Vegan baked goods aside, it's hard to think of anything more abhorrent in the world of food and wine than a used spit bucket. In this week's Chronicle wine section, drinking from a spit bucket makes not one, but two, nauseating cameos. First comes a report of a San Anselmo wine club's tasting game where the loser's unspeakable punishment is to, yes, drink from the bucket. Then there's an interview with Sideways author Rex Pickett where he reveals the truth behind the movie's infamous bucket scene. I can do little else but quote his words verbatim:
It was a special tasting upstairs. It was high-end Cab. They weren't really spitting, they were dumping. Maybe a few had spit. You've got to understand, I was broke back then. I thought, "Wait a minute, there's a lot of good Cab in there." I picked it up and drank from it... I admit, I was a little drunk at this point. I think I said something like, "This is a great Meritage."
Have a great weekend...