• One more time: Pennsylvania’s governor will propose legislation to privatize the state’s government-owned liquor business, the second time since 2011 it will have been tried. Pennsylvania, said Gov. Tom Corbett, could raise as much as $1 billion by privatizing the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. He said that Pennsylvania and Utah are the only two states in the U.S. to have “fully state-controlled liquor systems.” Chances for success? Probably not much better than the attempt two years ago.
• Consumers trade down: The restaurant business, which has always taken wine drinkers for granted, is finally facing the revolt many of us have been hoping for. The recession hurt restaurant wine badly, and the recovery hasn’t been much better, says a recent report. Diners ordered 13 percent fewer bottles in 2012, and bottle sales accounted for just one-eighth of wine orders and only 41 percent of wine revenue. In other words, consumers, tired of overpaying for crappy wine that is often oxidized or spoiled, stopped paying for it.
• Avoiding the morning after: There’s nothing in this post that’s especially new, but it’s good to have it all in one place: You can minimize a hangover by drinking water while you booze and by drinking less alcoholic wines. It also argues that high tannic red wines help keep hangovers at bay, since they make us drink more water. Though I have to admit it’s difficult to follow the main piece of advice: “With every glass of wine, drink a glass of water.“
Comments