Make Sure You're Drinking With The Right Crowd

We all know that part of the pleasure of a great bottle of wine comes from the folks you share it with. Us wine drinkers tend to be magnanimous types, and happy to drink with anyone who appreciates wine like we do. However, there are dangers inherent in sharing wine that are easy to forget. For instance, you could accidentally decide to have a glass or two with someone who seems nice, like a regular wine loving sort, but who can also turn out to be a murderous psychopath. Wine generally brings out the best in people, but it can also bring out the worst.

What I can't figure out is exactly what a "cask" of wine actually means in Australian-speak. Maybe my Australian readers can help me out on this one, because the way I read it, this poor guy got killed, not over some expensive bottle, but over a box of wine, and that's just too pitiful to be believed. Read the full story.

Posted by: Alder on January 16, 2006 2:55 PM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News

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Comments (9)

enoch choi wrote:

01.16.06 at 3:09 PM

how aweful! sounds like neither of them should have been drinking more from that new cask... just shows how those who lack self-control spoil it for others...

sam wrote:

01.16.06 at 3:52 PM

i am not ozzie - so by all means my thoughts on the subject may well be upside down or back to front, but I though a cask had to be cylindrical which would rule out a box, surely?

Melissa wrote:

01.16.06 at 3:58 PM

I'm sorry, that is terrible, but I am just too distracted by the "crazy muderous" icon and am shamefully laughing.

Alder wrote:

01.16.06 at 5:02 PM

Yeah, Sam, you're probably right. Maybe they were even talking about a whole barrel of wine, which begs the question, how in the world were they going to drink it... ?

tduchesne wrote:

01.16.06 at 6:01 PM

Alder, I think you are right that they are talking about a box of wine. Box wine in Australia is now being called cask wine. Makes it sound better?
http://www.azcentral.com/home/wine/articles/0221boxwine21.html

Randy wrote:

01.17.06 at 6:25 AM

My Australian son confirms: "A cask is a "box" of wine containing an Aluminum bladder and a tap of
sorts. They are typically 2 -3 litres in a cask.There are some quite good NV type wines in casks... You can get a good Bantrock Station
Semillon for about $15 (the wine in the photo is Bantrock). Aussies always make jokes about "showing up with a cask of wine" and such...
it's considered a bit tacky in some circles.

sam wrote:

01.17.06 at 5:57 PM

well no wonder we keep them on the other side of the world, if they can turn circles into squares, then we need to keep em at arm's length, eh?

sam wrote:

01.18.06 at 2:27 PM

saw your mention in the Chron. (since you tipped me off to it)
have to admit - i would never dream of bringing my own wine to a restaurant, maybe its got something to do with being brought up in europe where it isn't the norm. I do have a good salt collection at home - do you think I should carry it with me from now on??

PS - of course i like it when i am dining with you and you bring some wine from home ;)

Alder wrote:

01.18.06 at 2:30 PM

Sometimes Ruth and I bring our own wasabi to sushi restaurants. Don't see why you couldn't bring your own salt. The tricky part is getting the kitchen to use it while they cook ;-)