If I want pseudo-expertise I'll do it myself.
First up from GeekWire (don't shoot the messenger), May 16:
Robo sommeliers: Seattle startup The Waves enters crowded wine subscription market
Key Takeaways
- The Waves, launched last year by an ex-Amazon tech leader and former GQ editor, is a monthly artisanal wine subscription service.
- The Seattle startup features small-batch winemaking through its network of more than 300 farmers.
- The wine subscription market is crowded, but the startup wants to differentiate with its product recommendation tool and extensive menu of small-batch wines. It also plans to generate buzz via editorial content.
Visiting small-batch winemakers on their farms, Andy Comer and Gaurav Tiwari sensed skepticism.
“We come from Seattle,” said Tiwari, a former Amazon tech leader. “So they’re like, ‘oh, tech bros.'”....
....MUCH MORE
Your Salt Sommelier Will Be With You Shortly
And from The Telegraph (they get shot at every day: something about Torygraph?) via Firefox's Pocket, March 30, 2022:
When did we all become salt snobs? A lavish cookbook called Sea Salt was published in 2022—a celebration of what is, after all, a simple chemical compound, NaCl, with a sodium atom for each one of chlorine. Superficially, there’s no room for variation. When I was growing up, salt was salt, a commodity that came in a plastic bag from the supermarket or (in my smarter friends’ houses) in a yellow and red Saxa tub.
Then, in the 1990s, it all changed. Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, in the tome that epitomised ’90s cool, The River Cafe Cookbook, declared, ‘You must use Maldon salt.’ The flaky crystals, made by a family company in Essex, became the ultimate culinary accessory, found sparkling atop Nigel Slater’s hummus and nestled in Nigella’s handbag.
Other salts found fame in the wake of Maldon. The Telegraph’s Mark Hix favours Cornish sea salt. Northern Ireland-based butcher Peter Hannan made Himalayan salt the sine qua non of aged steak. Welsh company Halen Môn gained the only British ‘Protected Designation of Origin’ status for salt, guaranteeing that the sole ingredient is Anglesey seawater, with no additional brines from other waters. The family behind it, the Lea-Wilsons, are the ones who have written the cookbook, telling the story of their prized product and how to use it. Rarer still, new kid on the block Sark sea salt is made purely by solar evaporation in the Channel Islands.
These salts are unarguably beautiful, from the flattened glassy pyramids of Maldon to the fat crumbly crystals of Sark. As a crunchy topping to focaccia, say, or as points of saltiness through a chocolate mousse, they are exquisite too. But while the textures vary, do they really taste different? Perhaps, mixed into purified water, you might taste a hint of citrus in one, or a softer flavour in another, which is down to the traces of other minerals they contain. Dissolved in a dish, the variations are all but indiscernible.
So when a recipe for a brine, say, requiring handfuls of salt, calls for expensive sea-salt flakes, you can safely ignore it. Choose rock salt or easy-to-dissolve fine sea salt instead, but avoid any salt that contains anti-caking agents, which can add a bitter note.....
....MUCH MORE
January 2010#6. Stock Market Experts#4. Art Critics#5. Wine Tasters
Hmmm...
"The World’s First Milk Sommelier"
Madame, Monsieur, may I be so bold as to recommend the Château Moo? Truly one of the great whites....
...Previously on "God is saying you have too much money":
I'm in the Wrong Business Part 625: "$20 for a bottle of water? Your water sommelier will bring the menu right away"
Talking to New York’s First, and Only, Mustard Sommelier
Climateer Line of the Day: H2Oh Give Me a Break Edition
"Iskilde from Denmark is a great water for a vegetarian mushroom dish because it has earthy taste notes. Beverly Hills 90H20 is the perfect pairing for a seasonal salad because it will cut through the acidity of a vinaigrette dressing and help balance out the flavors."
Yes, ma'am, the Satan's Saliva small barrel Special Reserve sauce is made from Scotch Bonnet peppers grown exclusively on a tiny island off the coast of Antigua, a larger island.
The peppers are picked at the peak of their short lives to ensure the characteristic citrus and battery acid top notes contrast with the charred peat and road tar bottom to create a complex tease, flamboyant enough to be called the scamp of thevineyardpepper pot but finishing as cigar box and C4.
In case of overdose the usual cold milk treatment is insufficient and one should go deeper into the butterfat realm, whipping cream at minimum, preferably a hunk of cream cheese to gnaw on as you search for the nearest burn unit.
Perfect when paired with artisanal small batch lard or any of the kicky tallows now making the scene....
