But on the serious tip; the groom gave us the nicest, sweetest gift. It’s like a wristwatch, but for wine. And instead of telling the time, it tells you the temperature of the wine, as it sits inside the bottle. One needn’t even open the bottle.

It’s manufactured by Scandinavian design firm ‘Menu’ and they simply call it the Wine Thermometer. The device easily wraps itself around the outside of the wine bottle. It is also chic and very durable, and comes with a temperature list for each type of wine, so you know when it’s ready serve.

Thanks again guys, it really was a lovely wedding…and it came with the perfect gift for a wine lover.

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But now the country, or at least the consumers of its wine, is and are being let down.

Take the mass producer, Compania Vinicola Norte de Espana (Cune, for short), and its 2005 Vina Real Crianza available at The Bottle and Basket wine shop in Highgate for £8.50. Wait, make that £9.60. Actually, it costs both.

Back to that in a second.

Travel through Rioja and it is a region covered with vineyards. In some areas it seems that even the hardiest weeds wouldn’t have room to pop out, the rows of vines are so numerous and packed together. One bodega I visited claimed to have 57,000 barrels of wines aging in its vast, four-storey “cellar.” Not exactly romantic, but both are very useful in terms of major wine production.

Cune (never visited, mind you) uses thousands of hectares of vines (the fact that it is handpicked boggles the mind) to produce its crianza, the youngest of its quality Rioja Alavesa. And blends several grapes, but uses primarily Tempranillo and creates, in the case of the 2005, and decent, servable wine that caters to many tastes, but still maintains a touch of that herby Spanish-ness and the dryness of the chalky soil.

To continually produce wines on this scale and to keep a noticeable level of individuality and sense of place is remarkable, I find.

But according to the Bottle and Basket, this cost is unsustainable at current currency conversions. Yes the price differential is explained by one simple factor: the Euro is inflating out of control, people!

OK, stop panicking. Put out the car fire. Stop looting.

Truly the world has bigger shipwrecks to salvage.

But it is difficult, as a wine enthusiast, and a rather macho one at that, to see such a marked difference in the price of the same wine, in the same shop (just ordered from Spain at different times) and to know deep inside the painful truth:

Vina Real Crianza is not worth more than £9.

In fact, even £8.50 seems kinda pushing it, considering the looming recession. They do have 1,000 of hectares of vineyards after all.

The other thing, come to think of it, is why haven’t American wines dropped in price?

So, this all leads to one all-important question:

Why do wine consumers only seem to get robbed with currency conversions, but never rewarded?

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We have two interesting studies. The first shows another fruit, other than grapes (and therefore wine), that may help provide powerful antioxidants for the prevention of arterial inflammation.

The second refutes the claim that dairy products help one lose weight…a claim InterWined has never heard before, but the study is adamant that there may me some sort of conspiracy on the part of the all-powerful dairy lobby.

An Apple (juice) a Day

Lead researcher Kelly Decorde from the Universite Montpelier in France found apples have similar cardiovascular protective properties to grapes. The research team also observed that processing the fruit into juice has the potential to increase the bioavailability of the naturally-occurring compounds and antioxidants found in the whole fruit.

The study reinforces prior research supporting similar properties in “cloudy” apple juice, but not in “clear.”

Using a variety of established analytical techniques, aortic plaque was evaluated to determine the effectiveness in decreasing plaque that is associated with atherosclerosis.

According to the research, “This study demonstrates that processing apples and purple grapes into juice modifies the protective effect of their phenolics against diet induced oxidative stress and early atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic hamsters.”

Researchers also noted, “These results show for the first time that long-term consumption of antioxidants supplied by apples and purple grapes, especially phenolic compounds, prevents the development of atherosclerosis in hamsters, and that the processing can have a major impact on the potential health effects of a product.”

In summary, the researchers stated that their work would help provide encouragement that fruit and fruit juices may have significant clinical and public health relevance.

The study was published in the April 2008 issue of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

Cut out the Diary Fat

A new review of the evidence published in the journal Nutrition Reviews reveals that neither dairy nor calcium intake promotes weight loss. According to the press release, “advertisements saying dairy products help you lose weight are misleading,” and the “dairy industry have asserted the claim using millions of dollars in commercial advertising.”

Amy Joy Lanou of the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Neal Barnard with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC, evaluated evidence from 49 clinical trials from 1966 to 2007 that assessed the effect of milk, dairy products, or calcium intake on body weight and BMI, with or without the use of dieting.

Evidence from the trials showed that neither dairy products nor calcium supplements helped people lose weight. Of the 49 clinical trials, 41 showed no effect, two demonstrated weight gain, one showed a lower rate of weight gain, and only five showed weight loss.

An association between calcium or dairy intake and weight loss seen in some observational studies may be attributable to other factors, such as exercise, decreased soda intake, lifestyle habits, or increased fiber, fruit, and vegetable intake.

“Our findings demonstrate that increasing dairy product intake does not consistently result in weight or fat loss and may actually have the opposite effect,” the authors conclude.

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This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ brings you two of InterWined’s favourite pizzas.

Pizza with Parma Ham, Basil, and Red Onion

Feta & Butternut Squash Pizza with Ricotta and Pine Nuts

The 2006 ‘Taste the Difference’ Primitivo del Salento, from Italy and available exclusively to Sainsbury’s for approximately £5, is made by Cantina Due Palme, an Italian co-operative from Apulia known for their award- winning Primitivo. So, it doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it slightly astounds. For £5, this is one of the best wines that I’ve had in months; it’s also great for pairing with all manner of foods.

This wine is rich and flavourful, with a complexion that’s something of a cross between black cherries and dried blood. Thankfully, you can only taste the cherries. But even if wine could taste like blood, this wine would pull it off brilliantly. There’s such a good balance to it.

It’s also the perfect mix of spicy and sweet to match both pizzas. The sweetness really marries well with the squash and adds a little bit of a zip to the mellower flavour of the baked feta. Likewise, the sweetness helps counter any saltiness from the Parma ham, while the fresh basil, red onions, and ample cranks of cracked pepper help compliment the spice. A perfect threesome: 9.1.

InterWined’s Own Recipes in Full

Pizza with Parma Ham, Basil, and Red Onion & Feta & Butternut Squash Pizza with Ricotta and Pine Nuts

Ingredients:

2 Pizza bases, homemade or store bought
1 jar passata or simple tomato sauce

Feta & Butternut Squash Pizza:

Olive Oil
250g Ricotta cheese
1 small-sized butternut squash, deseeded
2 handfuls of pine nuts
50g Greek feta

Pizza Parma:

150g Buffalo mozzarella
1 red onion, chopped into rings
1 bunch of fresh basil leaves
Cracked pepper

Preparation:

Feta & Butternut Squash Pizza:

1. Preheat the oven to 200° C
2. After deseeding the squash, cut off the hard flesh of the squash, and chop into pieces
3. Place on a baking tray and coat with olive oil, before baking in the oven for approximately 20 minutes
4. With a couple of minutes left on the timer, cover the pizza base with a smooth layer of ricotta; be sure to leave a little ring around the edge of the base untouched
5. Remove the cooked squash from the oven and place on top of the ricotta-coated pizza base (do not turn off the oven)
6. Spoon the passata or tomato sauce over the toppings
7. Cover with sprinkles of pine nuts and crumbled pieces of feta cheese
8. Place in the oven to cook for approximately 10 minutes or until golden and serve

Pizza Parma:

1. If you are making the pizza on its own, preheat the oven to 200° C; otherwise, begin preparation as the butternut squash finishes cooking in the oven
2. Cover the pizza base with a layer of passata or tomato sauce; leave a ring around the edge of the base untouched
3. Layer the base with the onion and mozzarella, followed by wads or florets of the Parma ham
4. Rip the fresh basil with your fingers and scatter across the pizza toppings
5. Crack fresh pepper over the pizza, before placing in the oven for approximately 10 minutes or until golden
6. Serve from the oven

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A recent jaunt to New York and New Jersey represented the first trip to the United States in six years. And who could guess, that in that time, Americans have become relatively sophisticated beer drinkers?

This isn’t even to mention the superior wines by the glass in America. For $12, for instance, at a Hyatt hotel of all places, one gets a choice of several outstanding wines by the glass. In this case, the 2006 Erath Pinot Noir from Oregon. Served in the proper wine glass for Pinot Noir, it should be mentioned. Elegant and stunning. But the U.S. has always offered far superior wines (both in quality and quantity) by the glass in chain bars and pubs.

But even at dives serving horrible food, the beer choices were well beyond Bud, Bud Light, Miller. At one spot, for less than $6, a pint of Magic Hat dark lager was suggested, on tap, to pair with my rosemary-encrusted pork chop with lobster tail. It was one of many suggestions this hole in the wall had for its customers. And it tasted so good, InterWined found it depressing. Depressing because beer is so bad back in Britain.

A beverage analyst for Fitch Ratings recently put out a report that, in the wake of the smoking ban, pubs needed to diversify in order to survive. This is likely to take the form of breakfast offers and more child-friendly environments. In rural areas, little country shops may open adjacent to the pub in order to bring punters in.

But of all these changes, the simplest improvement never crossed anyone’s mind: stop serving crap beer.

The big drinks companies have placed a rather effective stranglehold on the market so that our choices are not based on styles, as in the U.S. Instead, we are forced to choose between several horrible brands that all taste basically the same way.

Blind taste Kronenberg, Carlsberg, Foster’s, Stella, etc. and see if you can guess which is which.

There is nothing special or original about beers in British pubs.

And until the servicing model wakes up to try something different, the trend of pub closures will continue. And it won’t bother me one bit.

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A high alcohol content, rather than thujone, the compound widely believed responsible for absinthe’s effects. Although consumed diluted with water, absinthe contained about 70 percent alcohol, giving it a 140-proof wallop. Most gin, vodka, and whiskey are 80 – 100-proof and contain 40-50 percent alcohol or ethanol.

The study is scheduled for the May 14, 2008 issue of the American Chemical Society’s bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, where the full text of the article can be downloaded without charge.

Absinthe took on legendary status in late 19th-Century Paris among bohemian artists and writers. They believed it expanded consciousness with psychedelic effects and called it “the Green Fairy” and “the Green Muse.” The drink’s popularity spread through Europe and to the United States. However, illness and violent episodes among drinkers gave absinthe the reputation as a dangerous drug, and it was banned in Europe and elsewhere.

In the new study, Dirk W. Lachenmeier and colleagues point out that scientists know very little about the composition of the original absinthe produced in France before that country banned the drink in 1915. Only a single study had analyzed one sample of preban absinthe. The researchers analyzed 13 samples of preban absinthe from sealed bottles — “the first time that such a wide ranging analysis of absinthe from the preban era has been attempted,” they say.

The analysis included thujone, widely regarded as the “active” ingredient in absinthe. “It is certainly at the root of absinthe’s reputation as being more drug than drink,” according to Lachenmeier. Thujone was blamed for “absinthe madness” and “absinthism,” a collection of symptoms including hallucinations, facial contractions, numbness, and dementia.

However, the study found relatively small concentrations of thujone, amounts less than previously estimated and not sufficient to explain absinthism. Thujone levels in preban absinthe actually were about the same as those in modern absinthe, produced since 1988, when the European Union (EU) lifted its ban on absinthe production. Laboratory tests found no other compound that could explain absinthe’s effects. “All things considered, nothing besides ethanol was found in the absinthes that was able to explain the syndrome of absinthism,” according to Lachenmeier.

He says that scientific data cannot explain preban absinthe’s reputation as a psychedelic substance. Recent historical research on absinthism concluded that the condition probably was alcoholism, Lachenmeier indicates.

“Today it seems a substantial minority of consumers want these myths to be true, even if there is no empirical evidence that they are,” says Lachenmeier. “It is hoped that this paper will go some way to refute at least the first of these myths, conclusively demonstrating that the thujone content of a representative selection of preban absinthe… fell within the modern EU limit.”

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Even some luxury markets are expected to take a hit. In an interview with Fitch Ratings, a spokewoman there said she believed the sale of high-end autos, such as Bentley, etc., were also likely to see some sort of crunch in line with a downturn in consumer spending.

However, a recent press release that came across InterWined’s desk, show a strong return on proper Champagne investments, especially if the lot comes with historical value:

The contents of a singular wine cellar were placed on auction by a private collector and featured some of the most exquisite Dom Perignon vintages. This included such lots as bottles of Dom Perignon Vintage 1928 (1 magnum, estimated 8.000-12,000 dollars, sold at 12,705 dollars), magnums from the 1950s onwards, or the vintage 1961 for Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding celebration (12 bottles, estimated 14,000-18,000 dollars, sold at 19,360 dollars).

Yet, the most impressive lot presented for the first time to the public was a never commercially released vintage of Dom Perignon Rose; the vintage 1959. These two mythical “rarer than rare” bottles, estimated at 5,000-7,000 US Dollars, were acquired for 84,700 dollars by an anonymous
wine collector.

A bit of background: the first bottles of such glamourous quality, considered “the jewel of Dom Perignon”, were first set on lees in the Dom Perignon cellars in 1959, with only 306 bottles released. The vintage was later presented in 1971 at the sumptuous celebration of the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great, and thus served to the select few of international luminaries in attendance. A certain pedigree that again was present for such a historic moment as last night’s auction.

We know Dom Perignon as the first “Maison” to have launched ultra luxury collectors editions, such as the White Gold Jeroboam in 2005, which established Dom Perignon as the most expensive champagne in the world.

Another platform to validate the credibility of the wine’s true luxury are vintage champagne auctions. Dom Perignon is thus known for attaining equally remarkable prices, never previously seen in champagne auctions in the past, such as the Dom Perignon Vintage 1921 from the Doris Duke Collection which sold at an auction at Christie’s New York for 24,675 dollars in 2004. This exemplifies the extraordinary aging potential of Dom Perignon, making it a valuable long term investment for the world’s most distinguished champagne collectors.

This new record attained last night for the Dom Perignon Rose Vintage 1959 is definitely making Dom Perignon Rose one of the greatest contemporary luxury icons of this new century … And far beyond: as Richard Geoffroy, Dom Perignon Chef de Cave says: “Dom Perignon Rose Vintage 1959 is a rare, superlative, mythical vintage. Powerful and solar, its light will inspire the creation of Dom Perignon Rose forever.”

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This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ ends its month-long celebration of some of American cuisine’s greatest dishes from classic comfort foods to the unsung greats of American soulfood, with a decidedly European-take on a well-recognised transatlantic treat.

One word describes the 2003 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux (12.5%) from the Loire Valley and available from Oddbins in the UK and Wine Chateau.com in the US (with numerous vintages available in Canada, New Zealand, and mainland Europe): smooth.

Made from 100% botrytis Chenin Blanc grapes, the Bonnezeaux screams smooth operator…not unlike the way Sade used to do on the radio. It has a fine golden colour with a rich, slightly creamy fresh fruit flavour with a hint of vanilla or nutmeg thrown in for good measure and makes for a stunningly attractive match to the smooth and silky mix of cream and fruit found in InterWined’s Own Pomegranate & Blueberry Cheesecake.

Like the hamburger and countless other “American” foods, the American cheesecake is rooted across the Atlantic in the kitchens and dinning rooms of a host of different European traditions. So what makes a cheesecake American? New Yorkers and Chicagoans might tell you it’s the baking.

But it’s not.

It’s the cream cheese. Cream cheese is a wholly American invention. Not until William Lawrence invented his now famous Philadelphia cream cheese in 1872 on his farm in New York State and its eventual owners, Kraft Foods, managed to manufacture a pasteurised version in 1912, did any cheesecakes resemble the stuff of today, whether or it was cooked as the New Yorkers and Chicagoans would recommend, or uncooked as the British and many others prefer. Before then, all cheesecakes were made the European way with a filling made of ricotta, mascarpone, quark, or Neufchatel cheeses.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the American preference for baking doesn’t continue. Indeed, outside of perhaps only a handful of US restaurants and cities, the cooked cheesecake remains the more time-consuming norm. And while InterWined hates to pick sides in this most delicious debate (both are great!), for the sake of time and convenience, why not throw American preferences to one side and enjoy the speed and ease of a simple, smooth uncooked cheesecake, such as InterWined’s Own Pomegranate & Blueberry Cheesecake.

InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full

Pomegranate & Blueberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:
450g Cream cheese
600ml Whipping cream
Small packet of digestive biscuits or graham crackers
1 pummet of blueberries
100ml Pomegranate juice
250g Caster sugar
150g butter

Preparation:

1. Crumb the biscuits in a food processor and transfer to a mixing bowl
2. Melt the butter and pour over the biscuit crumbs, being sure to mix well
3. Spoon the mixture into a pie plate or spring form tin to form the base of the cheesecake
4. Place in the refrigerator for approximately one hours to stiffen
5. In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese, caster sugar, and ½ of the pummet of blueberries until smooth
6. Pour in the whipping cream and juice and continue to mix until stiff
7. Spoon the cream onto the biscuit crust, cover with the remaining blueberries, and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours (overnight if possible)

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Ever ordered a dish off a menu at a restaurant or café and found yourself thinking, “I could make that”?

Well, InterWined did last weekend, while sitting outside Carluccio’s, the popular Italian café chain, and trying to make the most of the sporadic sunshine that fell along Market Square near London’s Oxford Street. The dish was a simple Emilia-Romagna-inspired serving of parmesan cheese with balsamic vinegar.

As home to the city and Modena, the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna is rightly famed for its automotive companies. The likes of which include such exclusive brands as Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini.

But the region is also home to some of Italy’s most well-known and renowned foods. After all, who isn’t familiar with parmesan cheese, proscuitto di Parma, tortellini, Bolognese sauce, and mortadella? What’s more, the region and the provinces of Modena and Emilia Reggio are home of two of the coveted balsamic vinegars “Tradizionale di Modena” and “Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia”.

And as soon as the serving reached the table, InterWined’s mind went to work. Only, instead of stopping at “I could make that”, it went a bit further and asked, “What wine would pair with that”?

Regardless of the fact that they are often served together, cheese and wine are not exactly well-suited to each other. The dairy in the cheese coats the mouth and dilutes the flavour of the wine, making it harder to distinguish quality and easier to mask impurities and imperfections. In fact, the best wines for cheese-pairing tend to be those highly fortified and concentrated in sugar, such as Port, Sherry, and…aged balsamic vinegar.

You see, balsamic vinegar is made from the must of Italian Trebbiano white wine grapes, aged and fermented over time, until they reach optimal maturity, acidity, and viscosity, and flavour. As with wine, balsamic vinegar is measured and prized in terms of age and manufacturing technique.

Because of their similarity to one another, pairing vinegar and wine proves almost impossible. But, in terms of balsamic vinegar, it can be done. The challenge is to find a wine, high in sugar able to match the concentration of fruit in the vinegar.

One such wine is the 2005 Maculan Torcolato made from 85% Vespaiola, 10% Garganega, and 5% Tocai, (13.5%), £16.99 from Oddbins and reviewed here. Made in the Italian passito-style, the wine grapes are air-dried and shrivelled, prior to vinification and maturation, to ensure a high concentration of fruit and acidity. The result is a wine with a sweetness to match that of the balsamic vinegar without being sickly: 8.8.

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At any rate, what was more concerning was the plastic stopper. InterWined’s main worry was that the wine would be too old for such a ‘Drink Now’ closure. Luckily, the Maccari Merlot turned out to be a delightful surprise. A little on the sweet side, but quite plumpy and plumy. Some tannin gives a sour impression, but the finish is decent enough to lend some harmony. 8.5 points.

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The scientists held that this positive reinforcement of negative events compels human behaviour to detriment.

Two new studies revolve around this phenomenon of how our perception sculpts our activities… especially about financial affairs. The second shows that staying positive dissuades us from responsible spending. More importantly, the first study shows that our bodies give us sensory awards, like when we drink a great glass of wine, for less physically tangible experiences.

– Like Fairness for Chocolate

As it turns out, the human brain responds to being treated fairly the same way it responds to winning money and eating chocolate, UCLA scientists report. Being treated fairly turns on the brain’s reward circuitry.

“We may be hard-wired to treat fairness as a reward,” said study co-author Matthew D. Lieberman, UCLA associate professor of psychology and a founder of social cognitive neuroscience.

“Receiving a fair offer activates the same brain circuitry as when we eat craved food, win money or see a beautiful face,” said Golnaz Tabibnia, a postdoctoral scholar at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and lead author of the study, which appears in the April issue of the journal Psychological Science.

The activated brain regions include the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Humans share the ventral striatum with rats, mice and monkeys, Tabibnia said.
“Fairness is activating the same part of the brain that responds to food in rats,” she said. This is consistent with the notion that being treated fairly satisfies a basic need, she added.

In the study, subjects were asked whether they would accept or decline another person’s offer to divide money in a particular way. If they declined, neither they nor the person making the offer would receive anything. Some of the offers were fair, such as receiving $5 out of $10 or $12, while others were unfair, such as receiving $5 out of $23.

“In both cases, they were being offered the same amount of money, but in one case it’s fair and in the other case it’s not,” Tabibnia said.

Almost half the time, people agreed to accept offers of just 20 to 30 percent of the total money, but when they accepted these unfair offers, most of the brain’s reward circuitry was not activated; those brain regions were activated only for the fair offers. Less than 2 percent accepted offers of 10 percent of the total money.

The study group consisted of 12 UCLA students, nine of them female, with an average age of 21. They had their brains scanned at UCLA’s Ahmanson–Lovelace Brain Mapping Center. The subjects saw photographs of various people who were said to be making the offers.

“The brain’s reward regions were more active when people were given a $5 offer out of $10 than when they received a $5 offer out of $23,” Lieberman said. “We call this finding the ’sunny side of fairness’ because it shows the rewarding experience of being treated fairly.”

A region of the brain called the insula, associated with disgust, is more active when people are given insulting offers, Lieberman said.

When people accepted the insulting offers, they tended to turn on a region of the prefrontal cortex that is associated with emotion regulation, while the insula was less active.

“We’re showing what happens in the brain when people swallow their pride,” Tabibnia said. “The region of the brain most associated with self-control gets activated and the disgust-related region shows less of a response.”

– When positive thinking leads to financial irresponsibility like compulsive gambling

Looking on the bright side can lead to irresponsible financial behavior, reveals a paper from the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. In a series of studies, Elizabeth Cowley (University of Sydney) examines repeat gambling in the face of loss. She finds that people often engage in too much positive thinking, selectively focusing on one win among hundreds of losses when they think back on the overall experience.

“When we want to justify engaging in an activity which could potentially be irresponsible – like gambling – we may need to distort our memory of the past to rationalize the decision,” Cowley explains. “People who have frequently spent more money than planned on gambling edit their memories of the past in order to justify gambling again.”

For example, Cowley had participants in one study play a computer game in which they could win credits with the financial equivalent of one cent per credit. Each participant played the game 300 times. Everyone experienced one big win and one big loss. But for the other 298 games, one half of the group experienced all small losses, while the other experienced all small wins.

Cowley also manipulated the distance between the big win and the big loss.
A week later, participants were surveyed for their memories of the experience. Surprisingly, Cowley found that even some losers remembered having a positive experience. If the big win and the big loss occurred far apart, losers had fond memories and indicated a willingness to spend their own money on the game.

As Cowley explains, the further apart the big win and the big loss, the easier it was for losers to isolate their memories and focus only on the positive, a “silver lining” effect.

“The tendency to segregate positive and negative events in a mixed-loss experience is based on the logic that remembering a large gain allows people to feel good even when the objective outcome was negative,” Cowley says.

Conversely, Cowley found that winners – those who experienced 298 small wins – were happier when the big win and the big loss were closer together, allowing them to lump all the games together and ignore the big loss. She termed this the “cancellation effect.”

“When the outcome of an experience including both positive and negative events results in a net gain, people look for ways to integrate positive and negative events to reduce, if not cancel, the pain associated with the negative events,” Cowley explains.

The research is the first to consider a motivated memory explanation for justifying irresponsible behavior. Apparently, positive thinking can sometimes be negative.

Elizabeth Cowley, “The Perils of Hedonic Editing.” Journal of Consumer Research: June 2008.

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In this case, the gamble was with the widespread 2006 Jacob’s Creek ‘Three Vines’ white, £7 from Costcutter. The Three Vines offerings by Jacob’s Creek are nothing short of the latest marketing ploy. In this case, two popular grapes are blended with a more unusual third to give it that little extra…draw.

InterWined.com has reviewed Jacob’s Creek in the past, but that was before we decided to only rate wines worth buying. Normally, the stuff is a must-avoid, and truly the ‘Three Vines’ red is no exception.

The ‘Three Vines’ white, on the other hand, is not that bad. It gets a bit of citrus zing from Semillion, some gooseberry from Sauvignon Blanc and a hint of zinc and apricot from the Viognier. Drink it very, very cold and serve with InterWined’s Buffalo wings (unbreaded) and you got yourself a good time. The tartness of the three vines cuts the spice well, but don’t dip in the lemon parsley zesty sauce, because it makes the wine taste sour.

I also experimented further by adding a pinch of curry powder to one of the chicken wings.

BAD IDEA!

Stick to the unbreaded, no sauce recipe. Stick to super cold ‘Three Vines’ white. And the food and wine will stick to your ribs.

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This week, ‘Blow the Bank’ continues InterWined’s All American, a month-long celebration of some of American cuisine’s greatest dishes from classic comfort foods to the unsung greats of American soulfood, with InterWined’s Own Homemade Buffalo Wings with Lemon Parsley Dip.

You could write a book about Buffalo Wings…and, indeed, someone has. Two someones, if fact — Aaron Reynolds and Paulette Bogan. They are a children’s author and an illustrator, respectively, and the book is called — surprise, surprise — Buffalo Wings. It’s the story of a rooster and quest and a recipe by woman named Bellissimo and made famous by a guy named Frank at a place called the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York.

And, if a story about what must surely be a cannibal rooster hungry for some chicken wings doused in a sauce created by a woman named beautiful in a bar in Buffalo doesn’t mark out a recipe as an American classic, nothing will. Let’s be honest, shall we?

Now, controversial tales of cannibalising roosters aside, the story of Buffalo Wings still finds itself in the midst of a minor controversy. To bread or not to bread…

Breaded wings are able to absorb more of the sauce into the breading and maintain the fiery kick of the peppers; they are a little more civilised and only slightly messy to eat, the breading coming free on the tips of one’s fingers and easily picked away. Un-breaded wings somewhat prevent the sauce from fully absorbing into the meat of the wing; sauce drips from wings and stains the fingers and lips a bright orange. Given our rooster friend’s rather shocking predilections, this is surely his preferred method of feasting, feathers ruffled and orange stains everywhere.

Now, whatever your choice in all things chicken wings, InterWined is here to help. (I was going to write “swings both ways”, but was worried what kind of spam comments those words might generate. But, since I just wrote that I wasn’t going to write it, I’ll guess I’ll find out soon enough.)

Regardless of how you take your wings and which way InterWined swings, the Brown Brothers Non-Vintage Pinot Noir Chardonnay & Pinot Meunier (13%), £9-10 from Waitrose, is a treat. It’s not a sophisticated as a sparkling white wine could be; it’s not a dazzler to save for a special occasion — even if it did recently win the 2007 Yarden Trophy at International Wine and Spirits Competition in London. It’s a non-vintage, after all. It’s a sparkler to enjoy any day at any time for any occasion that I discovered in 2004, while looking for a bottle of wine to take to BYOB Vietnamese in Newtown, Sydney Australia. There’s a light, green-apple tinge perfectly in keeping with its pale yellow-green colour. It’s light and unfussy without being forgettable, fruity for a dry wine, and marked with a creamy sweetness to it. The creamy fruit flavour makes for an excellent balance to the spicy, hot zing of the Buffalo Wing sauce and the citrus and herb flavour of the lemon parsley dip. A winning wine for a winning recipe: 9.5.

InterWined’s Own Recipe in Full

Homemade Buffalo Wings with Lemon Parsley Dip

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)
11 chicken wings, raw and untrimmed
Several tbsp Vegetable oil

Breaded Chicken Wings
Breadcrumbs (homemade, as was used in the recipe, or store bought)
1 egg, whisked
Flour

Un-breaded Chicken Wings
Flour

Buffalo Wing Sauce
100g unsalted butter
5-10 tsp Tabasco sauce
2-4 tsp white wine vinegar
1-2 tsp ketchup

Lemon Parsley Dip
150g Greek Yoghurt
1 lemon, squeezed
Freshly chopped curly parsley
Cracked black pepper to taste
1-2 tsp cumin

Preparation:

1. Place the chicken wings on a chopping board and chop at the joints, separating the wings into three parts. Be sure to discard the tips
2. If preparing breaded and un-breaded wings, separate into two batches
3. If breading, dust the wings lightly in flour, before coating in the egg mixture and covering in breadcrumbs; for un-breaded wings, simply dust in flour
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep skillet or pan
5. Once the oil has heated fully, carefully add the wings in batches and fry until golden, being sure not to burn the breaded wings
6. Reserve to cool slightly
7. In a separate saucepan, quickly melt the butter, before whisking in the remaining ingredients to the Buffalo Wing Sauce. Cook for approximately 1 minute, adjusting to taste. If you find the sauce too spicy, balance the flavour with pinches of sugar or additional tsp of ketchup
8. Plate the wings and cover in the sauce fresh from the stovetop
9. In a small serving bowl, mix the yoghurt, parsley, pepper, cumin, and lemon juice to taste. Serve immediately

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Finding decent American wines is a tough one in London — even with a rapidly declining dollar (explain that Greenspan!). However, we’ve found a tiny wine shop in Islington that offers a few great American wines (all California unfortunately) for reasonable prices.

Highbury Vintners has a handful of American wines, but they’re all good. Especially the Lyeth Merlot for £8.

What’s not listed on their website is their 2006 Clos Du Val Napa Valley Pinot Noir, for around £15. The Clos Du Val, it should be noted, recently beat out several French wine at the re-enactment of the Judgement of Paris tasting. While we here at InterWined.com have our issues with this recreation and its applicability to the modern wine industry, the results show the grace of the winery. The Pinot Noir is an elegant and smooth number with strawberry and blackberry on the nose. There is some of that wet earth that stamps the name ‘Napa Valley’ on wines, but further this combines with the nuances of oak and vanilla to create a chewy expression in the mouth. The tannins have just enough hold and the finish is just long enough. A very decent wine: 9.1 points

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The vitamin industry has long touted antioxidants as a way to improve health by filling in gaps in diet, but a new review of studies found no evidence that the nutrition supplements extend life. Worse, the review authors said that some antioxidants could increase risk for death.

The reviewers want more regulation of the nutraceuticals industry, but an antioxidant researcher with the USDA said that call for stricter monitoring overreaches the conclusions of the review.

The meta-analysis of 67 randomized studies found that supplemental antioxidants do not reduce mortality and that some — including vitamin A, beta-carotene and vitamin E — could increase mortality. The review combined evidence from more than 200,000 people.

“The harmful effects of antioxidant supplements are not confined to vitamin A,” said review co-author Christian Gluud, M.D. “Our analyses also demonstrate rather convincingly that beta-carotene and vitamin E lead to increased mortality compared to placebo.”

The review appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

Most people do eat not enough fruits and vegetables to ensure an adequate intake of vital nutrients. However, it is unclear if supplementation can provide benefits akin to a healthy diet and if some antioxidants are, in fact, harmful. Antioxidants are nutrients such as vitamin E, vitamin C, or beta carotene that have been marketed as a way to counter the damaging effects of oxygen in the tissues.

The review included studies of healthy adults and adults diagnosed with specific, stable medical conditions. The authors excluded studies with children or pregnant women, or studies that evaluated supplements as treatment for acute diseases, such as malignant cancer. It also excluded studies that used supplements for replacement of nutrient deficits.

The review authors recommend greater regulation of antioxidant supplements and make a “plea for urgent political action,” said Gluud, director of medical science, associate professor and department head of the Copenhagen Trial Unit at the Centre for Clinical Intervention Research and Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

“We should request that the regulatory authorities dare to regulate the industry without being financially dependent on the very same industry,” Gluud said.

However, nutrition science expert Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., said the reviewers go too far in their recommendations for more stringent regulation of antioxidant supplements.

“I could find nowhere in this report any review of regulatory practices and effectiveness or the evaluation of public health policies, procedures or perspectives,” Blumberg said.

Blumberg is director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and a professor with the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. He was not involved in the review.

A supplement-industry trade group questions both the review conclusions and the study selection process for the analysis.

“Four hundred five studies which showed no deaths were excluded from the meta-analysis, which if included, clearly would have altered the outcome of the meta-analysis,” said Andrew Shao, Ph.D., vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement industry trade association in Washington, D.C.

Shao maintained that antioxidant supplements are safe additions to a healthy diet.

The review only includes studies in which someone died.

Gluud defended his methodology, saying it is important to include only large, randomized controlled trials to assess mortality. Most of the trials that showed no deaths were not “proper preventative trials,” he said.

Blumberg raised concerns about the use of “all-cause mortality” as a yardstick for antioxidants’ influence on health and life. “All-cause mortality” includes deaths resulting from everything from cancer to a train wreck.

Blumberg said: “There is no basis in biology to presume that one or more of these nutrients can kill through any and all possible mechanisms of action.”

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