In the ancient world, the cost of the overland movement of goods was between ten and thirty times that of ship-borne transport. It’s the reason why wine-growing regions located within easy … Upstairs, DownstairsRead more

Is wine art or craft? It’s the kind of question that can seem fun to knock around when the evening grows late and the company is the sort to both have … A Thicket of Our Own DevisingRead more

Is wine good for your complexion? Can it change your attitude or outlook on life? Don’t be embarrassed If you haven’t asked yourself these questions. Most people haven’t — at least … Just Humor MeRead more

The photograph above is one of very many made of Paris streets by Frenchman Eugène Atget (1857-1927), a sometime actor who took up the camera in his thirties and was later … A Visit from the Wine AnalogistRead more

By definition, etymology and inclination, sediment is just stuff that settles. Most often, it refers to solid particles suspended in and carried along by a fluid, before they’re drawn inexorably downward … It’s Sedimentary, My Dear WatsonRead more

Our brains are busy things, what with everything a body needs to accomplish on a given day. Our neurons beaver tirelessly away sorting things out at work, home, school and dog … Hippo on CampusRead more

If you love jazz, you know Duke Ellington, whose big band was a kind of heartbeat of the genre for fifty years, beginning with the 11 piece orchestra he led that … Duke’s LawRead more

The First Drink Problem may not have the philosophic cachet or be as daunting as the celebrated Chicken-Egg Conundrum, but it does seem to linger. It appears that the question has … Which Came First, Wine or Beer?Read more

They come from the mountains or the desert, most often — wild, uncultivated places where the hand of man has yet to make much of an imprint. They are themselves of … Bees in the BonnetRead more

Write a newspaper wine column as your correspondent did for years, and you quickly learn that to get the work done you have to settle into a routine. For me, step … When the Opposite of Dry Isn’t WetRead more

Wine has many faces. If it didn’t, how could we write a fresh essay about it every week, not to mention the occasional draw from the archives we twitch a feather … X-ray or Portrait?Read more

Like you, perhaps, we wonder about why the price of a certain wine is as it is. We know that it has something to do with the costs or production, the … A Few Words from Wine CountryRead more