Wine or Beer?

Joe Plonk has been traveling and working, with little time for blogging unfortunately. In my travels, I’ve noticed that you can tell whether an establishment promotes wine or beer by how they feature those beverages in their restaurant. When traveling outside of California and major metropolitan areas, I’m often amazed at how you have to look long and hard to find the selection of wines. Whether this has to do with the increased costs of wine due to shipping and taxes, and the strange licensed-reseller networks in many states that does little more than increase costs to consumers, or just simply because the citizens of Texas prefer Bud, isn’t always clear. However, one recent mid-western stop at a TGI Fridays restaurant revealed the preference in an unusual way. The advertising placard on the table announced that “People were liming up!” for Corona and Corona light. But, upon closer inspection, peaking out from below was a second larger placard that said “Featured Wine”…

What could this mystery “Featured Wine” be? Did TGI Fridays think that Corona was actually a white wine? The waitress eyed me as I pulled open the advertisement stand (her look said “must be one of them Californians, what with them unstained trousers and recently brushed teeth”). Under the Corona advertisement appeared…

2006 La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay! A good value at $18, having scored 90 points by Robert Parker. Why the Featured Wine was covered by a Beer advertisement is anyone’s guess, and probably speaks volumes to why I rarely eat at TGI Fridays (37 piecess of flair or not).

Best, Joe Plonk

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