Okay, that’s a bit of hyperbole, but this little Add-On for MS Excel has made my job a lot easier lately.
It never made sense to me that Microsoft made it such a pain to create distribution lists for Outlook. Merging email addresses, or any other data, into an Outlook email seemed impossible. (Although I still have my suspicions that such a capability must exist hidden somewhere in that mysterious Outlook Form Creation ability.) I was always stumped on what to do with a list of emails stored in Excel and the desire to send the complete list an email. Being able to merge other fields would be an even greater boon! Enter XL Email Manager from Big Red Consulting. Once installed, it’s very easy to create a text and/or html email from Excel data and send it out via your mail server or own copy of Outlook, merging any fields from that Excel spreadsheet into your message. A single user license costs $69 — well worth it in my book — but a completely unencumbered trial version is good for the first 30 days.
There are online services like Vertical Response and Constant Contact that you can use to conduct more powerful email marketing campaigns, but for quickly sending a personalized email to a list of clients, this nifty software has got it going on.
Big Red Consulting offers other tools useful to Quicken and Quickbooks users as well.

2003 Robert Foley Claret – USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District (3/12/2010)
There’s quite a bit good and a little bit bad going on in this wine. It shows big, juicy raspberry jam, Christmas baking, chocolate chip cookies, cherry flavored candles, and pine flavors which form a rich, lush package. However, the alcohol really stands out throwing off the balance and I would expect the wine to be less primary in its 10th year. Still, it’s a good example of the Foley style and amazing to have been produced in the 2003 vintage. Few achieved this level of ripeness without wrecking it. Sloan Estate, for example, totally blew it that vintage while basically aiming for the same target. Opened and let stand for ~ 5 hours. I’m surprised by the Cellartracker average rating of 94.5 but it certainly is a strong 90 in a very specific style. (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker on GrapeStories.com

Thanks for all the folks who responded to my request for recommendations on web, email, and shopping cart hosts. I checked out all of your recommendations. I was looking for something flexible, but easy. Powerful, but affordable. Yes, I wanted it ALL! I finally found what I think will fit the bill and development is underway. When done, it should be far greater than our previous site, easier to maintain, and offer online ordering. I don’t anticipate a big change in appearance.
It’s hard to believe I used to do this for a living. The last site I designed was our site in 2005. And in 1998, HTML was my life. Times have changed. The skills are rusty, the technology has passed me by, but I’m having fun.

Inn Kensington (Kensington, CA) serves breakfast right — not fancy, just creative variations on the standards from American and Southwestern cuisine. And, if you just want bacon, eggs, and toast, they’re wonderful too… especially the whole wheat toast. Where do they get that bread? The food comes fast and your coffee cup stays full. My son loved his seafood omelet and my green chile omelet made me dream of home in New Mexico. Final damages to stuff a party of four — $51. Definitely worth the schlep up into the hills of the East Bay.
They don’t take reservations per se, but if you call ahead, they’ll add you to their table wait list.
Inn Kensington
293 Arlington Ave
Kensington, CA 94707
(510) 527-5919

What happens when two tennis legends get on the court with two current superstars? The old guys behave badly. Watch the video.

Please don’t sign. The California Secretary of State has cleared for circulation a proposal by Josephine and Kent Whitney to collect signatures to include a Measure on California’s November ballot which raises the excise tax on alcohol . If the Whitneys are able to collect 433,971 signatures, our often misinformed electorate will vote whether or not to impose “an additional excise tax on alcoholic beverages, increasing the excise tax on each six-pack of beer from 11¢ to $6.08, on each 750 ml bottle of wine from 4¢ to $5.11, and on each 750 ml bottle of distilled spirits from 65¢ to $17.57.” Hey, I know the state needs money, but this proposal seems nuts.

2007 La Sirena Moscato Azul – USA, California, Napa Valley (3/16/2010)
So the other day I get a phone call from Heidi Barrett. Yes, that Heidi Barrett. Isn’t the superstar winemaker life glamorous? They get to call absent-minded customers. She was calling me because there was a case of wine that I had bought at a tasting in June 2008 that I never picked up. Heidi was especially concerned because in this case were several bottles of her 2007 La Sirena Moscato Azul… a wonderful wine but crafted to be enjoyed in its first year or two. I swung by Revana (where she also makes the wine) and picked it up yesterday. This was the first bottle from that batch. Aromas of peach jump from the glass but the flavors have faded to more of a lychee and lemon juice. It’s not bad, but could have been so much better. Drink them “yesterday.” Not rated because I was a doofus and forgot that I had wine to pick up from La Sirena.

Posted from CellarTracker on GrapeStories.com

Yesterday, I ran a special promotion that started on Facebook and spread around the interwebs. Today, I’ve got a big pile of wine orders on my desk. THANK YOU! So, for your viewing pleasure while waiting for a receipt for your order, I give you an example of what some people will do for fine cheese.
Headline: Gloucestershire has cancelled their annual Cheese Rolling this year due to safety concerns. Check out the video from last year to see why.

Oh Solano mio… just a few miles away, but the I580/80 curve and traffic through Berkeley can make you seem so far. However, just for sheer number and variety of great (and really good) restaurants, Solano Avenue, stretching across North Berkeley and Albany, is one of the best dining destinations in the East Bay. There are many places that are worth the trip.
Rivoli Restaurant is one of Solano’s shining stars. Three of us had never tried Rivoli and it had been years since the fourth had been there but excellent fare is the norm. Rivoli has been in The Chron’s Top 100 Restaurants of the Bay Area since 1996. Chef Wendy Brucker’s menu changes every few weeks and it just switched over. Wouldn’t you know it, right before I could refer to the online menu to write this post? But trust me, the girls said the vegetarian entree they ordered was delicious, calling it “the best vegetarian entree that they ever had.” We boys, stereotypically ordered steak, flank steak that is, and it was excellent as well. My goat cheese souffle with truffle oil appetizer was like music in the mouth. Service was attentive and professional. The very small dining room looks out over a cute “secret” garden and despite the room’s size, you can still hear your conversation partner without them having to yell.
Corkage at Rivoli is $20 per bottle. We brought:
2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Amber Ridge Vineyard – USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (3/19/2010)
Excellent rich, mouthfilling cherry, vanilla cream, and brown sugar flavors. Primary, but tasty, with everything in wonderful balance during a relatively short window. (89 pts.)
2004 Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Pinot Noir Cargasacchi Vineyard – USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills – Sta. Rita Hills (3/19/2010)
Quite interesting that if guessing blind, I would have identified this wine as the Russian River and the Kosta Browne as the Santa Rita Hills. There was significantly more ripeness and roundness in the KB. Both wines share similar fruit flavors (at times it would have been tough to tell them apart) but where the KB heads in a mouth-filling, candied direction, the HP Cargasacchi has more green herb and anise undertones — flavors I tend to associate more with Old World or Oregon Pinot Noir. (88 pts.)
Preference between these two wines would come down to preference of style instead of a “rating” though I would have to say on this night, the Kosta Brown was just a tad more enjoyable. However, it is worth noting that both of these wines were pretty much dead by the end of the night after being exposed to air for two plus hours. Drink up. They are not for aging.
(Posted from CellarTracker on GrapeStories.com)

2005 Stefania Cabernet Sauvignon Uvas Creek Vineyard – USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Clara Valley (3/5/2010)
I really like this wine. Besides the fact that I think it represents one of the best values in California Cab, it never fails to provide an excellent experience. This was my 7th bottle. Cherries with whipped cream, touch of vanilla, and brown sugar. With some air, pine and a hint of black olive emerge. Rich, mouthcoating, sweet mouthfeel with an extremely long finish. Tannins are supple, but I’d recommend waiting a couple more years for maximum pleasure.

Posted from CellarTracker on GrapeStories.com