IF you can't drink all your wine in one night, there is hope.

One afternoon I found myself on the phone with Scott Farmer, the inventor of a product called Private Preserve. A wine preserver made up of gases that you shoot into your partially empty wine bottle. I was first introduced to this product through work and at first, was a sceptic. How could an obviously empty can hold gases that could make my wine taste the same after 3 days of sitting on the kitchen counter?

The Product:
Private Preserve is a can of inert gases; purified carbon dioxide,nitrogen and argon that when sprayed into a partially empty wine bottle will preserve the character of the wine for more than 3-5 days. The effects aren't permanent but increasingly more effective than the methods of pumping out the air or simply putting a cork in it.

The Inventor:
Although I haven't met the man in person I spent a good amount of time with him over the phone. I only wanted to order a dozen cases of the product but somehow the conversation went on to how Jesus made water into wine, how is daughter is about my age and the pleasures the wine industry has to offer.

Testimonial:
I swear by this product, and if your going to buy a bottle of wine for more than $5 and can't finish it then invest $10 in this product. This isn't a challenge to buy a $30 bottle of wine and not finish it, by all means people drink your wine. Just in case, buy this too.

I have can of Private Preserve in my house that I've had for over a year. I haven't finished it because it has over 120 uses in one can! Again are we seeing the value.. $10/ 120 uses! It's something you need to have around your house for just in case, like candles and a first aid kit.

www.privatepreserve.com

Cheers Amigos. Your Friend The Barrel Thief

How much wine can you buy for a semester of College?

Looong sigh......Well, my fall CSUS semester is coming to an end. It was a rough start for more reasons than one; I was dropped from one of my classes unexpectedly a day or two before (luckily swooping into another), paid cash for all my books, parking pass and groceries from depleating our resources pre-wedding trip and of course all the bills were due. I sat in class the first week listening to the professor drone on. reading verbatim from the syllabus when I  started to day dream. How much wine could I have bought if I hadn't paid my tuition? Now because classes are so expensive these days and I wish to not be in debt I only take two classes a semester. For two classes (6 units) of education including fees I paid a total of $2,137.00 . Before you pull out your calculators that's $1,068.50 per class. Ok, try and regain composure. If I had taken a full load (more than 6 units) I would have paid $3,286.00 or $821.50/class.

Let's average this out a bit. The standard $10.00 or less bottle of wine, tastes yummy, perhaps some stand out characteristics that make you swoon. My favorite is Montevine Pinot Grigio which costs about $6-$9 depending on where you buy. It's so crisp, refreshing and pairs perfect with cheese and meats. I like to drink this wine with appetizers. This semester I could have purchased 213 bottles of this wine. Enter the $25 wine,  Heringer Estates 09' Syrah is so lovable with it's baked dark berry perfume and lingering aromas of dark baking chocolate. A bolder wine with a smooth finish, I could buy 86 bottles of this fine Clarksburg offering.  The war for wine over school is looking pretty unfair. Now bottles in the $25-$35 range are reserved for super special dinners and shared with only those who will appreciate it. A current favorite is Elevation Ten's 09' Proprietors Blend although it was advertised as a strong blend made up of Petitie Verdot and Cabernet Franc, I found it to be smooth and it really does "caress the palette" as the website suggests. I could buy 56 bottles of this rare extravagance if only my tuition was not so outrageous.

These thoughts were upsetting. All the delicious wine I'm missing out on! So I high tailed it to Trader Joe's to pick up a bottle of "Two Buck Chuck" that I'd heard so much about but never tasted myself. I choose a blend hoping it would be smoother than anything else such as the Cabernet Sav. Surprisingly it wasn't bad. It wasn't any fancy melody of flavors and aromas but better than some wine I've tasted. Although the grapes may not have been quality or even hand-picked they did the job they were grown to do. Next semester Charles Shaw will help me out when midterms come around.

 As always, thanks for reading. I appreciate it.  And thanks Charles. Your Friend the Barrel Thief