Stewart heads formidable Yamaha wing in ?11 AMA-SX

Yamaha Racing Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. Wed, 29 Dec 2010 Less than three weeks remain to the start of the seventeen-round 2011 Monster Energy AMA-Supercross and FIM Supercross World Championship in Los Angeles and Yamaha can look to perhaps their...

Source: http://www.motorsportsjournal.com/archives/2010/12/stewart_heads_formidable.php

Mika Häkkinen Bruce Halford Jim Hall Duncan Hamilton Lewis Hamilton

Born Digital for the best online wine content

What was the best wine article or video that you read in 2010? For many people, the answer is probably something the rest of us have never heard about. It might have escaped our attention, it might have been by someone who doesn’t publish that regularly, or more likely, it was written in a language [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/-3nU9qKqKDA/

Bob Gerard Gerino Gerini Peter Gethin Piercarlo Ghinzani Bruno Giacomelli

The Wine Cellar of Stoneham Launches Website with Free Shipping Offer

One way to combat restrictive Massachusetts wine shipping laws is to buy wine from Massachusetts wineries and retailers.

When I get together with my wine friends and talk deals, a retailer we're impressed with is The Wine Cellar of Stoneham. Since they opened a couple years ago they've demonstrated an ability to stock a revolving assortment of highly desirable wines at very low prices.

I mentioned a few weeks ago they were aiming to open a location in Waltham. Their request to obtain a license there was denied unfortunately. Sad news for wine enthusiasts in the Boston MetroWest area. However, they've just launched an e-commerce site so we can check their inventory online and have wine shipped directly to our homes and offices in Massachusetts. Like all MA retailers they can't ship out of state - more on that here.

I've become pretty familiar with their current assortment and thought it would be useful to put together a "perfect case" of wine they have in stock.  I offer these up for your consideration.

Free ground shipping to Massachusetts on orders of $100 or more through the end of February, 2011 with code "wwp". No sales tax either.

  2009 Annabella Pinot Noir $11.99

A classic example of how California can deliver a great bottle of Pinot Noir for just over $10.
More here...

2005 Chateau Greysac Medoc $12.99

When the affordable wines from the highly regarded 2005 Bordeaux vintage were coming to market I scampered around and picked up a bunch of 90+ rated wines for between $15 and $30.  This wine was rated 89 points by Wine Spectator and sells for only $12.99.  Nice stuff.

I used this wine in a 7-way blind wine aerator comparison.  More here...

  2007 Route Stock Cellars Route 29 Cabernet Sauvignon $13.99 

This wine has classic Napa Cab markings with daily drinker friendliness.  I featured it as part of a hyper-value blog post a while back. More here...

2005 Robert Foley Merlot $24.99

Not quite as good as the'07 vintage but half the price of what Foley Merlot typically sells for - and it's hard to catch a deal on the brand.  I've had a couple bottles and rated one 89/100 and the other 91/100.

2006 Nicolas Potel Volnay $24.99

When people tell me about a great domestic Pinot Noir that "only" costs $30 it's sometimes easy to forget the real thing (high quality French Burgundy) can be had for less than $30.  This wine is a stunner.  More here...

2007 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon $29.99

Best price in the country I see right now is $34. $29.99 with no tax is a no-brainer. If you like a nice juicy 2007 Napa Cab from a great brand this is your wine.

2007 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon $34.99

I featured this wine in a piece about wines that taste like Cakebread but cost less. 

2007 Chappellet Pritchard Hill Cabernet Franc $39.99

I haven't tried this wine yet but I've been impressed with the Chappellet Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon over the last few vintages.  The bottle looks exactly the same with the exception of the substitution of "Franc" for "Sauvignon". And it costs about two-thirds less. Great price - I'll look forward to trying it soon.

2006 Cade Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain $39.99

I've only tasted this at tastings, but it was impressive. I seem to recall kind of dismissing it because it was so pricey, but at $39.99 I can get behind it.

2007 Cakebread Cabernet Sauvignon $59.99

Ah - my beloved Cakebread.  What a great brand. Just a couple years ago it was hard to find Cakebread Cab at any price in Massachusetts. Now we can snag it for $59.99 from a great vintage. I've opened a couple bottles of this so far. Good stuff but I think it'll benefit from some age.

2007 Altamura Cabernet Sauvignon $79.99

#5 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2010 list and rated 96 points. There's some debate whether it's too ripe. I haven't tried it yet but I'm looking very forward to getting a feel for just how ripe it is.

  2007 Dominus Estate $119.99

98 points from Robert Parker for this red Bordeaux blend from Napa Valley.  I was impressed with a '97 I tried recently and looking forward to trying this one - years from now.

Great prices on great wines with free shipping and no tax. Maybe Massachusetts isn't such a bad place to be a wine enthusiast after all?

Click here to visit their site and use the code "wwp" for free shipping to MA on $100 orders.

Disclosure: The Wine Cellar of Stoneham is a WWP advertiser.

Like hearing about wine deals like this?  I'll be publishing a list of all the retailers in Massachusetts with e-commerce sites soon.  I'd love it if you subscribed to the site so we can keep in touch.

Question of the Day: What other value plays catch your eye on their website?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/y_iY1usca1k/wine-cellar-of-stoneham-launches.html

Jean Pierre Jarier Max Jean Stefan Johansson Eddie Johnson Leslie Johnson

Was Snooth crushed by Google?s new algorithm?

Google reshuffled its proprietary algorithm recently to favor quality and penalize “content farms” that were gaming the system, producing content optimized for search engines, rather than humans. The NYT had a discussion of the changes, and here’s a list of 25 sites severely affected. (Arianna Huffington should count 315 million lucky stars these changes came [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/frDMqjbibvI/

Out! Pet Care Toyota Jason Leffler David Carl Allison Gregory Jack Biffle David Lee Blaney

McLaren duo admit to car concerns

Lewis Hamilton says his McLaren car's main issue is a lack of downforce, although the Briton is hopeful the team will be able to sort some of its problems before the start of the season. McLaren's new challenger has not been among the strongest during winter testing so far, with the team also hindered by problems that have not allowed its drivers to run as much as hoped. Hamilton said the MP4-26 was not as bad as the team's 2009 machine, with which he struggled at the start of the season, but admitted it is currently lacking performance

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/mclaren-duo-admit-to-car-concerns/

Damon Hill Graham Hill Phil Hill Peter Hirt David Hobbs

Competition Winners Announced

The winners of the 70th annual Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition were announced today and the list is an impressive one! A box wine, a Scotch whisky, repeat winners (Armida Winery and baseball legend Tommy Lasorda) and so much more! Take a look at the winners here then check out the buzz on [...]

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=78

Jackie Holmes Bill Homeier Kazuyoshi Hoshino Jerry Hoyt Nico Hülkenberg

A Spitacular Competition!

For three days, our judges swirled, sniffed and spit their way through more than 3,500 wines from around the globe. Today they wrapped up by choosing the best of the best in each category. Results will be available next month, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy this compilation of expert spitters:

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=74

William Clyde Elliott Jeffrey Michael Gordon Charles Robert Hamilton IV Charles Robert Hamilton V Kevin Michael Harvick

Afros Wine ? a sensory experience

What helps a winemaker make a really interesting wine? Is it the tools, technology and modern training received from experts at the best wine colleges? Or might it be the fact that when they walk through a grove, crunching the remains of Autumn leaves underfoot, to the sounds of the local church bell down the [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/XhODua94tBc/

André Guelfi Miguel Ángel Guerra Roberto Guerrero Maurício Gugelmin Dan Gurney

Wine Research and Amazing Coincidences

Wine Intelligence, a wine research firm based in London, released their “Portraits USA 2011” report this week highlighting six distinct groups of consumers based on their relationship with wine.

According to the press release and marketing materials, the research provides insight into six prevailing consumer-based wine segments.

To this I say, “Fantastic.”

I also say, “Constellation Wines did this in 2006 with their Project Genome study and the Wine Intelligence bracketing of consumers has more than a passing resemblance to the Constellation study that was hailed at the time as a ‘landmark’ piece of consumer research.”

Take a look at the three images below and tell me that they aren’t materially the same.  The only difference I can determine is you can read a substantive summary of the Constellation research for free and the Wine Intelligence research will cost you $3,750.

No mention in the Wine Intellligence marketing materials about methodology or inspiration for their market segmentation, either.

PT Barnum said there’s a sucker born every minute.  PT Barnum didn’t acknowledge, however, people with a memory like an elephant.

Wine Intelligence
image

Constellation Project Genome
image

Comparison Chart Between the Two
image

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/wine_research_and_amazing_coincidences/

Ukyo Katayama Ken Kavanagh Rupert Keegan Eddie Keizan Al Keller

Vernay fears for IndyCar chances

Indy Lights champion Jean-Karl Vernay says he is struggling to raise the funding to break into IndyCar this season. The 23-year-old Frenchman called time on his Formula 3 Euro Series stint to switch to American racing in 2010 and won the Lights title at the first attempt

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/indycar-news/indycar/vernay-fears-for-indycar-chances/

Duncan Hamilton Lewis Hamilton David Hampshire Sam Hanks Walt Hansgen