What's that, you wonder. Sit down and pour yourself a glass of wine and I'll explain. Logophile Oenology is my new method (and self-created catch phrase) for selecting wines: strictly translated, it should mean a word lover's study of wine; in practice, it means that I now buy wine by the name.
For last week's book club meeting to discuss Jonathan Franzen's latest tome entitled Freedom, I searched high and low for wines by Mad Housewife Cellars. If you've read the book, it's apropos. Unfortunately, Mad Housewife is a west coast supermarket label, virtually impossible to find here. So I settled on Menage à Trois, arguably fitting as well. Our book critics gave the wine a thumbs up.
My first introduction to cool-named wines began a year ago in Chicago visiting friends who introduced me to a wonderful wine with the appellation "Prisoner". I thought that was cool and distinctive and a darn good (pricey) wine as well.
And then I found "Bitch". The perfect beverage for gifting - an easily affordable tasty conversation piece with sufficient alcohol content to take the edge off any bitch. Friends and family were amused, even when sober.
My search for Mad Housewife, however, schooled me in a whole case of cutely named wines, just waiting to be uncorked: Fat Bastard, The Italian Job, Ass Kisser, just to name a few. Australia and New Zealand are the source of many a funny title.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, although a rosé by any name would taste as sweet, it's just not as amusing.
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