Because wine is both good to drink and good to think
A series of conversations issuing from our post last week on whether oxidation should be routinely classified as a wine fault resulted in an invitation from Kenmore Square’s Island Creek Oyster Bar to drop by and taste what they refer to as their ‘rusty whites.’ Seven wines on offer here are made in a self-consciously…
Real journalism isn’t created in newsrooms, but in the places where news actually happens. That’s why from time to time your intrepid correspondent packs his duffel, dons trench coat and fedora, and sets off to get the story. And so, when earlier this week the rare opportunity arose to cop an interview with (HELLO!!) the…
Real journalism isn’t created in newsrooms, but in the places where news actually happens. That’s why from time to time your intrepid correspondent dons trench coat and fedora and leaves the confines of his cozy garret to get the story. And so, when, earlier this week, the rare opportunity arose to cop an interview with (HELLO!!)…
First-time visitors to Central Bottle in Cambridge, Massachusetts are generally charmed by its appealing design and handsome, understated furnishings. I can tell you it’s a pleasure to spend a workday in its light, cheerful space. The near-absence of signage leaves some shoppers a little disoriented, though. “How are the wines organized here?” is a frequent…
THE FELLOW ASSIDUOUSLY OGLING his glass of red wine is a detail from a lithograph that hangs in my office, one of a trio I bought from a shaggy bouquiniste (quayside seller of vintage books, pamphlets, and prints) in Paris long ago. There were around a dozen in a series depicting the pleasures of wine, but…
LAST WEEK A FRIEND showed up with a bottle of 20 year-old grand cru white Burgundy that for some reason had rather fully oxidized despite having been kept in a wine-friendly environment. A spongy cork made us think the wine might have long since gone off, but the opposite proved to be the case. The…
CENTRAL BOTTLE WAS POURING three so-called orange wines at its most recent Thursday Night Wine Bar event. We’ve written twice before on a category (I’ll cite those posts momentarily), that remains a controversial one. Why so? Because these wines are exactly the opposite of what the Robert Mondavi-UC Davis Axis of Normal mandates…