Extreme Pours 2007
“I’ll be pouring some excellent Cab Francs today.”
Whatever happened to “We’re tasting some excellent Cab Francs today?” Everyone seems to be pouring everywhere these days. Am I the only person who thinks that this sounds strange? What would the equivalent be with chocolate chip cookies? “I’ll be placing some excellent chocolate chip cookies today?”
Perhaps it’s the “me” part – I’ll be pouring – that seems odd. It’s a little like when a waiter says “my marzipan is really delicious” or “I’ve got some amazing Chimichangas.” I’m sure you do. Or maybe it’s just that the term pouring seems to imply vast amounts of liquids gushing forth as in “it’s not just raining, it’s pouring!”
Pouring wine rapidly and in huge volumes doesn’t seem to be strange at all on the internet; in fact it’s de rigueur. A quick browse around most wine sites reveals wine being poured in ways that would put NASA velocity tests to shame. Is the subject really so boring that it needs to be tarted up by pushing the limits of fluid mechanics? Are the stock photo people really that bored? Was a stunt sommelier employed for any of these shots? Do I hear Eric Burdon and War playing Spill the Wine somewhere?
Obviously there are a lot of unanswered questions here, so before I really scare myself and become Andy Rooney, the candidates for the most Extreme Pour of 2007 (in no apparent order) are:
Not a wine site, but the Kapture Group sells equipment to help capture moments of vinous mayhem like the typhoon in a glass pictured here.
Eric Asimov’s blog is called The Pour so it should come as no surprise that they have a strong entry. A real study of contrasts here as a heavy rope of wine appears to be breaking the surface of an otherwise tranquil glass. Sediment be damned – get it in the glass!
Is that a giant red wine Cobra threatening Natalie MacLean’s wholesome head? Watch out Natalie!
Not a lot of action here but a lot of wine. Do still waters run deep? The half-full half-empty debate certainly has no room here. No! Fill it to the brim! Let it be known that the people of 67 Wine are not stingy!
Dining on the Vine
Given the apparent lack of gravity, I would call this site Dining on the Moon instead of Dining on the Vine. Is that a bottle or a hose? Waiter, please bring me the 1990 La Tâche and a mop!
Royal Doulton
The quintessential British tableware maker weighs in with a classic Poseidon Adventure pour. Either that or they’re introducing a line of Chablis coloured baby Baboons in crystal.
Please Vote:
Win a Shiny New Spittoon!
To enter, simply leave a comment below. A winner will be selected Monday December 17th at random. You don’t have to write anything clever. A simple “nice spittoon” will do.
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December 13th, 2007 at 9:48 am
nice spittoon
December 13th, 2007 at 11:04 am
“nice spittoon”
December 13th, 2007 at 11:07 am
As long as it ends up in my glass and then in my mouth pour be damned!
December 13th, 2007 at 11:10 am
These are exciting photos - I’m looking forward to pouring tonight!
December 13th, 2007 at 11:11 am
REALLY nice spittoon!
December 13th, 2007 at 11:13 am
A really nice spittoon!
December 13th, 2007 at 11:14 am
I prefer the “reverse spit”–spitting down the back of my throat. How else can one evaluate the finish of a wine?
December 13th, 2007 at 11:21 am
What a great website!
(a little flattery never hurts)
December 13th, 2007 at 11:30 am
“nice spittoon” indeed
December 13th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Looks nothing like the old spitoon that sat in the kitchen corner at my Great Grandfather’s house.
December 13th, 2007 at 11:34 am
No doubt about it: “Dining on the Vine” gets the nod for wasting wine while attempting a show-off pour.
Nice spittoon.
December 13th, 2007 at 11:48 am
nothing like a splash in the pan [or glass] for high speed aeration
December 13th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Have seen some great pours especially late at night. No pics unfortunately.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Pouring is part of the wine experience and as such needs respected.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I don’t even say “taste”, I say “drink”…!
December 13th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
That lovely spittoon will remain in pristine condition in my humble abode. It may be interesting to note that stylists are busy at work before the perfect photo is taken and that the wine may not really be wine at all but a colored and thickened liquid that will give the desired result. As any food stylist will readily admit, what you see in the media as a photo representation of any item can be totally unrelated to that item in its components. Still it is a lovely spittoon, cheers.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Reminds me of a experience visiting Napa and the tasting room host was inebriated. Good times!
December 13th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Actually that photo of Royal Doultan is kind of classy (even if it does look like Ginger Ale).
December 13th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I could be SPITTING some excellent Cab Francs today! I wish…
December 13th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
This extreme pouring has me hyped up!
I feel like buying a few gallons of jug wine and trying my hand at some of this extreme pouring action. The photos should be awesome! ………. Just kidding but hey, “nice spittoon”!
December 13th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Hmm, nice spittoon. I’m sure I could find some use for it somewhere in the house
December 13th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
“nice spittoon”
December 13th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Is it “Nat Decants” or “Nat Splats”?
Just for fun at Candia Vineyards (candiavineyards.com), the owner Bob sometimes offers regular or radical decanting technique. Radical decanting involves full inversion of the bottle partway into the glass, and after just the right amount of Glug Glug Glug he retracts the bottle in front of the now-stunned consumer, never spilling a drop. With all the medals he gets for his wines, he should get another one for the great entertainment value he provides!
December 13th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
nice spittoon
December 13th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Plonk should be “poured”. Really good wine should be shared with care.
December 13th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Hmm… It’s too nice to really use as a spittoon…. But i will find a nice flower arrangement for it…..
December 13th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Chaos in a glass. Unsettling.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
67 Wine makes me think they are wine newbies or like beer better.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Spittoons? We don’t need no steenking spittoons!
December 13th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Sweet….spitton
December 13th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Love the over-the-topness of Dining on the Vine
December 13th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Nice pics!
December 13th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
nice spittoon
December 13th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
This phenomenon obviously results from the plain and tragic fact that the Internet, being a medium that addresses sight and sound but is incapable of smell, taste and touch, is a singularly inappropriate home for the experience of wine. This gives rise to an awful lot of silly and irrelevant chatter along with these desperate attempts to work wine into the medium at hand. If we weren’t such entertaining writers, we should really both quit altogether. Maybe we should be writing about something else, like spittoons.
December 13th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Nice Spittoon it would look great in my wine celler. I’ll keep it nice and shiny too with a label that says where I got it because I never waste a good cab franc. (don’t let the people I work with see this wine pouring I just got them doing everything properly)
December 13th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Reminds me when somebody poured clear liquid detergent into a glass and made it look tasty, until the bottle came into view.
December 13th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Nice Spittoon
December 13th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
nice spittoon
December 13th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
a spitoon is something one never knows that one needs, until one does, and then it’s tooo late.
December 13th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
what a lovely bucket to have in my cribb
December 13th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Spice Nittoon
December 13th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
I guess no two wines are spilled alike. “Dining on the Vine” is the most objectionable. “67 Wine” is immodest but too subtle to be irreverent.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Those pours look that way after I have poured too much wine for myself.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Nice Spittoon. So many wines so little time …..to enjoy each one!
December 13th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
67 Wine is a perfect demonstration of my pet peeve which concerns the way some restaurants pour wine: so much wine in the glass that it’s impossible to swirl the contents to enjoy all those delicious aromas. Of course you could swirl anyway and risk ruining your clothes, the tablecloth, and staining your dining companions!
December 14th, 2007 at 2:05 am
I don’t want the spittoon, I just like gratuitously entering competitions
I don’t see that you’ll need a spittoon if you pour like that - you’ll barely have enough in the glass to sniff
December 14th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Very nice spittoon. The generous pours are good if you are ordering them at a restaurant but for a wine judging, that is way too much.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:57 am
IF that is REAL wine, they should be arrested for such waste. Don’t they know there are thirsty, (not necessarily starving) people in this world that would do almost anything for that spill! I would love that spittoon in my shop, right next to your Grape Varieties Chart. I make my customers spit into a tin bucket right now. Would add a little class to the place. thanks for the pics, nice photography by someone.
December 14th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Too many look like me after too many!
December 14th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
I think all of the photos took time and energy and creative thinking, not to mention the wine itself, coutos to all of you. but i do certainly hope that the wine that was used was also consumed and not wasted, after all someone put thier time, effort and sweat into the making of the wine. Weather you have decided it was good or bad wine if it were athe only wine that was avalible to drink it would have transformed itself from “bad to good” right under your nose.
Again, great job on the photos. They all should win some category they all send a different message.
Happy Holidays to All and to All a Good wine
December 14th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
nice spittoon? I like to spit on winery floors.* Especially when they have no appropriate place to spit.
*Learned to do this in the Loire, where it’s proper.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Very nice spittoon. love to have it in my office!
Dining on the Vine has it going away for sheer drama and over the top silliness. But I am more intrigued by the NY Times, given the size, volume and sheer “tonnage” of the incoming pour. That’s a fire hose doing the service.
December 14th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Poor me, I pored over the websites with pouring pictures that you showcased and now I need to taste something. Trouble is, unless I use a straw I cannot taste it without pouring first!! So, I will be pouring tonight but going straight to the drinking part without giving the pour any attention-it is just a means to an end!
December 14th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Nat is natty!
December 15th, 2007 at 9:22 am
The New York Times image is the only one that actually makes the wine look like something I would not want to drink. As for the others … it’s just sad that a great beverage is tossed about so carelessly or ridiculously over poured. Sigh. Oh, by the way, nice spittoon
December 15th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
nice spittoon
December 16th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Is that one of those spittoons made in Italy?
December 17th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
WE HAVE A WINNER!
The Jim who wrote: “Pouring is part of the wine experience and as such needs respected.”
was chosen by the random number generator at random.org
Thank you everyone that took the time to enter and especially to the more thoughtful and funny comments.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Aeration is one thing but that’s just plain wasteful!!!
It is sad to see something as humble as wine transform into comercial excitment: “Dining on the Vine”.
Sorry I missed your deadline but not the chance to share my comments about the liquid I love.
December 21st, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Sorry, used up my clever quotations trying to wine that thing with the Rabbit.