Wine reviews can make or break a winery, with many a winemaker struggling between a dislike for the power of the writer/reviewer and the undeniable impact a good review or recommendation may have on the bottom line.
Sometimes, from the most unexpected source, comes a positive wine recommendation, but from a car guy? In a recent newspaper column, Tom & Ray Magliozzi, the hilarious brothers who write the entertaining ‘Click and Clack Talk Cars’, were setting a quarreling couple straight about the use of cruise control on a car when Tom revealed a love for a liquid that is not based on petroleum.
A woman named Christine writes that she and her ‘gentleman friend’ have a steak dinner riding on the answer Tom & Ray give about the use of cruise control. Christine maintains that cruise control saves gas when switched on and the car is driven at a steady speed. Her ‘gentleman friend’ says that cruise control uses more gas and further that the car uses gas to run the cruise control.
In their unique and humorous style, Tom & Ray set the record straight about the use of cruise control, assuring Christine that she is correct and that her ‘gentleman friend’ doesn’t know a thing about cars. After a brief explanation about physics, wind resistance and other things that most car drivers rarely think about, Tom gets to the real meat of the disagreement:
‘To address your friend’s other point Christine, the cruise-control system is run off the engine vacuum and electricity. There’s no cruise control system that runs off gasoline. So have him buy you a bottle of Ravenswood Sonoma County Old Vine Zinfandel to go with your filet mignon for that boneheaded suggestion.’
Now there’s a wine recommendation you can take to the bank, or the garage.
6