Wine Rack Store Blog

Banrock Station cares about our planet. A visit to their website shows a variety of efforts and endeavors designed to reduce the company’s environmental impact. Built from sustained Australian forests, designed with multiple energy saving aspects, powered by solar panels, and lit by natural daylight, the tasting room and restaurant welcome guests to experience Australian wetland preservation first hand. Visitors don’t need to travel all the way to Australia (but who wouldn’t WANT to), because Banrock Station’s website allows anyone to enjoy the wetlands through the web cam, and encourages conservation with a handy water calculator. Banrock Station’s website is approved by OffsetCarbonFootprint.org.

I have to put in a word of disclaimer here: Banrock Station’s wine label uses to “red flag” tactics which I have previously warned against in choosing wine. The origin of the wine is a vague “south eastern Australia”, and the bottle is stuck with a “Wine Enthusiast 10 Best Buys since 2005” gold sticker. I did find some mention of the 2005 Merlot in an article in an online magazine, Wine Enthusiast, “84 Banrock Station 2005 Merlot (South Eastern Australia); $5. Just the thing you need if there are dozens of people on your deck, and burgers are on the grill. Cherry and red plum flavors have earthy, oaky accents. It’s medium-bodied and easy to drink. Best Buy.
—Daryna Tobey”.

Jenn’s Tasting notes:

This wine smells of tart berry and earthy stuff. The merlot’s color is a pretty red, although perhaps a bit thin. It’s also rather thin in the mouth feel, but ironically pack’s a punch in flavor. The taste mirrors the berry flavors, and the earthiness comes across as sharp leather and tobacco. Banrock Station 2007 Merlot is not a velvety smooth wine, like many merlots aim to be, but the earth friendly attitude and recession friendly price make it worth a place in your wine rack. Cheers!

Labels: banrock station, merlot, OffsetCarbonFootprint.Org

I am prone to emotional decisions; it's often how I choose wine for my wine rack. I'm also a sucker for a baby-in-need. So when someone dropped off a box of kittens at my neighborhood watering hole, what was I to do! These blue-eyed babies probably shouldn't have been taken from their mother yet, but what was done was done. Another family member was the last thing I needed to add to my household: Litter boxes, YECK! Vet bills, UGH! And who knows what diseases and parasites the little mitten (that's "mutt kitten") could be carrying home with it, EWWWW! Yet, I couldn't bear the thought of the last, unclaimed kitten being hauled off to the pound, nor could I stomach the idea of someone being careless and/or negligent with it. So I did what, in my mind, was a step towards saving the world..OK, maybe it was just saving a cat, but it was an act of selflessness, nonetheless.

Now the kitten (maybe we call it Frankie, after Old Blue Eyes, whatdya think?) is yowling away through the night, and I am obsessing over whether or not it's eating and pooping, and whether or not everyone is washing their hands thoroughly after playing with it, and whether or not it's a boy or a girl (the opinion changes regularly)! It also made me think about what it feels like to adopt: whether it's a human, a cat, a dog, a tree, or even a road. Adoption is an act of caring for something that you did not create. It's taking responsibility for life outside of your own. But adoption doesn't have to be difficult, nor does it have to be time consuming or expensive! Our friends at OffsetCarbonFootprint.org make adoption easy. At OffsetCarbonFootprint.org, you can purchase carbon credits, that in affect are like adopting a part of the earth. It shows that you take responsibility for your own carbon footprint, and perhaps even for someone, or something, else's footprint! So, even if you don't want an addition to your family, please remember that just $25 can save the earth!

Now, if someone will please tell me how to train the mitten NOT to use my premium wine rack as a scratching post....

Labels: 444 premium wine rack with display, adoption, carbon credits, carbon footprint, kitten, OffsetCarbonFootprint.Org

They say the early bird gets the worm. I’m considering this age-old saying as I watch birds hopping around my yard at 11am. It’s not so early, really, but they are still finding worms. It seems that all birds have a chance at finding a worm, whether they rise early, or sleep in a bit. I’m also thinking that perhaps I don’t want a worm after all, so what does it matter if I’m early or late? Then I realize that if said bird is willing to eat dinner at 4pm, the early bird also gets a great value at many diners and restaurants (yes, they ARE different). With these thoughts bouncing around in my somewhat attention deficit disordered brain, I wonder what else an early bird can get that perhaps others cannot. Here is a small list of worms waiting for an early bird (in no particular order):

*get trampled on Black Friday
*if trampling is survived, get great deal on new slippers
*time to contemplate one’s carbon footprint before actually making it
*wave of pre-existing conditions (I’m ADD, got sidetracked researching insurance, sorry)
*front row tickets at the Jonas Brothers concert
*broader choices of classes at the local community college
*the first cup of coffee
*freshly prepared buffet food (as opposed to the “spent three hours under the heat lamp” buffet food)
*covered seats at the high school football stadium
*time to visit OffsetCarbonFootprint.org and read fabulously informative and entertaining blogs


Of course, this list is just a small segment of the worms that are actually out there for early birds. I encourage you to get out there early, and find some of your own worms. But if you are like me, and prefer to hit the proverbial worm bins after the crowd has dissipated, rest assured that you will be welcome to every benefit at both Wine Rack Store and OffsetCarbonFootprint.org, no matter what time you decide to fly in.

Labels: carbon footprint, carbon neutral, diners, early bird, OffsetCarbonFootprint.Org, restaurant, wine rack store

I’m a big fan of the local casinos. People watching fascinates me. I am mesmerized by the sights, sounds and smells, and of course the chance at winning it big always lures me right in! All around me are dreamers: people just waiting to hit the jackpot. If only I had a big bottle of wine for every dreamer I saw this week at the Tulalip Casino and Resort in Marysville, Washington. My 126 Big Bottle Wine Rack would be stocked clear full!

My favorite game is Blackjack. I tend to think I’m pretty good at the game, and sometimes I even win. I have never been yelled at by a fellow player, so I must be doing a few things right. I start with a mere $5, but every time I win, I let it ride. Ride, baby, ride! One of this days it’s going to pay off big time, well, at least it would if I didn’t chicken out and run every time I get up to $20. Once I’m ahead of the game, I gather my winnings and head to OffsetCarbonFootprint.org to save the planet!

I enjoy gambling when I have nothing to lose, but when it comes to storing wine, I believe in a sure bet. That’s why all my wine is stored in my premium Big Bottle Wine Racks!

Labels: big bottle wine racks, bonFootprint.Org, carbon credits, gambling, OffsetCarbonFootprint.Org, tulalip casino

In our ongoing efforts to make the world a happier, healthier place to live, owner Mike Kitson has founded another organization that will help to reduce carbon secretions made by every day activities. OffsetCarbonFootprint.Org will not only appeal to the big fish such as companies and corporations, it will also be geared towards all of us smaller fish. Families and corporations alike will be able to purchase carbon credits to offset their carbon footprint left on the Earth's atmosphere.

Carbon is produced in almost every activity that you do daily. From driving your car to work to heating or cooling your home, carbon rears its ugly little head every where. The OCF website even has a handy EPA Standard Carbon Emissions calculator so that you can program in your exact carbon output. After completing the calculator, the OCF website automatically converts your carbon into tonnes and suggests the exact amounts of carbon credit that you would have to purchase in order to offset the carbon you produce! Carbon credits start as little as $0.98! The OCF slogan '$25.00 Can Save the World!' really makes sense! Since offsetting your carbon is so inexpensive you can spend all those extra dollars on re-furbishing your wine cellar!

Labels: carbon credits, carbon footprint, EPA Standard Emissions Calculator, OffsetCarbonFootprint.Org, wine cellar