Winebits 402: Bogle, Ben Kingsley, marijuana

? The best get bigger: Bogle’s $10 wines have been in the Hall of Fame since I started doing it, and it’s a pleasure to see that the Wine Curmudgeon isn’t the only one who appreciates the brand’s efforts to maintain quality and value. Bogle expects to sell some 2.5 million cases of wine this year, which could push it into ranks of the 10 biggest U.S. producers. The best news about all this? “Regardless of what ?s going on with the economy, people are always looking for strong value, and that ?s at the core of what we ?ve done, ? says the company’s national sales manager, Sam Bon. ?For the price category below us, things are difficult, and for the price point just above us, things are going very well. We plan to maintain our price points.” Take that, premiumization.

? Money doesn’t help: Wine-Searcher.com interviewed Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi”), who can afford to drink wine that that rest of us can only dream about. So what did he tell the interviewer? “The first thing your readers must understand is that I’m not a wine expert. I’m fascinated by wine but it always struck me as a very complex subject. Any tips you can share would be gratefully received.” Congratulations, wine business. You not only confuse those of us who spend $10 a bottle, but those who drop thousands on a bottle, like Kingsley. I wonder: Should I send him a copy of the cheap wine book?.

? Weed with that wine? What happens when you add marijuana to wine, infusing the latter with the former? That’s the question Vinepair attempts to answer, and if you don’t mind more than a few Cheech and Chong jokes, it’s a reasonably interesting piece. We learn, for example, that grass probably isn’t the worst additive for wine, though there isn’t a comparison made with polyvinyl-polypyrrolidone, which is currently legal to add and has something to do with adhesives.