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Goodbye 2009 -- The Year in Alcohol

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iceman6.jpgThis booze isn't working any more The iceman cameth to the B.C. provincial election campaign as a lobby group representing independent liquor stores claimed that NDP promises to raise the minimum wage and hoist the wholesale price for private liquor stores would raise the price of a six-pack of beer by as much as three dollars. A panicked electorate re-elected the Campbell Liberals once again.


On the other hand, he did give her credit for their Chablis scoring 93 points with Robert Parker A French winemaker was charged with attempting to poison his wife, whom he accused of working too hard in the vineyard and of not doing enough for him. "Jacky Chatelain, a 51-year-old vineyard owner from Burgundy, was arrested after a four-year investigation into how his wife Josiane had fallen ill with arsenic poisoning."


moz-screenshot-6.jpgBut the age of consent stayed at 10 France raised its national drinking age to 18.


Gordon Ramsay.jpgThey're calling it Chateau get your ass the f--k back to your f--king stove Celebrity chef and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares host Gordon Ramsay loaned his name to a Bordeaux line of wines


Hooligan-Child.jpgBut then, a Ferrari doesn't insult a Tata Nano, and then toss its cookies in a back alley somewhere  In England, Tottenham Hotspur football team captain Ledley King was arrested for a drunken incident (with racist overtones) at a pub. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp then declared that he will ban alcohol consumption for his team next season "Footballers should not drink. You shouldn't put diesel in a Ferrari." 


We Were Drunk.jpgThis wouldn't have anything to do with having to watch Fox News while serving in Iraq, would it? Nearly twice as many US army soldiers today compared to six years ago are either alcoholic or engage in damaging behavior such as binge drinking, according to army statistics. "Soldiers diagnosed by Army substance abuse counselors with alcoholism or alcohol abuse, such as binge drinking, increased from 6.1 per 1,000 soldiers in 2003 to an estimated 11.4 as of March 31, according to the data."



Special Great Britain Sidebar!


ladette.jpgLeading to record numbers of models posing as ladettes for newspapers Record numbers of young women, or "ladettes" are being fined for drunkenness in Great Britain. "Paul Holmes, Liberal Democrat justice spokesman, said: 'As the number of drunken women on our streets has increased, so has the number of violent assaults being carried out by women. The Government has completely failed to tackle binge drinking and the resulting violence.' "



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Once a ladette, always a ladette
British superstar model and chronic reality TV show star Katie Price, 31 (also known as Jordan) recently attempted to singlehandedly save the failing Champagne trade during a weekend binge in Ibiza. "The most disturbing aspect of her boozy antics was when she threatened to knife another clubber outside Eden nightclub in San Antonio who had popped over to say hello."






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But the eyeliner still makes you look like you woke up drunk
Singer-songwriter, rehab party-girl, and renowned alcohol enthusiast Amy Winehouse went on trial for punching dancer Sherene Flash in the eye at London's Berkeley Square last September.  Winehouse has protested her innocence on the grounds that while her beehive hairdo makes her look taller, she's too short to have punched Flash in the face. "My hair does make a difference" Winehouse said. Later in the year, Winehouse was arrested for punching out the manager of a puppet theater in the midst of a performance of Cinderella, and suffered what was described as a nervous collapse at home on Christmas Day. 'Round about the same time, fellow musician and youth role model Pete Doherty was arrested for possession of heroin, on his way out of the courtroom where he had just been fined for drunk driving.







pub closed.jpgMaybe Amy Winehouse has cleaned up her act after all The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) issued a report claiming that more than 50 pubs have gone out of business each week over the past 12 months, at a cost of 24,000 jobs. "Since the onset of the recession nearly 2500 pubs and bars in UK have disappeared and the situation could well continue for some time to come."


Cardiff.jpgMeanwhile, in other UK news Police in Cardiff have been given the power to confiscate alcohol from people consuming it in public...


drunk student uk.jpgThe Daily Mail bust a gasket over an intoxicated student pissing on a war memorial...


newcastle cleanup.jpgNewcastle police have started to force drunken young women to clean up the mess they make in the streets when they, uh, make a mess in the streets...


machine-gun-beer-glass.jpgJust serve the beer in condoms with a straw The traditional English pub pint glass is undergoing an official redesign. "The Design Council has been asked to create a new kind of glass by the Home Office in a bid to reduce the number of glass-related injuries from 87,000 a year. The appointed designers of the new glasses, Design Bridge, said the challenge was to reduce the 'opportunity for the vessel to be used as a weapon'".




Robert Parker is insane.jpgI wonder what the poor wine-writers are doing today In the face of a lot of mostly indifferent reviews of the vintage, Robert Parker gave the 2008 Bordeaux a glowing endorsement in The Wine Advocate, putting the vintage right up there with 2005 and 2000, and raising the price of Chateau Lefite 75% overnight. Later in 2009, Bordeaux really did have a spectacular harvest and vintage, leading to speculation that by mid-2010, Parker will have to either revise his 2008 numbers downwards, or spontaneously combust. In a related story, publications all across North America are cutting back by laying off their wine critics.


rose mix.jpgThe catch is that now they have to label rosé as "failed red wine" After months of near-violent protest by (especially) French rosé producers, the European Union has finally deep-sixed a plan that would have allowed European winemakers to label as rosé any product made by mixing red and white wines together. (Rosé is traditionally made by leaving the skins on red grapes for a short time during fermentation to give the resulting wine its pink-amber colour.) In a semi-related story, France has finally decided to allow alcohol advertising on the internet


klein.jpgMust have been because of a late-night phone call from Ralph Klein Alberta Premier Ed Stalmach announced that the Province was repealing a three month-old liquor tax-hike, which had been expected to add $180M to provincial coffers annually. "April's liquor tax hike, the first booze markup since 2002, had added $2.85 to the price of a 750-millilitre bottle of spirits, $1.30 to a 12-pack of beer, and up to 75 cents to a bottle of wine."


sinatra.jpgThe rejected names: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning; A Foggy Day; Accidents Will Happen; and Learnin' the Blues Sinatra Family Estates has just released its first, limited-edition wine, which they are calling Come Fly With Me. "The 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is named in honour of Ol' Blue Eyes' 1957 classic album, his first Billboard chart-topper, which was nominated for a Grammy 50 years ago. It sells at US$570 per six-bottle case, plus shipping and taxes, including a CD of the original 1957 recording of Come Fly With Me and a first-day US postal stamp and postcard signed by a Sinatra family member. "


kanye_west_hennessey.pngJust as long as he gets to throw up all over Rex Murphy on his Jan. 6 Toronto tour stop It is rumored (rumored, mind you) that Kayne West has a wee alcohol problem; and it is concurrently reported that he is planning to check himself into rehab at the conclusion of his "Fame Kills" tour in January. That makes two more weeks to keep watching the tabs for fresh outrages -- and renewed garment-rending from the cranks


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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Don Irvine published on December 29, 2009 9:05 PM.

Ten to Watch from John Barry was the previous entry in this blog.

The writing on the wall: the second bookend to Robert Parker's career as a wine-critic is the next entry in this blog.

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