Pewsey Vale Dry Riesling - 2.5

This review is for the Pewsey Vale 2008 Dry Riesling from Australia.

A bit on the sour side. The grape flavor is rather weak, but I get some hints of bell pepper, black pepper, and peach. There is some bitterness and spiciness (I think thats where the pepper flavor comes from), as well. However, the pleasant flavors seem a bit overwhelmed by the sourness and bitterness. I'm not impressed with this wine.

Jaime says that it is very sour, but does have some grapefruit flavor. She really doesn't like this wine and wanted to give it an even lower score but stopped herself because she did finish the glass.

Peter rates this wine a 3 out of 10. I would only buy this if it was in the bargain bin.

Jaime rates this wine a 2 out of 10.

Time to end the suspense

I know you're all dying to find out what the paver stones are for. Well, here it is!

Yes, we got a hot tub! I've always wanted a hot tub and now I finally have a place to put one. I know that hot tubs aren't going to give you any real return on the cost, and they can be really expensive, so we tried to do it relatively cheaply. I had been keeping an eye out on craigs list for used hot tubs. There really wasn't anything as cheap as what I was hoping for. We looked into a couple refurbished hot tubs and weren't impressed, either. Through an ad on craig's list I did get in contact with a guy selling hot tubs out of a warehouse in lancaster. It was kind of a wierd setting. He just had a warehouse full of hot tubs sitting up on their sides and stacked one in front of another. He said he had around 120 of them. Some seemed to be in better condition than others, though. We ended up finding one that was an unused 2007 model with a refurbished crack in the lip of the tub. It was still more than I originally wanted, but it is new, comes with a warranty, free delivery and other goodies. It was quite a discount compared to what I would expect for a new hot tub and I was pretty happy with the deal. We've already used it a couple times and we're quite happy with it.

Authenticity in Winemaking

Dear readers, in the past I've gone on the record expressing my disappointment with winemakers fudging the sugar and acid content of their vino.

Call me a purist, but I miss the old days when it was a simple process: pick and crush grapes, wait a few months, bottle, enjoy. This is, after all, the romanticized image that the modern winemaker portrays... But as we know most modern wine is more of a factory commodity than a sincere expression of skillful artistry.

Not that I want to fault South Wedge Winery too much for messing with their juice (you have to do something to make this year's poor crop drinkable) but when it becomes acceptable to modify sugars and bacteria and acidity and this and that, the whole ideal of legitimate terroir has gone right out the window.

Apparently I'm not alone in my disappointment, and apparently the cheating is more wide ranging (and high priced) than I once thought. Check out this article -and the comments that follow-if you want the veil lifted and the mystique you once loved ruined.