Don't Look Ethel!
Disturbances in the comments section
And I hollered over t’ Ethel
I said, “Don’t look, Ethel!”
But it’s too late
She’d already been incensed
Ray Stevens, The Streak
When I was hired as The Globe and Mail’s wine and spirits columnist, I was warned against reading the comments on my articles. “Never” was the operative word.
After all, particularly engaged or incensed readers can email me directly. Over the years, I have received all sorts of correspondence, ranging from frequent requests to recommend wines for special occasions to the occasional strongly worded suggestion that I pursue another line of work.
I respond to messages out of respect for the time and effort that the senders have invested in The Globe. Even the most acerbic correspondents have sometimes engaged in thoughtful dialogue. I suppose I earned their reluctant respect by answering their fervent plea that I quit my job immediately.
When it comes to the online comments section, however, I cannot help but look. After all, the more you’re told not to do something, the more likely you are to do it.
If I recall correctly, based on the 52 per cent I received in Psych 101, it isn’t my fault. Yours neither. Blame it on our amygdalas: the almond-shaped structures somewhere in our temporal lobes that act as our emotional and threat-detection centres.
I also remember the corpus callosum, which connects the left and right hemispheres of the cerebrum and facilitates the sharing of sensory, motor and cognitive information. During a late night study session, I came up with an effective memory aid: ‘corpus callosum’ can easily be inserted into the Barry Manilow hit “Copacabana.” Sing it with me: “At the Corpus, Corpus CA-llo-SUM...”
In retrospect, that 52 per cent grade was probably luck.
All of this brings me back to online comments about my work. I can safely assume that a reader with the pseudonym, ethelmurtz4, will chime in like clockwork. She is a comments section Carrie Nation who rages against the evils of alcohol consumption. Most weeks she wonders why wine is worthy of coverage. Recently she wondered when the paper would employ columnists to sing the praises of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Do you, Ethel. As always, thanks for reading!
Saturday Sip
M de Minuty Rosé 2025
Côtes de Provence, France $28.95 (575316)
60 per cent grenache, 20 per cent syrah, 15 per cent cinsault, five per cent tibouren. In 2023, LVMH bought Minuty, which has 160ha of vineyards in the Saint-Tropez peninsula, the Côtes de Provence’s most expensive area
Rest assured that the distinctive “flûte à corset” bottle of M de Minuty Rosé pictured above is empty. Provençal rosé hasn’t taken another step towards becoming ultra-pale — at least not in this instance. This bottle was opened for a WSET Level 2 class at Brock University, and it did a tremendous job of introducing students to the pleasures of a well-made grenache-based rosé.
I know some readers won’t want to spent that much ($28.95) on a bottle of rosé. Pink wine should be cheap and cheerful as Bacchus intended! Minuty, along with an increasing number of other quality producers, shows that rosé can be delicious and offer compelling texture, persistence and purity. Rosés like this one deserve a place among the other fine wines at the adult table.
This empty bottle is a sign of a wine intended for sharing and savouring.
This has 12.6 per cent ABV and 2 g/litre r.s. Drink now. Available at the above price in Ontario and Quebec, various prices in Alberta. (92/100)
Recent Articles
Despite its popularity, rosé still struggles to be accepted as a fine wine style by consumers and members of the wine trade. As with bags of ice cubes, sales of pink wines in Canada often increase in warm weather. GIFT LINK
Acclaimed Montreal wine bar Mon Lapin continually ranks as one of Canada’s top restaurants, which its owners say motivates them to work with more focus and intention.
“I don’t know if it’s the chicken or the egg, but the recognition for Mon Lapin and our wine program has enabled us to build the best team of wine professionals we have ever had,” says co-owner Vanya Filipovic, who was named the winner of North America’s Best Sommelier Award by the 50 Best organization. GIFT LINK
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So when will the Globe hire a cocaine reviewer? I would love to read that column.
As for me, I try to adhere to that old Biblical passage: don’t get in fights with strangers on the internet.
Your title, Don’t Look Ethel caught my attention - yes, because of the song but also my grandmother’s name was Ethel. My “Ethel” was a loving, fun, dear person. I’m sorry your “Ethel” doesn’t sound quite so lovely. I guess she just can’t help herself. Sorry for the haters!