An upcoming night to celebrate with friends and wine, after-the-jump …..
But first: Top Comments appears nightly, as a round-up of the best comments on Daily Kos. Surely ... you come across comments daily that are perceptive, apropos and .. well, perhaps even humorous. But they are more meaningful if they're well-known ... which is where you come in (especially in diaries/stories receiving little attention).------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send your nominations to TopComments at gmail dot com by 9:30 PM Eastern Time nightly, or by our KosMail message board. Please indicate (a) why you liked the comment, and (b) your Dkos user name (to properly credit you) as well as a link to the comment itself.
Last June, I highlighted an interracial couple whose weekly Wall Street Journal column (from 1998-2009) was something I never expected to enjoy: a wine column. Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher (Dottie & John) were business and news writers, who came to the subject organically … and gave you enough of an education, yet without digging into the weeds … and blended humor along with their life stories, plus what to expect when shopping at your local wine outlets. They appeared often on Martha Stewart, CBS Sunday Morning and twice on Terry Gross’s Fresh Air on radio.
To read about their unexpected and unusual path to wine, it is all at this link.
Now … not an update, but about their most enduring endeavor
For wine writers who field reader Q&A, many readers might mention having, say, a bottle of 1957Chateau Such-and-Such, asking if it was still safe to drink? They would answer the questions technically … until finally asking, “Why do you have such a bottle?” Invariably, the response was they were saving it for a special occasion, yet no occasion ever seemed …...… well ….... special enough.
And so Dottie & John launched their own project known as Open that Bottle Night— the last Saturday in February (often a slow time of the year, with winter darkness still not finished with us). The concept was to have a special meal with family/friends, and opening a long-held bottle of wine that pairs well with the meal. They also suggest having a more recent bottle on hand (in case an old bottle turned to vinegar from a faulty cork, etc.)
They have received many field reports from readers, who often remark less about the wine .. than the stories people discuss, or how they came to have that wine, etc. Dottie and John often suggest that people not allow guests to look at their phones while at the table. They also note that the concept actually became a question on Jeopardy! in 2005.
For many restaurants (unless they are an established BYOB location) alcohol sales are a notable part of their profit margin — and even if a particular restaurant allows one to bring their own wine, the restaurant charges a corkage fee. Theoretically, this is to cover the cost the restaurant incurs (of providing wine glasses, openers, cleanup) but obviously to also recoup a lost sale. However, there are restaurants who will waive their normal fee for OTBN (provided it is one bottle, not magnum-sized, etc.) as an incentive for diners in what is often a slow time of the year in the business.
Dottie & John emphasize that the meal served need not be fancy, and in case one does not have a saved bottle: visit a wine shop and ask for a recommendation. Ask for something out of the ordinary and be sure to ask what foods pair well with it (which a good wine shop should be able to tell you).
In their most recent essay in Grape Collective, they cite a celebrating Australian winery:
Small Victories Wine Co. and the famous Elderton Wines, which are owned by the Ashmead family, celebrate OTBN with their own wines and others. Said Jess Ruciack, the digital marketing manager: “How many times have we all said ‘We can’t open that tonight, it’s too good,’ or ‘We’ve put that away for a special occasion’? Has that occasion ever come? So, we’ve started making the occasion with OTBN!”
And in New Jersey, the Hudson Farm Club will have a large gathering as a benefit for Project Self-Sufficiency… much larger and (with a high sponsorship fee) more involved than the what Dottie & John may have had-in-mind originally. Yet I suspect … they’ll be happy.
Here is an apropos tune from forty years ago by the British reggae band UB40— so named because in Great Britain at the time: Form UB40 was what one needed to obtain unemployment benefits.
Now, on to Top Comments:
From jaaneezutto:
In my own diary (likening 45 to Citizen Kane) — DoctorH gave a meticulous detailed explanation of the many specific ways in which Kane & Trump are mirror images of each other. It is a superb job that left me speechless, and more than a little envious of the quality of his work.
From Megalion:
In today’s cartoon by Mike Luckovichon White House thefts by previous administrations, Larry Lagarto asks not about critical national security documents, but ....
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the diary by dedwords about Peter Navarro being ordered to jail by his judge (while the Bannon judge permits him to walk) — kellyb2 launches a fusillade of one-liners.
Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful (and now eternal) *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment featuring that photo.
TOP PHOTOSFebruary 6th, 2024
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And lastly: Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion. → February 6th
6) Wiser folks than me…. by DRo +11010) Hear, hear! … by Gay CA Democrat +9812) That party just blew out another speaker! by elliott +9318) A perfect response. … by Davidsfr +87
February 7th
1) Al Green showing up was a hero move. by satanicpanic +17922) reduce the AZ GOP to paranoid anger … by stevemb +7727) [embed] by Greg Dworkin +7428) I’m not tired of winning yet. by Noodles +73