More on low-carb wines. I had a few other thoughts...
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 9:08 AM
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RSS feed. A few months back one reader asked about an RSS feed for this site. It turns out that XML support is one key feature of the new Blogger. One of these days I'll add a link on the gray navigation bar to the left. But if you're using the beta-version RSS feature on My Yahoo or some other reader, the relevant address for this site is

http://www.purplesunshine.com/atom.xml

And if no part of this post makes any sense to you, check here or here for some helpful information.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 12:22 AM
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More BYO in Mid-City. One of these days, I'll get around to updating the back pages of this Web site.
     In the meantime, I'll mention a new BYO place in my 'hood: Gigi's Asian Bistro, which (I think) is located in a decidedly unfabulous space on Banks Street between S. Murat and S. Alexander. Gary and I went there tonight with the neighbors. The name of the restaurant is hard to explain -- there is no Gigi -- but the Thai and Thai-ish food is good and cheap. I can't vouch for what everyone else had, but my pork satay and beef salad were very tasty.
     I've rhapsodized before on the alchemy between Thai spices and certain white wines. And the 2002 Jewel Viognier certainly made a respectable showing. But the star of the meal was the impressive 2002 Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel, which stood up to the spices and citrus flavors in the beef salad (and to a spicy shrimp dish as well, G. reports).
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 11:55 PM
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Low-carb overkill. Inevitably, plans are afoot for low-carb wines. Now that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is letting beer and wine manufacturers put certain nutritional information on labels, it was only a matter of time before some companies started touting low carb counts.
     Once you get into the story, though, it's not quite as alarming as it originally seems:

According to the [Tax and Trade Bureau's] ruling, the phrase "low carbohydrate" can appear on any wine that contains no more than 7 grams of carbohydrates per 5-ounce serving. Most dry wines fall well below this radar; the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutritional guidelines report that the average serving of wine contains about 0.8 to 1.8 grams of carbohydrates.

Still, it's an absurd trend. Thanks to Jon for pointing this article out.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 7:56 PM
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