New years eve at Foxwoods casino we used to deliver 300-400 bottles into the hotel suites before the guests arrived. It took me and four others around 6 hours. That's around a $150k worth of booze with the casino markup. All of it comped. Not one dollar paid out of pocket by anyone who drank it. Goes to show how much they dropped at the tables to justify the freebies. I love you, America!
wow!! i have a friend that goes to foxwoods every year with her sisters, she says it's really nice- although, i didn't realize it was THAT nice!!!
Haha, it's not like that anymore. They went $2 billion in debt when the housing market crashed in 2008. I was there in the late 90s... it was like the wild west then. A $400k liquor comp was nothing to the right player. They'd lose a few million at blackjack in an afternoon and it wasn't even noteworthy to them.
These were Saudi Arabian princes and UAE oil tycoons, haha. JK Rowling would bust out in a weekend. Michael Jordan couldn't even get into our high roller rooms. He offered to post two million and they told him to come back when he had twenty million. True story...
i remember when i was 18, my mother took me to niagra falls and we went over to canada to gamble, i always thought i'd be a big gambler because i would bet here and there without even thinking about it, but i lost $20 in literally 20 seconds- i was like "yeah, i'm not much of a gambler, this sucks and it wasn't any fun at all!!" so even if i ever were to figure out how to land a mackin bank account, i doubt i'd go anywhere and gamble- i'd rather buy all that dom or cristal and just drink it myself- minus the gambling!!
Oh the Saudi's, the only reason left that the Ky Derby is still a big thing. They can drop a million without thinking twice, then fork over another million just because...is there no end to their wealth?
Whoa baby, Uncle Homer is on a magic carpet ride tonight! Left to right we've got a Montelpuciano D'Abruzzo from Southern Italy, a Gewurtztraminer from Germany, and a Beaujolais from France. I didn't drink all of each bottle from neck to foot by myself, but enough to feel like a sliver of ice melting pleasantly in a puddle of its own creation. The Montelpuciano (the grape) is from the Abruzzo region of Italy. It's similar to Merlot with a medium body and ripe, red fruit notes. Slightly tannic, but it won't rip your face off like a Brunello or other Nebbiollo varietal. The German Gewurtztraminer is a bit of a wildcard. Heavy notes of honey, peach, and lychee fruit. Not sweet, but viscous and fruity as hell. It's the pride of Germany, most often paired with spicy sausage. I cooked up some bratwursts, dipped them in spicy mustard, and swirled this around my mouth until my tongue gave me a standing ovation. Excellent shit when paired correctly. Otherwise, I could take it or leave it. The French Beaujolais is a made from the Gamay grape, which is very light. Very similar to a Pinot Noir in body but smoother and more balanced. Beaujolais is the region, and the Beaujolais-Villages appellation is the second highest quality (I think) in terms of French certification. Remember that most European wines are labeled by region and not varietal. American wines are almost always labeled by the grape (Chard, Cab, Pinot Grigio) but the Europeans are all about their little patch of dirt that they've been protecting for thousands of years. I fucking love wine.
More to come. I think I'm taking my sommelier certification on October 24th, so I'm educationally obligated to drink a shitload of wine before then. I owe it to myself and my family to edify and self-actualize my ass and be the best Homer I can be. If that means holding onto the floor for dear life, than so be it. My current goal is to rotate through the 11 big wine-producing countries (US, Argentina, Chile, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Australia, South Africa) on a semi-regular basis so I don't get trapped in a France/Italy/US bias. I think I've knocked five off the list the last week or so and I've got a Portuguese Albarihno chilling in the fridge for tomorrow. I'm thinking scallops because I can't find any oysters up here that don't smell like they've been laced with neurological toxins. I mean, seriously, what's a man got to do to get good seafood around here?
I'm here for this journey! I plan to live vicariously through you and cheer you on from the sidelines!
Whoa indeed. @Homer Potvin That's some pretty heavy shit right there. A lot of countries and a lot of wine, if you ever need help drinking all that you know where to find me. I will teleport my ass straight through the internets. lol I'm debating getting some wine myself for the weekend, but I'm having this argument with my wallet and I think it's winning. Right there with ya. Never thought I'd ever say it either. Used to be the only wine I would drink was Mogen David. Shit is really sweet, too sweet for me now. I've come to appreciate the underlying flavors and complexity of wine. If you run across a particularly good bottle of something let us know. I'm curious about German wines now, always associate them with beer. Never watched it, but I assume that it was a good show then?
I thought so. It was Oz somebody or other, a wine expert, and James May (from Top Gear), playing the idiot. Oz educated James on wine flavors, regions, grapes and such in a way that was pretty easy to understand. Probably available on (REDACTED) that offers easy access to old cable shows. Edit-ish: Trailer on Youtube
And for @Homer Potvin: A Bordo, with a Mason and an Appalachian and everything, and a 7&I Holdings (the Japanese affiliate of 7-Eleven) logo at the top....
@Iain Aschendale I might check that out sometime, could learn something. I wonder if I can click that link though, it's awful small.... @Homer Potvin My brain won out, and I picked up a bottle of that Beaujolais-Villages you posted earlier. I was shocked to see it in the store just now, most of the time I can't find any of the wines you've mentioned.
Gotcha', is it like a generic wine or is this going to be better than a typical mass-produced brand? I have yet to try pairing any of these wines. I tend to drink them later in the evening after dinner. Shameful. Oh yeah, did you ever get around to trying that Coppola Director's Cab or whatever it was?
Nope, not generic... just popular and affordable. Louis Jadot is one of the big boys (I think) in terms of exports. The Europeans don't tend to mass produce wine like we do in the US (they don't have as much real estate as we do). Haven't tried the Coppola yet but I will.
Yeah, I've heard of Louis Jadot before, but this will be the first time trying any French wine I think.
I had that Louis Jadot the other night and it was awesome, very smooth. The tannins seemed to accumulate though as I drank it, my mouth started pickling there at the end. I caught mostly notes of Black cherry as I recall. For some reason it also got me intoxicated rather quickly. Drank a same sized bottle and alcohol content and in the recent past which didn't hit me as hard. Maybe the tannins? It seemed to intensify as I said before, but I've had high tannin wines before as well. I'm a bit curious I guess...
