The creator of one of the world's most famous guns, the AK-47 assault rifle, has launched another weapon, Kalashnikov vodka. Gen. Mikhail Kalashnikov unveiled the vodka that bears his name in London, saying that he wanted to continue his good name. The 82-proof vodka is made from grain harvested in Russia and water drawn from Lake Ladoga, north of St. Petersburg, Russia. No word on when it might arrive in the United States.
FIGHT CORK WITH, UM, CORK
To stifle complaints of "Where's my cork?" when R.H. Phillips switched to a screw cap, the California winery attached one of natural cork to each screw-top bottle in the first 60,000 cases.
The ploy is laughingly tagged "cork amnesty," and R.H. Phillips joins a growing list of wineries abandoning cork and having fun at the same time. The winery says the difference in cost is only 1 cent and that the screw closure offers better protection for wine and is easier for the consumer. Leftovers are fridge-safe.
R.H. Phillips will grant amnesty to many more corks as the switch goes through all its products - EXP, Toasted Head and Kempton Clark, as well as Hogue - in upcoming vintages, as bottles and packing lines adapt. Eventually that will put a million cases a year under the screw.
SPARKLING SHIRAZ?
Yes, bubbles will put new shazam into America's favorite Australian red. Lorikeet, a Canandaigua line of $10 sparklers from Oz, will include a brut, an extra dry and a full-blooded shiraz. Hardy's winemaker Ed Carr says this shiraz is just for U.S. palates, but Aussies make and drink strong, sweet bubbly shiraz at home too - and pay dearly for the best of them. (A lorikeet is a boldly colored Australian parrot, the latest living creature to become a wine brand. Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa has a flock of them you can feed.)
FIRST FAMILIES ADOPT
Primum Familiae Vini, the alliance of famous wine families, from Antinori and Hugel to Mondavi, has admitted a 12th member: the producers of super-Tuscan Sassicaia. The group, which visited Sarasota this winter, tapped Nicolo Incisa della Rocchetta, a cousin of the Antinori family. The spot has been vacant since 1998, when Cos d'Estournel was sold from family ownership.
