The Born Loser by Art and Chip Sansom for July 26, 2023

Where’s a good Sommelier when you need him?

30 seconds would boil the alcohol out of it!

Brutus Thornapple, you’re about as classless as a retired teacher! ;P

Ew!

Of course, sir, I’ll move the box out of the fridge.

I’ve tried wine, they can boil it for all I care

That is just so wrong. But then my mom used to put ice cubes in Port wine. I don’t drink white wines with white meat or fish specifically because it’s supposed to be chilled. Personally, I prefer red wines from the Cote du Rhone region of France.

As soon as your gourmet meal is out of the microwave.

A no wait waiter!

Brutus knows his Paisano!

That’s a bit of a stretch pushing Night Train Express as a Cabernet Sauvignon. But chilling it does make it easier to swallow.

I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten at the same restaurant Brutus!

I don’t drink wine, or for that matter anything alcoholic, any longer. We have a few bottles we use to cook with, one of which is a beef burgundy planned for this weekend.

Going wine tasting in Sonoma tomorrow Thorny. I’ll find out the best way to “Rectify” that situation! (I’m guessing by drinking it!);

He had to ask because he didn’t know for sure. If his memory is serving him correctly, he’s pretty sure he read it in a comic strip somewhere.

Too many people think that a properly served Red is chilled when served at traditional room temperature – read ‘cellar temps’. Likewise they chill their whites into a state of suspended animation. Probably an extension of the beer ads that say to serve ice cold.

I serve all my wines at 62F, though sometimes the Whites need a little assist from a chiller jacket to retain that temp.

bet he wished he didn’t say anything about the drink… makes me wonder if he liked it cold or just wondering if it was okay for it to be cold. Nuke the drink! :D

Brutus knows this about wine? Who’d a thunk it?

Just hold it over the candle at the table. Much classier.

Brutus enjoys the finer things in life .

Brutus, Brutus, Brutus, Cabernet Sauvignon should be served between 59 ℉ and 68 ℉. You are thinking of your favorite wine Brutus, Boones Farm Apple Wine.

Brutus, don’t order your steak rare. It’ll walk in.

In the last panel Brutus’ face turns to dismay ………

Sommeliers around the world are either laughing a giant belly laugh or are passing out and 911 lines are being overloaded, especially in areas of California and France at this moment……

Cabernet Sauvignon should be served at 60-65 deg. F. which is typically not room temp. It should arrive out of a chilly cellar of a wine fridge set to the proper temp. Just saying.

NO! Don’t do that!

You don’t need a microwave just swirl your finger around in it.

Even to this non-drinker, that sounds horrible.

Call for a Cab, Brutus.

That would work with red wine if your room temperature is between 55 and 65 fahrenheit. When it is 70 out you are practically turning your red wine into diesel.

That’ll teach him to complain.

Funny on so many levels! Maybe the sommelier was testing Brutus to see if he knew his wines? Maybe he’s serious and he’s soon to be a busboy? Maybe it isn’t really a cab but Boone’s Farm? And the scene itself – is Brutus dining alone? Is he on an expense account for the wine since he and Gladys are tightening their belts (figuratively speaking of course)? Is Rancid with him but in the little boys room? So much to take in! Wow Chip – this one is full of existential angst!

I don’t know anything about wine, so I don’t know if Brutus truly knows what he’s talking about. One thing I do know: the waiter’s response suggests (despite appearances to the contrary) that this restaurant doesn’t qualify as fine dining. If Gladys is with him (she could be sitting across from him, off-panel), she is no doubt giving him an if looks could kill glare.

It should be served straight out of the box

One time I was 31 seconds old altogether. Time sure flew when I was that age.

or, he could just hold it under his armpit for a minute or so… ☺

Definitely a trick restaurants use when the wine bottle has been opened too long and is bad.