Tuesday tidbits 43

? Top selling restaurant wines: Restaurant News has released its 2007 list of the best-selling wines in U.S. restaurants, and there aren ?t a lot of surprises. The top five are Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay, Beringer Vineyards White Zinfandel, Cavit Pinot Grigio, Sutter Home White Zinfandel, and Inglenook Chablis. I ?m going to write more about this, but what ?s worth noting now is that there are only two red wines in the top 20: Yellow Tail shiraz at No. 9 and Blackstone merlot at 20.

? Australians take their wine seriously: An Aussie grape grower plotted to blow up a rival winery when they reduced their payments to grape growers. The grower, Steven Bergamin, hired a private nvestigator and an undercover policeman to do the job, using a remote-controlled device so he could watch from a distance. He was given a suspended sentence.

? Wine Curmudgeon at GrapeFest: Those of you in the Dallas area can see me at 11:15 a.m. on Friday, when I talk about how to taste wine. It ?s titled ?Wine tasting 101: Or "How to Spit and Swish Without Making a Mess." GrapeFest, of course, is one of the largest regional wine events in the country, and its People ?s Choice tasting is unique ? wine drinkers are allowed to make up their own minds, without any help from people like me.