Author: Stephen Meuse

You have a nose and so do we. Some have more nose than others. Cyrano de Bergerac, whose prodigious schnoz was a permanent feature (that’s Gerard Depardieu in the role of … The Nosy SortRead more

Here in the wine corner, we spend our days trying put words to what we sell. It’s not unpleasant work, but it is often challenging. All wine can be (and is, … The Lexicon BanditsRead more

  The signature on a document, work of art or other created thing is a mark of origination: a sign that associates the object in some definitive way with the individual … May I Have Your Autograph?Read more

How did particular wines take the shape they did? One popular argument is that the possibilities are necessarily limited by the various atmospheric conditions, soil types and topographies that obtain in … Sure, it’s Tasty. But is it Navigable?Read more

Red and white might as well be the north and south poles of wine, reliably serving as stable orientation hubs on the vast and often confusing surface of planet Vino. Wine … The Red and White of ItRead more

The most common actionable fault in wine, by far, is what’s known as cork taint: A condition that announces its presence with an off-putting whiff of wet basement, soggy cardboard, mold, … Corky, or Just Quirky?Read more

“Casanova’s Europe” reveals a refined and visually seductive culture on the cusp of modernity—one characterized by pleasure seeking, movement across boundaries, and self-invention. Casanova himself inhabited many roles—entrepreneur, social climber, spy, … In Love with Love . . . and WineRead more

As a child, your correspondent loved television, cars and the newspaper. He grew up with three outlets for TV programming, a trio of automakers, and a daily Boston Globe. How very quaint and … Make Mine BrustianuRead more

Considering the antiquity of winemaking and wine drinking, wine writing (at least as we know it) is a fairly recent phenomenon, not reaching back more than a couple of hundred years. … Wine is Sexy. But is it Gendered?Read more

When is a wine ready to drink? It’s not so much a complicated or difficult question as it is a misunderstood one, we think.

No wine intended for market rather than for immediate local consumption has a credible claim to be solely the creation of its winemaker, no matter how visionary.

It was in the midst of the hangover resulting from the 2008 Greek debt crisis, and I was packing up a case of wine for a customer when I noticed I … Austerity MeasuresRead more