Wine.Woot : One Week, One Wine (SM)

rpm wrote:$30 for a pound of salt?

$30 for a bottle of wine?

rpm wrote:$30 for a pound of salt?

The only thing that comes to mind is that this salt must come from the pre-Revolutionary regions of the grand gabelle where the price was as much as 61 times the price in Brittany on the Atlantic.

My capitalist hat's off to the entrepreneurs who can pull this off.

There's a salt-monger out there saying, "$10->infinity for 3/4 of a liter of fermented grape juice?"

I'm with you on this one though.

All I could think about was this. Will admit to being one of these people referenced in this post LOL:

From www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

#119 Sea Salt
January 4, 2009 by clander
Regardless of how much a white person cooks or how long they have lived in their current home, they all have a tube of sea salt in their pantry. In fact, it’s one of the few foodstuffs that white people will actually bring with them when they move. This is because sea salt is expensive and while white people have money, they didn’t get that way by throwing away $7 packages of salt.

When white people think about regular salt, all they can think about sodium and poor health. When they think about Sea Salt they think about France. So it’s no surprise that it has become so popular.

But Sea Salt is like Trader Joes, Banksy, or The Shins-entry level to their respective field. Therefore, it is important that you learn about other more expensive salts so that you can complain about not having them. To a white person, this shows that you know and love expensive things but feel sad that you can’t yet afford them.

From here you can fill up an entire evening by making the same complaints about art, real estate or Europe.

prosperouscheat wrote:I used to live near Guérande and would go to visit the coast and the salt marshes every now and again. One stop on those trips was a little restaurant that did and amazing steak with a light Fleur de Sel crust. I've never had better steak since.

I found the Sel Gris was fantastic for cooking but the crystals were too large for a shaker and the salt too moist to work well in a grinder so never used it as a table salt. Sounds like this particular one may be drier and ground finer for that purpose though.

Hi - This is Saxon from SaltWorks. The Sel Gris in the Trio is fine grain, so it works well as a table salt. However, it is still considered a "moist" salt, and so works best when sprinkled on with a spoon. The glass jar makes this a beautiful way to present this salt, and is a great substitute for a shaker.

damightyanteater wrote:Is it kosher?

lol

Hi- this is Saxon from SaltWorks. The Sel Gris and the Fleur de Sel are certified Kosher. The Fumee de Sel is not kosher at this time.

suggestion for smoked salt:

Milk chocolate fudge with bacon and topped with smoked sea salt.

I know it sounds a little weird, but a pub around the corner served this over the summer and it was fantastic. I don't have a recipe but that's what google's for, right?

PS just ordered two offers: one for us and one for some lucky-ducky to get as a gift.

Bezalel wrote:Plain salt is kosher even without certification but the Fumée de Sel sounds problamatic.

Hi this is Saxon from SaltWorks: You are correct- Sel Gris and Fleur de Sel are Kosher Certified, but Fumee De Sel is not Kosher Certified at this time.

"When they think about Sea Salt they think about France. So it’s no surprise that it has become so popular."

That's a rather dubious statement, especially when you take into account the pollution in Paris.

And to those arguing against paying 30$ for salt- you would (theoretically) pay 8$ for a bottle of standard, every-day Vanilla. If you consider these as actual spices as opposed to 'basic, bargain-priced table seasoning' then the price seems far more appropriate. When you start looking at prices for gourmet spices- such as for Vanilla- this actually seems rather tame. (Any chance of getting those on here at some point, Woot? You'd have my eager participation..)

Well, looks like I'll be in for two.

dnh828 wrote:I think that over-complicates a really good heirloom tomato. A caprese salad doesn't need salt, but I think a really good tomato with salt only is impossible to beat.

In any case it seems like I am getting two sea salts and a one smoked salt. What separates these salts from other salts? It seems like the texture might be notable but it doesn't seem exactly clear the size and shape of grain I might be buying: are these the young crystals more like flakes of salt or simply a smaller crystal?

Hi- this is Saxon from SaltWorks. All of the French sea salts are hand-harvested in France, certified organic by Nature et Progres, and are the highest quality. The Fleur de Sel is more of a small, naturally shaped crystal salt- smaller than what you would think of as a flake. The Fumee de Sel is the same small crystal (because it is the Fleur de Sel salt smoked in aged Chardonnay oak barrels), and the Sel Gris is a fine grain, similar in size and grain to table salt (although more moist). These salts work best when sprinkled over dishes or in cooking, either with your fingers or with a spoon. The presentation with the glass jars makes it ideal for a dining setting.

sgoman5674 wrote:I am going to check it out.

Edit: This might NOT be Kosher!!!!! I asked and the OU rabbi on the bus and he said that If there is no Hekture, it isn't kosher.

Checking with salt company.

Hi this is Saxon from SaltWorks. Fleur de Sel & Sel Gris are Kosher Certified, Fumee de Sel is not.

Alright, someone needs to explain Woot gift procedures and why it is mandatory to include the recipient's e-mail.

Also, is it possible to include one gifted item in with one not (individual wrap, or just the card thrown in), or would it require separate purchasing?

IUnknown wrote:This looks really good and I have been looking for some good salts for a while.

Does anyone know if for most uses these should be ground? I guess I could just spoon them out as needed. I'm also wondering about long term storage since at least one of these is a moister salt than the average salt.

The Bavaria salt mills look nice so if I need to get a mill for these I'll probably pick those up.

Please, no one tell the wife how much I'm going to spend on salt today.

Jason

Hi - all of the salts are "table ready" in concern for their grain size, so there is no need to buy a grinder for these particular salts. You are correct- all three have more moisture than regular salt, but they store just fine in the glass jars they are packaged in. If they ever seem to clump, simply stir the salt a little to fix the problem, or break the clumps with your fingers. Salt doesn't go bad, so long term storage is not an issue.

polarbear22 wrote:What are the dimensions of the glass serving tray?

Hi- the dimensions of the glass serving tray are 9" x 3.5"

Cesare wrote:And before this gets asked,
Yes this ships to all states
No you do not have to be 21 to order

What if you're drunk on delivery?

For those worried about moisture, I store my Celtic sea salt in the freezer right in the grinder. No clumping and ready to use. Doesn't hurt the grinder either.

I see where it says the Sel Gris de Guérande is a healthy replacement for table salt, but I am left to wonder:

Most natural salts I have seen do not contain iodine (That stuff that makes Morton's Iodized Salt so special). Since this stuff is important for general health, and is mainly found in your table salt, this should be a consideration before buying fancy salts.

SaltWorks, care to drop some knowledge on iodine levels in your salts? I love a fancy salt and what it can do to my recipes, but I am leery about replacing my table salt completely.

tmacfarlan wrote:I see where it says the Sel Gris de Guérande is a healthy replacement for table salt, but I am left to wonder:

Most natural salts I have seen do not contain iodine (That stuff that makes Morton's Iodized Salt so special). Since this stuff is important for general health, and is mainly found in your table salt, this should be a consideration before buying fancy salts.

SaltWorks, care to drop some knowledge on iodine levels in your salts? I love a fancy salt and what it can do to my recipes, but I am leery about replacing my table salt completely.

Hi - It is true that the Artisan Salt Company line of all natural sea salts do not have iodine added to them. However, sea salts do retain their trace mineral contents which does include trace amounts of naturally occuring iodine.

I love making brownies topped with pecans and homemade caramel with sel gris sprinkled on top.

Fortunately for my credit card I still have a lot of sel gris and fleur de sel from my last Penzey's run.

Not to hijack this thread, but this was posted over at http://deals.woot.com:

Woot November Reds
6 Reds
6 Great Wines for just $69.95 + $0 Shipping

Orrando Merlot 2007 (1 bottle)
Baco Grand Reserva Pinot Noir 2007 (1 bottle)
Richland Shiraz 2008 (1 bottle)
300 Dias del Sol Tempranillo 2007 (1 bottle)
Las Tizas Malbec 2008 (1 bottle)
Marlegan Meritage 2007 (1 bottle)

http://www.mywinesdirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=itemdetail&item_id_int=16774&promo=wootnov15&utm_source=woot&utm_medium=wootdeal&utm_campaign=WootNov15

SaltWorks wrote:Hi - It is true that the Artisan Salt Company line of all natural sea salts do not have iodine added to them. However, sea salts do retain their trace mineral contents which does include trace amounts of naturally occuring iodine.

SaltWorks, thanks for the information.

Everything I can find online says that the amounts of naturally occurring iodine in sea salt is insufficient, and some sea salt companies have taken steps to iodize their product to resolve this.

Not to be a buzzkill (I'm in for one myself), but iodine levels in the population have been decreasing and one of the probable causes is moving to sea salts and away from refined iodized salts. Then again, it could be the vegetarians doing away with delicious seafood, but I don't think that's making too much of an impact.

Either way, watch out for cutting iodized salt out of your diet. You don't need much iodine to stay healthy, but table salt already has precious little iodine in it.

The solution to replacing your table salt with sea salt? Eat more seafood. It's delicious anyway.

tmacfarlan wrote:Everything I can find online says that the amounts of naturally occurring iodine in sea salt is insufficient, and some sea salt companies have taken steps to iodize their product to resolve this.

I still havn't figured out why some people expect the salt manufactures to provide them with iodine.

I think woot should make another website called edible.woot! and sell coffee/peanuts/salt/ and anything else random they wanna sell! sell wine on wine woot!

Bezalel wrote:I still havn't figured out why some people expect the salt manufactures to provide them with iodine.

During the World War 1 draft, the military noticed a trend of mid-westerners with a Goiter problem. Goiter being a symptom of a larger thyroid problem, a US pediatrician named David Murray Cowie followed the Swiss practice of adding iodine to salt. Why salt, you ask?

Because it's consumed by entire populations in predictable amounts. With all of the wonderful cooking uses of salt and its effectiveness as a flavor enhancer after cooking, everybody uses it. Production costs for adding iodine to salt is estimated at about $0.05 per person.

Mountainous regions and those far from the sea - such as the US mid-west - have iodine-poor soil. This means that the vegetation from those regions is not sufficient for iodine intake and the people suffer from an iodine deficiency. The choices for getting iodine are having fresh seafoods shipped in at a high cost to the consumers, take a dietary supplement to increase levels of iodine in the body, or add it to something they will eat anyway so the consumer doesn't have to think about it.

While I'd like to imagine a world where people are health-conscious and go out of their way to maintain correct levels of trace nutrients like iodine, it's silly to think every person is going to be a health expert and take care of themselves like one.

Unlike water flouridation, this is one service which has a clear benefit to the general public.

EDIT: Just to be clear, I have 6 kinds of salt at home presently and only two are iodized; plus I'm in for one on this woot. I'm not anti-sea salt or anti-natural salt, I just like to know the science behind my foods. Like Alton Brown's understudy. But not at all.

rpm wrote:$30 for a pound of salt?

My capitalist hat's off to the entrepreneurs who can pull this off.

If you believe the their propaganda this is fairly labor intensive. Skilled 'Paludiers,' or whatever they are, cream off the best salt and sell it to you. You could also say you are buying the reputation of the supplier as it would be fairly easy to make your own bogus fleur de whatever salt and sell it. The fancy packaging is also worth something.

I guess you could also call it eco friendly fair trade thingy as it keeps some French people on the land and living a middle class existence.

This isn't good if you're a sodium sensitive hypertensive.

tmacfarlan wrote:During the World War 1 draft, the military noticed a trend of mid-westerners with a Goiter problem. Goiter being a symptom of a larger thyroid problem, a US pediatrician named David Murray Cowie followed the Swiss practice of adding iodine to salt. Why salt, you ask?

Because it's consumed by entire populations in predictable amounts. With all of the wonderful cooking uses of salt and its effectiveness as a flavor enhancer after cooking, everybody uses it. Production costs for adding iodine to salt is estimated at about $0.05 per person.

Mountainous regions and those far from the sea - such as the US mid-west - have iodine-poor soil. This means that the vegetation from those regions is not sufficient for iodine intake and the people suffer from an iodine deficiency. The choices for getting iodine are having fresh seafoods shipped in at a high cost to the consumers, take a dietary supplement to increase levels of iodine in the body, or add it to something they will eat anyway so the consumer doesn't have to think about it.

While I'd like to imagine a world where people are health-conscious and go out of their way to maintain correct levels of trace nutrients like iodine, it's silly to think every person is going to be a health expert and take care of themselves like one.

Unlike water flouridation, this is one service which has a clear benefit to the general public.

Hi- it's Saxon from SaltWorks. Artisan salt carries no added iodine because we believe in offering pure natural sea salt with no additional additives or chemicals. While it is true that our salt has trace elements of iodine, they do not match the levels of iodine in table salt. However, it is not difficult to get sufficient amounts of iodine in your diet; as it is available in eggs, cheddar cheese, fish, some bread, leafy green vegetables, and more food sources. Unlike table salt, Artisan sea salt has not been bleached and stripped of its mineral content, so there are many health benefits to switching to sea salt. In addition, Sel Gris in particular has a very high mineral content; and is enjoyed by many who wish to add rich minerals to their diet.

geo8rge wrote:If you believe the their propaganda this is fairly labor intensive. Skilled 'Paludiers,' or whatever they are, cream off the best salt and sell it to you. You could also say you are buying the reputation of the supplier as it would be fairly easy to make your own bogus fleur de whatever salt and sell it. The fancy packaging is also worth something.

I guess you could also call it eco friendly fair trade thingy as it keeps some French people on the land and living a middle class existence.

Sigh.... on so may levels. And why is this sea salt any better than that evaporated in San Francisco bay? I can recall salt evaporation ponds all over the bay when I was growing up? I guess with respect to salt - I do use sea salt, but just basic sea salt - I'm like the wine drinker who's never had teh "aha!" experience; that is, I've never tasted a special sea salt that was so superior to ordinary sea salt that it changed the way I think about salt in the same way that experiences with great wines have changed how I perceived wine, and even the world. My palate must be just too jaded to understand the subtleties, or to fully appreciate them. In which case, I hold on to my wallet and leave these undoubted gourmet marvels to those who will fully appreciate them.

Bezalel wrote:I still havn't figured out why some people expect the salt manufactures to provide them with iodine.

for the same reason they expect tooth paste manufacturers to provide them with floride - they just got used to it

egzgg wrote:I think woot should make another website called edible.woot! and sell coffee/peanuts/salt/ and anything else random they wanna sell! sell wine on wine woot!

They have sold wine twice per week since this started. That is more than they were doing before since during the 2x a week, sometimes the second offer was food. Some of us enjoy these offers and if you don't, you still more opportunities to get wine than you would have previously been offered.

Are you over it yet?

I just ordered one. I love salt and put it on everything--so I'm looking forward to trying these!

Kyle, for me to get more than I used to is completely irrelevant due to the fact that my registration was done soo recently.

I have only wooted twice, shirt wooted once, wine wooted twice, and kids wooted once.

Not a big deal, nothing to get over, simply my 2 cents.

Imagine a woot world where wine.woot sold only wine, and they had another woot for edibles like food and such for people like you who enjoy it.

Thats a happy woot world!

dolphin76 wrote:I just ordered one. I love salt and put it on everything--so I'm looking forward to trying these!

Not a good thing to love salt AND put it on EVERYTHING. Salt clogs up your arteries, no matter how much excersise you do or how fat/skinny you are. Be careful with the excess salt, it becomes a habit that is very difficult to control. Before you know it food begins to be completely dull without lots of salt and thats when problems begin.

egzgg wrote:Not a good thing to love salt AND put it on EVERYTHING. Salt clogs up your arteries, no matter how much excersise you do or how fat/skinny you are. Be careful with the excess salt, it becomes a habit that is very difficult to control. Before you know it food begins to be completely dull without lots of salt and thats when problems begin.

Yes, I know, thanks for the warning...I may have been a little overzealous in my declaration. I don't really salt everyhing, but I do enjoy it.

egzgg wrote:Not a good thing to love salt AND put it on EVERYTHING. Salt clogs up your arteries, no matter how much excersise you do or how fat/skinny you are. Be careful with the excess salt, it becomes a habit that is very difficult to control. Before you know it food begins to be completely dull without lots of salt and thats when problems begin.

Not necessarily - if you start with unprocessed food without substantial sodium content, you will get to appreciate the salt you are using. I think many of the wine drinkers here appreciate food. And I'm condescendingly not excited about your paternal "before you know it" and "why do they call it wine.woot when they should start an edible.woot".

Ease into this whole buying scaffolding on the internet. You may know more about salt, peanuts, bacon and wine than everyone here but keep in mind that people here know each other and don't see this as blathering into the void.

I'm sure I'll regret this comment later but by then I'll have a hangover. This marg rocks. (glad I won't have to sign for any packages tonight)

dmpower wrote:for the same reason they expect tooth paste manufacturers to provide them with floride - they just got used to it

I'm ignorant here but fluoride in toothpaste makes sense to me much more than fluoride in our water supply.

egzgg wrote:Kyle, for me to get more than I used to is completely irrelevant due to the fact that my registration was done soo recently.

I have only wooted twice, shirt wooted once, wine wooted twice, and kids wooted once.

Not a big deal, nothing to get over, simply my 2 cents.

Imagine a woot world where wine.woot sold only wine, and they had another woot for edibles like food and such for people like you who enjoy it.

Thats a happy woot world!

For most of us, wine and food are a natural pairing. Not to speak for the group, but I think that most of us are in a happy woot world. We enjoy the offerings. Obviously not every offering is for every person, but that's why this site works so well.

And I suggest taking Canonizer's advice. It seems he's a bit toasted, but his word's are well-meant.

The responses to egzgg's comments were wholly unwarranted.

To clarify to the two of you that seemed so upset by egzgg's statements:

Yes, it is a natural pairing- wine, cheese, coffee, spice; They're all part of that truly rich experience.
You're both entirely right!
Wine.woot is richer for it, and it puts a thrill of excitement into not knowing what'll come up next. Sure, occasionally you get a useless wine accessory, but typically you get some really special deals.

However, there is nothing wrong with specialization- indeed, as the wine.woot faq states, wine.woot's origins began as part of woot proper. Considering another branch off due to increased popularity and options is a natural response, and not one to be treated so disdainfully.

Besides, egzgg came across as playful- perhaps his statement could be construed as being a bit whiny* (the internet does make nuances difficult to determine**), but hey, we all enjoy doing that occasionally. On the other hand, (Kyle)'s original response was directly rude.


*(Punny, no? Oh, forget it.)

**Which is why we should assume the best, right? Now, let's calm down and focus on the delicious, wallet-emptying temptations set before us.

Besides, perhaps woot is intending deals.woot for the very thing egzgg suggested.

Of course, then I guess his statements could be taken as condescending- just like we previously clarified wine could be interpreted as being merely old grape juice.

Lighten up, like a..
Come on, throw me a vintage.

In for one to gift to my (newly into gourmet cooking) dad.

I'd get one for me but we have a lovely local artisan salt shop I like to patronize. The Portland paper recently had an article on gourmet salts by the shop's owners if anyone is curious. Here it is if anyone is interested http://www.oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2009/10/taste_using_table_salt_shake_t.html It has some salt recipe pairings to try. Also, they had ice cream sandwiches finished with your choice of salt at our neighborhood street fair...awesome.

Count me in as being very skeptical about gourmet salt until recently. We got a sampler pack of finishing salt for my inlaws (the people who have everything) for Christmas 2 years back and it definitely changed my mind. Honestly, if you're here debating the merits of wine and not just buying Yellow Tail or 2 Buck Chuck, you probably owe it to yourself to try some finishing salts at some point.

from the description...

"Young salt crystals"..... wow.... Who knew? Salt ages? Really?

I'll be in for one since I've been dying to try the 24 pack but never wanted to spend that much:

http://www.surlatable.com/product/books+%26+food/food/salts%2C+seasoning+%26+spices/bamboo+box+artisan+salt+sampler%2C+set+of+24+.do?sortby=ourPicks