by Ethan Johnson
December 26, 2008

Last movie reviews of 2008:

by Ethan Johnson
December 12, 2008

It's either a perk or an occupational hazard, but I must sample all sorts of beers and wines in order to perform my beer/wine store duties to any degree of competence. That is, I drink them at night, after work, and come back the following day better equipped to speak credibly about the products. I seem to have a speed limit of up to 2 beers per day, unless I am really living on the edge. Here are the beers of November once I had the brilliant idea to keep notes about each one. Due to the volume of items and my lack of time to go HTML crazy, I am including photos of my favorites from this batch of tastings.

by Ethan Johnson
December 7, 2008

I searched high and low for this wine after mistakenly choosing the lesser version of this varietal, only to discover that one of our other stores sold it. I moved some bottles over to my store and held one out for myself (paid for, of course). I can't keep this wine in stock. Seriously - it sells out every time I re-stock. Let's pull the cork on some:

Producer (Vineyard): Avalon
Varietal (Grape type): Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage (Year): 2005
Country: USA (California)
Color: Red
Cost: Moderate ($14 USD)

by Ethan Johnson
November 29, 2008

My first "wow" wine issued forth from the Russian River Valley in California, and since that discovery I have been aching to make a return voyage. Sadly, RRV wines aren't cheap. I managed to snag the following wine during flush times and sock it away for Thanksgiving:

Producer (Vineyard): Piper-Sonoma
Varietal (Grape type): Pinot Noir
Vintage (Year): 2006
Country: USA (California)
Color: Red
Cost: Expensive ($22 USD)

by Ethan Johnson
November 23, 2008

Yeah, I haven't been getting my movies on for a long while. In fact, I didn't realize I had some reviews on tap waiting for more entries, and therefore I have updated the old reviews as apropos:

by Ethan Johnson
November 22, 2008

The older I get, the more intellectual kinship I feel with people like Dave Rogers, who says "technology doesn't change what we do, just how we do it." Actually, I am finding that the older I get, and more to the point, the busier I am with other concerns, the less interest I have in whatever purports to be "world-changing". I suppose this is why a blog post titled 5 Ways Social Media Will Change Recorded History caught my eye and inspired me to respond publicly.

by Ethan Johnson
November 22, 2008

I remembered that Beth had written an article about Avalon Napa Valley Cabernet and assumed that's what I bought when I saw the fairly ubiquitous (in my neighborhood) logo and orange label. False. This is the "seeds and stems" version of that wine. Let's get on with it, then:

Producer (Vineyard): Avalon
Varietal (Grape type): Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage (Year): 2005
Country: USA (California)
Color: Red
Cost: Inexpensive ($8 USD)

by Ethan Johnson
November 20, 2008

My red wine varietal of choice is Petite Sirah. I like other reds, but when push comes to shove, if I see an unfamiliar PS at the store, I'll find a way to scrape together the money to try it. Sadly, our local beer/wine chain carries a paltry number of Petite Sirah offerings, and I have tried over half of them already. Which means I had to go deep behind enemy lines and buy some:

Producer (Vineyard): Huntington Cellars
Varietal (Grape type): Petite Sirah
Vintage (Year): 2005
Country: USA (California)
Color: Red
Cost: Moderate ($15 USD)