• What's in a name? This week marks the start of baseball season, and what better way to note it than with this incredibly clever post from the U.S.S. Mariner baseball blog, which ranks baseball players who have the same last name as wine grapes. The Wine Curmudgeon had noticed that an Oakland pitcher, Andrew Carignan, had the same name as the Rhone grape. While I was trying to figure out a way to be funny about this, Marc W did so with his post. His only flaw? He limited his search to vinifera, the European wine grape, and didn't include hybrids or native grapes. That meant he missed five players named Norton and an outfielder named Jose Vidal. What strikes me, after spending way too much time on this, is that there aren't a lot of baseball players with the same names as wine grapes. Which seems odd.
• Sip and spit: The Illinois legislature is apparently going to do the right thing and let underage cooking students taste wine. A state Senate committee approved the bill by a 12-1 margin, reports the Chicago Sun-Times, and it now moves to the full Senate. The bill's sponsor said it would help students under 21 learn how to cook with wine and spirits, as well as helping them with wine and food pairings. The Wine Curmudgeon, who once taught culinary students just this subject, applauds the Illinois senate for its progressive stand. It's a whole lot better than what so many of its members usually do, which is to get indicted. (One learns a lot about politics by growing up in Chicago.)
• What makes expensive wine so expensive? Victoria Moore, who writes for The Telegraph in London, tackles this question from a reader, and makes some good points. The biggest difference, she writes, is grape quality. It's "a limiting factor when it comes to the quality of the wine, and you immediately stumble into 1,000 decisions, all of which cost money." I don't think she spends enough time discussing the cost of land, which is a huge factor in California, but otherwise it's a fine primer on the subject.
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