go visit them in Mendoza.

Tailgating with Bodega UNO wines...

We usually start with some munchies while we sip wine and wait for the grill to heat up. Dave brought some Parmesan, Sopressatta, Olives, chips and salsa.  We managed to polish off the Bodega UNO Cabernet Roble 2007 and a good part of the Malbec before the kebabs even went on the grill. I tossed some fresh salad and we drank the Bodega UNO Tempranillo Roble 2007 with the main course, while enjoying the gorgeous afternoon sunshine in the stadium lot…To finish things off before we headed into the stadium, I popped open a bottle of the Del Rio Late Harvest Syrah 2006 that I had just received as a sample from the winery – and it was a delicious way to top things off before heading into the stadium for the kick off…the Jets D played well, as they have been lately, but the offenses performance is still worrisome to me, given the lack of production so far in the preseason. Let’s see what happens this season – Jets fans seem to have pretty high expectations…

The birthday weekend continued on Saturday ( after running errands and doing yard work all day)…

Laura and I were invited by our dear friends Alfred and Jon to a dinner party for about 15 people. Jon had also invited his sister, Louisa, who flew up from Florida to help with the menu and the festivities. As was charged with providing the wine for the occasion and I picked the Kenneth Volk Chardonnay Santa Maria Cuvee 2006 and the Del Rio Claret 2006. Laura and I also picked up a sushi platter from my brother at Flirt Sushi to provide some snacks while the food was being readied…

Jon and Alfred went overboard this time…the setting for the dinner party looked like something out of Town & Country or Food & Wine – the decor and set up was fabulous! It looked like a professional party planner had done the set up….curtains, candles, flowers….(kudos Alfred!)…just beautiful.

Dinner party with friends

The setting was in Jon and Alfred’s patio and back yard in Valhalla, on an absolutely perfect cool late summer evening – the weather could not have been better for the occasion. After an opening round of cocktails with sushi, we sat down and the food started rolling out: Vichyssoise soup; followed by a spring salad with “croquetas”. Next Louisa outdid herself and made “Txipirones en su tinta” – baby squid in their own ink (absolutely fenomal!)….Next Louisa made some sweet and succulent stuffed red peppers, “basque style”… We had to take breaks  in between all of the courses to allow for digestion and some wine drinking to help the digestion along… and the fire pit was a great place to “chill” on a cool evening in between all of the courses. The main course was delayed a little, but that worked out perfectly in the long run. The Filet Mignon with the Gorgonzola sauce was ridiculously good and so worth the wait…like butter!…and we still had dessert coming! By the way, I received compliments all around on my wine choices – especially the Del Rio Claret, which went perfectly with everything from the Txipirones to the filet.The icing on the cake was spending such a memorable evening with dear friends…Thank you!

We finally made it home last night about 12:30am and passed out….today feels like a mellow recovery day and I look forward to watching the last round of the Barclay’s chillaxing on my couch…what a weekend!