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Moving to SenelSlant.com

senelslantHello all Senel Wine followers,

I wanted to let you all know that my site is going to be moving and taking on far more content. This past week I created SenelSlant (senelslant.com), a site:

committed to providing my readers with easy to understand, topical and informative information with the hope of allowing many to make more informed decisions while partaking in civics and life.

I will be covering everything from “Food & Wine” to the “Economy” to “Politics”. Many of the pieces will be written with a scholarly slant.

I hope you join me there!

Erol

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Celebrating the ‘Big 33’ with a bottle of 1979

Celebrating birthdays as you get older becomes more and more underwhelming, especially if you’re a guy and have a kid. Most of your energy throughout the course of your year is dedicated to celebrating other things, be it a child’s birthday, an anniversary, your wife’s birthday, Kwanza, etc. By the time your insignificant day comes around, all you’re likely hoping for is a day-off. Wine can offer you the opportunity to cast off the mundane and partake in history, while still kicking back on your couch.

This past weekend I celebrated 33 years with my twin, 1979 Comtesse Lalande which was still delivering a masterful experience.

Over the past few years, I’ve tried to spruce up these overlooked days by injecting a bottle of wine from my birth year. What I’ve gained out of this was a truly unique connection with the past that is in many ways indescribable.

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a wine to for an upcoming “33” or “42” or whatever age you’re turning:

1) Choose wisely – Not all wines are able to stand the test of time, in fact very few are. I know my Napa-phile friends won’t be happy with this, but for anyone over 35, don’t even bother with California. So where to look? In my opinion, stick with Bordeaux, Burgundy and Piedmont (Barolo) and even then, favor the better wineries.

2) Cost – Although this can be a pricey endeavor, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Sure, if you want a bottle of 1964 DRC La Tache you’re going to plop down a fortune; however if you want to venture outside of the pinnacle of wine, you can find some decent deals. I’ve personally had tremendous luck using the site WineBid.com and $75-$150 will allow you to acquire a Super 2nd from Bordeaux pretty easily. There’s also your local higher-end wine shop that may be able to act as an intermediary and assist you in acquiring something rare without having to pay a 15% buys premium (as you must on WineBid).

Although not ideal, a crumbled cork does make for a nice picture!

3) Preparation – You’ll likely need two things to open your properly aged (which means not in the wine rack in your kitchen) wine: a Butler’s Friend and a decanter.

  1. Butler’s Friend: the essential tool for opening a bottle with a cork that’s likely brittle from years of storage. The lighly curved metal prongs slide in between the inside of the neck of the bottle and the cork, allowing you to gradually disgorge the cork (see picture for what happens when you don’t have a Butler’s Friend)
  2. Decanter: Do me a favor. Hold your breath for 2 minutes. What did you do immediately after the two minutes is done? You probably took a few long deep breaths to try to re-oxygenate your body. Wine does the same thing. Opening a bottle of wine is actually a pretty violent process for the juice inside. Give it an hour to catch its breath and see how it’s progressing along the way.

There’s an intimate link with history when you partake in a wine from your birth year. It’s an ethereal experience that can’t really be described. Hopefully you have the opportunity to partake at some point!

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The Buzz Word: Analyzing Alcohol with Miss Lippy

By Madison Jackson (originally published on Miss Lippy Time)

Different alcohols affect our personalities in different ways and bring out different sides of us with every sip.10 years of practice, mixing, observing, trial and error and piecing together blackouts has provided me with the tools, information and first hand experience to comment on all things alcohol. I’m no expert, but I may be a part time alcoholic. So, here’s what I’ve observed about different types of alcohol on a personal level as a drinking professional.

Written with experiences that are a blur, Madison’s thoughts on alcohol are amazingly real and refreshing.

Tequila: Ohhh the wild wonderful world of Tequila. When you propose a tequila shot to a group of people you are usually faced with two responses, 1) a spring break style shout of “TEQUILA!! WOOO!!!” or, 2) a look of ‘I just smelled a terrible fart’ with simultaneous gag and side-to-side headshake while saying “Ughhh grossss, but okay, lets do it.”

If I’m overloaded with work and on a deadline and sending “sorry, maybe next time” texts to everyone, my friends know they only have to say one word to get me to come out with them: MARGARITAS. Some of my most ridiculous moments have occurred during tequila nights. Even if it involved flashing, very public displays of affection, climbing on top of parked vans and declaring victory and doing somersaults down a busy street… I love tequila with all my heart.

Your biggest enemy while consuming tequila with your friends is anyone who isn’t drinking tequila, because you are all probably going to say and do a lot of embarrassing things and the person not drinking tequila probably won’t accept the “it was just the tequila talking” response.

Tequila is a party drink and it’s meant to be enjoyed in excess. Ordering shitty tequila in a margarita isn’t a cardinal sin, but as your bank account increases, so should the quality of your tequila. Run away from any yellow tequila and into the arms of blanco/white tequila, chilled with salt and lime.

Jameson: Jameson is an acquired taste. I’ve concluded that in order to acquire a taste for Jameson though, you have to have a scrotum, a beard and wear either plaid flannel or khaki pants and boat shoes. This Irish whisky is the shot of choice for pretty much every guy I know and alternating shots of Jameson in between consuming beer is like peanut butter and jelly, a legendary combination that should be passed down from generation to generation.

Rum: I don’t care if I’m standing at the North Pole in tube sox; if I’m drinking rum I feel fucking tropical. Rum makes me want to run around and dance and speak Spanish and be everyone’s best friend. But on the other hand, rum is a tricky little bastard and will sneak up on you quickly leaving you dead behind the eyes and slurring the words to “Poker Face” to everyone’s horror during Karaoke Night. Thank you for coming to my concert.

Beer: This frosty deliciousness brings people together. At the bar, during organized sports, or tailgating, you name it, beer makes everything better. This is especially the case at concerts, with the guy you’re dating that won’t stop talking about himself, while eating Taco Bell, during human interaction and anything else that needs that little extra boost of awesome. A once shy individual may end up doing the “Stanky Leg” for everyone else’s entertainment or decide that they’re going to punch that wall if it keeps looking at them that way! Beer has turned from an adolescent misbehavior into an adult right of passage, a reward to ourselves for getting a project done, powering through a busy workday, or for simply walking outside to get the mail. Job well done, crack one open, you deserve it!

There are so many different types of beer, each with their own story and stereotype which I’ll have to save for another blog, the only thing I have to say right now though is that I don’t understand how anyone can go out for a night of drinking and only drink dark beers. Guinness is delicious, don’t get me wrong, but it’s like drinking a five dollar foot long. Witnessing someone drink multiple glasses just blows my mind.

Whisk(e)y: I have recently entered my whisky phase and have worked from shots of Fireball up to Jack and Coke, which is impressive for me because I usually gag if someone is drinking whisky on TV, let alone if it’s in front of me. Whisky is fun, but makes me feel very entitled and aggressive. Whisky is like an archeologist re-discovering feelings buried deep inside. “Remember when you didn’t give me back my sweatshirt eight years ago? I didn’t forget, I want it back.” It’s like I can feel my neck turning redder and redder with every sip as I huddle with my friends to decide a plan of action for the rest of the night’s bad decisions and how best to end up passed out in the back of a taxi.

Wine: Deliciousness. There’s just so much to explore in the world of wine. It pairs well with meals, makes you feel like you should lift your pinky up and crystal glasses are ideal for making beautiful music. Wine makes you feel silly, warm and in love with everything and then happy and then sad and inevitably a slurring advice giver. And the side effect of drinking a glass before bed is sleeping like an infant. But, for those who lack self-control, wine can begin as a nice idea at dinner and then end up with you drinking out of the bottle and texting your ex-boyfriend that you miss his beard. Also, drinking too much wine is a guarantee for a 48-hour hangover of pure misery. If you are emotional at all, for the love of God, stay away from drinking wine and put the cell phone down!

Jagermeister: Jager reminds me of college. Having debates about its original recipe including deer’s blood and then twirling off to talk to other people. I feel like Jager is a shot that can be shared with minimal disgust amongst members of every drinking class without having to spend time discussing shot options, allowing more time for drinking. I don’t know anyone who loves it enough to call it his or her “drink of choice,” but you should keep a bottle in your freezer anyways.

Vodka: There are so many epic mixology possibilities with Vodka. Vodka is great because you can hardly even taste it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Vodka reminds me of pre-gaming with my best friends and taking way too many pictures of ourselves on photobooth and pushing sweaty guys away from us at nightclubs and dancing with each other. If someone shows up to a party with a bottle of Vodka, some serious shit is about to go down and someone may end up crying or peeing their pants or both. So prepare yourself, take some deep breaths and think happy thoughts because Vodka could probably make Mother Theresa Hulk smash a motherfucker, it’s that powerful. Liquid courage turns into liquid demon rage very quickly. Watch out for jungle juice, because that shit tastes like skittles and rainbows and Swedish fish partying inside of your mouth, but overconsumption will surely lead to seeing double and ending up with blue jungle juice puke stains on your carpet that can only be removed by replacing them. Drinking is expensive.

Absinthe: Drink with caution and prepare for the most epic blackout of your entire life. There are so many different ways to take an absinthe shot and thousands of different types of absinthe to choose from and who doesn’t love seeing shit get set on fire?! BOOM! It‘s a fast acting drinking adventure that will have you waking up, partially blind from the worm wood that is still in your system, with no recollection of how you got back to your hotel room and maid service banging on your door because check out was 3 hours ago. You may not see a green fairy per say, but you will most certainly be flying high out of your mind.

That is all for now, bottoms up!

Madison Jackson is a writer who enjoys humor, being wildly inappropriate, attempting to freestyle rap and ridiculous life situations. She also enjoys traveling as much as possible, watching movies, listening to loud music, preferably live, making mistakes and learning from those blunders, and doing whatever she feels like doing, all the time. Her motto of “life is too short to be bored so go have some fun and learn to laugh at yourself” pretty much says it all. She runs a witty and refreshing blog “Miss Lippy Time”.

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