SAQ lost its shirt in failed PR coup The SAQ expected gratitude from its best customers for cut-rate 1995 Bordeaux vintages. On top of losing millions, it has alienated many people it passed over. by EMANUEL lOWI A select group of Quebec wine-lovers were handed a windfall last month when the Societe des Alcools du Quebec delivered on a 2-year-old promise to sell them some of the best wines in the world at sensationally low prices. But today the hoped-for public-relations coup has backfired, as the SAQ faces irate customers who were shut out of the bonanza. (saved)

The world of wine online

by Michael Lonsford, Houston Chronicle

If you think I'm joking when I say my motto is "Bring back the quill pen," think again.

That doesn't mean I'm not cognizant of progress; I just don't like a lot of it. But like it or not, this is the electronic age, and it's almost impossible to get along without some kind of computer adroitness.

Fact is, like just about everyone else, I use the Internet as a research tool. Just doing a word search for obscure wines or grape varieties can yield a bonanza of information.

Now, from a group called the Wine Market Council, here's a list of what they call the Top 10 Web sites for learning about wine.

1. www.winespectator.com
This is, of course, the Web site for the popular Wine Spectator magazine.

You don't have to subscribe to the magazine to access certain items and columns.

There's a new column called "Unfiltered, Unfined." There's also News of the Day, updated regularly. And there are reviews of literally thousands of wines.

2.

www.smartwine.com

There's also a bunch of wine "gossip" and information by someone with the pen name of "Sergio."

3. www.wine.brats.org This site is aimed specifically at the younger crowd say 21 to 35.

This site looks at wine in a less serious way than many other venues. For example, there's "Your Mama's Guide to Grape Juice," which is a primer on deciphering labels, what varietals are what, etc.

There's also a handy "How to host an event," with guidelines for what kinds of foods to serve and what kind of glassware to use. And one of the things to consider when you host a wine-tasting party: If you charge for attendance, are you breaking alcoholic beverage laws?

If you want to learn how to store wine, that's here, too.

4. www.winecountry.com This breaks down California into winery regions as well as individual winery sites.

I did a check on "Sonoma County" and found under "Bodega Bay Restaurants" one of my favourite places, Lucas Wharf. Under "Healdsburg Restaurants," another favourite: El Farolito, the best Mexican restaurant I've ever found outside Texas.

However: are these listings a form of advertisement? I don't know. Under "Lodging," there was, of course, the Sonoma Mission Inn (great place); however, the Best Western in Healdsburg wasn't listed (one of the best values in Sonoma County).

5.

www.wines.com

Wine competition results are available, and there's also Millie Howie's column from Sonoma County. Howie, a veteran journalist, writes about "A Day With Viognier Fans" and "Right Vines, Right Place." And there are other features, such as "How Fine Wines Are Appraised by Christie's."

6. http://mind.net/wine Here's a site for bored eyes. Tired of reading about California and French wines? Plug into this and find out about Oregon wines, the wineries, the microclimates, and so on.

This is pretty generalized information, but it points you to details from the wineries themselves.

7. www.nywine.com This is the New York State Wine & Grape Foundation Web site, but apparently it's being reworked right now.

8. www.frenchwinesfood.com This is from the efficient folks at Food and Wines From France.

Under "New News," you'll read about Chicagoan Joseph Spellman, master sommelier, winning the "Best Sommelier of French Wines" award. There is also a two-minute tour de France, as well as tidbits of info in "Archive" about both food and wines.

9.

www.bordeaux.com

10.

Want to know how wine is made? It's here.

Want to learn about "terroir"? Look no further.

Interested in the history of wine? It's all here, from the dawn of man to the present day.

11.

How the Sweet Wines Rate

 Here are impressions of BUSINESS WEEK
 tasters who recently sampled dessert
  wines:

   CHATEAU SUDUIRAUT          This smoky Sauternes has
   1990 $60*, France          a complicated taste that
                                     stays with you

   INNISKILLIN VIDAL          Pleasantly thick, with
    ICEWINE 1995               a clean, sweet scent and a
    $45 (375 ml), Canada       hintofcitrus and hazelnut

    SETUBAL SUPERIOR           Very sweet, thick, woody,
    1965 Jose Maria da         and pungent--with a
     Fonseca $50, Portugal      strong aftertaste

   SICHEL TROCKENBEEREN-      Apple-cidery sweet,
   AUSLESE Kirchheimer        smooth, and rich;
   Kreux 1990 $33, Germany    lingers on the tongue

    *PRICES ARE FROM MORRELL & CO. IN NEW YORK