My husband just came home with a brown paper bag; I could see the neck of some sort of libation sticking out of it. He knows that I only get in the mood to drink a few swallows of beer or wine about every three years or so, but nonetheless he asked me if I wanted some. Being sure it was beer, I said, "Let me sniff it". He replied that it was Reisling (and it's not bad, either), and that I must have a more powerful sniff than he realized, if I could remove the cork that way! So here's the "contest" (now that I've stopped laughing enough to type): if it were possible to Hoover the cork up out of a wine bottle by "sniff-power", what would that act be called?
Um...nostraction? (nose+extraction)
or maybe...snifflift?
Should we consult Nostradamus?
"Who nose?" Tom said predictably.
My nose is so good I could tell it was Riesling, not Reisling. I got quite a few hits
ror ""Reisling" but when I clicked on them, they all said "Riesling" inside.
I have to admit though, I have never had any, and don't know what it smells like.
Reisling sounds like a double diminutive of the German Reise, journey. Maybe it means the trip to the wine cellar.
What do you call it when topic creep brings you back to the subject line in a completely different sense?
here's a clue: it's not nosocomology.
-THE MGMT
Dear Faldage: the topic was at least one half "nose". For an entry, how about
"exsnorkulate"? And Riesling wine is made by midget giants in the Riesengebirge.
Love it, Dr Bill. You oughta contribute it to TVR's Best Words column. It certainly has an aura of fun or either majesty, one.
Dear WO'N: You'll be hearing from my lawyer. If I could find one I could trust who would
work for free. Is there a linguistic term for "reverse engineering"? Pretended outrage-emoticon.
Dat's s
corkeling...original wordplay, Dr. Bill. Your lawyers be damned, even if they are freeloaders!
That's OK, Dr Bill. Leave him be. His pathetic attempt to better the unbestable ensnorkulate will avail him naught.
For what it's worth, I'm with Faldage on this one - ensnorkulate is a masterpiece. Well done, Dr. Bill!
Dear WO'N: to steal a quip from Jack Benny many years ago, you wouldn't talk to me like
that if my writers were here.
His pathetic attempt to better the unbestable Hey, I ain't tryin' to bester any unbestable anything. I'm just sayin' they're different, that's all. So put a cork in it!!
Any volunteers to exsnorkulate WO'N cork? (No, not THAT kind of cork).
A more difficult task would be to apply this procedure to threaded stoppers (for those who drink the cheap stuff)--
nasoexcapulation, maybe.
Do it with your teeth - Dentunscrupulation - just for a starter.
In reply to:
threaded stoppers (for those who drink the cheap stuff)
Except that threaded stoppers are no longer solely found on cheap wines. Concerns about corktaint, and the unreliability of the cork harvest, are leading more and more producers of serious, quality wines to experiment with screw top closures.
yep. took me aback the other evening as my wife and I celebrated our 20th at our favorite restaurant. the lovely German Riesling(Gunderloch, Jean Baptiste) had a screwtop!
Any volunteers to exsnorkulate WO'N cork? (No, not THAT kind of cork).Hmmm, Dr. Bill...I don't believe I've ever been exsnorkulated, but you never know. There were many misspent hours in my youth which remain forever unaccounted for.
took me aback
In several many blind taste tests recently, wine experts have chosen screw top wines over corked wines.
And then there are the companies that are experimenting with plastic corks of some kind.
Yes consuelo, I’ve had quite a number of very drinkable New World wines in bottles sealed with plastic corks lately. I understand your unhappy face, but they work pretty well and at least they are preferable to screw tops, though for some people perhaps they still degrade the whole quaffing experience. On the other hand a bottle of corked wine does that too – especially if it’s the last one you have! I sent four bottles back one after the other in a restaurant once - and without arguement, but quite an expense for them.
In 1996 I was involved with construction of a pipeline in Portugal. Part of the route ran up the Setubal Peninsula (The Portuguese pronounced it as Stooble, as near as I can get it). Protection of the valuable cork trees was *the major consideration in the contract and payments for any that had to be removed were steep. We took extreme care, but at one point, due to delayed negotiations, the local cork farmers were out with guns!
Holy cow, dxb! I hope you got dangerous-occupation compensation! [shiver]
Cork grows on trees?
Cork grows on trees?Try this for a nice picture:
http://jelinek.com/shoe2.htm
Mmm, thank you, sweetheart. Wouldn't it be neat if they grew just all dangling and pre-formed, like sycamore balls? In all the correct shapes and sizes, of course.
Oh, I knew you were just joking, but the picture was so good I had to send it. It looks just the way I remember the cork being harvested (if that's the word) in Portugal.
Many contrasts in that country. You could be standing behind a new factory complex and a goat herd, with goats, would pass across the rough ground at the back - goat bells jingling and all. More like the eastern Mediterranean than western Europe in some ways.
"Excellent choice, sir, sneered the sommelier. "May I unscrew the top and let it breathe a bit?"
Stevlin (screw-top) capping has been used for a number of years, especially with white wines. If one does not intend for the wine to be aged, then there is no point taking the risk of the wine being corked. Numerous blind tastings have shown no appreciable difference in the quality of the wine. More recently, some reds have been trialed under stevlin. Not only is the risk of a corked wine reduced, but recent tastings have indicated that the wine still ages, though slower, and maintains more of the original flavours.
Nothing beats a real cork for style, but plastic corks and stevlin seals do work. I imagine the lower and middle range wines will eventually be sealed this way to minimise losses and consumer complaints.
/end strong personal opinion
to Jackie re "all the correct sizes and shapes of course."
No doubt there would be plantations of them in Italy next to the fields of spaghetti bushes I remember seeing pictures of years ago.
were the subject of a BBC piece on the upcoming famine caused by a drought or a blight of some kind in the spaghetti farming industry. It caused a huge run on existing spaghetti stocks even in Italy, notwithstanding the fact that it aired on April 1, approximately 1955. I remember its being reported on the news. The people at BBC certainly were proud of themselves, and rightfully so.
I think the jackalopes ate 'em.
thanks, doc, for that info. as I said, the wine was wonderful, and it really didn't bother me that much. as soon as I tasted it, I got over it!
I think the jackalopes ate 'em.
Or either the haggises, one.
I think the jackalopes ate 'em.
Or either the haggises, one.
or the Harpies . . .