NYTimes: Not so many years ago, back when Americans sought out compact cars and calculated their gas mileage, most California wines clocked in at an economical 12 to 13 percent alcohol. It was perhaps a shade higher than what their European colleagues achieved, but California was blessed with generous sunshine that made ripening grapes an easier proposition than in the cooler climates of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Twenty-five years later, the 12 percent California wine seems as quaint as the gas-saving hatchback. Today, it's the rare bottle from California, red or white, that doesn't reach 14 percent alcohol. Many now hit 15, even 16 percent, a difference that may seem insignificant until you realize that a 15 percent bottle contains 25 percent more alcohol than one labeled 12 percent. Casual consumers seem to pay little attention to the small print on the label that indicates the approximate alcohol content. And while these extreme wines do not hide their alcohol levels, few winemakers trumpet them, either.
And also from the NYTimes: The Democrats who grilled John R. Bolton on Monday about his qualifications to be ambassador to the United Nations were at times irate, at times acerbic, at times combative. But Mr. Bolton's future may lie in his answers to the gentle questions from a soft-spoken Republican, Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. Mr. Chafee is the lone Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to reserve judgment on Mr. Bolton; without his vote the nomination may not make it out of committee. He has said he is inclined to support Mr. Bolton - a statement he reiterated Monday, adding that Democratic critics had not "made as strong a case as I might have expected." But he also said he was "still listening" and waiting for Tuesday's testimony before making up his mind. Until then the senator from Rhode Island is the man in the middle.
I am all for higher proof wine and I am also for Rhode Islanders being in the middle. Since I am a Rhode Islander yet rarely in the middle ;)
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